For many years, the coalfieldhasto submit proposals through many levels, and it is necessary to have the approval of the export plan of the Prime Minister.

Exporting and importing coal is common. Photo: N.Thanh 

However, many people have given comments and other concerns, especially the lack of servicesfor domestic demand.

Selling ​​what they need and importing what we need

Speaking at the secondWorkshop on the National Energy Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, held on November 11 in Hanoi, Mr. Tran XuanHoa, President of the Public Science Association mining technology in Vietnam, former Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam national Coalandmineral industries holding corporation limited (VINACOMIN), said that coal import and export is a very commonproblem. He said that good coal like anthracite coal that VINACOMIN exploited is not used for electricity because this coal is not easy to burn.If you want to burn it, you must mix it with more oil. That is high-quality coal with a high exportvalue, used for coking plants and steel production. Meanwhile, coal for electricity production is much cheaper, the supply in the world market is abundant and importing this coal is not difficult.

“In Australia, the coefficient of coal removal is only 3-5m3 of rock/ton of coal, while in Vietnam, this coefficient is up to 13m3/ton coal in many places, even 17m3/ton coal in some places. That means the cost of mining one ton of coal in Vietnam is much higher. All countries ask to stop mining at acertain price range. Previously, Japan exploited a lot of coal, but to a certain limit, when they found that importing is more efficient, they stopped mining. Currently, Japan only maintains one mine in the North with an output of 300,000-500,000 tons/year, the rest is abandoned,” Mr. Tran XuanHoasaid.

Talking about the problem of coal sources for electricity production, according to Mr. Tran XuanHoa, people in the coal industry understand that mixing high quality anthracite coal with cheaper coal to createelectricity is wasteful.

"However, whenVINACOMIN wants to export anthracite coal, VINACOMINhas to report to ministry and set the target for export.

“In recent years, each year VINACOMIN and Northeastern Corporation have exported more than 2 million tons of this coal. I propose to keep the coal price according to the market mechanism, not "forcing" them to sell at a low price to any party,"said Mr. Tran XuanHoa.

From the perspective of "insiders", the representative of VINACOMIN expressed his wish to have a more open mechanism for coal exports.

“Anthracite coal is very precious and of high quality. It will be wasteful if it is used for electricity production. That is the reason why Vietnam has to import tens of millions of tons of coal but still allows coal exports. The two types of coal that are exported and imported are different. When building energy planning, the export only gives opinions, but should not close the fixed number. Types of coal that have not been used domestically are for export, just like how much we need and how much we import,”he said.

Does it impact energy security?

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An expressed his doubts.

“Talking about importing and exploiting domestic coal is a very macro problem, it should not only take the price criteria into consideration. Because, if we use the price criteria to consider and decide, the perspective is really not comprehensive,”said Deputy Minister Dang Hoang An.

With the opinion that when coal mining goes deep, the price is much higher than the import, there should be an orientation for importing, including the plan to stop mining, close the mines, as well as change jobs for workers in the coal industry.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’sleadersasked: What will the situation be like when the world market fluctuates, the import of coal is difficult, is the workforce capable of returning to the pit or not? It is a macro problem, and price is a very small part of the story.

On a more macroscopic level is energy security and national security. Some analystssaid that the mainthing to consider is how much primary energy is imported, how much is exploited domestically to ensure sustainable development. If we are not careful, the massive import will causeenergy security to become a national security issue.

“Looking at the coming prospect, it can be seen that not only importing coal, but also Vietnam promotes the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to increase the proportion of electricity and gas in Vietnam's power source structure to 21% in 2030. If importing more, can we guarantee that the world market is always favorable to buy?”Deputy Minister Dang Hoang An said.