Vietnam imported 24.6 million tonnes of coal with a value of US$1,844 billion during the first five months of the year, representing an increase of 48% in terms of volume and 14.5% in value in comparison with the same period from last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vietnam imports nearly 25 million tonnes of coal during five-month period 

Despite the recent impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic hitting several sectors of the national economy since the beginning of the year, the country spent a large amount of money on the import of coal due to increasing demand across several manufacturing industries relating to thermal power, cement, and chemicals.

Last year saw a sharp increase in coal imports with 43.9 million tonnes worth a total of US$3.79 billion, representing a rise of 91.9% in volume and 48.3% in value from 2018. The average import price of coal endured a decrease of 22.7% to US$86 per tonne compared to the figures from the previous year. 

At present, Australia, Indonesia, Russia, and China are the country’s four largest suppliers of coal, of which coal imports from Australia reached 15.7 million tonnes with a total value of US$1.56 billion, a sharp increase of 157% in volume and 84% in value when compared to 2018’s figures.

Coal imports from the Indonesian and Russian markets also experienced an increase of 38% and 151% to US$868.6 million and US$633.8 million, respectively.