Hanoi—Vietnam’s coal imports dropped 51% month on month to 153,592 mt in September, according to Vietnam Customs data released late Wednesday.
The value of the imports for the month stood at $22.6 million, down 39.6% on the month. Vietnam Customs did not release data for last September. The country has actively imported coal this year to meet rising domestic demand, particularly that
from power sector.
Indonesia was the biggest supplier in September at 88,569 mt, or 57.7%, of the total. Surprisingly, in September Vietnam imported 63,935 mt of coal (41.6%) from China, its leading coal buyer for years. During January-September, Vietnam imported 2.2 million mt of coal, up 32.5% year on year. The import value in the period was $272 million, up 41.2%.
Over the nine-month period, Vietnam mostly imported coal from Indonesia (1.07 million mt, or 48.6% of thetotal), Australia (435,837 mt, or 19.8%) and China (356,048 mt, or 16.2%). Meanwhile, Vietnam — which mainly produces and exports thermal coal — exported 585,495 mt of coal in September, down 27.2% year on-year, but up 9.6% from August. Exports in September were worth $46 million, 22.3% lower year on year, but up 21.7% above the August value. China remained the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s coal in September (334,908 mt or 57.2% of the total), which was followed by South Korea (123,508 mt or 21.1%) and Japan (95,111 mt or 16.2%).
In January-September, Vietnam exported 5.84 million mt of coal, slipping 34.9% year on year. The export valuein the period was $435 million, 32.9% lower than thesame period in 2013. During January-September, Vietnam mainly exported its coal to China (3.58 million mt, or 61.3% of the total), South Korea (961,441 mt, or 16.4%) and Japan (780,305mt, or 13.4%).