According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam imported over 4.8 million tons of various types of coal, equivalent to nearly $630 million in December 2023, down 3.2% in volume and 8.6% in value compared to the previous month.
For the whole year of 2023, the import of different types of coal reached over 51.1 million tons, with a value of over $7.1 billion, increasing sharply by 61.4% in volume and 0.7% in value compared to the same period in 2022.
The average import price hit a record low at $140.2 per ton, down 37.6% compared to the same period in 2022.
The trend of shifting coal flows from Europe to Asia has exploded in 2023, after Europe stopped buying due to Western sanctions against Russia. Vietnam is no exception and has followed suit with a surge in coal imports.
Due to deep price declines, Vietnam is actively importing this product from Russia. Specifically, imports of various types of coal from Russia reached 292,425 tons with a value of over $61 million, up 90.6% in volume and 87% in value compared to December 2023. Accumulated over 12 months, imports of this product from the land of the sun reached over 4.3 million tons with a value of over $847.5 million, increasing sharply by 96.7% in volume and 44% in value compared to the same period in 2022.
The average import price in 2023 reached $194 per ton, down sharply by 27% compared to the same period in 2022.
Regarding Russia’s coal production, data from Statista showed that Russia’s coal production reached 443.6 million tons, up 0.3% compared to 2021, maintaining its position as the world’s third-largest coal exporter. This level of production is nearly 15 times the amount of coal produced by Vietnam in 2022 with over 30 tons.
Moreover, Russia has enough coal reserves to last for centuries – RT quoted Deputy Minister of Energy Sergey Mochalnikov as saying at a meeting of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources of the Russian Federation.
Mochalnikov said that when considering both explored and unexplored coal resources, Russia has enough coal to last for 300 years.
“In terms of coal, we have reserves that have been explored enough to last for over 100 years, and if we use up this amount, we still have unexplored reserves enough to last for another 200 years or more.”
After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russia has increasingly transported coal to Asian countries, especially China, India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam.
According to data from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s coal imports have increased rapidly, from 6.9 million tons in 2015 to a peak of over 54 million tons in 2020. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also issued approval for the coal allocation chart for electricity production in 2024. Accordingly, investors of coal-fired power plants have to arrange over 74.3 million tons of coal for electricity production in 2024. Among them, designed power plants using imported coal will need about 26 million tons. The types of coal allocated to each power plant will be implemented according to the coal purchase contract for 2024.
