Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in February 2024, Vietnam imported 214,064 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), equivalent to over 143.9 million USD, a decrease of 25.9% in volume and 28.1% in value compared to the previous month.
In February 2024, Vietnam spent nearly $144 million on importing liquefied petroleum gas
Overall, in the first 2 months of the year, Vietnam spent over 344.7 million USD to import 503.1 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from different markets, an increase of 30.2% in volume and 22.4% in value compared to the same period in 2023. The average import price for the first 2 months of the year reached 685 USD/ton, a decrease of more than 6.5% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of markets, Qatar is the largest import market, followed by Saudi Arabia and Malaysia respectively. Among them, Malaysia is actively exporting LPG to Vietnam.
In particular, in February, Vietnamese businesses imported 63,686 tons of LPG from the Malaysian market, with a turnover of 42.6 million USD, an impressive increase of 1243% in volume and 941% in value compared to the same period last year.
In the 2-month period, Vietnam spent over 60 million USD to import 87,100 tons of LPG from this country, an increase of 616% in volume and 523% in value, accounting for more than 17% of both import volume and turnover. The average import price from Malaysia is currently around 689 USD/ton, a decrease of nearly 13% compared to the same period in 2023.
LPG in Vietnam is mainly used for refilling containers to serve domestic needs such as heating, cooking, industrial use, automotive use, refrigeration and other applications from LPG products. However, the applications are still limited.
Currently, domestic gas supply can only meet about 60% of the consumption. Therefore, the domestic gas retail price is dominated and influenced by the world gas price.
According to gas companies, the world gas import price as per the contract (CP price) for March is officially set at 635 USD/ton, the same as the previous month. However, due to the sharp increase in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Vietnamese currency, reaching 24,820 VND/USD, the domestic gas retail price is adjusted accordingly.
