According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s gasoline and oil imports in March 2024 reached 1,076,653 tons, worth 901.7 million USD, an increase of 44.7% in volume and 46.1% in value compared to the previous month.
In the first 3 months of 2024, the total volume of imported gasoline and oil reached over 2.55 million tons, worth 2.1 billion USD, at an average price of 822 USD/ton.
Vietnam imported the largest amount of gasoline and oil from Malaysia in the first 3 months of 2024, accounting for nearly 35% of the total import volume and value, reaching 892,211 tons, worth 722.1 million USD, an increase of 124% in volume and 122.7% in value compared to the same period in 2023.
In particular, in March 2024, imports from this market increased by 396.3% in volume and 525% in value compared to March 2023, reaching 308,268 tons, worth 262.5 million USD.
The average import price was 809.3 USD/ton, a slight decrease of 0.56% compared to the same period last year.
South Korea ranked second, accounting for nearly 27% of the total import volume in the first 3 months of 2024, reaching 682,488 tons, worth 543.3 million USD, a decrease of 34.6% in volume and 39.7% in value. In March 2024 alone, South Korea exported 350,744 tons to Vietnam, worth 279.3 million USD, an increase of 107.2% in volume and 105% in value.
Singapore ranked third, accounting for 24-25% of the total import volume and value in the first quarter, reaching 623,638 tons, worth 533.1 million USD, an increase of 2.6% in volume and 0.5% in value; in March 2024, Vietnam imported from this market up 13.6% in volume and 15% in value.
Next is the Chinese market, which accounted for over 10-11% of the total import volume and value in the first 3 months of 2024, a decrease of 4.4% in volume and 9.8% in value, reaching 278,102 tons, worth 235.8 million USD .
Gasoline and oil imports from Thailand accounted for over 2% of the total volume and value in the first 3 months of 2024, reaching 53,281 tons, worth 45.7 million USD, a decrease of 75.8% in volume and 76.4% in value.
Vietnam is a country that exploits and exports crude oil, but still has to import a large amount of crude oil to meet sufficient input for the two domestic refineries, Dung Quat and Nghi Son. 80% of the crude oil for these two plants comes from imports, while about 30% of finished gasoline and oil still needs to be imported to meet domestic consumption needs.
Each refinery is designed with technology to use different types of crude oil. For example, Nghi Son Refinery uses 100% crude oil imported from the Gulf region, the type of oil exploited in the desert, shale. Meanwhile, Dung Quat Refinery is designed to consume crude oil from the Bach Ho mine. Due to its high dependence, the import of gasoline and oil is also strongly affected by world fluctuations, especially in price.
According to Global Petro Price, Malaysia is currently the country with the cheapest gasoline price in the Southeast Asian region (0.429 USD/liter, equivalent to 10,941 VND/liter). The country is also in the top 10 countries with the lowest gasoline prices in the world. This is also the reason why Vietnam often imports large volumes of gasoline and oil from this market.
