The latest information from the General Department of Customs shows that in the first half of July, the whole country spent 191 million USD, importing more than 2.2 million tons of coal. Accumulated from the beginning of the year to July 15, the country imported nearly 23 million tons of coal with a total turnover of nearly 2.17 billion USD. Compared to the same period in 2018, the amount of imported coal increased by nearly 12 million tons, equivalent to an increase of 108%; while turnover increased by 69.5%.
The growth rate of output is larger than that of turnover, which means that the average value of each ton of imported coal this year is lower than the same period in 2018. Specifically, the average import value (not tax) in the first months of 2019 reached nearly 95.2 USD, while the same period last year was over 117 USD / ton. Notably, the volume of imported coal up to July 15 exceeded the total import volume of 2018 by nearly 57 thousand tons.
In terms of markets, Indonesia, Australia, Russia and China are Vietnam’s four largest coal suppliers. In particular, Indonesia ranked No.1. Particularly in June (updated according to the latest market of the General Department of Customs to June 2019-PV), the whole country imported more than 1 million tons of coal from this Southeast Asian country , with a value of 68.6 million USD. In the first 6 months, these figures were 7,345 million tons, total turnover 461.7 million USD. Meanwhile, from the beginning of the year to the end of June, the country imported 7.07 million tons of coal from Australia, total turnover of 769.5 million USD.
At present, the demand for domestic use is increasing, especially for thermal power plants, while the exploitation output is much lower so the issue of coal import continues to increase, which is noticeable. According to the National Electricity Development Plan for the period of 2011 – 2020, it is considered to 2030 (Power Development Plan VII, according to Decision 1208 / QD-TTg dated July 21, 2011 of the Prime Minister), to answer In response to the country’s electricity demand, in 2020, our country must have a total capacity of 75,000 MW of power plants, of which coal-fired thermal power plants account for 48% of the total capacity. By 2030, the total capacity of power plants must reach 146,800 MW, and the proportion of coal-fired power plants will be raised to 51.6%, with a total capacity of nearly 76,000 MW, greater than the total capacity Vietnam’s set of power plants by 2020.
Meanwhile, according to Vietnam’s coal industry planning by 2020, the prospect until 2030 is considered (according to Decision 403 / QD-TTg dated March 14, 2016), the demand for coal for thermal power is 64.1 million. tons in 2020 and up to 131.1 million tons by 2030. However, also in this plan, the calculated domestic coal mining output only reaches from 47 to 50 million tons in 2020 and 55 to 57 million tons in 2030. While coal mining resources must also be devoted to many other areas such as metallurgy, cement, fertilizer and chemicals, other consumers. Particularly, these 4 target groups are also estimated to need 25.5 million tons of coal by 2030.
Thus, it can be seen, the total demand for coal production in the country in 2030 is up to 157 million tons, while the domestic exploitation capacity is only up to 57 million tons, which means that Vietnam must import up to 100 million tons of coal by 2030.
Thai Binh