Vietnam aims to curb coal exports in order to ensure sufficient input materials for an increasing number of coal-fired power plants. The country is expected to have 40 operational coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 39,000 megawatts by 2020, which will consume around 110 million tonnes of coal a year.
In 2016, the domestic power sector is expected to need an additional five million tonnes of coal on anticipation that more coal-fired power plants will be put into operation.
Vinacomin is the major coal producer in Vietnam accounting for 95 percent of total coal production, providing anthracite for the power sector and industries using coal both nationally and world-wide, investing in the development of power plants; exploration and processing minerals; with involvement in the chemical, engineering, construction materials and trading industries supporting the main industries of coal and minerals.
In 2016, Vinacomin will start to import between 2 million and 3 million tonnes of coal. Vinacomin said the import amount was expected to gradually increase in the future and would reach between 18 million and 20 million tonnes by 2020. The domestically produced coal would be 42 million tonnes in 2020.
In the first 10 months of 2015, coal output was 34.6 million tonnes, escalating 4.9 percent compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, coal consumption in the first ten months of this year was estimated at 29 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 2.35 percent. The amount sold in domestic market escalated 19.9 percent.
Vietnam earned an estimated $161 million from exporting 1.52 million tonnes of coal in the first ten months of 2015, falling by 65.7 percent in value and 75.8 percent in volume against the same period last year. In the future, when the domestic market coal demand rises, especially coal for thermal power plants, the average and low quality coal export will be reduced and ceased.
Vinacomin will continue giving priority to stable coal provision for traditional customers, including Japan as the signed contracts, and will propose to Vietnamese competent authorities to continue supplying coal for the Japanese market in coming years. In October, Vinacomin worked with Japanese Marubeni Group on electricity and coal import. The Marubeni Group expected to accelerate cooperation with Vinacomin in Na Duong Thermopower Plant 2 as well as coal imports. The two sides agreed that coal import has been considered a potential issue for co-operation in the future. Marubeni has participated in 33 power plant projects in 22 countries.
Vinacomin was assigned by the Vietnamese Government as the key role to import coal for power plants in Vietnam. Vinacomin has actively approached and investigated markets such as Indonesia, Australia and Russia to seek sources of coal importing to Vietnam.
Vinacomin has discussed the demand of importing coal with major thermal coal suppliers over the world and has signed some agreements on importing coal with companies from Australia and Indonesia for some thermal power projects which are expected to use imported coal.
To ensure the coal supply for the economy in the coming period, Vinacomin has to enhance the activities of investigation, exploration, supplement of available coal reserves and increase productivity, expand the scale of mines and develop new mines, and focus on investment in building deep underground mines with high productivity.
Huong Ly
Vietnamese
