3:26:38 PM | 7/8/2005
Petroleum product-trading companies in Vietnam are reporting to suffer heavy losses despite falling prices in the global market and free import taxes.
An official from the Ministry of Trade said soaring oil prices in the world market have led to heavy losses of oil trading companies although the government decided to increase retail prices more than one month ago. This is the fourth rise in only two years.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Trade, in April, oil wholesalers lost VND489 for a liter on A92 gasoline, VND2,285 on a liter of diesel oil, VND3,415 on a liter of kerosene and VND1,159 on a kilogram of fuel oil.
Bui Ngoc Bao, general director of Petrolimex, which holds about 60 per cent of the Vietnamese refined oil market, said his company loses several billion Vietnamese dong a day.
“Our retail prices are much lower than those in regional countries,” a company said, “And, we will continue to loss despite of 0 per cent import tax.”
A lot of oil traders have asked the government to let local retail oil prices go in line with the global market trends to edge competitiveness and eliminate State subsidies for the distillate fuel. Vietnam has to import nearly all refined oil products to feed national energy needs as it lacks refining facilities.
Currently, oil prices on the local market are fixed by the government.
Nguyen Tien Thoa, deputy head of the Ministry of Finance's Price Management, said responsible bodies are seeking measures to reduce difficulties of oil trading companies.
* The following table shows comparison of oil retail prices in Asian countries with Vietnam.
|
Countries |
A92 Gasoline (VND/liter) |
DO (VND/liter) |
|
Vietnam |
8,000 |
5,500 |
|
China |
8,000 |
6,671 |
|
Cambodia |
10,300 |
7,100 |
|
Thailand |
10,300 |
7,480 |
|
The Philippines |
8,521 |
5,851 |
|
Singapore |
13,634 |
9,282 |
|
India |
13,634 |
9,468 |
|
Pakistan |
10,083 |
6,659 |
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