Vietnam Plans No Coal Exports after 2015
The Ministry of Industry is seeking the government’s approval for the coal industry development strategy in 2006-2015 period and a vision to 2025 which says Vietnam will not export coal after 2015.
Coal will be kept in reserve to serve domestic consumption.
Under the strategy, Vietnam will reduce outbound coal shipments to 12 million tons in 2010, five million tons in 2015 and after 2015 the country will gradually cut its coal export volume to zero.
Clean coal output is also projected to be 40-45 million tons in 2010, 48-51 million tons in 2015, 55-58 million tons in 2020 and 58-61 million tons in 2025.
In the period of 1995-2005, Vietnam saw an average growth of 20.4 per cent a year in coal export volume, especially the 2000-2005 period witnessed a growth of 40.6 per cent annually, from 2.78 million tons in 2000 to 17.88 million tons in 2005.
With an aim to reduce coal exports, the Ministry of Finance has recently planned to raise the tax rate on coal exports from the current 0 per cent to 3 per cent. There are, however, many different ideas about the plan.
The coal industry reported its output of 27.27 million tons in the first nine months of this year, up 20.1 per cent on-year. Of which, 19.79 million tons were exported, an on-year increase of 68.3 per cent.
Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
