Regional Coal: Vietnam's coal imports soar in July

Vietnam's coal imports reached a 13-month high in July, surging by 29.8% year-on-year and 10.8% month-on-month to 7.05 million tonnes, according to data from Vietnam Customs reported by Mysteel.net. This increase aligns with the Vietnamese government's efforts to prevent power shortages during the summer by increasing coal imports to meet strong domestic demand, particularly from the electricity generation sector.

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The value of these coal imports totaled $838 million in July, reflecting a 14.7% rise from the previous month. Australia and Indonesia were the primary suppliers, accounting for about 67% of the total volume. Notably, coal imports from Australia more than doubled from June, reaching 2.63 million tonnes, while imports from Indonesia fell by 29% to 2.08 million tonnes. Imports from China also declined significantly, dropping by 59.3% to just 10,844 tonnes.

Additionally, coal imports from Russia increased by 47.7% to 694,253 tonnes, whereas imports from Laos decreased by 49.1% to 99,370 tonnes. Over the first seven months of 2024, Vietnam's total coal imports rose by 36.9% year-on-year, totaling 40.48 million tonnes .  

Editing by Alexander Ginting