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VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Finance is considering raising the
tariff on coal exports to 20 percent, on the worry that the “black gold”
reserves are getting depleted which would cause the lack of coal for thermopower
plants.
A source from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said the ministry is building
up the export tariff on coal exports. It is expected that the new export tariff
would bee 20 percent instead of the current tax rate of 15 percent.
The ministry believes that raising export tariff is a thing that needs to be done now in an effort to control and restrict the coal exports, while the natural resources are getting exhausted.
The tax increase has been considered by MOF after the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) announced the import of 9500 tons of coal from Indonesia, which will be provided to the new thermo power plants in the central and southern regions.
This is the first time Vietnam, which is a big coal exporter, has to import coal for domestic consumption. Vinacomin has predicted that the coal import in big quantities will begin in 2012.
Vinacomin has estimated that Vietnam will need to import coal about 10 million tons a year from now to 2012. Meanwhile, the volume of coal to be imported would increase to 100 million tons by 2020.
The paradox is that while Vinacomin estimates a big volume of coal to be imported, it keeps exporting nearly two million tons of coal every month and 20 million tons of coal every year.
“We are really worried about the situation and we believe that it is necessary to impose high tariff on coal exports in order to avoid the natural resource exhaustion.
The MOF’s attention has been supported by exporters, who believe that Vietnam needs to control the coal export when it needs coal itself for local production.
The coal products Vietnam exports are mainly high quality products. Meanwhile, the imports are mainly low quality products which may cause environmental pollution.
“Vietnam has laid down as a policy the restriction of natural resources. Therefore, raising tax rates on coal exports is a reasonable decision,” an expert said.
Vinacomin has tried to calm the public down, saying that it is a normal thing to both export and import coal at the same time.
In the report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vinacomin said that in 2010, the group exported 1.4 billion dollars worth of coal. On the same year, Vinacomin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with some Indonesian and Australian on supplying coal to Vietnam in the future. These include the MOU signed with Australian Hancock Coal, a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting, and the MOU with Japanese Sojitzs on promoting coal import for power plants in Vietnam.
Vinacomin has also said it keeps contacts with trade promotion organizations from Indonesia and Australia and trade companies to prepare for the coal import.
Meanwhile, Vinacomin still has to export coal to survive and develop. Vu Manh Hung, Deputy General Director of Vinacomin said Vinacomin exports high quality coal, while domestic power plants mainly use medium class coal. This high quality coal can be sold at high prices, about 300 dollars per ton. Therefore, it would be better to export the high quality coal, while Vietnam still does not have the demand for the products.
Hung also said that Vinacomin needs to export coal, because the domestic sale prices are very low. Especially, the group now has to sell coal at the prices below the production costs to power generators.
“The coal volume sold to power generators at the prices below the production costs was worth three trillion dong in 2010,” Hung said.
He went on to say that if Vinacomin does not export coal, it cannot survive and develop production to meet the increasingly high domestic demand.
In May 2011, Vinacomin exploited 3.98 million tons of coal, an increase of 7.5 percent over the same period of the last year. The total exploited volume reached 19.2 million tons in the first five months of the year, an increase of 5.5 percent over the same period of the previous year.
Source: VnExpress
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The ministry believes that raising export tariff is a thing that needs to be done now in an effort to control and restrict the coal exports, while the natural resources are getting exhausted.
The tax increase has been considered by MOF after the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) announced the import of 9500 tons of coal from Indonesia, which will be provided to the new thermo power plants in the central and southern regions.
This is the first time Vietnam, which is a big coal exporter, has to import coal for domestic consumption. Vinacomin has predicted that the coal import in big quantities will begin in 2012.
Vinacomin has estimated that Vietnam will need to import coal about 10 million tons a year from now to 2012. Meanwhile, the volume of coal to be imported would increase to 100 million tons by 2020.
The paradox is that while Vinacomin estimates a big volume of coal to be imported, it keeps exporting nearly two million tons of coal every month and 20 million tons of coal every year.
“We are really worried about the situation and we believe that it is necessary to impose high tariff on coal exports in order to avoid the natural resource exhaustion.
The MOF’s attention has been supported by exporters, who believe that Vietnam needs to control the coal export when it needs coal itself for local production.
The coal products Vietnam exports are mainly high quality products. Meanwhile, the imports are mainly low quality products which may cause environmental pollution.
“Vietnam has laid down as a policy the restriction of natural resources. Therefore, raising tax rates on coal exports is a reasonable decision,” an expert said.
Vinacomin has tried to calm the public down, saying that it is a normal thing to both export and import coal at the same time.
In the report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vinacomin said that in 2010, the group exported 1.4 billion dollars worth of coal. On the same year, Vinacomin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with some Indonesian and Australian on supplying coal to Vietnam in the future. These include the MOU signed with Australian Hancock Coal, a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting, and the MOU with Japanese Sojitzs on promoting coal import for power plants in Vietnam.
Vinacomin has also said it keeps contacts with trade promotion organizations from Indonesia and Australia and trade companies to prepare for the coal import.
Meanwhile, Vinacomin still has to export coal to survive and develop. Vu Manh Hung, Deputy General Director of Vinacomin said Vinacomin exports high quality coal, while domestic power plants mainly use medium class coal. This high quality coal can be sold at high prices, about 300 dollars per ton. Therefore, it would be better to export the high quality coal, while Vietnam still does not have the demand for the products.
Hung also said that Vinacomin needs to export coal, because the domestic sale prices are very low. Especially, the group now has to sell coal at the prices below the production costs to power generators.
“The coal volume sold to power generators at the prices below the production costs was worth three trillion dong in 2010,” Hung said.
He went on to say that if Vinacomin does not export coal, it cannot survive and develop production to meet the increasingly high domestic demand.
In May 2011, Vinacomin exploited 3.98 million tons of coal, an increase of 7.5 percent over the same period of the last year. The total exploited volume reached 19.2 million tons in the first five months of the year, an increase of 5.5 percent over the same period of the previous year.
Source: VnExpress
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