Vietnam imported 5.1 million tons of fuels from Southeast Asia and 1.7 million tons from South Korea, accounting for over 90% of the total in the January-July period.

A motorcycle is refilled at a gas station in HCMC. Vietnam imported 5.1 million tons of fuels from Southeast Asia and 1.7 million tons from South Korea 

A report of the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows Singapore took the lead with 3.06 million tons of fuels sold to Vietnam in the seven-month period, up from 2.79 million tons a year earlier.

However, the import of fuels from Malaysia declined to around 1.5 million tons, followed by Thailand with around 567,500 tons.

Many local companies opt for South Korea as their fuel imports from the Northeast Asian country enjoy the most favorable tariff under the ASEAN-Korea free trade agreement.

In particular, Vietnamese firms are subject to a tariff of 10% for fuel imports from South Korea, 10 percentage points lower than from other markets. As a result, fuel imports from the nation as of end-June almost doubled year-on-year to 1.72 million tons.

Overall, the volume of fuel import from the ASEAN market accounted for 67.9% of the total while the figure for South Korea was 22.8%.

Domestic fuel wholesalers are benefiting from the tax difference. However, the State budget is suffering from a sharp decline in revenue.

Vietnam spent US$3.9 billion purchasing 7.55 million tons of fuels in the period, respective rises of 34.2% and 4.6%.

SGGP