Vinacomin has asked for permission to increase mining capacity at some coal mines to satisfy increasing demand for coal and ensure national energy security.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has released a report on the production, business, finance and investment of the Vinacomin holding company.

If Vietnam’s high-quality coal is mixed it with other types of coal to run thermopower plants, it would be a big waste, according to Vinacomin, the largest coal miner in the country.

Once a big oil and coal exporter, Vietnam has become an importer of the materials in increasingly high quantities.

Coal miners want the government to open the door for them to export high-quality coal, saying that Vietnam does not use this type of coal or uses very little of it.

Subsidiaries of SOEs like Jetstar Pacific, Angkor Air, DAP-Vinachem, and Petrolimex Laos will come under special financial supervision.

The Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) has set to sell 49 million tonnes of coal in 2020, a year-on-year surge of 10 percent, according to Vinacomin Deputy Director General Nguyen Hoang Trung.

Coal miners are allowed to export 2 million tons of coal, but they have not used up the yearly quota.

Thanh Dai Phu My JSC in Hai Phong City began treating slag from steel mills in August 2015 when the treatment plant in Ba Ria – Vung Tau became operational. 

The Viet Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) and the US-based Xcoal Group said the prospects for importing US coal were positive, the Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper has reported.

Many thermopower and cement plants in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh do not have enough coal to operate.

VietNamNet Bridge - Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the biggest electricity generator in the country, has complained to the government about the oversupply of coal, but at other times, the shortage of coal.

Vietnam buys coal from Indonesia at the price of VND1.6 million per ton, while coal from China is 6.6 times more expensive, at VND8.2 million.

A report from the General Department of Customs found that ore and minerals that Vietnam exports to China are much cheaper than exports to other markets.

VietNamNet Bridge - China buys 85 percent of Vietnam’s total mineral exports, but the price of exports to the market is 60 percent of the average export price.

Binh Thuan provincial authorities have been wavering between choosing titanium mining, which brings high profits but seriously damages the environment, and ecotourism projects, which ensure sustainable growth but need a green environment.

VietNamNet Bridge - Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the biggest power generator, says it does not want to buy coal from Vinacomin, the country's largest coal miner, for its power plants. 

VietNamNet Bridge - While a large amount of coal was exported in the first months of the year, most coal used in the country was imported. 

VietNamNet Bridge - At least 9 million tons of coal are in stock because domestic demand is low, while the coal price in Vietnam is higher than in other countries.