According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's coal imports of all kinds reached more than 4.8 million tons, equivalent to nearly 630 million USD in December 2023, down 3.2% in volume and 8.6% in value compared to the previous month.

Accumulated for the whole year of 2023, coal imports of all kinds reached more than 51.1 million tons, worth more than 7.1 billion USD, a sharp increase of 61.4% in volume and 0.7% in value over the same period in 2022.

The average import price recorded a record decrease, reaching 140.2 USD/ton, down 37.6% compared to the same period in 2022.

In 2023, Vietnam will spend 7.1 billion USD to import all kinds of coal.

The trend of shifting coal supply flows from Europe to Asia has exploded in 2023, after Europe stopped buying due to Western sanctions against Russia. Vietnam is no exception and has led to an increase in import volume.

In terms of market, Australia is the largest coal supplier to Vietnam in 2023 with 19.8 million tons, worth more than 3.28 billion USD, up 17.6% in volume but down 23.1% in price over the same period. Following are Indonesia and Russia, respectively.

In particular, Vietnam is strongly increasing imports from Indonesia with the cheapest price among all markets.

Specifically, in December 2023, coal imports from the Southeast Asian country reached more than 1.9 million tons with a value of more than 179.4 million USD, an increase of 106.4% compared to December 2022.

In the first 12 months, Vietnam spent nearly 2.1 billion USD to import 19.2 million tons of coal from Indonesia, up 49.5% in volume and 8.5% in value over the same period in 2022.

This market accounts for 37.6% in volume and 28.8% in value. The average import price reached 111 USD/ton, down 27.4% over the same period in 2022.