Vietnam, a major coal supplier to China, estimated on Wednesday that its coal output in January-May will rise 10.7 percent from a year ago to 18.86 million tons.
Coal exports in January-May are estimated to fall 15.7 percent from the same period last year to 11.4 million tons but revenues would rise 35 percent to $565 million thanks to high world coal prices, the General Statistics Office said.
Vietnam, which is struggling to meet soaring energy demand at home, plans to slash coal exports this year by more than 32 percent to about 22 million tons to save more for new power plants, officials from the Industry and Trade Ministry have said.
As part of the move to save coal, the government last month launched a crackdown on coal smuggling to China, which was estimated to be as high as 10 million tons last year, with police intercepting more than a hundred ships carrying illegal coal cargoes near the Chinese sea border.
Vinacomin, the country's top coal miner, has said it will stop the cross-border sales of coal via Van Gia port in the northern province of Quang Ninh from June 1 and only allows its subsidiary Coalimex-TKV to export coal to China.
Power demand in Vietnam is expected to grow between 18 percent and 20 percent annually, prompting the government to seek ways to diversify energy sources including coal, water, natural gas, wind power and nuclear.
Source: Reuters
