HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is seeking to import more coal from Australia to ease a shortage of the fossil fuel for electricity production, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Friday.
The ministry has asked the Australian embassy in Hanoi to arrange a meeting with Australian suppliers to sign new contracts, aiming to have the additional coal delivered from later this month, it said after a meeting between minister Nguyen Hong Dien and Australian ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie.
Vietnam’s state-run utility EVN on Wednesday warned of electricity shortages from next month due to tight coal supplies, adding that several of its coal-fired power plants had to cut their run rates.
Vietnam turned from a net coal exporter to a net importer nearly a decade ago and has been importing the fuel mainly from Indonesia and Australia.
Vietnam’s coal imports from Australia totalled 15.6 million tonnes last year, accounting for 43% of its total coal imports, according to government customs data.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Mark Porter)
