Apparent paradox: Vietnam running short of coal, but pushing exports

According to calculations by Vinacomin, the sprawling state-controlled

Projecting to 2025, coal demand will be 308 million tonnes. Power plants will consume 268 million tonnes and industries that use coal in production, e.g. steel, glass, cement, fertilizer and chemicals, will use the rest.

Staff of the national electric power company, EVN, and the national oil and gas company, Petrovietnam, have travelled abroad to investigate sources of coal imports. Their conclusion, suggests Saigon Tiep Thi, is that it will be difficult to secure adequate supplies, even if Vietnam is prepared to pay three or four times more the price Vietnam