Vietnam to Increase Export Tax Rate for Coal to 20 Percent

Domestic sources stated last week that the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance plans to increase the export tax rate for coal from 15 percent to 20 percent to restrict coal exports as coal reserves in the country are thinning.

The measure was proposed after the Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) imported 9,500 mt of low-quality coal early this month from Indonesia to power thermo-electric plants in central and southern Vietnam. This was the first time Vietnam, a major coal exporter, imported coal.

According to Vinacomin, Vietnam will annually import 10 million mt of coal by 2012 and these imports will increase to 100 million mt per year by 2020. Meanwhile, the country will export 2 million mt of coal each year by 2012, increasing to around 20 million mt per year by 2020.

As SteelOrbis previously reported, Vietnam's Ministry of Finance also announced that it will increase the export tax rate for iron ore to 40 percent from 30 percent as of July 2, 2011.