Vietnam imported 6.25 million tons of coal in April, up 65.3 million tons from the same month last year, according to provisional Vietnamese customs data. The data, which do not distinguish between coking coal and thermal coal, also showed that last month 's revenue was 4.45 million tons higher than that of imports in March.
The near-term outlook for shipments to Vietnam is strong in the context of increased demand prospects at a time when purchasing requirements are lower than usual in other key coal-consuming markets in Asia.
Vietnam also claimed to have received extra charges at knock-down rates in March and early April, despite the lack of other primary buyers on the market. Vietnamese buyers were able to pick up some Indonesian and South African cargoes originally intended for India, which had been locked up on 25 March. Some Australian coal also targeted Vietnam at tempting prices after demand from the usual buyer China cooled in the midst of high domestic stocks and limited requirements.
Vietnam's imports have also been encouraged by the gradual easing of its National Social Distancing Order, which began on 1 April and was enforced for two weeks. Logistics and labor were not too badly affected as Vietnam gradually eased movement restrictions in more provinces and cities, with local authorities mandated to monitor the spread of the virus.
Economic activity was relatively resilient compared to other countries, but still slowed with industrial production falling by 10.5 pc in April from a year ago, according to the General Statistics Office. Vietnam's electricity generation dropped to 17.9TWh last month, from 19.2TWh in April 2019 to 19.8TWh in March 2020. Vietnam's generational decline has been relatively slower than other countries , such as India, which has led to a decline among key coal-consuming nations.
Vietnam 's mid-to long-term outlook appears to be bloodthirsty as Hanoi is working on a five-year socio-economic development plan for 2021-25, targeting an average growth rate of 7 pc / yr. Its GDP grew by 3.82pc during January-March this year, the lowest in recent years, and the government is targeting to rise by more than 5pc this year.
Development in the power sector also supports the outlook for imports of thermal coal. Last year, the country commissioned 1.2GW of new coal-fired generation capacity to bring its total to 19.2GW. About 2.1GW is expected to be on line this year and a further 3.7GW of capacity is under construction, with commissioning set for 2021.
There are more ambitious plans for the year 2022. Around 3.2GW is under construction and scheduled to be launched that year, while another 870MW is expected to be launched in 2022, although construction has not yet begun.
Meanwhile, Australian coal accounted for much of last month's increase in imports, with revenues of all grades of Australian coal growing by 581,980 t in the year to approximately 2.08 mn t.
Indonesia was the next largest supplier, accounting for 1.74 million tons of imports in April, up from around 474,521 tons in the previous year. Vietnam imported approximately 1mn t from Russia in April, up from 697,738 t a year earlier.
Although Vietnam 's provisional customs data did not show coal imports from South Africa in April, exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to Vietnam swelled last month as demand from India, the key buyer of South African coal, collapsed. In April, Richards Bay 's exports to Vietnam jumped to a record 1.3 million tons, up from 539.034 tons in March, with Vietnamese buyers being able to purchase some additional distressed freight.
