The Ministry of Finance has cut the coal export tax from 13 percent to
10 percent in a move to help coal producers reduce their high
stockpiles. The tax cut takes effect this week under Circular
124/2013/TT-BTC.
The move was made following a proposal from the
country’s largest coal producer, Vinacomin. The group asked the
Government to revoke a July hike in export tariffs, saying this had made
a disastrous impact on its business.
According to the group, since
the Government raised coal-export tax from 10 percent to 13 percent in
July, its coal export volume has dropped to only 120,000 tonnes a month,
only a tenth of the previous amount. The group said the rise in
tariffs meant that export prices had to increase significantly.
Taxes
and fees now make up 30 percent of the production cost of export coal,
and 20 percent of coal sold to domestic customers.
The Industry and
Trade Ministry also reported that coal export in July fell by 91 percent
in volume and 80 percent in value compared to June. Coal export in the
first seven months of this year reached 7.8 million tonnes, grossing
561.4 million USD.
Due to the low demand, the group estimates it had
stockpiled about 7.9 million tonnes of coal at the end of August.
Vinacomin said it expects to sell about 2.9 million tonnes of coal this
month while producing 3.2 million tonnes.-VNA