Vietnam's Record Coal Imports in 2025: A Deep Dive

News Vietnam's coal imports hit record high in 2025 Singapore, 19 January (Argus) — Vietnam's coal imports reached a new all-time high in 2025, supported by an uptick in economic growth, but a sharp slowdown in demand in the second half of the year capped overall growth. Imports of all types of coal reached 3.62mn t in December 2025, sending the total for the full year to 65.43mn t, according to Vietnamese preliminary customs data. The year's imports surpassed the previous all time high of 63.82mn t in 2024. Vietnamese customs data do not differentiate between coking and thermal coal. Overall coal imports were at 4.49mn t in December, data analytics firm Kpler show, with thermal coal accounting for about 69pc of the volume at 3.1mn t. The imports could have grown more in 2025, but an extended spell of seasonal rains boosted hydropower output, reducing reliance on coal-fired generation and dampening demand for seaborne thermal coal. Receipts slipped for the second straight month in December, declining by 34pc from a year earlier and by 5.2pc from November's 3.82mn t , the data show. The annual growth in imports on 2025 followed a steady uptick in economic activity. Vietnam led southeast Asian imported coal demand growth, powered by an 8.02pc expansion in its GDP in 2025 compared with 2024. The economy expanded by 8.5pc in October-December from a year earlier, logging four straight quarters of growth. Its industrial production grew for the second straight month in December at 10.1pc from a year earlier, underscoring increase in industrial coal as well as power consumption. The rise in Vietnamese imports in 2025 also came as international coal prices remained soft, supporting buying decisions by utilities and consumers users in an oversupplied coal market. Argus assessed the widely traded GAR 4,200 kcal/kg coal for Supramax vessels at $44.99/t fob Kalimantan on 24 December 2025 — the last assessment of the year. This was down by 71pc from its all-time high of $154.21/t in October 2021 and 9.9pc from a year earlier. Prices hit a more than four-year low of $39.40/t in June 2025 and have since hovered in a narrow range that some producers said barely covers costs. Imports could continue to rise this year given that Vietnam targets an economic growth rate of at least 10pc in 2026, which could mean higher power demand. A number of coal-fired utilities are slated to come on line to support the country's growth ambitions, which could also raise imports by utilities. Vietnam's generation capacity increased by 6.4GW in 2025 to 87.6GW from a year earlier. Electricity production and power imports reached 322.8TWh in 2025, up by 4.6pc from a year earlier, but the pace of growth has moderated from 2024. The government has a base case of overall generation reaching around 350TWh in 2026, which could support demand for coal from countries including Indonesia and Australia. Indonesian coal accounted for the bulk of Vietnam's imports in December at 2.36mn t, but down from 2.83mn t a year earlier. Imports from Australia slipped to 1.25mn t, down from 1.56mnt t a year earlier. By Saurabh Chaturvedi Vietnam's coal imports (mn t) Vietnam's power generation (TWh) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved. News Japan’s Idemitsu builds chemical recycling plant Tokyo, 19 January (Argus) — Japanese refiner Idemitsu has completed construction of its first chemical recycling plant as part of efforts to promote a circular economy in the plastic industry. Idemitsu's subsidiary Chemical Recycle Japan (CRJ) has finished the construction of plastic recycling facilities at its Ichihara plant, neighbouring Idemitsu's Chiba plant in eastern Japan, the companies said on 19 January. Construction was completed in December 2025, and Idemitsu plans to begin commercial operations at the new chemical recycling plant in April 2026. The Ichihara facility can process 20,000 t/yr of plastic waste and produce around 14,000 t/yr of recycled oil. CRJ's facilities use catalysts to break down plastic waste into recycled oil. The resulting product is equivalent to light crude and contains no heavy distillates or wax, the companies said. Idemitsu plans to blend the recycled oil with conventional oil and use it at the existing refining and petrochemical units, aiming to add environmental value to selected chemical products. Plastics made from the recycled oil are expected to cost about three times more than conventional crude-derived plastics at the current plant scale, CRJ said. The company aims to expand capacity over time and eventually reduce the cost to less than twice that of conventional plastics, it added. By Kohei Yamamoto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved. News API, ethanol groups clinch deal on US biofuel bill New York, 17 January (Argus) — The American Petroleum Institute (API) and ethanol groups have agreed on reforms to US biofuel policy that they would like to see, teeing up a last-minute lobbying campaign to get the provisions included in federal budget legislation this month. API and ethanol supporters that include the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy have aligned around limiting refineries' future exemptions from biofuel mandates and making some changes to a bipartisan bill that would permit a higher-ethanol gasoline blend, according to four people familiar with the deal and draft text shared with Argus . The groups' final framework — which they will pitch to lawmakers in the hopes of swiftly adding it to government spending bills this month — would authorize sales of up to 15pc ethanol gasoline (E15) year-round. Summertime sales of ethanol blends above 10pc are restricted in most of the US because of rules meant to minimize smog. If passed into law, the deal would be a major victory for ethanol producers who have long claimed wider access to the typically-cheaper blend would benefit farmers and drivers alike. Oil majors have grown more comfortable with E15 too, preferring consistent nationwide rules to costly workarounds like a looming shift in the midcontinent to a boutique fuel blend that would allow more ethanol. While the E15 fix would take effect immediately, the energy groups want to keep existing rules around biofuel quotas and exemptions in place through 2027. Under the current system, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires oil companies to blend minimum volumes of biofuels while allowing hardship exemptions for some small refineries that annually process no more than 75,000 b/d of crude. Starting in the 2028 compliance year, relief would be awarded only to companies that process 75,000 b/d or less across all their refineries and that also maintain that eligibility each year. These smaller facilities would win automatic 75pc exemptions from biofuel quotas starting in 2028 without having to apply each year, effectively ending discretion for regulators to choose which refineries deserve exemptions. Under the proposal, EPA starting in 2028 also would not require larger oil companies blend more biofuels to offset exemptions granted to their smaller rivals. This longer phase-in would address concerns from some energy lobbyists that more immediate changes could delay EPA's work to finalize new blend mandates. The agency wants to finalize new blend quotas for 2026 and 2027 in the coming weeks. Fuel fight The draft bill's text could change as lobbyists pitch the agreement to lawmakers and try to minimize backlash from oil refiners, people familiar with the matter said. But there is little time for more negotiations, with advocates of the deal pushing Congress to include it in legislation to fund government agencies after 30 January. Lawmakers have expressed similar urgency. There may be "news soon" on updates to the existing E15 bill draft, bill sponsor and US senator Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) said in an online interview with Brownfield Ag News this week. The current deal would be a substantial blow to refiners that have won exemptions for small units in the past but run too many larger facilities to qualify under the proposed rules, including independent refiners Delek and Par Pacific. Other merchant refiners worry that the biofuel lobby will use wider ethanol access as a pretext to push for higher blend mandates in future years, which they say risks refinery closures. The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers chief executive told Argus this week that his refinery members were divided over E15 talks. API had surprised its traditional oil refining allies last year by teaming up with ethanol interests on a larger biofuel policy package . Other biofuel producers have long wanted tighter restrictions on hardship waivers than the latest deal, another hiccup for negotiations. Particularly controversial among farm advocates is a holdover provision from the current E15 bill to grant some small refiners active credits they can use toward future mandates. API, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy as well as chief Senate bill sponsors Fischer and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) did not immediately reply to requests for comment. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.