Vietnam fires up oil product imports from regional neighbors

By Dam Tuan May 19, 2016 | 02:37 am PT

At a retail station. Photo by VnExpress/Quy Doan

Vietnam imported a combined 4.2 million tons of refined products from Singapore and Malaysia in the first four months of 2016, with the two Southeast Asian neighbors topping the country's list of suppliers.

Vietnam imported 1.82 million tons from Singapore, an increase of 7.3 percent compared with the same period last year, while Malaysia shipped in 1.02 million tons, climbing a massive 440 percent, according to Vietnam Customs.

More than 1.4 million tons of oil products were imported in April worth $521 million, rising 22.5 percent in terms of quantity and 28.4 percent in terms of value compared to the previous month.

Total refined product imports from Singapore and Malaysia reached 4.2 million tons as of April 30 this year, an increase of 19.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

The average import price in the April fell by 39 percent on-year leaving the import value at only $1.45 billion, 27.2 percent less than last April.

Following Singapore and Malaysia were South Korea with 479,000 tons, up 620 percent, and China with 411,000 tons, down 28 percent compared to the same period last year.