According to the General Department of Customs in April 2023, Vietnam imported 667,243 tons of petrol and oil with a total turnover of 534.1 million USD, down 11.4% in volume and 12.5% in turnover respectively. last month.

Compared to the same period in 2022, the volume and turnover of Vietnam's petroleum imports in April also decreased sharply with the indexes down 15.5% and 38.5% respectively.

Petrol imports fell in the first months of the year

In the first 4 months of the year, the whole country imported 3.26 million tons of petroleum with a total turnover of 2.77 billion USD, down 4.8% in volume and 16.3% in turnover over the same period last year. .

In the first 4 months of 2023, Vietnam imported petroleum from South Korea leading with 1.25 million tons; followed by Singapore with 825,715 tons; Malaysia with 500,302 tons; China with 353,003 tons…

The Vietnam Petroleum Association explained that the supply of petroleum has been relatively stable in the past time thanks to a number of petroleum depots of key enterprises that were suspended because the automatic tank measuring device has not been connected. fix. Accordingly, domestic refined products have increased again, reducing import dependence. The association also assessed that the key businesses have also implemented the plan to allocate total resources, so the supply has been improved.

Besides, according to key businesses, the slight decrease in demand for fuel in production and business activities in the first quarter of the year also contributed to the decrease in import volume.

Previously, 2022 was a volatile year for the domestic petroleum market . There are many reasons given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to explain the lack of local fuel in the domestic fuel market in the second and third quarters, including the reason why businesses have to import goods at high prices, sell at low prices, and low cost. The business has not adjusted yet, causing them to suffer losses. This leads to the situation of petrol wholesalers cutting discounts (receivable rates for distributors and retailers) and reducing the amount of goods sold.

In order to ensure supply for demand, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked key enterprises to increase imports. For the whole year of 2022, the whole country imported 8,874,959 tons of petroleum, worth $8.9 billion, up 27.7% in volume and 118.5% in turnover compared to 2021.

Forecasting that the demand for petroleum will increase to serve production and business and recover after the epidemic, in 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assigned key enterprises to buy and import 25.9-26.7 million m3, tons of gasoline, an increase. 10-15% compared to 2022. Over the past time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also regularly inspected and urged businesses to strictly implement the assigned additional import plan, ensuring a continuous supply for domestic market and not to have a shortage of supply.

In contrast, in April, Vietnam exported 185,208 tons of petroleum with a turnover of 153.81 million USD, down 21.7% in volume and 22.8% in turnover compared to March 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, Vietnam's petroleum export volume and turnover decreased by 7.4% and 23.8%, respectively.

In the first 4 months of 2023, Vietnam exported 739,619 tons of petroleum with a turnover of 642 million USD, up 0.1% in volume but down 0.3% in turnover compared to the same period in 2022.