Vietnam Mineral Products

Crude oil

As Vietnam’s most important export product, crude oil brought about 8.447 billion US dollars for 15.1 million tons exported last year, or about 17.46% of the total export quota. Crude oil is exploited mostly from Cuu Long sedimentary basin in the continental shelf of Vietnam. The country’s crude oil is known to have low sulphur content, high paraffin rate (18-30%), and solidify at high temperatures. Vietnam’s oil prospects equal 10 billion tons of oil equivalent, with 4-5 billion tons of oil reserves. In the next few years, when oil refinery sites come into practice, there will be many changes in the export of crude oil. At present, the main importers of Vietnam’s crude oil are China, Japan, Singapore, England and the USA.

Coal

Vietnam’s coal production and export has shown a high development rate. During the period 2000 – 2005, export value for coal increased 48.1% on an annual basis. Only two years later, 41.2 million tons of pure coal were produced, and 32.5 exported for 1.018 US dollars making 2.1% of the total export quota. Coal is presently being exploited from open-cast mines in the North East basin, with 80% of anthracite, 20% brown coal and a little amount of coke coal. The main customers of Vietnam’s coal include Japan, China, Thailand, South Korea and Holland. In the coming years, the amount of export coal will remain constant so as to meet the domestic demand for energy.

Metal and non-metal

Due to limitations in exploitation and processing, Vietnam exports mostly crude metal and non-metal products. In 2007, the export value of noble metal and gemstone was 201 million US dollars, making them part of the 20 best export products. The largest import market for Vietnam’s metal is China. It is expected that in the next few years when Vietnam further develops mineral mines and invests more into processing, the export value of metal and non-metal products will increase significantly.

Tags: Vietnam Mineral Products, Vietnam products