The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance on June 6 issued a decision to raise tariffs on coal and mineral ores exports to 20%, aiming to cut outbound shipments of fossil fuels and materials in order to meet the increasing domestic demand, the Lao Dong newspaper reported. The new duty will officially take effect from June 16. Tin ores are included in the list of materials covered.
The main destination of Vietnam’s tin concentrate exports is China. China imported 1,478 tonnes (gross weight) of ore from Vietnam in the first four months of this year according to its official customs statistics, up from 727 tonnes in the whole of 2007.
Vietnam currently produces some 2,500 tpy of refined tin, and output is forecast to rise to over 3,000 tpy from 2015 to 2025 under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s long term plan. However Vietnam’s demand for tin is forecast to grow to 8,000 – 9,000 tpy by 2025, requiring a large increase in tin and tin product imports. The government is planning to invest 235 billion VND (US$14 million) to develop selected mine projects over the plan period in order to boost domestic ore supply.
