Vietnam mulls importing US coal for power generation

HANOI, Aug 06 (Reuters): Vietnam is considering importing coal from the United States (US) to meet rising demand for the fuel for power generation, state media reported on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian country plans to build more coal-fired power plants.

Vietnam is also seeking to import more US goods to help narrow its trade surplus with the United States following threats by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on its products amid the Sino-US trade war.

Executives from state-run coal producer Vinacomin and Pennsylvania-based Xcoal Energy & Resources met last week in Hanoi to discuss the possibilities of shipping U.S. coal to Vietnam, reported state-run newspaper Dau Tu.

Vietnam has recently become a net coal importer, with most of its shipments coming from Australia and Indonesia.

Coal is expected to account for 42.6per cent of Vietnam's power generating capacity by 2030, up from 38.1per cent currently, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Tuesday's report provided no further details on the possible imports.