Petroleum product imports from ASEAN increased

Vietnam’s import of petroleum products from the Association of South East Asian Nations countries rose sharply in the past five months, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vietnam’s import of petroleum products from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries rose sharply in the past five months, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

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From January to May, Vietnam imported 5.41 million tonnes of petrol and oil products, up 27.6 percent against the same period last year, with the major ASEAN markets being Singapore and Malaysia.

The rise was attributed to the import tariff on petrol and oil products from ASEAN that went to zero since the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement took effect on January 1, 2016.

In 2015, Vietnam bought 3.84 million tonnes of petroleum products from Singapore and 2.28 million tonnes from Thailand, which together accounted for more than half of the country’s petroleum imports of 10 million tonnes.