Vietnam's coal imports reached a new all-time high in 2025, supported by an uptick in economic growth, but a sharp slowdown in demand in the second half of the year capped overall growth.
Imports of all types of coal reached 3.62mn t in December 2025, sending the total for the full year to 65.43mn t, according to Vietnamese preliminary customs data. The year's imports surpassed the previous all time high of 63.82mn t in 2024.
Vietnamese customs data do not differentiate between coking and thermal coal. Overall coal imports were at 4.49mn t in December, data analytics firm Kpler show, with thermal coal accounting for about 69pc of the volume at 3.1mn t.
The imports could have grown more in 2025, but an extended spell of seasonal rains boosted hydropower output, reducing reliance on coal-fired generation and dampening demand for seaborne thermal coal. Receipts slipped for the second straight month in December, declining by 34pc from a year earlier and by 5.2pc from November's 3.82mn t, the data show.
The annual growth in imports on 2025 followed a steady uptick in economic activity. Vietnam led southeast Asian imported coal demand growth, powered by an 8.02pc expansion in its GDP in 2025 compared with 2024. The economy expanded by 8.5pc in October-December from a year earlier, logging four straight quarters of growth. Its industrial production grew for the second straight month in December at 10.1pc from a year earlier, underscoring increase in industrial coal as well as power consumption.
The rise in Vietnamese imports in 2025 also came as international coal prices remained soft, supporting buying decisions by utilities and consumers users in an oversupplied coal market. Argus assessed the widely traded GAR 4,200 kcal/kg coal for Supramax vessels at $44.99/t fob Kalimantan on 24 December 2025 — the last assessment of the year. This was down by 71pc from its all-time high of $154.21/t in October 2021 and 9.9pc from a year earlier. Prices hit a more than four-year low of $39.40/t in June 2025 and have since hovered in a narrow range that some producers said barely covers costs.
Imports could continue to rise this year given that Vietnam targets an economic growth rate of at least 10pc in 2026, which could mean higher power demand. A number of coal-fired utilities are slated to come on line to support the country's growth ambitions, which could also raise imports by utilities. Vietnam's generation capacity increased by 6.4GW in 2025 to 87.6GW from a year earlier. Electricity production and power imports reached 322.8TWh in 2025, up by 4.6pc from a year earlier, but the pace of growth has moderated from 2024. The government has a base case of overall generation reaching around 350TWh in 2026, which could support demand for coal from countries including Indonesia and Australia.
Indonesian coal accounted for the bulk of Vietnam's imports in December at 2.36mn t, but down from 2.83mn t a year earlier. Imports from Australia slipped to 1.25mn t, down from 1.56mnt t a year earlier.
