Curtain drops on giant coal price increases

April 06, 2011 | 16:12

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Vinacomin started raising coal prices for products delivered to domestic cement, paper and fertiliser producers from 20 to 40 per cent, the group announced yesterday.

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>> Vinacomin hikes coal prices

The price hike, effective from April 1, came after the Ministry of Finance approved Vinacomin’s price hike proposal due increased production costs.

Vinacomin, the country’s largest coal miner, said in a statement that it would face a financial trouble if did not raise coal prices.

The new price will be also applied to steel and construction material manufacturers in the country, according to the group.

“The price hike this year will be higher than previous years because of high production costs increase. The 20-40 per cent price hike to cement, paper and fertiliser producers can only fulfill the gap of the group’s production cost increase in 2010 and 2011,” said Vinacomin.

In March, Vinacomin hiked coal prices by 5 per cent to Electricity of Vietnam’s coal-fired power plants.

This year, the group aims to sell 44 million tonnes of coal including 27.5 million tonnes to the domestic market.

By Ngoc Linh

vir.com.vn

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