Vietnam refinery boosts production amid concern on fuel import costs
HANOI : Vietnam's Binh Son refinery has ramped up its production to meet domestic fuel demand and was operating at 109 per cent of its designed capacity, the government said on Thursday
The 130,000-barrel-per-day facility, owned by Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical accounts for a third of Vietnam's demand for refined petroleum products.
"The refinery could increase its operations further, to 110 per cent of capacity, to stabilise the market," Binh Son deputy chief executive Cao Tuan Si said in a government statement.
It comes days after several filling stations in southern Vietnam closed or limited their sales, citing financial difficulties, according to state media.
The government said the refinery in central province of Quang Ngai sold 5.8 million cubic metres of fuel in the first nine months of this year, and its inventory is running low.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry and Trade asked the State Bank of Vietnam to help local fuel traders have better access to foreign currencies to pay for imports, as they face steep increase in prices.
Vietnam's refined fuel imports in the first nine months of this year rose 22.7 per cent from a year earlier to 6.52 million tonnes, but the import value rose 131 per cent to $6.8 billion, according to government customs data.
