Minh Tam
Statistics by the customs show that fuel wholesale enterprises this year have bought fuels at prices much lower than last year. However, consumers now have to buy higher prices than the same period last year.
As per the base price calculation released by the Vietnam Petroleum Association (Vinpa), as of Monday, the 30-day average import price calculated from September 14 was some US$112 a barrel for RON92 petrol, about US$123.1 a barrel for diesel oil 0.05S and around US$122.1 a barrel for kerosene, shrinking considerably from previous days
In recent days, in spite of rising petrol prices in the Singaporean market, Vietnam’s major petrol exporter, the 30-day average price has declined. Therefore, the base prices, which comprise import prices, taxes and fees, have got closer to retail prices, which slipped by VND390 a liter on October 7.
In particular, the base price of gasoline now is VND221 a liter higher than the retail price, while that of diesel oil is VND335 a liter higher and that of kerosene is VND686 a liter higher.
The point is that wholesale companies have got a nod from the ministries of finance and industry-trade to receive VND300 for a liter of gasoline or a liter of diesel oil and VND800 for a liter of kerosene sold from the fuel price stabilization fund. This means they earn an extra profit of VND97 and VND114 for one liter of gasoline and kerosene sold respectively and just incur a loss of VND35 for every liter of diesel oil consumed.
These are additional profits apart from the fixed profit of VND300 a liter of gasoline and VND100 a liter of diesel oil or a liter of kerosene provided by the prevailing law.
The Ministry of Finance last week announced the fund’s balance at over VND55 billion, with deficits recorded at many firms.
A recent report by the General Department of Customs says wholesale companies had imported more than 236,000 tons of fuels worth over US$228 million in the second half of September. January-September fuel imports totaled over 5.4 million tons worth some US$5.1 billion, says the report.
For the two major products of gasoline and diesel oil, the country had imported a total of 1.7 million tons worth some US$1.7 billion and 2.4 million tons costing US$2.2 billion respectively in the first nine months.
With the average import price of US$1,036 a ton of gasoline and US$932.9 a ton of diesel oil in September’s second half, the respective nine-month average prices of the two items were US$1,032 and US$919.9 a ton.
Meanwhile, the year-ago period’s figures were much higher, with the average price of gasoline amounting to around US$1,079 a ton and that of diesel oil hitting US$991.2 a ton in the second half of September in 2012. Similarly, the nine-month average prices in 2012 stayed high, at US$1,058 and US$957.5 per ton.
Regardless of this, the current retail prices are higher than those recorded in the year-ago period, with RON92 petrol now sold at VND23,880 a liter and diesel oil at VND22,210 a liter compared to VND23,650 and VND21,850 a liter in October last year.
Petrol imports in January-September tumbled sharply versus the same period in 2012, with the total import volume plummeting 27% year-on-year, with gasoline falling 24% and diesel oil plunging 38%, the department reports.
Đăng ký: VietNam News