Vietnam raises coal imports to assure investors of no power cuts

Electricity pledge: A worker conducting railway track maintenance work in Hanoi. Vietnam’s coal imports are projected to rise further in the second half of the year. —AFP

HANOI: Vietnam’s coal imports have nearly doubled from the same period of 2023, according to customs data, as the government strives to reassure foreign investors that factories will not face a repeat of last year’s power shortages.

The country, which hosts large manufacturing operations of multinational companies like South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, Taiwan’s Foxconn and Japan’s Canon, is facing increasing pressure after it could not guarantee continuous power supplies during a prolonged heatwave last summer. Some factories were forced to temporarily suspend production.