No gasoline imported via HCMC ports
No gasoline imported via HCMC ports
For the first time in many years, no gasoline products were imported through HCMC ports in the first half of 2019.
A representative of the HCMC Customs Department told the Saigon Times that import revenues from gasoline products in the first half of 2018 reached nearly US$10.8 million, but the figure has been zero so far in 2019.
He pointed out that import tariffs on goods from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, are higher than those from South Korea, which are also zero.
Goods transported from ports in HCMC to other provinces will incur very large costs, so traders are now carrying their goods straight to Van Phong Port in the south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.
They also purchase gasoline products from Nghi Son and Dung Quat oil refineries in the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai.
“The trend started to emerge last year. And it has been completely out of stock (in the city’s local ports) this year,” he said, adding that this is normal, in tandem with the supply and demand of the market.
Meanwhile, import bills of similar products, such as diesel oil, kerosene and jet fuel, also dropped by 10% to 35%, compared with the same six-month period last year.
According to the local customs department, its ‘lost’ tariff revenues from fuel products will amount to over VND7 trillion (US$301 million) in 2019.
Hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong from other products, such as household appliances, machinery and equipment, also saw declines in tariff revenues.
However, rising tariff revenues from scooters, cars, computers, electronics and spare parts helped offset these declines.
For example, some 6,400 imported cars below nine seats brought in more than US$131 million in tariff revenues in the first six months of this year, up five-fold compared with the year-earlier period.
Also, import tariffs from some 68,200 scooters rose by 111.2% year-on-year to roughly US$158 million.
Given actual import and export developments and direct impacts on tariff lines from the execution of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the local customs department estimated its revenue this month at about VND9 trillion (US$387 million), bringing the total for the seven-month period to some VND66.9 trillion (US$2.8 billion).
