HANOI: Dung Quat, Vietnam’s only operational oil refinery, has claimed that it is facing the risk of closure as it is struggling with gasoline from regional countries after import taxes were cut earlier this year.
Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company, a PetroVietnam unit and the operator of the Dung Quat refinery, said lower tariffs on fuel imports from Southeast Asia has made the company’s products much less competitive in the local market.
If the company is forced to reduce its prices, its contribution to the state budget will fall by VND14.3 trillion (US$662 million) in 2015 and VND16.2 trillion ($750 million) next year, it said.The company requested the Finance Ministry to “adjust import tariffs.” It is not completely clear if Binh Son wants the government to raise taxes on fuel imports by other companies, or give the company itself tax breaks.
As the country’s first refinery, Dung Quat opened in 2009 and has a capacity of 148,000 barrels per day, or 6.5 million tons per year.Vietnam has forecast that the country’s demand for petroleum products will reach 27 million tons per year by 2025.
