Viet Nam imported more than 8.6 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products worth US$5.71 billion in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 26.4 per cent.

The information was revealed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Statistics show that in the first seven months of 2018, Malaysia was the country’s largest source of oil and petroleum shipping 2.23 million tonnes worth $1.38 billion to Viet Nam, accounting for 28.6 per cent of the country’s total imports. This represented increases of 49.3 per cent and 102.3 per cent in terms of quantity and value from the corresponding period last year.

It was followed by the Republic of Korea with 1.97 million tonnes worth $1.42 billion, an increase of 14.5 per cent in volume and 37.5 per cent in value.

Viet Nam imported 1.81 million tonnes of oil and petroleum from Singapore, equivalent to $1.15 billion, a sharp decline of 40.8 per cent in volume and 22.7 per cent in turnover.

In addition, the country also imported 895,197 tonnes from China, 619,739 tonnes from Thailand and 60,361 tonnes from Russia. — VNS