| Goods imports in July maintained a slight increase. New generation FTAs have a positive impact on imports and exports. |
Our country has more than 3,200 km of coastline but still has to spend billions of dollars importing salt. This paradox stems from the main reason that salt processing technology does not meet the needs of domestic production units.
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| Salt workers in the salt fields of Bach Long commune (Giao Thuy, Nam Dinh) - Photo: Pham Tiep |
Why still have to import salt?
In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the allocation of salt import tariff quota of 80,000 tons; in 2023 it is 84,000 tons.
Regarding actual demand, currently, each year Vietnam imports about 400,000 - 600,000 tons of high-purity white salt to serve industries, mostly the chemical industry, especially for the production of chlorine. In addition, there are tens of thousands of tons of especially clean salt imported to serve the medical industry. Mr. Van Dinh Hoan - General Director of Viet Tri Chemical Joint Stock Company said that each year the company needs about 80,000 - 100,000 tons of high-quality industrial salt for chemical production. And all of this salt must be imported. Explaining the reason, Mr. Hoan analyzed: Firstly, the quality of domestically produced salt does not meet the company's production needs due to many impurities. Having to process, remove, and screen impurities in salt leads to a price that is even higher than imported salt. Not only in terms of quality, with the current manual and fragmented production of salt in the country, it is also not possible to ensure a stable and long-term quantity of salt for chemical production enterprises.
Agreeing with Mr. Van Dinh Hoan, the representative of Southern Basic Chemicals Joint Stock Company also shared: Every year, the company imports a large amount of salt for the production of basic chemicals. The amount of salt allocated in the quota is not enough, so the units often have to import commercially.
Must improve the quality of salt in water
Every year, domestic chemical and medical production units are granted quotas for importing industrial salt according to regulations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, the number of quotas granted only meets a small part of the demand. For example, each year Viet Tri Chemical Joint Stock Company is granted a quota of about 20,000 tons, but the actual demand is about 80,000 - 100,000 tons, only 20 to 25% of the total amount of salt the company uses for production. The remaining amount the company must import outside the tariff quota. Meanwhile, the import tax rates of salt between the two sides are clearly different. Industrial salt imported under the tariff quota is subject to a tax of 15%; industrial salt imported outside the tariff quota is subject to a tax of 50%.
On the other hand, the cost of industrial salt accounts for a large proportion of the production cost of the company's products. With the current quota, the company's products cannot compete with similar products imported from China.
The second is the time for granting industrial salt tariff quotas. Annual industrial salt tariff quotas are always granted at the end of the year. With such a short time, it is very difficult for the company to organize the import of all quotas within the year. For example, in 2015, tariff quota No. 12570/BCT-XNK granted on December 8, 2015 (quantity of 10,000 tons), due to the short time, the company could not import in time, so it had to abandon it.
Every year, to check the strict implementation of regulations on the proper use of imported salt, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organize inspection teams to assess the use of imported industrial salt according to tariff quotas at enterprises. In fact, domestically produced salt does not meet the requirements in terms of both quality and quantity as raw materials for chemical production enterprises.
From this reality, Viet Tri Chemical Joint Stock Company recommends: Firstly, increase the number of industrial salt tariff quotas according to the demand so that domestic manufacturing enterprises can compete with similar products imported from China. Secondly, the time to grant industrial salt tariff quotas to enterprises is earlier (before the fourth quarter of each year) so that domestic units can be proactive in importing raw materials to meet production requirements.
In the long term, the units expect the salt industry to improve technology and production scale to be able to meet both quality and quantity requirements for domestic chemical production. Because in the current reality, the difference between salt imports within the quota and outside the tariff quota has pushed up the production cost of chemicals for the units, making it difficult to compete with similar foreign products.
Therefore, if the problem of domestic salt meeting the needs of domestic production is solved, businesses will not have to import, which will help ensure the interests of both sides: Salt farmers will have increased income, the value of domestic salt will increase, and manufacturing businesses will also reduce production costs, competing with foreign goods. However, to be able to meet this need, the domestic salt industry needs to invest systematically in technology, machinery, and human resources. This requires the cooperation and participation of ministries and branches.
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