Vietnam fuel enterprises have urged the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (MOIT) and the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam (MOF) to consider exempting or reducing import taxes on ethanol to help lower the cost of E10 gasoline ahead of its nationwide rollout, Vietnamnet reported.
Under Circular 50/2025/TT-BCT, from June 1, 2026, all unleaded gasoline sold nationwide must be blended as E10. E5 RON92 gasoline will continue to be available until the end of 2030. The move means that within months, around 75 million motorcycles and more than 5.5 million cars in Vietnam will transition to biofuel use.
Dang Tat Thanh of MOIT’s Department of Innovation, Green Transformation and Industrial Promotion said preparations for nationwide implementation have largely been completed.
Regarding ethanol supply, officials said Vietnam currently relies on both domestic production and imports. The country has six ethanol plants with a combined designed capacity of about 500,000 cubic meters per year, meeting roughly 40–50 percent of the E100 demand for blending E5 and E10 fuels.
To cover the shortfall, Vietnam can import ethanol directly from the United States and Brazil, which together account for more than 80 percent of global ethanol production, as well as from regional hubs such as Singapore and South Korea.
Ho Ngoc Linh of Petrolimex said the group has been piloting E10 sales since August 1, 2025, at 36 retail outlets in Ho Chi Minh City. He said Petrolimex has upgraded technical processes and infrastructure to ensure E10 meets both internal standards and national technical requirements.
However, Linh noted that domestic ethanol supply remains insufficient, making imports necessary. He said reducing or exempting import taxes on E100 would help lower E10 production costs and support wider consumer acceptance.
Linh added that Petrolimex currently imports all the gasoline used for blending, as Vietnam’s two refineries are unable to supply high-quality gasoline for E10 production. Higher import costs and limited supply directly affect retail prices, he said. As a result, the company has also suggested reviewing existing technical standards for E10 to better reflect market conditions.
Nguyen Thuy Hien, deputy director of MOIT’s Domestic Market Management and Development Department, said implementing the biofuel roadmap requires close coordination between regulators, businesses, and consumers. She said policies must be reviewed and revised to ensure clarity and ease of application, while ethanol producers need support to maintain a stable supply.
Hien described the business proposals as reasonable, noting that MOIT has already developed an implementation roadmap and submitted policy recommendations to the Government and the Prime Minister. Key areas under review include special consumption tax and environmental protection tax regulations, which businesses say are difficult to apply in practice.
The ministry is working closely with MOF to adjust tax policies and create favorable conditions for large-scale E10 deployment. Businesses have also called for the faster completion of national standards and technical regulations for biofuels to ensure that all legal and technical requirements are in place before the June 1 rollout, she added.
