Petroleum retail businesses complain that it is difficult to import goods

Mr. Nguyen Thai Son, a driver of a service car company, reflected that last week many gas stations in Ninh Binh and Hai Phong limited the sale of diesel when he came to refuel. He said that some stores only sell a maximum of one million VND for 29-seat cars and two million VND for 45-seat cars each time. “The fact that stores limit the amount of money per refill makes drivers have to run around looking for gas stations to refuel,” he said.

Surveys at a number of petrol stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City showed that there was a local shortage of goods in some places, but they had not closed en masse or stopped selling for a long time. However, many private stores reported that importing goods is more difficult than before, especially diesel.

In Hanoia representative of a petroleum distribution and retail business, said that recently many stores in the system often only import enough diesel to sell for half a day and then have to stop because they are out of stock. There were even days when the store had no more oil to sell.

“We had to stop selling at some point because we couldn’t import diesel. Meanwhile, tank trucks had to wait at the wholesaler’s warehouse for 3-4 days before it was their turn to pick up the goods,” he said.

The situation where it is more difficult for petroleum retailers to import goods than before also happened at Ho Chi Minh City. According to the manager of a store on Nguyen Oanh Street (Go Vap Ward), the store has difficulty importing goods and depends entirely on supplies from distributors.

He said, traders only allocate enough goods to sell during the day instead of responding to order demand. There was a time when the business ordered a 16,000 liter tank truck, but only half (about 8,000 liters) was delivered.

“For more than a month now, goods have arrived slower than before. Traders only allocate according to the amount of goods they have, rarely delivering enough orders, while people’s demand is still high,” he said.

Similarly, the manager of a store on To Ky street (Trung My Tay ward) said the amount of imported gasoline has decreased by about 30% compared to before. “Previously, goods were delivered regularly, but now they are only delivered about once every two days, with a trickle of output,” this manager said.

However, key businesses and management agencies all affirmed that the market has not yet fallen into a situation of widespread supply shortage. A representative of Petrolimex, which holds over 50% of the market share, said the company “recognizes and shares with the inconvenience of customers who want to buy diesel”. But the business said this is only a local, temporary phenomenon, not a system-wide shortage of goods.

According to this representative, diesel demand in July increased, especially in the Northern region. Average daily consumption increased by nearly 42% over the same period last year. The retail channel alone recorded an increase in sales of approximately 37% and 9.4% higher than the previous month.

The conflict in the Middle East escalated when the US and Iran have not yet signed a final agreement, affecting shipping activities through the Strait of Hormuz, making it difficult for key businesses to source resources. Along with rapidly increasing demand in some areas, more customers are moving to the Petrolimex system, creating pressure on the stages of receiving, transporting and replenishing goods.

“In this case, some units may have to regulate sales volume in a short time to maintain continuous supply,” said a Petrolimex representative.

Talk to VnExpress, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Hien, Deputy Director of Domestic Market Management and Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that the Ministry has not recorded a shortage of diesel supply nationwide.

According to her, the supply is still balanced and there is no shortage. However, in some areas, there may be a situation where distributors or retail stores cannot receive goods for several days. This is because some distribution merchants sign contracts with many different contacts, instead of sticking with a stable supply.

“There are times when the supply of goods is locally scarce, and distribution problems may arise, but it does not mean that the total supply in the market is lacking,” she said, adding that the reason businesses can sell in moderation waiting for a price increase cannot be ruled out.

The leader of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development said that the Ministry has asked the Departments of Industry and Trade to review and report each case of shortage of goods, clearly identifying the focal enterprise, supply contract and the cause. At the same time, the operator also requires localities to increase inspection and monitoring of supply and inventory and strictly handle acts of hoarding goods, selling in small quantities or arbitrarily stopping sales without approval from competent authorities.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Bui Ngoc Bao, Chairman of the Vietnam Petroleum Association (VINPA), said that the recent difficulty in purchasing diesel does not stem from a lack of supply. According to him, the problem is that businesses (from wholesale to retail) have suffered long-term losses, so they “cannot sell comfortably”. Therefore, businesses still distribute goods, but they have to balance sales to reduce losses.

In fact, many retail stores said that discounts from wholesalers in the last 3-4 months have sometimes gone down to 0 VND or only 20-250 VND per liter. Meanwhile, the transportation cost per liter alone is about 130 VND, not including wages, insurance, premises, wastage and other operating costs.

According to the business’s calculations, the discount level needs to reach about 800-900 VND per liter to break even and to make a profit it must be over 1,200 VND. Discounts are so low that many stores are forced to cut staff and narrow operations, but still have to maintain sales according to regulations. Representatives of retail businesses said that for many months they have sent recommendations to management agencies, requesting to soon adjust the discount mechanism so that the retail system can maintain stable operations.

VINPA Chairman Bui Ngoc Bao also said that the fundamental solution is to soon complete the new price mechanism, replacing the current policy.

In this aspect, the leader of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development said that a new price management mechanism has been added to the draft Decree on petroleum business, in the direction of giving businesses the right to decide selling prices. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is completing the draft documents and submitting them to the Government before July 31.