HANOI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Corporation (Vinacomin) is planning to lay off 4,000 workers in 2016, according to a Vinacomin source on Friday.
Vinacomin's revenue reached 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2016, down 7 percent compared to the same period last year, local VNExpress online newspaper quoted the source as saying.
The corporation's profits have fallen for the fifth consecutive year, while coal output is also forecast to fall 8.7 percent year-on-year in 2016, said Vinacomin.
The sharp decline is because imported coal is sold at cheaper price than local sources, according to Vinacomin.
Official statistics showed that in the first eight months of this year, Vietnam imported nearly 10 million tons of coal worth 574 million U.S. dollars, three times higher than estimated figure of 3 million tons for the entire year.
