Vietnam’s national electricity provider EVN has warned of power shortages in the coming weeks due to a lack of coal, with several coal-fired power plants in the country already operating at a reduced capacity.

The crux of the problem is a limited domestic supply of coking coal and surging demand, said Dao Phuong Loan, head of the Vietnam market for coke and coking coal at Visa Commodities, in a recent interview with The Business Times.

While Vietnam has its own coal reserves, a large proportion of it is anthracite - also known as hard coal or black coal - that has a range of uses beyond power generation, she said.