VINACHEM

This time last year, Chinese coal prices were soaring as power plants scrambled for supplies after an historic drought caused hydropower output to collapse.

The nation is currently the eighth largest rubber supplier to the Japanese market, behind only Indonesia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United States, according to the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Economists cap Vietnam’s GDP growth this year at 6%, well short of the government’s target of 6.5%.

Global blue ammonia cost-of-production price assessments edged higher in August, with Northwest Europe retaking the price top spot from Far East Asia, and US Gulf prices recovering after a protracted spell of falls.

Oil prices rose on Friday as concerns that a Russian ban on fuel exports could tighten global oil supply outweighed fears that further possible U.S. interest rate hikes could dent fuel demand, but they were still headed for a weekly loss in four.

The previous record of Russian fertilizers imported by the US was reached last year, with the total value of purchases over seven months totaling $900Mln.

The Fraser Institute noted that Viet Nam's improvement in the index this year is a relatively substantial increase compared to other Southeast Asian peers.