Supply and demand

E5 (gasoline containing 4-5% v/v of ethanol) has been available in Vietnam since 2010, but sales have been very small because consumers were not ready to adopt a new type of gasoline.

Despite the government’s ethanol mandate and rollout roadmap, E5 sales only picked up in January 2018 after the government issued Notification 255, banning the sale of conventional RON 92. Retail fuel stations typically sell E5 RON 92 at a slight discount compared to RON 95.

E5 RON 92 accounted for 42% of total gasoline consumption in 2018. However, its share declined to 30-35% in 2019 due to low consumer confidence and a narrow price difference from RON 95.

In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed reducing the Environmental Protection Tax (EPT) applicable to E5 RON 92 to abou