The People’s Committee of Quang Tri Province in north-central Vietnam has greenlit a project to construct an over-six-kilometer-long conveyor belt designed to transport coal from Laos, as reported by the provincial administration on Monday.

The conveyor belt is set to carry 30 million metric tons of coal annually, addressing the challenge of narrow and degraded local roads. This project aims to facilitate coal transport between the two countries, ensure energy security in Vietnam until 2030, meet domestic coal demand, and alleviate customs clearance pressure at La Lay International Border Gate and National Highway 15D.

The conveyor belt will start at the Vietnam-Laos border and terminate at a warehouse in A Ngo Commune, Dakrong District, Quang Tri. Covering 23.8 hectares of land, the project is estimated to cost approximately VND1.5 trillion (US$58.3 million).

Over the past two years, coal imports from Laos to Vietnam have surged, with nearly 4,000 metric tons of coal cleared daily at La Lay International Border Gate. This figure can spike to 12,000 metric tons, equivalent to 400-450 trucks, when there is no traffic congestion. In 2023, Quang Tri imported 2.2 million metric tons of coal from Laos.

The rise in coal transport has overwhelmed border gate operations and led to the degradation of National Highways 15D and 9, as well as the Ho Chi Minh Road.

Besides the initial conveyor belt, the project's investor has proposed constructing two additional conveyors. One would connect the initial conveyor to My Thuy Seaport, and the other would link the Vietnam-Laos border to a coal mine in Sekong Province, Laos. Together, these three conveyors would create a 160-kilometer system for transporting coal from Laos to Vietnam.