Vietnam aims for 2018 for E5 transition

In Vietnam, the government has set its sights on 2018 for the complete switch to E5 at the pump, phasing out the current RON92 unleaded. Current ethanol production would allow for 3 million metric tons of E5, short of the 7.5 million tons of annual demand, prompting the reopening of two currently mothballed ethanol plants. Fuel companies remain concerned about the costs to implement ethanol blending facilities in time for the transition, one of the reasons that E5 hasn’t been implemented as far as planned since 2012 when plans were first launched for the transition.