Việt Nam’s E10 Gasoline Mandate: What Does the State Stand to Gain?

The public is unlikely to be the primary beneficiary of a nationwide mandate requiring the use of E10 gasoline, at least in the short term. 

Days after the government revealed its roadmap to phase out the sale of other gasoline types, social media was flooded with reports of vehicles experiencing mechanical problems after using the fuel. [1]

If ordinary citizens are not the main beneficiaries of this national policy, who actually stands to profit?

Greater Control Over the Market

The primary beneficiary of this shift may not be businesses, but the state itself, which stands to gain much tighter control over the fuel market. 

While the state already regulated the blending and sale of biofuels to a certain extent, mandating E10 nationwide will significantly expand its regulatory scope. [2] 

Beyond traditionally managing fuel prices and supply, the state could end up overseeing the entire ethanol supply chain. 

This includes monitoring blending ratios, import sources, domestic production capacity, technical standards, storage and transportation systems, and nationwide quality inspections. 

As a result, the widespread adoption of E10 would force the entire fuel supply chain into a deeper dependence on state coordination. 

Foreign Policy and Trade Concerns

Beyond strengthening domestic governance, the transition to E10 gasoline carries major repercussions for foreign relations, particularly concerning trade. 

This shift aligns with a period where the United States is increasingly scrutinizing its large trade deficit with Việt Nam. [3] [4] 

Historically, the U.S. has sought to narrow these deficits by encouraging countries that export heavily to American markets, including Việt Nam, to increase their imports of U.S. goods. As a result, Vietnamese officials have repeatedly pledged to purchase more American products. [5] In this context, E10 gasoline emerges as a potential variable in a broader trade equation. 

According to Đỗ Minh Quân of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Việt Nam’s current ethanol production and supply capacity, even at full operational output, would only be sufficient to meet about 40% of the demand required for a widespread E10 rollout. [6] 

To fill this gap, Việt Nam will be forced to import ethanol or its feedstock from abroad. As the world’s largest ethanol producer, America accounts for 52% of the global market share. [7] Importing American ethanol would direct capital back into the U.S. economy, mitigating the trade imbalance and easing pressure from Washington. 

From a policy perspective, an E10 mandate transcends environmental goals or fuel standards; it functions as a tool for managing trade relations with America. 

On the international stage, the widespread adoption of E10 bolsters Việt Nam’s image as a nation committed to green transitions and carbon-emission reductions. Such positioning holds substantial value in negotiations concerning investment, green financing, and development cooperation.

Which Businesses Stand to Benefit the Most?

Regarding profits and market opportunities, the most obvious beneficiaries of an E10 mandate are companies involved with ethanol production and biofuel supply chains. 

While Việt Nam’s fuel market is already dominated by large, primarily state-owned or state-controlled enterprises, E10 introduces a layer of new demand that previously failed to generate substantial revenue.

Historically, weak demand forced many ethanol plants to operate below capacity or shut down entirely, which made the consumption of E5 biofuel sluggish. [8] 

However, a nationwide E10 mandate will transform ethanol from an optional secondary product into an unavoidable requirement across the gasoline market. 

While this mandate does not shift overall market control, it grants the companies already dominating the sector an additional revenue stream and greater control over a new link in the supply chain.

Major distributors like Petrolimex and PV OIL hold a major advantage because they already possess storage facilities, blending infrastructure, transportation networks, and thousands of gas stations nationwide. [9] 

This means that when E10 is rolled out, these giants will not need to build a market from scratch; they will simply expand operations using their existing infrastructure. 

Similarly, ethanol producers such as BSR and QNS are presented with significant opportunities, as plants that once struggled under weak E5 demand will be artificially revived by the state mandate.

Because the entities with the greatest advantages in this supply chain are overwhelmingly state-owned or state-controlled, the E10 mandate creates a unique dynamic: the state is both the policymaker that enforces the regulation and the main financial beneficiary in the very market its policy expands.

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Thúc Kháng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 29, 2026. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.