Mineral misery: Vietnam salt farmers battered by imports, climate
The work is punishing and the incomes unstable, subject to seesawing demand swayed by foreign imports, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
Vietnam produced about one million tonnes of salt in 2015, according to the latest official data, and often clocks surpluses, but it still ships salt in, mostly from China and India. The country imported 500,000 tonnes of the mineral in 2017 despite a 147,000-tonne surplus of domestic production. The imported product is of a quality required for industrial use, something the local salt is not always suitable for.
AFP
