HCMC – Fuel retailers have proposed the ministries of Industry-Trade and Finance establish a council for determining the base prices and commissions for fuels.

The proposal was mentioned in their letter to the prime minister yesterday, March 14.

Government Decree 95, issued in 2021, defines the base price as a price determined based on prices of domestic and imported fuels and is the basis for the authorities to determine retail prices of fuels.

The current base price is set at VND1,350 per liter for wholesale and retail prices, including VND1,050 for operating cost and VND300 for profit.

However, Circular 104 on base fuel prices, issued by the Ministry of Finance in 2021, does not specify the profit margin of petrol trading, enabling major fuel traders to take advantage of the legal loophole and take all the profit, said Giang Chan Tay, director of Boi Ngoc Company.

This led to a plunge in the commission offered by major fuel trading firms last year, forcing petrol trading agents to operate at a loss, he added.