Vietnam exported nearly 1.7 million tons of coal worth 224 million U.S. dollars in the first eight months of this year, mainly to Japan, South Korea and India, posting respective year-on-year rises of 27.4 percent and 24.2 percent, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Monday.

The country plans to produce over 41.5 million tons of coal this year, up 9.2 percent against last year, 86.4 million tons of coal in 2020, and 256 million tons in 2030, according to Vietnam's National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation (Vinacomin), the country's biggest coal producer and exporter.

Vietnam exported roughly 2.3 million tons of coal valued at 295 million U.S. dollars in 2017, up 84.7 percent in volume and 112.8 percent in value against 2016. Large amounts of the coal were shipped to Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

Last year, Vinacomin made domestic sales of over 34 million tons of coal, and exported 1.5 million tons of the product.