HANOI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam exported bigger amounts of coal in 2017, although its coal output dropped by over 180,000 tons against 2016, the General Statistics Office said on Friday.

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

In 2017, Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation (Vinacomin), the country's biggest coal producer and exporter, made domestic coal sales of over 34 million tons, and exported 1.5 million tons of the product.

Vinacomin plans to produce nearly 35.4 million tons of coal, sell some 34.1 million tons in the Vietnamese market, and export 1.9 million tons in 2018. Meanwhile, it will strive to lower its coal inventory to 8 million tons, down over 2 million tons against 2017.

Vietnam is expected to produce a total of 86.4 million tons of coal in 2020, and 256 million tons in 2030, according to Vinacomin.