HANOI, Feb. 5-- China continued to be the largest importer of Vietnamese coal in 2014 consuming 56.9 percent of the total export volume, said Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center (VITIC) under the Ministry of Industry and trade on Thursday.

In 2014, Vietnam exported 4.1 million tons of coal to China, earning 244 million U.S. dollars, down 58.05 percent in volume and 58.15 percent in value year-on-year.

China was followed by South Korea on the list of top coal importers of Vietnam. South Korea bought 1.3 million tons of coal from Vietnam worth 92.4 million U.S. dollars, up 23.72 percent in volume and 12.36 percent in value year-on-year.

In 2014, Vietnam witnessed drop in exports of coal in over half of its markets. The sharpest fall could be seen in coal exports to Malaysia with a drop of 81.03 percent in volume and 82 percent in value year-on-year, said VITIC on its website on Thursday.

Meanwhile, exports of Vietnamese coal to Indonesia saw remarkable year-on-year hikes with 402.19 percent in volume and 198.41 percent in value. The country earned 12.3 million U.S. dollars from exporting 151,600 tons of coal to Indonesia in 2014.

Last year, Vietnam sold 7.2 million tons of coal abroad to pocket 556.4 million U.S. dollars, down 43.25 percent in volume and 39.25 percent in value year-on-year, reported VITIC.