HANOI, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's coal export turnover reached 1.33 billion U.S. dollars last year, a drop of 4.5 percentyear-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam on Monday.

    The country shipped overseas 25.14 million tons of coal in 2009,up 30 percent over a year earlier.

    China was the largest export market of Vietnam's coal in 2009, followed by the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

    The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts coal export turnover this year at 1.15 billion U.S. dollars, down eight percent year-on-year, the Pioneer newspaper said, citing a ministry report.

    In 2008, the country pocketed 1.44 billion U.S. dollars from selling 19.7 million tons of coal to the foreign markets.