Information about “dirty gold” put difficulties to traders

Goldsmith companies have complained that their business has been going down due to the government’s policy on tightening the gold market. Meanwhile, the information about “dirty gold” (wolfram-made gold) has dealt another blow to them.

Tuan, the owner of a gold shop on Hang Bac street in Hanoi, said that the rumors about the tentative policies on tightening the bullion gold made the sales drop by 40 percent. Besides, the information about the appearance of imitation gold in Vietnam has made the turnover of his shop drop by 60-70 percent.

“Some days, we have no buyer or visitor,” he complained.

At 9.30 am of May 26, at least three gold shops on Hang Bac street were seen closing the doors. Other shops on the same streets received some visitors, but the number of clients was very low, even though 9-11am are the highest transaction hours in a day.

Clients nowadays mostly go to big shops. Thang, the manager of Kim Ngan Shop at 56 Hang Bac street, said that the number of clients has dropped dramatically. Even wholesalers, who always purchased goods in big quantities, now only purchase moderate volumes for reselling.

Huong, the owner of a small gold shop in Tay Ho district, was one of the few people, who came to Hang Bac street to purchase gold products on May 26. She said that most of the clients on that day came to purchase jewelry products, mostly bracelets.

“They said that bracelets are thin, therefore, it is easy to discover impurities in gold products. They did not purchase bullion gold or rings, because they feared they would buy imitation gold,” she said.

In general, gold shops open at 8am every day in summer. However, in the last few weeks, they have been opening for transactions only from 9am. Thuy, the owner of a gold shop on Nguyen Trai street, said that people now keep the “wait-and-see” attitude, and they would only consider resuming transactions when the State Bank clearly announces the policies on gold trade. Therefore, there are very few transactions at this moment.

Director of Bao Tin Minh Chau Gold, Silver and Gemstone Company, admitted that the information about the wolfram-made gold has put big difficulties for gold trading companies. Since people fear they would purchase imitation gold, they do not make transactions these days, which has led to the sharp falls of the sales of gold shops and companies.

However, the director has affirmed that he has not heard any complaints that people purchased imitation gold. Meanwhile, goldsmith companies have become more cautious when importing gold materials in order avoid risks.

Chau has stressed that it is very difficult to use imitation gold with impurities to make bar gold or bracelets and rings. It is because imitation gold is harder than real gold, while making jewelries requires high sophistication level.

Meanwhile, other traders, though having admitted that the information about imitation gold has badly affected their business, said that this is just a reason behind the slow sale. It is the tentative policies on gold trade management by the State Bank which has had big impacts on the gold market.

Nguyen Ngoc Trong, a senior executive of PNJ, also said that the bar gold trade has become lackluster, mostly because of the hesitancy of people when hearing about the tentative policies by the central bank.

Nevertheless, experts believe that the silence in the gold market would not last for too long. Once the fear about imitation gold is removed, people would return to gold shops to purchase gold, because keeping gold to preserve their assets remain a traditional habit of Vietnamese people.

On May 30, gold was traded at 37.67-37.74 million dong per tael in HCM City. – Vietnamnet

Tags: vietnam gold, Vietnam gold market, Vietnam gold prices