Many gold businesses are facing a shortage of raw materials and have had to reduce production. Photo: Dung Minh |
Gold businesses fall into legal risks
The "hot" gold price has stimulated a sharp increase in demand for gold investment, while the State Bank of Vietnam has "frozen" gold import activities for more than ten years, putting gold jewelry manufacturing enterprises in an extremely difficult situation regarding raw materials.
In 2025, PNJ set a business target of going backwards (revenue down 17%, profit down 7%). Mr. Le Tri Thong, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of PNJ said that the Company is facing difficulties due to the scarcity of raw gold supply and activities to tighten market control.
In addition to PNJ, many gold businesses are also facing a shortage of raw materials, forcing them to reduce production. If they deliberately buy raw materials floating on the market, they face the risk of being punished.
“For the past 13 years, since Decree 24/2012/ND-CP took effect, gold imports have been completely frozen. In order to have raw materials for production and business, businesses are forced to buy raw gold floating on the market, leading to huge legal risks,” Mr. Dinh Nho Bang, Chairman of the Vietnam Gold Business Association, “complained”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shaokai Fan, Director of Asia-Pacific region (excluding China) and Director of Global Central Banks at the World Gold Council, informed that he had discussed with a gold business in Vietnam and learned that the shortage of raw materials for production is quite serious, they need at least 3.5 tons of raw gold per year, but have not been able to import for many years.
“According to the Vietnam Gold Business Association and research from Metal Focus, the demand for gold jewelry in Vietnam fluctuates around 15-20 tons per year, or only about 1.7 billion USD. This figure does not affect Vietnam's macroeconomic stability and can be completely offset by jewelry exports. Hopefully, this year, the State Bank will allow gold imports again,” said Mr. Shaokai Fan.
Fortunately, according to the Draft Amendment to Decree 24/2012/ND-CP, the State Bank will grant licenses to a number of enterprises and banks that meet the conditions to import raw gold to produce gold bars and fine art gold jewelry. This will help to quench the “thirst” for domestic raw gold and create great opportunities for the Vietnamese gold jewelry industry.
According to experts, Vietnam is not inferior to other countries in the region in terms of gold processing and manufacturing. If it has access to raw materials at reasonable prices, gold businesses will have the opportunity to export.
Not applicable to all gold jewelry businesses
According to current regulations, gold jewelry trading activities that meet the prescribed conditions do not need to be licensed by the State Bank. The State Bank only issues certificates of eligibility to enterprises that produce gold jewelry.
Need to facilitate the gold jewelry industry
- Mr. Shaokai Fan, Director of Asia- Pacific region (excluding China) World Gold Council 
I believe that Vietnam's jewelry industry has the capacity and workforce to compete with regional rivals. The problem is that the Government needs to facilitate and support this industry, first of all in terms of raw materials.
Regarding the import of raw gold to develop the jewelry industry, Mr. Dao Xuan Tuan, Director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department (SBV), said that currently the number of enterprises producing and trading in gold jewelry is very large, more than 6,000 enterprises, but the capital scale of the enterprises is often very small.
Therefore, to ensure that enterprises and credit institutions have sufficient financial capacity to import raw gold, the Draft Decree stipulates that the State Bank shall grant licenses to enterprises and credit institutions to import raw gold (enterprises qualified to produce gold bars) to sell to enterprises producing gold jewelry and fine art gold.
According to the provisions of the Draft, enterprises considered by the State Bank for granting licenses to produce gold bars must have a minimum charter capital of VND 1,000 billion, and credit institutions must have a charter capital of VND 50,000 billion or more. According to this provision, there are only a few units on the market that meet the conditions for producing gold bars and importing gold, including PNJ, DOJI, SJC, the Big 4 banking group (BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank, Agribank) along with VPBank, Techcombank, MB.
Credit institutions and enterprises licensed to import and export gold are only allowed to import gold bars and raw gold from gold producers certified by the London Bullion Market Association.
Gold importers must also develop and report to the State Bank internal regulations on export and import, measures to ensure safety in gold export and import activities; develop internal regulations on the sale of raw gold to ensure publicity and transparency; publicly announce information on the sale of raw gold, rights and obligations of customers.
"The above regulations allow for an increase in the supply of raw gold, but still ensure State control over the gold jewelry market," said Mr. Tuan.
With the support of technology, monitoring what imported gold is used for, how much is consumed, how much is in stock, etc. is completely within the reach of the State Bank. In addition, the limit on gold imports is also strictly controlled by the State Bank. Therefore, there is no need to worry that gold imports will have a negative impact on the macro economy.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/hoa-giai-rui-ro-cho-doanh-nghiep-vang-trang-suc-d304299.html
Comment (0)