At the first gold trading session of 2022 on January 1, 9999 gold at SJC HCM City was quoted at VND60.95 million per tael (buy) and VND61.65 million (sell). SJC Hanoi quoted prices of VND60.95 million and VND61.67 million per tael. 

The prices quoted at Doji Hanoi were VND60.9 million and VND61.65 million per tael, respectively. The figures were VND60.9 million and VND61.6 million at Doji HCM City.

Gold prices increased sharply in March 2022 when SJC bullion gold climbed to the record high of VND74.4 million per tael. However, the prices later fell below VND70 million per tael.

At the July 18 trading session, SJC bullion gold set a record with the price decrease of up to VND5 million per tael just within one trading session. Each SJC tael of gold lost VND5.5 million in value (sell) and VND7 million (buy). The buy-sell gap was then widened by goldsmith companies to VND2.5 million per tael. The downward trend was seen in the following months and it hovered around VND67 million per tael.

Closing the December 31, 2022 session, 9999 SJC bullion gold in HCM City was at VND66 million (buy) and VND67 million (sell). SJC Hanoi quoted prices at VND66 million and VND67.02 million, respectively. Doji quoted  buy prices at VND65.65 million and VND65.9 million for Hanoi and HCMC markets, respectively, and sell prices at VND66.65 million and VND66.7 million. 

If investors bought bullion gold in early 2022 and kept the gold throughout the year, they made a profit of VND5 million per tael. If they sold  gold at this time, they made a profit of VND4.3 million per tael.

The latest report about gold demand by the World Gold Council (WGC) showed that demand for gold was 12 tons in Q3/2022, up 264 percent year-on-year. Demand for gold bars and gold coins reached 8.5 tons, while the remaining was mainly jewelry gold.

According to the Saigon Jewelry Association (SJA), Vietnam produced and sold nearly 50 tons of fine art and jewelry each year in the 1991-2021 period.

In the world market, the gold price with prompt delivery is  $1,824.5 per ounce, while the gold futures price is at $1,225.5 per ounce.

As such, the gap between world and domestic prices (including taxes and processing fees) is about VND14.22 million per tael.

Manh Ha