Gold Plummets, Panic-Selling Ensues as Investors Fear Further Losses

According to Laborer Newspaper reporters, in the face of the terrifying plunge in global gold prices, SJC gold bar prices have been continuously adjusted downward by SJC Company. At 12:00 p.m. on November 7th, the price dropped to 83 million VND/tael for buying and 87 million VND/tael for selling, a decrease of up to 2.5 million VND/tael for buying compared to the morning session, while the selling price decreased by 500,000 VND. The buying and selling spread was up to 4 million VND per tael.

This is a significant drop in gold bar prices over the past few days. If compared to the peak, the buying side of the SJC gold bar price has “evaporated” by up to 5 million VND/tael.

Similarly, the price of 99.99% gold rings also evaporated by about 4 million VND/tael. SJC Company listed the buying price of gold rings at 82.5 million VND/tael and the selling price at 84.6 million VND/tael, a decrease of more than 3.6 million VND/tael compared to the previous day.

PNJ Company and DOJI Group also simultaneously lowered the buying and selling prices of gold rings to a record low in many weeks.

In the face of the gold market crash, most of the large gold shops in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of November 7th were crowded with customers coming to sell gold as people worried that the price would fall further.

However, selling gold at this time is not favorable as gold shops and companies are reluctant to buy in the midst of a market crash. This has caused frustration for many customers, some of whom even raised their voices in argument with the sales staff.

Mr. Tung (from Ho Chi Minh City) said that when he saw the world and domestic gold prices continuously plummeting, he brought 1 tael of SJC gold bars to a reputable gold shop in the Ba Chieu market area (Binh Thanh district) to close the deal, but could not sell it as the shop said they did not “have a buying price yet.”

“Seeing the gold price evaporate by 3-4 million VND per tael, I hurried to the shop to sell, but I couldn’t, so I had to go home. They asked me to come back another day, but I don’t know when. Now I have gold, but I can’t sell it. What if the price continues to fall?” – Mr. Tung said frustratedly.

Standing next to him, Mr. Liem (from District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), who brought 4 chi of gold rings to the shop to pay for the rental of the premises, was helpless as the gold shop stipulated that each person could only sell a maximum of 1 chi of gold rings.

“When selling, you must present your ID card, and each person is only allowed to sell exactly 1 chi, not 2 chi. I didn’t invest in gold. Suddenly, I have gold in my hand, but I can’t sell it to pay the rent. It’s too difficult,” Mr. Liem said, holding 4 chi of gold rings in his hand.

Similarly, Ms. Yen (from Ho Chi Minh City) said that she had saved up to buy 3 taels of 99.99% plain round gold rings when the price fluctuated around 60 million VND/tael. This morning, as the gold price dropped sharply, she brought it to the gold shop to sell, but the shop refused to buy it.

“Why do they buy when the gold price is rising, and when the gold price is falling, they only buy 1 chi? It’s unfair for buyers.” – Ms. Yen said frustratedly.

According to observations, the customers who came to sell gold were mostly elderly people. Many of them were informed by the shop that they could only buy 1 chi per person, so they had to leave.

According to the staff of the gold shop, there were too many customers selling gold as they saw the gold price plunging, which led to the shop being overloaded and unable to serve everyone promptly, causing dissatisfaction among some customers. On the other hand, customers could buy gold comfortably.

In Go Vap district, an employee of Kim Phat I Gold Shop said that in the morning of November 7th, people also rushed to sell gold, but there were very few buyers, forcing many gold shops to hold on to the gold.

Around 11:00 a.m., some gold shops temporarily stopped buying gold rings and also stopped quoting buying and selling prices. Some shops asked customers to wait until they could arrange the money and then call to inform the customer of the price before proceeding with the transaction.

As of 12:30 p.m., customers were still rushing to sell gold, and the staff had to skip their lunch break.

According to some gold shop owners, the reason for the rush to sell gold by customers is due to the fear of a further sharp drop in gold prices.

Mr. Tran Huu Dang, General Director of AJC Gold and Jewelry Joint Stock Company (AJC, Hanoi), said that the market was almost devoid of gold buyers. The reason is that the global gold price has dropped sharply, and those who had bought SJC gold bars and rings for many months now fear losing profits, so they are selling en masse, causing the gold price to drop by the hour.

Gold businesses do not refuse to buy, but they will stop buying if they run out of money.

According to Mr. Dang, in Hanoi, the buying price of SJC gold at 12:00 p.m. also dropped sharply by 4-5 million VND/tael to 83 million VND/tael, 4 million VND/tael lower than the selling price of 87 million VND/tael.

Meanwhile, the buying price of gold rings quoted by gold shops was 82 million VND/tael, and the selling price was 84.5 million VND/tael.