Vietnam Ends Gold Monopoly as Queues Grow, Shelves Empty and Prices Hit Records

Gold buyers meet shortages as the market opens

Vietnam's gold market opened to new producers on October 10, 2025, but shoppers encountered queues, purchase limits and empty shelves before any increase in supply. By Saturday morning, Saigon Jewelry Company, known as SJC, was quoting a record 142.8 million dong per tael, about $5,421 and nearly 70 percent above the price at the start of the year.

The change ended a system lasting 13 years that concentrated gold bar production and imports at the State Bank of Vietnam and its designated producer, SJC. Decree 232 allows qualified enterprises and commercial banks to enter the market under central bank licensing and supervision.

Thousands of buyers headed to shops nationwide on Friday, with lines forming in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Demand for bars and plain rings quickly outstripped available stock. Retailers rationed sales, filled earlier orders and, in some cases, stopped accepting new ones.

The State Bank of Vietnam was still processing applications from prospective producers. SJC and a handful of large retailers therefore faced the immediate rush while the businesses expected to bring more competition were waiting for permission to begin.

The government's aim is to expand legal supply, narrow the gap between Vietnamese and international gold prices, reduce smuggling and make transactions easier to track. The opening days showed how much the timing matters: buyers arrived immediately, while new production and imports still depended on regulatory approval.

Queues turn into limits and missed purchases

Outside SJC's headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, queues stretched along the block. Staff limited each buyer to 0.3 tael to discourage hoarding. A tael is 37.5 grams, or about 1.2 ounces.

SJC also restricted gold bar sales to customers who had registered on its website, a measure introduced after days of heavy demand. Buyers unable to secure an online reservation turned to plain rings, adding pressure to another part of the market.

Hanh, a resident of District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City, said she had tried unsuccessfully for two days to reserve a bar online. She decided to buy rings despite the quantity restriction.

It is too hard to buy gold bars, so I decided to get plain rings instead, even with the quantity limit.

In Hanoi, Bao Tin Minh Chau's store on Tran Nhan Tong Street sold out of rings early and switched to fulfilling orders placed days before. Nearby shops displayed notices saying bars and rings were out of stock. Some sold only jewelry and declined new orders while waiting for clarity about fresh supplies.

An employee at the Bao Tin Minh Chau store described a morning in which stock disappeared faster than expected.

There were many buyers today, but supply could not meet demand.

Some customers left after hours of waiting. Oanh, 62, said she preferred physical gold because she wanted to protect her savings from market swings and found other investments harder to manage.

I prefer investing in gold. At my age it is hard to manage or take risks with other assets.

Why the government changed the rules

Decree 232, effective October 10, 2025, replaces the monopoly with a licensing system. Enterprises and commercial banks that meet capital and compliance requirements can seek permission to produce bullion and participate in imports, exports and trading.

Vietnamese gold prices have carried large premiums over international benchmarks for years. A premium is the extra amount a buyer pays above a reference price. When local demand is strong and supplies are restricted, that extra cost can grow, making gold more expensive for domestic buyers and creating incentives for informal imports.

The government wants more legal supply to reduce those incentives while modernizing trading and improving transparency. Persistent demand for gold as a store of value, particularly during periods of currency weakness, is another reason for changing how the market operates.

The state remains the supervisor. The central bank will approve participants, allocate import quotas according to monetary policy goals and market conditions, and require regular reporting. Opening the market therefore brings more potential suppliers while retaining controls over how much gold enters the country.

The main developments span several months:

• In late August 2025, domestic gold prices reached new highs of around 126 million to 128 million dong per tael.
• On October 10, 2025, Decree 232 took effect, opening gold bar production and imports to qualified, licensed enterprises and banks.
• On Friday, the first day of the new regime, buyers queued at shops in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and elsewhere.
• By Saturday morning, SJC's quotation reached a record 142.8 million dong per tael.
• As of October 15, applications for new production licenses were still being processed.

Who can make and import gold bars?

Enterprises need at least 1 trillion dong in charter capital, a gold trading license and no unresolved sanctions to qualify. Charter capital is the capital committed to a business by its owners or shareholders.

Commercial banks face a much higher capital requirement of at least 50 trillion dong. They also need a gold trading license and a clean compliance record. These conditions restrict entry to businesses and banks with substantial financial resources.

Qualified participants may receive permission to import raw gold, manufacture bullion, trade bars and export gold under central bank oversight. Account based gold products may also be developed where allowed. These would give customers a recorded gold holding rather than requiring every transaction to involve taking home a physical bar.

Large jewelers PNJ and DOJI, alongside SJC, are considered early candidates for production licenses once approved. Major banks meeting the capital requirement include Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank, VPBank, Techcombank, MB and ACB.

The central bank had not announced which new enterprises would receive production licenses or a date for those announcements. Some retailers were waiting for guidance before making further commitments. Initial import quotas will also determine how much additional raw gold can reach manufacturers.

Payments, purity and banking safeguards

Transactions worth 20 million dong or more per person per day must pass through bank accounts. Licensed sellers must issue electronic invoices, declare quality standards and maintain detailed transaction records, alongside reporting and data sharing requirements.

The daily threshold means larger purchases and sales move into a system with a payment record. For consumers accustomed to paying cash, that changes the practical steps involved in buying gold. Electronic invoices also provide documentation that can help with resale or warranty claims.

Imported raw gold must meet high purity standards, typically above 99.5 percent, before being used to produce bars or jewelry. Licensed producers must publish their purity and quality standards so buyers can identify what they are purchasing.

Banks may return to bullion production and imports if licensed, but they remain prohibited from accepting gold deposits or making gold loans. Those restrictions address risks seen in the past, when price volatility left financial institutions exposed.

The distinction is practical: a bank may be authorized to help supply physical gold without being allowed to borrow gold from customers or lend it onward. Import quotas and the banking restrictions are intended to expand supply while limiting speculation and financial risk.

Record prices reflect local and global pressures

SJC's record quotation of 142.8 million dong per tael followed the late August highs of around 126 million to 128 million dong. The nearly 70 percent rise since the start of 2025 combined strong demand for a perceived safe place to hold savings with tight domestic supply.

Global bullion prices had also risen steeply through late 2024 and into 2025, lifting the international benchmark against which Vietnamese prices are measured. Domestic shoppers were therefore facing both a rising world price and additional pressure from local scarcity.

Opening production to more businesses is intended to ease the local part of that pressure. During the transition, however, buyers outnumbered sellers while prospective producers awaited licenses. Brand premiums and uncertainty about supplies in the near future helped keep the gap with world prices wide.

Industry estimates put Vietnam's imports of bars, jewelry and coins at about 55 tonnes in 2024, making the country a major Asian gold market. Its demand is substantial enough that the speed and scale of legal imports will matter to the success of the new rules.

Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, a banking and financial expert, said greater supply and effective risk controls could help stabilize prices.

Allowing select banks and large gold enterprises to import gold will help stabilize the domestic market and reduce speculation. The price gap between domestic and international gold could narrow if the government boosts supply. When the local market is aligned with the global market, price disparities will decrease.

A representative of the Vietnam Gold Business Association expressed confidence that stronger oversight and the profile of licensed participants would support compliance.

There is no longer concern about banks breaking the rules.

What changes for people buying gold?

Consumers will eventually have more brands to compare as approved producers enter the market. Competition could reduce shortages and narrow domestic premiums, although the first weeks of the transition may remain volatile.

A purchase decision involves more than the advertised selling price. Buyers can compare the premium over the international price and the difference between a shop's selling and buyback prices. That difference affects how much they would receive if they sold the gold back.

Purity, hallmark markings and certificates will also matter as customers encounter more brands. Published standards and clear records can make comparisons easier. Bank payments and digital invoices are intended to improve traceability and help reduce counterfeit risk, supporting confidence in new producers.

For shoppers during the transition, the practical considerations include:

• Compare prices across brands, including the premium over the international price and the buyback spread.
• Check purity, hallmark markings and certificates for bars and rings.
• Prepare to use a bank account for transactions reaching 20 million dong per person per day.
• Keep electronic invoices for ownership records, resale and warranty claims.
• Expect purchase limits, reservations and priority for earlier orders at busy shops.
• Follow announcements about approved producers and import quotas to understand when supply may improve.

Retailers and jewelry makers await fresh supplies

Retailers are managing a temporary mismatch between demand and available stock by rationing purchases, giving priority to preorders and directing customers toward rings or jewelry when bars are unavailable. Their inventory planning depends on when production licenses are issued and how import quotas are set.

Competition among more brands may reduce retailers' margins. Better access to raw gold could also lower costs for jewelers over time, giving manufacturers a stronger supply base once the new arrangements begin operating.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed reducing the 1 percent export tax on gold jewelry to zero to ease pressure on manufacturers facing high input costs. Jewelry makers have long cited the lack of raw gold import licenses for production as a difficulty.

Improved access to raw material could help revive jewelry exports once domestic supply stabilizes. The tax proposal and import access address different costs: one concerns the charge on exported jewelry, while the other concerns the gold manufacturers need to make it.

Gold's place in savings and informal trade

Vietnamese families buy gold for weddings, festivals and savings. Gold also serves as a hedge when the dong weakens, as it has at several points since the pandemic. A hedge is an asset people hold to help protect the value of their money against another financial risk.

Demand tends to rise when the currency weakens or bank deposit rates fall. Oanh's preference for physical gold illustrates the appeal for savers who want an asset they can hold and who find other investments difficult to manage.

Authorities previously centralized control partly to reduce gold's role in everyday finance. The new approach accepts continued strong demand and seeks to meet more of it through regulated channels while protecting the banking system.

Large domestic premiums have encouraged smuggling and informal trade. Mandatory bank payments, invoices and transaction records are intended to bring more activity into documented channels and reduce the space for unreported deals.

Over time, the market could develop account based gold products, better authentication tools and a national platform for price discovery, meaning a place where trading helps establish a transparent market price. Such developments could improve the ease of buying and selling, reduce brand premiums and limit volatility during busy seasons.

Licenses and quotas will set the pace

The first list of approved bullion producers and the initial import quotas will show how quickly the reform can translate into additional stock. Retailers need both authorized suppliers and enough raw gold for production before customers can see a lasting improvement at shop counters.

Shorter queues, fewer purchase restrictions and the return of bars and rings for customers without reservations would be practical signs that supply is catching up. Shops may also adjust online registration systems to reduce waiting times and crowds.

The price gap with international markets will provide another measure. A narrower premium would suggest that legal supply is meeting more domestic demand. A persistently wide gap could reflect slow licensing or cautious import quotas, alongside the continued pressure from buyers.

Consumers and retailers are also adapting to bank transfers and electronic invoices. The reform's immediate effect is a new set of rules; its effect on availability and prices depends on how quickly approvals, imports and production follow.

The Bottom Line

• Decree 232 took effect on October 10, 2025, ending Vietnam's gold bar monopoly after 13 years.
• Queues, rationing and shortages marked the opening, while new producers awaited licenses.
• SJC limited buyers to 0.3 tael and required online registration for bar purchases.
• Saturday's SJC quotation reached 142.8 million dong per tael, about $5,421 and nearly 70 percent above the start of the year.
• Enterprises need at least 1 trillion dong in charter capital; banks need at least 50 trillion dong.
• Transactions reaching 20 million dong per person per day must go through bank accounts.
• Banks may receive production and import licenses but cannot accept gold deposits or make gold loans.
• Production approvals, import quotas and new deliveries will determine how quickly shortages and local premiums ease.