Gold shops in HCMC have recently been flooded with customers seeking to purchase gold jewelry as fashion items to wear during the upcoming Tet holiday, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

A salesperson shows two taels of SJC gold

Average-income workers have also rushed to buy gold rings which can be used as a decorative item and an asset, after receiving their end-of-year bonuses.

Meanwhile, high-income customers are selecting more valuable jewelry. 

For example, Le Thanh Xuan, a bank worker who received a VND50-million Tet bonus, came to the Mi Hong gold shop in Ba Chieu market, Binh Thanh District, to purchase an expensive gold bracelet and a necklace.

District 1-based Ben Thanh Jewelry Center was crowded with customers on January 28. Further, the owner of the Thien Trang jewelry shop at the center noted that early that morning, a customer had bought six necklaces valued at VND3-5 million each as gifts to relatives at the end of the year.

Besides this, at Saigon Jewelry Holding Company (SJC) on Nguyen Cong Tru Street, District 1, a consumer bought two gold pigs costing VND2.5 million each, including the processing fee.

Nguyen Tu Mi, owner of Mi Hong Gold Company, remarked that the consumption of gold jewelry was currently soaring, which is normal at the end of the year. 

Anticipating the demand, Mi Hong had prepared and stored hundreds of jewelry products, especially pig-shaped items, to prepare for sales during the Year of the Pig.

Meanwhile, Tran Van Dang, general director of Agribank Gold Corporation, pointed out that due to the increase in gold prices over the past 10 days, many residents had sold their gold bars and gold rings to buy necklaces and bracelets as fashion items for Tet. 

As such, sales of gold jewelry have surged by 50% against the year-ago figure.

A representative of Kim Hao Jewelry Company in District 5 noted that jewelry manufacturers had doubled their production a few months ago to ensure an adequate supply to HCMC and the neighboring provinces to serve demand during the upcoming Tet holiday. 

Several small gold stores in the Mekong Delta region have ordered hundreds of jewelry products from the company for sale during Tet and the God of Wealth Day, which falls on the 10th of the first lunar month, the representative said.

Pham Van Tam, vice chairman of the HCMC gold association, remarked that the consumption of jewelry by average-income customers tended to surge at the end of each year, adding that in spite of the spike in jewelry purchases, the prices of gold products would not surge as the prices of material gold will remain stable.

SGT