Sand prices increase, creating widespread sand shortage
On June 16, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province announced a mineral exploitation license for Thanh Hoa Consulting and Planning Company Limited so that this enterprise can exploit more than 1 million cubic meters, including more than 900m3 of construction sand at the sand mine in Luong Ngoai commune, Ba Thuoc district with a capacity of 49,200m3/year. The document of Thanh Hoa province clearly states: "Absolutely do not hoard goods, store, speculate, raise prices, force prices, sell at prices higher than the listed and announced prices, causing damage to the interests of the State and the people".
In fact, the problem of sand shortage is very hot in Thanh Hoa. According to Lao Dong Newspaper, as of early June, the whole province had 30 sand mining licenses granted, of which 28 licenses were still valid with a total capacity of more than 0.8 million m3/year; the remaining 2 mines expired in April 2025. However, there is only one sand mine in Yen Dinh district in operation, with an exploitation capacity of 15,000m3/year, accounting for only about 1.78% of the total licensed capacity.
Most of the remaining mines are not operating due to many reasons such as: Ships have not been inspected according to regulations, have not completed land lease procedures, or are in the process of measuring, re-determining reserves and assessing the risk of riverbank landslides. Some mines had to be temporarily suspended because the mine owners were involved in violations in mineral exploitation and were being investigated by the police. The suspension of many mines has led to a serious shortage of sand for construction, stalling the construction progress of projects in Thanh Hoa.
Meanwhile, in Dak Nong, sand prices increased to a record high. According to the price announcement for materials and construction materials in the area in May 2025, the price of construction sand in all district and city centers of Dak Nong province is around 1 million VND/m3, causing a comprehensive negative impact on the Dak Nong construction industry.
Even large projects cannot avoid falling into a dead end due to high sand prices. The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project through Binh Duong needs 1.516 million cubic meters of soil and sand to construct the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project. Currently, there are 672,000m3, a shortage of about 844,000m3. To ensure the volume, additional sand mines have been mobilized such as: Binh Hoa Phuoc 2 mine, Chanh An mine, Vinh Long province; Vam Cai Thia mine, Tien Giang province and sand from Cambodia.
Preventing speculation
The increase in sand prices has made speculative activities and illegal sand trading increasingly complicated. On June 14, reconnaissance team No. 2 (Coast Guard Region 3 Command) discovered a ship with registration number NL 3857 in the sea area between Ho Chi Minh City and Tien Giang with suspicious signs, so they conducted an inspection and discovered that the ship was transporting about 1,400m3 of sand. The owner of the goods could not present valid invoices or documents of the origin of the goods being transported.
Previously, on June 13, Hanoi Police had uncovered the method of converting vehicles to illegally dredge sand on the Red River. Through inspection, the subjects used sophisticatedly disguised vehicles to deceive the authorities. The working group has drawn up a record of the violation, requesting the vehicle to be brought to the headquarters for further investigation, clarification and strict handling according to the law.
In order to cool down sand prices, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed and issued Official Dispatch No. 85/CD-TTg dated June 10, 2025 on strengthening solutions for management and stabilizing construction material prices, especially construction sand prices.
The Prime Minister requested the Minister of Construction to urge and closely coordinate with localities to regularly grasp market developments and fluctuations in construction material prices to proactively find the most timely and effective discount solutions.
The Prime Minister also requested the Minister of Industry and Trade to direct competent market management agencies to strengthen inspection and handling of speculative and hoarding acts, unreasonably increasing prices of construction materials; thoroughly handling construction materials of unknown origin, counterfeit goods, and poor quality goods.
For localities, the Prime Minister requested Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities to strengthen inspection and supervision. Timely update, announcement of construction material prices, construction price index to ensure accurate reflection of material cost structure and in line with market price level. In particular, priority is given to ensuring the source of construction materials for important, national key projects, projects that must be completed early, and urgent civil works.
According to the General Statistics Office, the price index of housing, electricity, water, fuels and construction materials in May 2025 increased by 0.73% compared to the previous month, increasing the overall CPI by 0.14 percentage points. In which, the price of housing maintenance materials increased by 1.2% due to the increase in brick, sand, stone, and steel prices due to high construction demand during the construction season, the supply of some materials was scarce and production and transportation costs increased. Comparing prices in May 2025 with the same period last year: The group of houses, electricity, water, fuels and construction materials increased by 6.1%, affecting the overall CPI to increase by 1.15%. In particular, cement, sand and steel prices increased; domestic water services increased by 4.86%.
