Going downstream to collect and buy, but many places hang signs saying they are out of stock
At 5 am, the passenger car left the station in Bac Son commune (Lang Son), rolling in thick fog.
In the car, Mr. Hoang Van Luong (character name changed, 42 years old, small trader) carried a small backpack containing nearly 90 million VND in cash. The destination is Hanoi, not to trade Tet goods like every year, but to find and buy coins to save.
Mr. Luong said that for many days he has been probing all the gold and silver shops in the district and neighboring communes. Some places only have jewelry silver left, some places have small pieces of silver but do not clearly state the content, and others announce they are out of stock.
1kg silver bars are now very rare, there are no them in the district. If you want to buy them, you have to go to Hanoi or Thai Nguyen, because buying them in the countryside is afraid of not being able to resell them," Mr. Luong said.
Not only Mr. Luong, many people in the mountainous districts of Lang Son, Cao Bang, Phu Tho, and Son La also reflected a similar situation. When silver prices increased sharply and the need to stockpile appeared, the local market almost left the supply of gold bars and gold bars that meet standards empty.
However, even when "going downstream", buying silver is not easy at all. At about 9 am, Mr. Luong was present at a precious metal business store on Cau Giay street (Hanoi). At this time, 1kg silver bar was listed for sale at about 77 million VND/kg, the buying price was about 2 million VND lower.
Is the difference so high and still many people buy?", Mr. Luong asked. The store staff said that the number of customers asking to buy has increased sharply, but the supply of goods is unstable. At times, the store only sells a few small quantities or has to schedule customers for another day. Even, right outside the door, there is a sign "out of stock" for silver bars and gold bars.
Thinking it was only scarce in the countryside, who knew that going down to Hanoi still had to take money home," Mr. Luong said.
This situation also spreads to many midland and mountainous localities. In Kim Boi commune (Phu Tho), a gold and silver shop owner said that the price of silver bars has now risen to about 90 million VND/kg but there are no goods available.
Customers who want to buy must pre-order, sometimes waiting for two or three months to get it. Even the shop owner must pre-order and cannot get it right away," this person said.
According to small traders, the source of money from craft villages in Hai Duong and Hung Yen still exists but is no longer as abundant as before.
In Lang Son, a reporter's survey showed that many gold and silver shops in the central area have run out of gold bars. If customers have demand, these establishments only accept pre-orders and set the earliest delivery time to early March.
Now it's mainly keeping'money on paper', money has been received but goods are not yet available," said a shop owner.
In the role of a buyer, the reporter contacted another business establishment and was quoted a silver bar price of about 3.3 million VND per tael of Phu Quy 999 silver bars, a difference of 400,000 VND/tael compared to the listed price of Phu Quy Gold and Silver Joint Stock Company.
However, the available goods are very limited, only a few small quantities remain.
If buying by weight, the price is about 88 million VND/kg, a difference of 10 million VND compared to the listed price, but customers are forced to wait many months because businesses are limiting the quantity sold.
Price escalation, risks revealed
Many early investors in mountainous and midland areas said they had witnessed this scarcity many months before.
Ms. Hoang Kim Ngoc (character name changed), a silver investor in Hoa Binh, said that she started buying silver 6-7 months ago, when the locality had almost no place to sell standard silver bars.
I had to order from Hung Yen, waiting for almost a month to get the goods," Ms. Ngoc recounted.
According to her, silver was chosen because gold was already too high, real estate was out of reach. However, around October, when she ordered an additional 30kg of silver, the business reported that it had to wait nearly two months due to a sudden increase in orders.
There are profits, but you have to come early. At peak times, the risk is very high," she said.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha - a long-time gold and silver shop owner in Kim Boi - said that the silver market is entering a period of strong fluctuations, with prices increasing abnormally high.
Silver is considered an easy investment channel because capital is lower than gold, but it is also because of this that the risk is high. Silver prices do not adjust slowly but can reverse very quickly," the gold shop owner analyzed.
According to business circles, the market has witnessed strong increases and decreases, typically in 2013 when silver prices soared following purchasing demand from China and then quickly plummeted.
This is not a safe storage channel. Buyers chasing prices, buying through many intermediaries or from craft villages without clear inspection, the risk is even higher," this person warned.
Small traders recommend that if they decide to buy silver for storage, people should choose reputable establishments, products with clear inspection marks and avoid the mentality of crowds when prices are in high areas.
