Sand mine auction prices increase "skyrocketing" causing businesses to struggle
Located in Que Cuong Industrial Cluster (Que Son District), Son Sau Sang Production and Construction Company Limited is a partner supplying fresh concrete for many key projects in Quang Nam. However, the company is currently only able to maintain 10 concrete trucks, 4 trucks carrying sand and stone per day - an unprecedented level of operation.
"We are trying to maintain it to pay wages and insurance for the workers. Each block of sand is bought like gold, because it is too scarce" - Mr. Cao Truong Son, Director of the company shared. Sand prices have skyrocketed from 250,000 VND/m3 to 650,000 VND/m3, even some places offer up to 700,000 VND/m3 but there are still no products.
A similar situation occurred at Hiep Hung Concrete One Member Co., Ltd. (Dai Loc district).
Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, Director of the company, said: "The sand reserve is about to run out, in a few days we will have to announce that we will stop supplying fresh concrete to customers. This is an irresistible situation, stemming from a supply disruption".
On June 19, the People's Committee of Dai Loc district, Quang Nam organized an auction of mineral exploitation rights at 6 mines. Of which, 3 sand mines recorded record high winning bids:
The DL2 sand mine (Dai Thang commune) has a reserve of 790,000m3, with a starting price of more than 7.5 billion VND, and won the auction for more than 491 billion VND (equivalent to 622,000 VND/m3).
DL11 mine (Dai Dong commune) has a reserve of 360,000m3, starting price of more than 3.46 billion VND, winning nearly 320 billion VND (888,000 VND/m3).
DL12B1 mine (Dai Quang commune) has a reserve of 166,000m3, starting price of more than 1.23 billion VND, winning more than 129 billion VND (779,000 VND/m3).
The above winning bids did not include resource tax, environmental fee, legal cost, machinery investment, infrastructure, etc. The representative of a winning enterprise admitted: "Enterprises must take strong auctions to keep market share. As for profit or loss, we wait for the future.
The paradox of large reserves - small supply
According to Mr. Le Tu Tam - Chairman of the Business Association of Dien Ban Town, the price of construction materials has increased dramatically due to unprecedented scarce supply. The price of land for embankment is up to 300,000 VND/m3, sand is 2-3 times higher than before, causing businesses to accept buying at high prices but still have no goods.
"The Council has sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee, proposing many solutions such as: Announcing monthly material prices, adjusting package contracts to adjust unit prices, reducing administrative procedures in mining and considering granting mining licenses by region, not through auctions to stabilize the market", Mr. Tam said.
The paradox is even more obvious when Quang Nam is a locality with large reserves of sand and gravel with dozens of planned mines. However, most of the mines have expired or have not completed licensing procedures.
According to the report of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, there are currently 44 areas licensed for mineral exploitation as normal construction materials in operation. Of which, there are only 12 sand and gravel mines with reserves of less than 1 million cubic meters; 8 areas of soil exploitation and sand filling are more than 3 million cubic meters, not enough to meet the construction needs of the whole province.
Although he just won the auction of a hundred billion VND sand mine in Quang Nam, a representative of a mineral enterprise revealed the shortcomings in the current auction mechanism. According to this person, the price of construction sand according to the announcement of the Quang Nam Department of Construction in May 2025 is 220 thousand VND/m2, but in reality the market is many times higher.
"Currently, the State has auctioned the mine, without limiting the price steps, so businesses must adjust according to the winning price for mining, plus transportation fee to make a profit" - this person analyzed.
Need for flexible mechanisms to avoid speculative profiteering
At the working session with the working group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on June 21, Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam province - Mr. Phan Thai Binh clearly stated the shortcomings in the mineral auction policy, especially the phenomenon of "dancing prices" causing market instability. He proposed studying a reasonable auction plan to avoid unusually high prices as in the past.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Quy Kien acknowledged and highly appreciated the realistic reflections of Quang Nam. The Ministry will include recommendations in the decree guiding the 2024 Law on Geology and Minerals. In case it is not suitable, it will be recommended to adjust the policy at the Government level.
Quang Nam needs to learn from experience and refer to more experiences from the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Administration to build a suitable, transparent but effective auction plan, Mr. Kien emphasized.
