Gold molds of non-SJC producers sealed up

November 13, 2012 | 09:55

(0) user say

The State Bank of Vietnam has received gold bullion molds from five institutions that have been licensed to produce gold bars in order to seal and supervise, its Ho Chi Minh City branch has announced.

gold The five licensed gold bullion producers include the Asia Commercial Bank, Southern Bank, Sacombank SBJ, Agribank Gold Joint Stock Corporation, and the Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co (PNJ).

“The said companies have transferred their gold molds to the central bank,” said Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the SBV HCMC branch.

The move was made following the request of the producers themselves, at a time when they are no longer permitted to produce new gold bars as SJC, produced by the Saigon Jewelry Co, has been chosen as the national gold brand name.

“The sealing is also intended to increase transparency in the gold market,” Minh added.

With fake and copycat gold bullion recently flooding the market, the move was also made as a self-protection method by the gold producers, they said.

Non-SJC gold bars have been converted into SJC products, with many setbacks recently reported during the process.

Some holders of non-SJC gold bullion said they were forced to sell the precious metal at far lower prices than the rates of SJC.

SJC, meanwhile, also announced that gold bars produced by some companies are not 99.99 percent pure, as they claim.