Fireworks are no longer completely banned in many places, and dealers are cash-strapped to grab goods

　　Author: Ma Jichao 

　　On the evening of January 17, Zhengzhou suddenly issued a notice on the restriction of fireworks and firecrackers (hereinafter referred to as the "restriction order"), which caught Zhao Hui by surprise.

　　"It's out of stock this year, (Zhengzhou) notified too late." Zhao Hui is the person in charge of a fireworks and firecrackers company in Xingyang, Zhengzhou. release process.

　　In 2016, due to the complete prohibition of setting off fireworks and firecrackers in Zhengzhou, in order to survive, Zhao Hui had to rent out the warehouse originally used to store fireworks and firecrackers to maintain the company's operations.

This year, Zhengzhou's sudden release restriction order made Zhao Hui miss the sales opportunity.

　　In fact, not only Zhengzhou has issued a "restriction order" to relax the restrictions on the burning of fireworks and firecrackers that were completely banned in the previous few years.

For merchants, this is a rare business opportunity, but they have to grab goods temporarily.

　　opportunity

　　Unwilling to miss out on sales opportunities, Wang Genxu chose to lead a team to Liuyang, Hunan Province to seek goods in cash. He led a procurement team of nearly 20 people, and tracked down some local fireworks factories that were still in production.

　　Also hoping to seize sales opportunities is Liang Guobin, who is the person in charge of Xingyang Xiangyu Fireworks and Firecrackers Co., Ltd., and has a special dangerous goods warehouse for fireworks storage in Xingyang.

　　In the past, Liang Guobin's warehouse had been idle for three years due to the epidemic and the ban on release. Now, when he learned that Zhengzhou had suddenly implemented a "release restriction order", he quickly hired a professional cleaning company to speed up the cleaning of the warehouse.

　　With a warehouse, there must be people who manage the warehouse.

According to regulations, the storage and transportation of fireworks must be operated and managed by professionals, but the previous employees have already been scattered everywhere.

　　I had no choice but to call them one by one, promising a high salary while patiently urging them to return to the factory urgently.

　　Fortunately, he is also the chairman of the Henan Fireworks and Firecrackers Industry Association. He has some local fireworks and firecrackers manufacturer resources in Hunan, and finally purchased thousands of boxes. Fireworks and firecrackers are first stored in a warehouse in Hunan.

　　But the most critical thing is how to transport these sources of goods to Zhengzhou as soon as possible.

　　According to regulations, professional explosion-proof vehicles must be used for road transportation of fireworks and firecrackers. Liang Guobin contacted everywhere, but on the one hand, the number of explosion-proof vehicles is already tight, and many explosion-proof vehicles are already operating at high speeds, so it is difficult to find vacant vehicles. It affects the return time of the vehicles that have already been shipped,

　　"Some (fireworks) are already on the road, and they will be transported to Zhengzhou in the next few days." Liang Guobin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

　　But Wang Genxu, who was also looking for goods urgently, was not so lucky. He begged his grandfather to tell his grandmother everywhere, but he only booked 70% of the original plan, which was still far from the expected goal.

Moreover, even if the goods are bought, the purchase price of many fireworks has risen sharply. For example, the purchase price of the popular "Fairy Wand" in the market has increased by 80% compared with previous years. "Gatling", "Jellyfish" The price of other best-selling fireworks has more than doubled.

　　Even so, "Everyone doesn't ask the price of the manufacturer at all, as long as the other party says they can place an order, they pay directly." Wang Genxu's biggest appeal is to get the goods as soon as possible. , Now, in order to get the goods as much as possible, he hastened to the next factory after staring at one factory, basically looking for goods 24 hours a day.

　　Wang Genxu said that now he can only sleep 2 hours a day because the time is too tight.

The inventory of the entire Liuyang fireworks and firecrackers manufacturer is almost empty, so I can only find manufacturers to place orders, keep an eye on the orders, and coordinate transportation and delivery at the same time.

　　"grabbing goods"

　　"Scrapping for goods" has become a rare scene for Liuyang fireworks and firecracker manufacturers for many years.

　　"Now come to Liuyang to buy fireworks? Then you must have to queue up, and there is no guarantee that you can buy the goods, because (many manufacturers) really have no goods." Zhong Ziqi, chairman of Dongxin Fireworks Group, said that at present, due to the firecracker production in Liuyang Most of the factories have been closed for holidays, and only some factories are still in production.

However, there are still a steady stream of wholesalers from all over the country who go to Liuyang to purchase fireworks.

　　"There are more than 100 (fireworks and firecrackers sales) companies in Henan alone. How many companies are there in the country?" Zhao Hui said. After all the fireworks and firecrackers are in place, most of the fireworks manufacturers will stop production one after another, and their employees will also go home for the New Year holiday. Respond in a short time.

　　The first financial reporter found that as of now, Hangzhou, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Changsha and other cities in China have begun to allow fireworks under certain conditions. The policy changes of these cities with a population of tens of millions have also burst out. purchase demand for fireworks and firecrackers.

　　Taking Zhengzhou as an example, on the evening of January 17, the General Office of the Zhengzhou Municipal People's Government issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Work Plan for Restricting the Release of Fireworks and Firecrackers in Zhengzhou during the Spring Festival in 2023", stating that citizens of Zhengzhou can start on January 21 (New Year's Eve). From 7 am to 1 am on January 22 (the first day of the first month); from January 22 (the first day of the first month) to January 26 (the fifth day of the first month) from 7 am to 23:00 every day; on February 5 ( On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, fireworks and firecrackers are set off from 7:00 a.m. to 23:00 a.m.

　　Some Zhengzhou citizens who originally planned to go back to their hometown for the New Year were soon inspired by this news, and information about buying fireworks began to flood many people's circle of friends.

　　The market demand has suddenly increased, but correspondingly, the production capacity of fireworks and firecracker manufacturers has actually shrunk over the years.

　　At present, China's fireworks and firecrackers manufacturers are mainly distributed in four regions including Liuyang in Hunan, Shangli in Jiangxi, Liling in Hunan and Wanzai in Jiangxi. Among them, Liuyang in Hunan is the most densely populated. significantly reduced.

　　Statistics show that in recent years, fireworks and firecrackers have been banned in more than 90% of the central areas of large and medium-sized cities and more than 1,000 county towns across the country.

　　"More than half of the production factories should have withdrawn." Liu Donghui, who has worked in the Firecrackers and Fireworks Industry Development Center of Liuyang City for many years, said in an interview with a reporter from China Business News that Liuyang City has continuously increased its use of fireworks for reasons such as healthy industrial development and environmental protection. The transformation and improvement of the industry, the survival of the fittest, and the continuous implementation of the ban on fireworks and firecrackers in recent years, resulting in shrinking market demand, have become the main factors that have led some local fireworks manufacturers to withdraw from the industry. At present, Liuyang City There are only more than 400 fireworks and firecracker manufacturers in China.

　　pick up

　　Today, with the loosening of the "ban on burning" in many places, local fireworks and firecracker companies in Liuyang have also begun to "explode orders". The fireworks market in Liuyang, the "hometown of fireworks", has finally ushered in a rare recovery.

　　"Now (local manufacturers) are basically sold out," Liu Donghui said.

　　Hu Youhai, general manager of Liuyang Happy Moment Fireworks Manufacturing Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the media that the surge in demand for fireworks did not occur during the industry's traditional ordering season.

Originally, May and June in previous years were the order season for the fireworks and firecrackers industry, but this year, since December 2022, the number of additional orders has increased significantly.

　　The data released by Liuyang City Fireworks and Firecrackers Association also shows that in 2022, Liuyang's fireworks industry cluster will achieve a total output value of 30.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%.

Among them, fireworks exports performed outstandingly, with sales exceeding 6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.9%.

　　Even so, the local area is still overwhelmed by the sudden burst of fireworks demand.

　　"The production of fireworks and firecrackers has a certain periodicity. It doesn't mean that you can produce them tonight if you want them tomorrow. Its periodicity is relatively long." Liu Donghui said, this is also one of the reasons why the fireworks market is suddenly in short supply. .

　　But for next year's market trend, Liu Donghui is still hard to say optimistic, "Next year we have to observe, (need to see) whether it will continue (like this year)." Liu Donghui said that it is estimated that the market will increase next year, but to what extent? Whether this kind of production capacity will not be available this year depends on the final development direction of the market. After all, this is not only a market-oriented industry, but also an industry closely related to local policies.

　　"Next year, if you come to me next year, I'm sure there will be something in stock." Seeing the opportunity to make money slip through his fingers, Zhao Hui's tone still contained some annoyance and unwillingness.

　　(Zhao Hui and Wang Genxu are pseudonyms in the article)