Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Fast firing speed, fierce fireworks in the city "Gatlin", during the Spring Festival, "C" debut.

Before the Spring Festival this year, fireworks and firecrackers discharge policies have been adjusted in many places. Dongying in Shandong, Binzhou, Liaoning, Dalian and other places all said that citizens can set off fireworks and firecrackers in specified areas during the Spring Festival this year. Many cities even organized fireworks displays during the Spring Festival.

With the release of the ban for many years, people have the psychology of retaliatory consumption of fireworks during the Spring Festival. On the short video platform, men and women, old and young, share videos of themselves playing Gatlin fireworks.

People feel the flavor of the New year brought by fireworks again, and practitioners in the fireworks industry also usher in unexpected busyness.

From production to sales, the upstream and downstream of the fireworks industry are enjoying the first wave of dividends after the ban was lifted this Spring Festival. Some factories have been working overtime for the whole month in January this year, while some have set up stalls to sell fireworks in the county seat, earning more than 10,000 yuan a night.

The flavor of the Spring Festival this year, because the fireworks are a little thicker. With the popularity of Gatlin and the deregulation of policy, the fireworks industry has ushered in the dawn again more than a decade later.

Crazy "Gatlin" has become a Spring Festival explosion, everywhere out of stock and rising prices in order to buy boxes of fireworks "Gatlin", Liu Ming specially drove 20 kilometers to find a wholesaler who sold "Gatlin" in the back of the car.

"Gatlin", a combination of beaded fireworks. A single firework is composed of more than a dozen beaded tubes. Because of the fast firing speed and fierce firepower, it will form a visual effect similar to that of the Gatling machine gun when fired.

On that day, New Year's Eve, Liu Ming took 10 Gatlin prepared in advance to the countryside to set them up with his family. "it's quite spectacular for the elderly and children in the family to stand in a row," Liu Ming said with a smile.

Before the Spring Festival, Guangdong, Shandong, Liaoning, Fujian and other places released news that fireworks and firecrackers were allowed to be set off in some areas at a specific time. With the deregulation of the fire ban, small fireworks have become a hot item for the Spring Festival in 2023. People began to retaliate the consumption of fireworks to retrieve the flavor of childhood.

Years of "ban" lifted, fireworks instantly become a "scarcity". By the first day of the Lunar New year, Liu Ming found that the price of "Gatlin" had doubled. "I bought it for 60 yuan a year ago, but if I want to buy it again a year later, it has risen to 120 yuan, and some cost 200 yuan." Liu Ming was surprised. "We are out of stock everywhere, or the price is going up."

Not only Gatlin fireworks, but almost all kinds of fireworks have soared in price during the Spring Festival this year. Fireworks stall owner Zhang Yin told Tech that a pack of fireworks usually costs 5 yuan for the Spring Festival. "even a bag of fairy sticks worth 1 yuan is sold for 5 yuan during the Spring Festival," Zhang Yin, the owner of the fireworks stall, told Planet Tech.

But even if they know that there is a very high premium, people will still make impulsive purchases for the flavor of the New year. "I was afraid I couldn't sell it before," Zhang Yin told Tech Planet. "I didn't expect New Year's Eve to sell it casually that day."

In the evening, New Year's Eve drove to the local park after an early New year's Eve dinner, where the government publicly allowed fireworks to be set off.

For "Gatlin,"Peacock Open screen," and "Fairy Bar," Zhang Yin put out boxes of fireworks and someone came forward to ask the price. "New Year's Eve is basically adults and children to play, basically what you say the price is, will not bargain," Zhang Yin told Tech Planet.

From 5: 00 p.m. to 10: 00 p.m., Zhang Yin's goods were basically sold out for five hours. In the evening of New Year's Eve alone, Zhang Yin earned more than 10,000 yuan.

One night's profit is worth a month's income of ordinary local people.

By the first day of the Lunar New year, when Zhang Yin called the dealer who bought the goods, he was told that they were all out of stock. The purchase price of "Gatlin" has also risen from 45 yuan a year ago to 60 yuan each.

Dealers take cash to the factory to grab goods, and the factory works overtime for a whole month in Jiangxi Province. Longpeng's factory has a history of more than 20 years and specializes in producing glue for fireworks. In his eyes, Gatlin is not a novel product, and he was surprised by the sudden popularity of the product with the help of short videos.

"Gatlin's production process is very simple. This product was available more than a decade ago, and no one wanted it in China before," long Peng told Tech Planet. For a long time, fireworks such as "Gatlin" are specially exported overseas, and they opened up sales at home last year because they became popular on short video platforms.

In China, Wanzai, Shangli in Jiangxi, Liuyang in Hunan and Liling are the four major fireworks producing areas. Zhang Yin's purchase place is in Wanzai, Jiangxi Province.

As the production side, factories have felt the heat of fireworks this year since New Year's Day in 2023. Long Peng told Tech that in January this year, nearly 140 local fireworks manufacturers in Wanzai were working overtime to produce fireworks.

In Wanzi, many factories started production at five or six o'clock in the morning. But even if the factory assembly line runs day and night, it can not meet the needs of dealers.

"the second half of the year is the peak season for production, and we always work overtime after October," long Peng told Tech Planet. "but this year's demand is much higher than before, especially small fireworks like Gatlin and jellyfish."

This also makes the ex-factory price of Gatlin change with the market all the time.

In the off-season in the first half of the year, the ex-factory price of "Gatlin" was about 15 yuan, and rose to about 20 yuan in the second half of the peak season. After New Year's Day, the ex-factory price of "Gatlin" changes every day, and the highest price can reach 50 yuan each.

"because there are not enough raw materials, the ex-factory price has become more expensive," explains long Peng. "when the factory boss sees that everyone goes straight to the factory to wait for the goods, the price will also go up."

The state that supply falls short of demand has even broken the "triangular debt" relationship in the fireworks industry for many years.

In the fireworks industry, trading companies and large dealers always purchase goods in the form of credit, and the payment cycle is longer. But in January this year, the bosses of trading companies and dealers all brought cash to the factory to keep goods. As long as they can get the goods, they pay on the spot.

The peak season of the fireworks industry is concentrated in the second half of the year, with the factory hoarding in the first half of the year. No one could have predicted that the category of fireworks, which had been unpopular for more than a decade, would suddenly become popular at the end of 2022. In the first half of last year, few factories ordered goods in advance. "factories are not hoarding any Gatlin goods, so demand soars and capacity is out of supply," long Peng explained.

Although the fireworks industry has a history of several decades, the automation rate is low, and most of the procedures still need to be done by workers. During the Spring Festival, most of the workers go back to their hometown for the Spring Festival holiday, which also limits the production capacity of the factory. "at this time, local inexperienced rural women can earn NT $300 to 400 a day when they go to a fireworks factory, and they are especially short of manpower," laughs long Peng.

"the factory has just produced a few hundred cases every day, but it has already been emptied by the guard boss on the same day." long Peng also saw a dozen dealers squatting on the same batch of goods at the same time.

The fireworks industry ushered in the dawn again? Zhang Yin was glad he didn't restock at a high price of 60 yuan. On the night of the first day of the Lunar New year, no one set off fireworks in the county park. "Police cars and fire engines are ready at the gate of the park, but the park is dark and no one is playing with fireworks." Zhang Yin was also surprised.

It only takes a moment to light fireworks, and the fireworks business is only temporary. After the Spring Festival, fireworks sales once again entered the off-season.

After the seventh day of the Lunar New year, the price of fireworks began to return to normal. Long Peng told Tech that the ex-factory price of "Gatlin" had dropped from 50 yuan to about 20 yuan on January 31. "after the New year, no one will ask for fireworks. The factory will not increase production by the seventh day of the Lunar New year, otherwise it will become inventory."

Long Peng is not blindly optimistic about the market in 2023. From production to sales, the fireworks industry has strict procedures to follow. In fact, only local dealers with sales licenses can sell fireworks to individual consumers. These factors virtually limit the expansion of the fireworks industry.

"people who set up roadside fireworks stalls are illegal and can be investigated at any time," long Peng said. during the Spring Festival this year, the lively fireworks are only small fireworks, and large fireworks still cannot be set off at will. "now it's just that small fireworks have more range, which will indeed lead to employment, but large fireworks have not been liberalized in the city."

In addition, fireworks belong to the production of restricted products, fireworks factories can only apply for the production of a few products. Factories need to reapply for production categories even if they want to start producing small fireworks.

However, long Peng said that the whole industry is now concentrated and merged, and it is difficult to apply for a production permit for fireworks and firecrackers. "you want to build a fireworks and firecracker factory, basically there are no targets, and now they are all shrinking, small factories and big ones."

However, the deregulation of the "fire ban" has sent a positive signal to the fireworks industry.

Since 2013, fireworks have been banned all over the country. This has a direct impact on the fireworks industry. In Liuyang, Hunan Province, the "hometown of fireworks", 2111 fireworks and firecracker enterprises are still in business, and the number of newly registered enterprises reached a peak in 2014.

After 2015, the number of new registered enterprises shows a cliff decline, and only dozens of new registered enterprises are added every year. But by 2022, the number of new registrations increased directly to 292.

After the Spring Festival holiday, a number of fireworks factories in Liuyang City issued heavy recruitment notices, and some factories need to add 10 to 20 more workers to prepare for the coming year.

In Wanzi, Jiangxi, because of the business opportunities brought about by policy deregulation, many factories began to increase their production lines and factories since last year, specializing in the production of small fireworks. In the past, many factories preferred to produce large fireworks with higher unit prices. No matter how large the fireworks are, they also need to be made manually. Under the same working hours, large fireworks with higher unit prices are more profitable than small ones.

Although business is limited, fireworks practitioners have been actively transforming in recent years to find a new way out.

On the short video platform, there are many bloggers in the category of fireworks, and most of their fireworks short videos praise the appearance of more than 100000 popular style content. Gatlin's circle is the fireworks industry's first "taste" of the Internet dividend.

A fireworks salesman told Tech that since last year, they have been making videos, setting up people, and building up groups on Douyin to accumulate customers, hoping to launch another popular style similar to Gatlin this year.

No one expected that the sudden policy deregulation before the Spring Festival allowed fireworks to occupy the "C position", and "Gatlin" became the first popular style of consumer goods. People find the lost flavor of the New year, and fireworks practitioners also see hope again in the Spring Festival.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: Tech (ID:tech618), by Xi Rui

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.