"A few years ago, everyone would say that it was a sunset industry, but now I have confidence again. ”
Wenba Jiuling
At night, Dayao Town, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, always has a festive atmosphere, and the sound of all kinds of fireworks in the distance and near is almost non-stop all year round.
This is the unique benefit of the "hometown of Chinese firecrackers": more than 50% of the country's fireworks (fireworks, firecrackers) are produced in Liuyang, and Dayao Town and Jingang Town are the core; 300,000 people, or 20% of Liuyang's population, depend on it for survival.
Hundreds of enterprises of fireworks experiments, proofing, more than a million people of medium and heavy hobbies, "weekend fireworks" large-scale urban performances - they continue to enrich and liven the sky, creating a unique scenery that is unique in the world.
At the end of December last year, the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held that the current "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law", "Regulations on the Safety Management of Fireworks and Firecrackers" and other laws and regulations did not provide for a complete ban on the sale and discharge of fireworks that meet quality standards. This is seen by the outside world as a further relaxation of the "national ban on fireworks and firecrackers".
At the same time, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the department in charge of fireworks and firecrackers, issued a statement: to avoid a "one-size-fits-all" comprehensive (region-wide, full-time) ban on fireworks and firecrackers, so as to meet the people's demand for folk culture and yearning for a better life.
Comprehensive news and information can be seen that major prefecture-level cities such as Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Luohe, Pingdingshan, Nanyang, Shangqiu in Henan, Kunming in Yunnan, Yinchuan, Ningxia, Shaoxing in Zhejiang, Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, etc., have announced the time and place of this year's Spring Festival "restrictions", which can be regarded as a continuation of the obvious relaxation of the ban on sales and combustion in many places across the country at the beginning of 2023.
The Guangzhou Spring Festival fireworks display returned after 12 years, and many counties and districts in Zhengzhou opened applications for fireworks and firecrackers business licenses.
To this end, the minibus made a special trip to Liuyang, hoping to witness the possible "great changes" in the industry, and the following is a little observation of the minibus.
Seven big, three small! ”
Li Kang, the eldest brother of a prefecture-level city in Henan, and his partner drove nearly 1,000 kilometers to a firecracker factory in a village in Jingang Town, Liuyang City, to pick up the goods. That's the maximum amount his car can hold. The disc-shaped firecrackers in the firecracker factory are very common, with different diameters and unfolded lengths, and the largest diameter can reach 16 meters.
The sale of fireworks is still completely banned, and he has nowhere to buy them, so he took this approach. He was also a wholesaler for the firecracker factory.
In fact, the sale of fireworks is strictly regulated. When foreign tourists arrive in Liuyang, they can only take away one or two boxes of fireworks at most. However, the gradual clarity of the situation strengthened his courage.
At this time last year, the goods in the entire Liuyang market were swept away, and the goods that had been stored for more than ten years were pulled away. Some of the fireworks bombs are not bright, and there is nothing when they are put on, just a sound. He smiled at the minibus.
Liuyang 2023 fireworks display.
Phenomena similar to those described by Li Kang have been quite common in the past year. In the words of a typical practitioner's voice: ". ."A few years ago, everyone would say that it was a sunset industry, but now I have confidence again.
Specifically, in terms of production capacity, a number of heads of leading enterprises said that this year (referring to after the Spring Festival in 2023 and before the Spring Festival in 2024) the production capacity has doubled compared with previous years.
In line with this, the total output value of Liuyang fireworks in 2022 will be 301500 million yuan, 50 billion yuan in 2023.
Behind the 50 billion yuan, there are two changes.
One is the outbreak of small fireworks. Gatling, jellyfish, big windmills and other small fireworks categories mainly for young people have become popular Internet celebrities, taking Gatling as an example, the ex-factory price has risen from more than a dozen yuan to fifty or sixty yuan, so that many factories engaged in the production of firecrackers and factories mainly engaged in foreign trade have transformed into the domestic small fireworks market, although it is not easy.
The second is the popularization of the distribution network. For example,The number of fireworks retail stores in Dayao Town alone has grown from 0 to 16, which can be used as a microcosm of the "liberalization" of sales policies and the influx of entrepreneurs.
Therefore, the person in charge of a leading enterprise said that now is the best period for the industry. As for the future, it is: "The next five years will be a ** era." This is the judgment of the sales leader of another leading company, which is the most optimistic.
Another person in charge of the company told the minibus that there was already capital in Shenzhen approaching him. "Many people (referring to capital) dare not enter this industry, do not dare to understand because they do not understand, do not understand because there are misunderstandings, feel that fireworks are heavy assets, dangerous, and unstable policies. The implication is that these are no longer problems.
Such a market situation will:The traditional "annual production and quarterly sales" has become "annual production and annual sales".。In the past, the time from spring to autumn was mainly the production and stocking time of the enterprise, and the production capacity plan was mainly combined with last year's sales estimate, and shipments began in October, and the peak sales season was winter.
Liuyang's largest fireworks trade city.
Source: Photographed by minibus.
In the past year, the situation was: "The peak time was in May and June, when all the wholesalers came here to order. Yang Yang, a sales leader of Yinyang, the head small fireworks company in Dayao Town, said to the minibus.
From the beginning of the year to October 1st, there are a lot of people who buy the goods. On the contrary, in the second half of the year, it was a little 'tired'. Another former head of the fireworks factory said.
Therefore, the following voices are more common: "As usual, the days before the Chinese New Year are the busiest times. But now it's not so busy. "All of them were helping out in the warehouse this time last year. ”
The basic facts behind this are:Most of the warehouses of wholesalers and retailers across the country are already full.
It is worth mentioning that the minibus bought a Gatling at a commissary in a village in a town in Liuyang (the other party has a few goods, not a regular outlet), * it is 35 yuan, and the boss revealed that the highest selling price is 75 yuan. The lowest selling price for other channels in the market is about 28 yuan.
In the past year, the liveliness of Liuyang's fireworks industry has come at the cost of long-term loneliness.
Since 2012, the entire fireworks industry has gone downhill, and from 2015 to 2019, the industry has shown a long-term downturn and is at the bottom of the cycle.
Since 2015, it has entered a ban cycle, and 2019 is a peak period, when provinces with large populations such as Henan have announced a ban on the whole province, and later Shanxi has also banned ...... provinceYe Changzheng, general manager of Liuyang Jinsheng Red Eagle Fireworks, said to the minibus.
From the end of 2019 to the Spring Festival of 20, fireworks were unsalable, and in 2020, many customers came over, saying that more than half of last year's fireworks were not sold, and they would not be purchased this year. 2020 was the bleakest year, and 2021 only slowly recovered. ”
It can be said that most of the factories in the past few years, are basically guaranteed capital, sales are not good, and the financing cost is very large, because in the Chinese New Year, customers have to deposit money, their own production and inventory, that more than 10% of the profit, just press it, you can't see the money, and even have to take the money out of your pocket. Brother Yun, the former head of the Liuyang fireworks factory and a well-known fireworks blogger, summed up to the minibus.
Based on the views of many industry insiders,On the production side, the general net profit of Liuyang firecracker factory is 15%-18%, and the situation is different at the downstream wholesale and retail ends, and there may still be more than 50% windfall profits.
Fireworks and firecrackers belong to flammable and explosive dangerous goods, the state implements a franchise license, upstream manufacturers can only sell products to sales companies with wholesale licenses, and based on the conventions of regional protection and management, such wholesale companies often have only one in a region, and outlets with retail licenses in the region can only purchase goods from this wholesale company. For example, the fireworks business in Hangzhou's Xiaoshan District is in the hands of a wholesaler.
Therefore, even if the industry is sluggish, the demand in a region is still considerable. "If you buy the goods for 100 yuan from me, and you want to sell them for 150, then you will sell them for 150. If you want to sell 160, sell 160. A business leader said.
Due to the requirement that there can be no residential buildings and commercial stores near retail outlets, and there are strict regulations on the area of warehouses and stores, a retail outlet in a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province even rented a two-story commercial building located at the junction of industrial and residential areas, just to do 100 square meters of fireworks retail business.
Gatling. Source: Photographed by minibus.
In the long-term cramped industry environment, Liuyang fireworks enterprises can only save themselves, and have formed a variety of ways to survive.
For example, diversify market risks and focus on the mid-to-high-end market of more stable firecracker categories. Comparatively speaking, firecrackers are a category with more stable demand. However, the risks on the market side should not be underestimated.
A well-known enterprise in Liuyang called Yixue Firecracker Factory revealed to the minibusIts Henan market once accounted for 50% of its total sales, and the ban on sales and burning in Henan Province once caused it heavy lossesNow its share in various provinces is relatively even, and it focuses on the mid-to-high-end market, exchanging quality for market stability. The factory price of the largest single item is up to 2,000 yuan.
The general direction is shrinking, but it is different to subdivide into each enterprise, we are growing steadily every year, about 20%, that is, the growth is slowing down. Zhang Longchu, chairman of the Yixue Firecracker Factory, told the minibus.
For example, focusing on the relatively stable foreign trade market and large-scale fireworks market, the typical representative is the Liuyang Jinsheng fireworks group, which focuses on the large-scale fireworks and combined fireworks market and accounts for 70% of the total output.
Perhaps the most obvious results are the innovation and promotion of small fireworks categories. It is recognized that Yinyang, a leading enterprise in Dayao Town, proposed the concept of "urban fireworks" in 2019, emphasizing that product development should be based on urban leisure scenes, achieving high safety and reducing pollution, emphasizing appearance and social attributes. Nowadays, the small fireworks category in which the concept of "urban fireworks" is located is the most popular product category of Liuyang fireworks, and Internet celebrities such as Gatling and jellyfish belong to this category.
Confession fireworks. Source: Photographed by minibus.
The minibus visits its showroom, where there are a thousand small products and specially created gift bags for travel, camping, confession and other scenes. It is understood that there is 30% elimination and renewal every year.
If we look at the development trend of Liuyang's fireworks industry in recent years, it is likely to observe a trend of decline. For example,Around 2000, the GDP of Liuyang's fireworks industry accounted for 60%-70%, and now it is less than 20%; The number of enterprises has also been reduced from 2,000 to about 300.
However, regional development is closely related to national development, and in addition to being constrained by the latter, it can also be counterproductive. This is the wonder of business.
Due to the long-term existence of the national ban on sales and combustion policy, the vast majority of provinces in the country have cracked down on the fireworks and firecracker industry as a backward industry and eliminated it as a backward production capacity.
Official data shows that in the 10 years from 2006 to 2015, nearly 4,000 fireworks production enterprises across the country were shut down. 16 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have completely withdrawn from the production of fireworks and firecrackers. The provinces, cities and counties that have withdrawn from the production of fireworks and firecrackers account for the total number of the country. 8%。
In 2019, Shangli County and Wanzai County in Jiangxi Province, which are two of the four major fireworks factories in the country, were also restricted by the local planning: by the end of 2021, the production enterprises will be greatly reduced.
As a characteristic industry in Liuyang, the fireworks industry has a deep historical origin, a unique whole industry chain, a full category of advantages, and a high degree of dependence on local people's livelihood, etc., it has been protected and guided by the local policy consistently, although the proportion of GDP and the number of enterprises are decreasing, but the remaining hundreds of enterprises are inThe scale of production capacity, production efficiency, environmental protection of raw materials, and production standardization of enterprisesIn fact, the main tone of the policy is still: mergers and acquisitions, bigger and stronger.
In previous years, Liuyang New Year's fireworks show.
We have to pay a lot of money for the (enterprises) we stay, for example, the cost of rectification is very large. **Constant regulation will continue to put forward new standards and requirements. A business leader said.
In the view of Ye Changzheng, general manager of Liuyang Jinsheng Red Eagle Fireworks, "the current policy, in principle, is not to increase the number of factories, which means that the excess production capacity will become a better development momentum, such as premium, product innovation, or force us to use intelligent and mechanized means to improve efficiency."
There is monitoring in every place in our factory, and if you don't get off work when you get off work, the monitoring (of the relevant departments) will warn that if you don't get off work, the power will go out. Another employee of a large fireworks group said. At the same time, there are fewer and fewer safety accidents in the factory.
The results of the clear divergence of local policies reflected above are:The production capacity continues to gather in Liuyang, which ensures the long-term continuity of the high production capacity of Liuyang fireworks and continuously improves the core competitiveness of Liuyang fireworks, and paves the way for the outbreak of the industry this year.
Of course, there is another "lead" in the middle that has to be mentioned.
In 2015, Wangzi, a veteran employee of a fireworks factory in Jingang Town, single-handedly became the first blogger in Liuyang to make fireworks short. "I thought the fireworks were sluggish at that time, and I wanted to do something to make the fireworks go viral. He said. His wife didn't understand him at the time, and felt that she didn't do the work with an annual salary of 60,000 or 70,000 yuan in the firecracker factory, and did something that "couldn't see the money".
In 2016, Brother Yun also joined the ranks of short ** bloggers. "We did it for three or four years and didn't have any income at all. ”
Today, the two of them are the most well-known fireworks bloggers in Liuyang, and once formed a team. For example, the prince has a total of 6 million fans of Shake, Kuai, and **, and is the biggest fireworks blogger in Liuyang, and has become a frequent visitor to the mainstream. Nowadays, Liuyang's fireworks companies generally have a short propaganda department that is relied on. It can be said that in the four major production areas of fireworks and firecrackers, the development of Liuyang fireworks enterprises in the field of short firecrackers is unique and far ahead.
The short** platform has largely become the source of Internet celebrity fireworks, such as Gatling and jellyfish, all of which are short** with fire. Gatling is an old foreign trade product for more than ten years, and the traditional way of playing is to insert it in the soil for fireworks, but the spontaneous innovation of young people is to treat it as a hand-held firework, which produces a stronger impact and pleasure, and detonates the whole network through the short ** spread.
As for the source of this kind of play, "everyone's unanimous statement is that there is a group of people in the Northeast who started to play like this first." Brother Yun said.
Fireworks short** also takes on the function of "fireworks education" for the younger generation. “At the beginning, many people were affected by some **, and said things like polluting the environment in the comment area, but now it is much better. ”
The prince also said: "Some young people with small children, show my ** to the children, and after reading the **, it will not be noisy." I feel quite proud, too. ”
In addition, the short ** can also be used as a core starting point for directly facing C-end users, keenly grasping market trends and promoting new products. "In the past, there was no such rapid means of communication, so we had to go everywhere and talk to people (wholesalers, retailers) about the product. An industry veteran salesman said.
It should be pointed out that behind the strong fireworks industry, the resource endowment of this county-level city has obvious "defects":
Built on a narrow river valley plain surrounded by mountains, it has a layer of "isolation"; The main urban area is about 30 kilometers away from Dayao Town, Jingang Town and other areas, and each area is blocked by mountain ranges, with inconvenient transportation and scattered populations; There is no train to the outside world, which is quite rare in the whole country. The main city is 50 kilometers away from Changsha Huanghua Airport and 70 kilometers away from Changsha South Railway Station.
If there were no fireworks, it would be poor here. The prince said to the minibus.
Source: Photographed by minibus.
The cultivation of fireworks industry in Liuyang also has no obvious basic advantages, the situation that the minibus understands is that in addition to the historical origin of the invention of fireworks and firecrackers was born here, it is mainly Liuyang with a little oily soil suitable for making raw materials for fireworks, so that firecracker enterprises in Anhui, Inner Mongolia and other places have come to Liuyang to transport soil.
At the end of the 90s of the last century, as the local government took it as the "leading industry" and increased support, the county's family-style workshops sprung up, becoming the core thrust of the development of Liuyang's fireworks industry. In the 20 years from 1992 to 2012, the output value of Liuyang's fireworks industry has increased by 70 times.
The ever-growing fireworks industry has also cultivated generations of young people, and even primary and junior high school students here have a good "place to stay" after graduation.
After graduating from high school in 86, Wang Zi entered the town's firecracker factory and worked for eight years. Although he needs to "wear a mask all day and the medicine is dusty", he can earn 60,000 or 70,000 yuan a year, so he got married at the age of 22 and now has two sons.
From children to grandmothers, they can all engage in this industry to a certain extent. "Fireworks and firecrackers are divided into drug-free processes and drug-free processes, and drug-free processes can be done at home. ”
"Firecracker family" is not uncommon. For example, Yang Yang, the sales person in charge mentioned above, said: ".My dad used to work in a small family workshop, and two years ago he was still in a technical position, my mom is now in her fifties and is still in the production department of the factory, and my brother belongs to the security department.
Brother Yun said with emotion: "We have also been to many places across the country (setting off fireworks), and some places are left-behind families, and only the elderly and children are still at home. "It is the norm for a family of four or five to eat together all year round.
Take the above-mentioned Yixue firecracker factory as an example, the factory is located in a mountainous rural area, covering an area of five or six hundred acres, with basketball courts, rest pavilions and other facilities, with nearly 400 employees, belonging to the upper middle scale, most of the workers are in the production department (the production link belongs to the semi-mechanized level, and a large number of workers are still needed), the workers are mainly from the surrounding villages, and the monthly salary is generally ranging from 3,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan.
To a large extent, Liuyang demonstrates a noteworthy sample of the vitality of the county economy:Regardless of the age, regardless of academic qualifications, as long as the old, middle and young take root for a long time and continue to relay, they can continue to consolidate the talent and industrial foundation, as well as endogenous innovation.
In a word:If you do your best, you will be able to be fearless of changes in the external environment.
In the middle of last year, the prince and Brother Yun parted ways, the prince insisted on the position of the propagandist of Liuyang fireworks, not involved in the sales process, his next plan is to "share fireworks around the world", and after the year, he plans to follow the foreign trade company to the United States for a turn. And Brother Yun's retail store in Dayao Town has just been renovated and will open for business in the near future.
Going to the world and taking root in the hometown are actually the same way, and behind them are actually full of love and perseverance for the land they are in.
Leaving Liuyang to Changsha to take the high-speed rail, taking a long-distance online car-hailing, the driver brought a box of small fireworks, two Gatling and a bunch of small products, which was a gift he gave to his relatives in Changsha, and should also be his pride as a Liuyang person.
The author of this article |Limpo |Lee baboon|LiabilityEdit |Xu Tao.
Editor-in-Chief |He Mengfei|Image source |vcg