When a deadly blast rocked a small town in central China this week, killing dozens, hundreds of fireworks factories in the surrounding area were in peak production season for overseas orders, including for the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, industry insiders said.
By noon on Friday, the death toll from the blast had reached 37, with one person still missing. Fifty-one people were still hospitalised, with five in critical condition, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Fireworks producers in Liuyang, Hunan province – often called the “fireworks capital of the world” – were rushing to fill orders before a mandatory production ban from June to August due to heat-related safety risks, according to insiders.
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“For our American clients, we usually deliver products before June, for their Fourth of July [fireworks shows],” Joy Kong, the overseas sales director of a large fireworks company in Liuyang, told the South China Morning Post on Thursday.
Her company has multiple factories and employs 1,600 people. Every year, they sell about 300 shipping containers of fireworks to Europe, the US and Southeast Asia, with foreign trade volume exceeding 100 million yuan (US$14.7 million) each year.
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Kong said the company’s overseas business had become somewhat of a routine, with US clients placing orders about a year ahead of time and the company starting production in November for delivery by June.