Recently, domestic gold jewelry prices have continued to rise. On October 16th, the price of gold jewelry in multiple domestic gold stores broke through the 1235 yuan/gram mark, and the price of platinum jewelry also exceeded 670 yuan/gram simultaneously. On that day, spot gold XAU briefly touched $4241.77 per ounce during trading, while COMEX gold futures also surged to $4255.40 per ounce during trading. Sun Yuhao, Senior Partner of Shanghai Haihua Yongtai Law Firm, told reporters: "The price of gold is linked to safe haven demand and the US dollar, and the rise in economic or geopolitical risks will drive funds to flow into gold, thereby pushing up the price of gold. Moreover, gold is priced in US dollars, and its price is negatively correlated with the strength or weakness of the US dollar." The fluctuation of gold prices has led to a clear pattern of differentiation in the performance of domestic gold industry chain enterprises. Upstream gold mining enterprises have achieved performance growth through the "simultaneous increase in quantity and price", while downstream jewelry retail enterprises are facing dual pressures of weak demand and shrinking profits, accelerating the industry's entry into a period of structural adjustment. Upstream mining companies: Gold prices and production capacity drive performance growth. The rise in gold prices directly benefits the performance of gold mining companies. Taking Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shandong Gold") as an example, in the first three quarters of this year, the company is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company of 3.8 billion to 4.1 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 83.9% to 98.5%; The expected net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company after deducting non recurring gains and losses is 3.78 billion yuan to 4.08 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 80.5% to 94.8%. As for the reasons for the performance growth, the announcement disclosed by Shandong Gold shows that in the first three quarters of this year, the company coordinated and optimized its production layout, strengthened core technology research and development, and improved its level of fine management. While scientifically matching project construction, it significantly improved operational efficiency, achieved synergistic improvement in production efficiency, resource utilization, and project construction speed. At the same time, coupled with the upward factor of gold prices, the company's profit increased significantly year-on-year. From the semi annual report data, it can be seen that in the first half of this year, 10 A-share gold mining companies collectively delivered an impressive performance with both revenue and net profit increasing significantly. Among them, the net profits attributable to the shareholders of the parent company of Shandong Gold, Western Gold Co., Ltd., Zhaojin International Gold Co., Ltd., and Beijing Xiaocheng Technology Co., Ltd. all increased by over 100% year-on-year. In this context, gold mining enterprises have increased their efforts to expand mineral resources. For example, Zijin Gold International Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Zijin Gold International") acquired 100% equity of the Raygorodok gold mine in Kazakhstan through its subsidiary and completed the delivery recently. The gold mine will produce an average of about 6 tons of gold per year from 2023 to 2024. Currently, production and operation are normal and there is still room for further improvement, which is expected to significantly support Zijin Gold International's planned target of 100 to 110 tons of mineral gold in 2028. Yuan Shuai, Deputy Secretary General of Zhongguancun Internet of Things Industry Alliance, told reporters: "In the future, upstream gold mining enterprises can further increase resource exploration and development efforts, while improving resource utilization efficiency. In addition, enterprises should timely pay attention to market price fluctuations, reasonably arrange production plans, and avoid inventory backlog and profit damage caused by significant price drops. Downstream jewelry merchants: Weak demand forces strategic adjustments, which is different from the impressive performance of upstream mining enterprises. The high operation of raw material prices directly impacts downstream jewelry consumption. In the first half of this year, the performance of gold jewelry companies further differentiated, with significant pressure on the performance of companies such as Lao Fengxiang Co., Ltd. and China Gold Group Gold Jewelry Co., Ltd; Meanwhile, companies such as Mancalon Jewelry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mancalon") and Lao Pu Gold Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Lao Pu Gold") have achieved growth. From the perspective of companies with good performance, "lightweight", "personalized", and "youthful aesthetics" have become important directions for their efforts. Taking Makaron as an example, in July this year, the company launched a multi-dimensional gold product matrix together with anime IP Tomb Robbing Notes. This group of products has accurately touched the "emotional points" of fans, effectively breaking down barriers within the circle and successfully leading the emerging consumer trend of "Golden Millet" (i.e. Golden Periphery). High end layout is also the way for gold jewelry enterprises to break through. As a typical representative of this track, Lao Pu Gold has always adhered to a high-end positioning, attracting a large number of high net worth individuals willing to pay for design craftsmanship and brand premium with its "ancient gold" craftsmanship and high-quality service. According to Frost&Sullivan data, in the first half of this year, among all jewelry brands, Lao Pu Gold consistently ranked first in average revenue and per square meter efficiency in a single mall in mainland China. Wang Chunjuan, an expert member of the China Community Business Work Committee, told reporters that in the past, gold jewelry used a single pricing model of "daily gold price x gram weight+processing fee". Nowadays, consumers are more concerned about design, cultural connotation, and emotional value, which will promote the industry to develop towards diversification, personalization, and high-end. Huo Hongyi, founder of Numanda Business Strategy Consulting, suggested in an interview with reporters that established jewelry companies can leverage their resource advantages to create a diversified product matrix, establish new sub brands or design lines on the basis of traditional wedding products, and inject fresh blood into the brand. At the same time, emerging brands that focus on segmented tracks can sustainably focus on differentiated positioning, create high barrier and high stickiness circle influence, and achieve a balance between the "hard value" and "soft value" of products. (New Society)