National Tide 1980.

Fully aware of how seriously Huo Yanping attached to this matter, Ning Weimin did not dare to waste any time.

Early the next morning, before eight o'clock, he called the Japanese side.

This is because the time in Tokyo is one hour ahead of that in Beijing. Ning Weimin knows that before nine o'clock in the morning, President Kitamaru of Hanwa Kogyo will definitely be sitting at his desk with ten elites from his financial department to study and discuss strategies to deal with today's foreign exchange market.

As expected, as a major shareholder, he found Kitamao in the financial management department of Hanwa Kogyo as expected, and successfully got everything he wanted from Kitamao.

Actually, this is all thanks to Japan's bubble economy.

Because now Kitamo, under the name of Hanwa Kogyo, operates in the international foreign exchange market with an amount exceeding 100 billion yen every day.

His big bet has made him a big name in the international foreign exchange market, almost comparable to the status of Swiss Bank.

The Swiss bank was called "the devil of Zurich," and his Hanwa Kogyo was called "the devil of the East."

In fact, although Hanwa Kogyo is a steel manufacturer with thousands of employees, its financial department has only ten employees.

But under Kita-Mao's leadership, the returns from financial management have been getting higher and higher since the Plaza Accord.

Today, these few people have created profits several times that of the main business departments, causing the current President of the Bank of Japan, Satoshi Sumita, to praise them highly.

Even in front of other larger steel companies, they would not hesitate to say, "Hanwa Kogyo is a great company! It is the pride of the Japanese steel industry."

Therefore, under this situation of abnormal imbalance between financial income and main business income, President Kitamao has become completely obsessed with his success in the foreign exchange market.

As for steel manufacturing and the main business of steel wholesale, he is basically no longer interested in it.

Therefore, when Ning Weimin asked him about the inside story of the Japanese steel industry, he answered all his questions without reservation.

However, he was obviously not very interested in talking about these things, so after chatting for a few words, he simply called his subordinate, Shunzo Terada, the executive director of Hanwa Kogyo who was in charge of steel sales.

Let him contact Ning Weimin and ask him to provide all the information Ning Weimin needs.

Then he exchanged a few polite words with Ning Weimin on the phone, saying that they could go to Ginza for a drink when they had the chance, then he handed the phone to Terada Shunzo and left.

To be honest, based on President Kitamao's attitude, he deserves to be awarded a "honest and trustworthy" banner.

Because of his words, even if his subordinate Shunzo Terada wanted to make some changes to the relevant information for the benefit of the company or keep some reservations, he was unable to do so.

As a result, Ning Weimin not only fully understood all the relevant information he wanted to know from him and obtained the internal information of Hanwa Kogyo, but also found that the situation was even more optimistic than he had imagined.

It turns out that in Japan, the domestic scrap steel supply has become stagnant, and now Japanese steel companies are worried about their increasing amount of iron filings.

Although Japan suffered from an "absolute shortage" of scrap metal for a period before and after the war, it also regarded scrap metal recycling as an important measure for the national economy like us.

At that time, Japanese steel mills considered iron filings to be good things and would never let them flow out.

The government even issued special metal recycling regulations and established scrap steel storage institutions to cope with the shortage of means of production.

But with the rapid recovery of the post-war economy and America's support for international trade, everything changed.

Japanese steel companies gradually began to import high-quality iron ore from the international market.

As scrap steel resources become increasingly scarce, electric furnace steelmaking has entered a stage of rapid development, gradually replacing open-hearth steelmaking to become the mainstream of Japanese steel manufacturing companies, making Japan a major forging country for high-quality special steels.

Especially after 1985, the Plaza Accord led to the appreciation of the soft yen, and the supply and demand situation of scrap steel in Japan underwent a decisive change.

Due to the high labor costs, Japan has begun to increasingly dislike the secondary utilization of scrap steel, which requires a lot of labor costs for selection, classification, and even purification processes.

Given Japan's current situation, reusing scrap steel as means of production will only result in serious losses.

As a result, not only has the price of scrap steel in Japan been falling in recent years, but Japanese steel manufacturers themselves have also been troubled by the gradual accumulation of iron filings and broken iron caused by production, which cannot be sold and they have to find ways to store them themselves, which is a huge headache.

As a medium-sized steel manufacturing company, Hanwa Kogyo had accumulated no less than 500 tons of iron filings and scrap iron.

In fact, all steel manufacturers in Japan currently feel a sense of crisis about the excess of iron scraps.

In particular, steel companies in the Kanto region of Japan have taken the lead and are eager to go abroad and try to find overseas sales channels.

So Shunzo Terada asked Ning Weimin about the price of iron filings and scrap iron, expressing his intention to buy them, and was quite positive.

He was given a base price of 1,200 yen per ton, equivalent to ten US dollars per ton.

There is no doubt that the other party is not seeking to make money, but only to empty the warehouse and save storage and transportation costs.

At this price, it is quite cheap compared to iron ore which costs twenty dollars a ton.

So when Ning Weimin gave the relevant feedback to Huo Yanping, Huo Yanping was also quite surprised. He immediately held a relevant meeting with relevant personnel from the Ministry of Trade and experts from the industrial sector.

After three days of discussion and demonstration, all three parties agreed that this was a direction worth trying.

Because scrap steel is the only green energy-carrying resource that can replace iron ore for steelmaking in the steel industry, although it also has many drawbacks.

For example, scrap steel comes from used metal products. Its composition may not only contain various alloy elements and impurities, but also may have defects such as cracks and pores inside.

These will affect the performance of steel during the steelmaking process, thereby affecting the quality of steel.

Secondly, the uncertain pollutants that may exist in scrap steel may pose potential pollution risks to the environment if not properly pretreated.

But the benefits are also obvious.

In addition to the low price, the more important thing is energy saving and environmental protection.

According to experts' demonstration, producing one ton of steel with scrap steel can reduce the consumption of 1.3 tons of iron ore, 350 kilograms of standard coal, and 1.6 tons of carbon dioxide and 4.3 tons of solid waste emissions compared to producing one ton of steel with iron ore.

If we buy these 500 tons of iron filings at the price of ten dollars a ton and produce steel, based on the extremely low labor costs in the country, even if we look at the national price of 700 yuan a ton, even after deducting tariffs and transportation costs, there will be at least twice the profit, which is just right.

If calculated based on the market price of 1,200 yuan per ton, the profit would be five times.

This is not a small amount of money. Any steel mill that gets it will be overjoyed. This really proves what Ning Weimin said: others' burden is their treasure.

The key point is that Hanwa Kogyo is just a medium-sized steel plant in Japan, but it has so much raw material backlog.

There are hundreds of steel mills in Japan, large and small. If this were the case for all of them, how much iron filings and scrap steel would there be combined?
If we could buy thousands or tens of thousands of tons, it would seem like it would be of some use.

Even if these scrap steel and iron cannot be used to produce high-quality special steel, it will be fine if they can be used to forge some ordinary steel.

We can at least ensure that a few southern steel mills resume production first to meet some basic market demand, which is much better than having nothing.

Especially since the Japanese yen has appreciated sharply in recent years, how could the foreign trade department know that the appreciation of the Japanese yen has basically been completed? They are very worried about taking on unexpected exchange rate risks.

Only by implementing this matter as soon as possible can they feel at ease. Otherwise, if there is a fluctuation, they don’t know how much more dollars they will have to pay.

So this time, the relevant departments worked in unity and demonstrated a high efficiency rarely seen within the system. Within just one week, they set the direction and goals, established a special trade team, and prepared negotiation materials and related contracts.

They even ordered suits and suitcases for the negotiation team.

All members of the team were looking forward to going to Japan as soon as possible to conduct a business investigation on the matter. They were also looking forward to signing a scrap steel trading contract with Hanwa Kogyo as soon as possible to complete the task assigned by the leader.

However, when the list of people going abroad was handed over to Huo Yanping, he wanted to add an extra person outside the system, that is Ning Weimin.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

In his opinion, this matter was originally led by Ning Weimin.

He already had a certain foundation in Japan. He not only had a good relationship with Hanwa Kogyo, but also had a certain understanding of the Japanese mentality and relevant laws.

The key is that this guy is too smart and good at doing business.

With his participation in this matter, it will undoubtedly be twice as effective with half the effort and will be more likely to ensure final victory.

So for this reason, he made a phone call without any hesitation and asked Ning Weimin to come to his home to hold a mobilization meeting for him.

But he didn't expect that the thing that he thought was almost certain to be agreed to by Ning Weimin was actually rejected in person.

"You don't want to go? Why?"

He was involuntarily surprised for a moment, and then Huo Yanping asked, "You are not so careful about your reputation, are you? Are you worried that you will steal someone else's credit when you go?"

This was the only reason he could think of, so he smiled and advised, "If that's the case, don't worry. You're not in the system, and no matter how great your achievements are, you can't take away other people's opportunities, or block other people's paths, so you won't be envied. I remember your achievements, and this is a different matter. It's unlikely that you'll mess it up, and it's not your turn to bear the responsibility. So what are you worrying about?"

"And I have to remind you that this is a joint team composed of the backbones of the three ministries, and it is a groundbreaking event in foreign trade. Need I explain its importance? You are well-qualified, young, and an extrovert. You should cherish this opportunity and explore your own advantages in this area. Don't miss such a good learning opportunity. I don't need to point out the specific benefits of your participation, right? Hurry up and pack your things and prepare to go to Japan with the group."

"You, don't be complacent and only care about your small achievements. I know you can make money and run a few overseas restaurants well, but is that all for your future? Reform and opening up complement each other. Now that the policy is clear, in addition to going abroad first, you should also understand the other meanings above and design a longer-term path for yourself. What you lack most now is vision and knowledge, you need to do more forward-looking things. Don't always focus your energy on the jars and cans you already have in your hands, that's called a lack of ambition..."

Needless to say, Huo Yanping's intention to force Ning Weimin into this matter was definitely well-intentioned.

Because as long as Ning Weimin participates and shows his role, even if it is just the role of a follower assistant, he will be remembered by these team members.

They are the key backbones of the three departments and have unlimited prospects in the future. This kind of relationship will be of great benefit to Ning Weimin's future development.

Huo Yanping now knows better than anyone the importance of accumulating personal connections. From the perspective of promoting younger generations, even if he had a biological son, he could only do this much.

Ning Weimin is certainly not stupid, nor is he someone who doesn't know what's good for him.

So he quickly denied it, "Leader, you misunderstood. You have supported me so much and are thinking about my future. I can't thank you enough."

But he also had his reasons. Even though he thanked him in person immediately, he was afraid that he would still let Huo Yanping down.

"There is just one thing I need to tell you. I actually have some other relationship with Hanwa Kogyo. I am a shareholder of this company. As you know, the Japanese stock market has been rising in recent years, so I also bought some stocks. So I have to avoid suspicion in this matter. If I want to participate in it, it will become a related transaction, which is probably inappropriate. If other shareholders of Hanwa Kogyo knew about it, they might be dissatisfied with the low price of this transaction. Even in our country, if someone knew about this, I am afraid they would also suspect that my purpose of promoting this matter was to make it easier for me to get involved and seek personal gain from it."

This reason was something Huo Yanping had never expected. He immediately fell silent and looked at Ning Weimin with a mixture of strangeness, suspicion, and surprise.

After a long time, Huo Yanping retracted his scrutinizing gaze, but couldn't help asking, "If this is true, then it is understandable that you stay out of it. But isn't Hanhe Xingye a medium-sized steel plant? Even if you personally participate in the stock investment, your share should not be too large, right? Will your participation in this matter really have such a serious impact?"

"Boss, you don't know. In fact, not only myself, but also my wife, we are all shareholders of this company. In fact, our joint shareholding ratio has exceeded the public disclosure line of 5%. So if I am involved in this matter, Hanwa Kogyo must issue an announcement to shareholders in accordance with regulatory requirements. Otherwise, there will be twists and turns."

Huo Yanping was completely speechless this time. After a moment, he slowly let out a breath from his chest.

Then he smiled, a smile that was difficult to describe.

"You always surprise me. Five percent. That's five percent of a medium-sized steel mill! So, you've only been out for two years and you've already become a multimillionaire? If converted into RMB, these shares should be worth tens of millions, right?"

Ning Weimin smiled guiltily and nodded somewhat awkwardly.

"Not all of them belong to me, they belong to both Keiko and I."

In fact, it's more than that. To be honest, Ning Weimin was just using his wife as an excuse to take responsibility.

In fact, he personally holds more than 7% of Hanwa Kogyo shares.

Based on the current market value of Hanwa Kogyo of around 600 billion yen, the shares he holds are worth more than 40 billion yen, which is more than 300 million US dollars.

Even with leveraged funds from securities firms, his actual shares were worth $200 million.

If Huo Yanping knew about this, he would definitely be scared.

But then again, Ning Weimin is indeed a good person.

Although he had to stay out of the matter to avoid suspicion, he would never shirk his responsibilities if he could.

"Of course, don't worry. Although I can't directly participate in it, I will do my best to help with this project. After all, we are working for the country, and it is our duty. You know, there are comrades from our special department in the Temple of the Gods in Japan. When our comrades in charge of inspection and negotiation go there, please let me know. I will definitely arrange special personnel and vehicles to cooperate with them. Anyway, I will take care of everyone's food, clothing, housing and transportation in Japan. And you don't have to worry about the contact with Hanwa Kogyo, or even the contact with the Japan Iron Source Association. I promise to arrange everything for the comrades. I will make sure that these comrades will have a worthwhile trip and complete the mission."

Just like that, Ning Weimin cleared himself of the suspicion of being cowardly and complacent with just a few words.

He is generous and loyal.

Even Huo Yanping couldn't ask for more from him. (End of this chapter)