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Chapter 1156 The End of the Giant (rd update, please subscribe)
No matter what position people take,
One thing cannot be denied—New York is the world’s financial center!

After World War II, the first handover between the declining British Empire and the rising American Empire was the financial baton.

The symbol of this is that the world's financial center has shifted from London to New York!
Manhattan, New York.

Not only does it have the most prosperous skyline of this era, but it is also the heart of world finance!
No matter what impression people have of Wall Street, it cannot change this fact.

The prosperity of Wall Street seems to reflect the prosperity of the United States!
Just as the whole world was looking up to the prosperity of the United States, a storm quietly descended on the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

All steel stocks fell across the board, while all iron ore stocks rose across the board.

"The Mesabi iron mine is exhausted!"

Following the release of this news, the sensitive market immediately responded – iron ore stocks rose rapidly!
In fact, as early as seven years ago, the high-grade iron ore in the Mesabi Mountains of Minnesota, the United States, had already fallen into a state of exhaustion. This large iron ore, discovered in 1887, is 1 to 1.5 kilometers wide, 150 meters thick, and 180 kilometers long. The iron content of the ore exceeds 70%. Therefore, the iron ore here basically does not need any processing and can be directly loaded into the blast furnace. Moreover, not far away is the high-quality coal mine in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania coal and Minnesota iron ore provided sufficient raw materials for the American steel industry, making the United States a real "Mesabi" in just ten years - the Indian word for "giant", which was made of the Mesabi iron ore.

In 1952, when this news came out, the American market fell into panic. But now - just seven years later, when even low-grade iron ore cannot be guaranteed to be effectively supplied, it is undoubtedly catastrophic news for the American steel industry!

The market began to panic as a result - although no sign was shown on the surface, the most eye-catching performance in the stock market that day was the Nanyang Pacific Mining Company. In just a few days, the share price of this mining giant, which owns tens of billions of tons of high-quality iron ore in Australia, rose by more than 70%.

On Wall Street, countless people have their eyes on this company, but for these financial tycoons, all they can do is... sigh at the mine. After all, as everyone knows, the major shareholder of Pacific Mining Company is Princess Margaret - she is not only a British princess, but also the first lady of Nanyang and the queen of the Kingdom of Sarawak. The shareholding structure of this company is extremely complex, and it is certain that it involves two countries.

One is an old power, and the other is a new power.

"Damn it, how could this happen?"

In an office of the U.S. Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh, a middle-aged man with a big beard was looking through the equity structure of the Pacific Mining Company, cursing and writing with a pen, as if he was looking for some opportunity.

"Is there no chance to do it?"

As the deputy manager of U.S. Steel, Wells has been paying attention to Australia's iron ore in the past few years. Faced with the reality that the Mesabi iron ore is depleted, he must find "raw materials" for the company worldwide. If there is no iron ore, U.S. Steel will go bankrupt due to lack of raw materials, which is obviously unacceptable to him.

However, in the world, only Australia's iron ore can meet the needs of American steel companies. As for Europe, there is no need to even think about it. As early as a few years ago, Europeans established the "European Coal and Steel Community" to share coal and iron ore to ensure the production of various countries.

If U.S. Steel wants to solve the raw material problem, it can only do something with Pacific Mining Company, but how can it get a share of it?
Wells' brows knitted together, and his expression became more and more solemn...

Steel is a metal and like all metals has a price.

This price is basically controlled by two factors:

The first is the necessity of this metal in certain processes of world industrial improvement; the second is the rarity of this metal.

Steel is a very common metal, with the world's annual output reaching hundreds of millions of tons.

Although it is not as scarce as gold, not as rare as silver, and not as expensive as copper and aluminum.

But as we all know, steel is the measure of whether a country is strong.

A country can be without gold and silver, but it absolutely cannot be without steel. Steel is the core raw material of modern industry. Without steel, it is impossible to manufacture machinery, vehicles, ships, airplanes, and even build houses. Even the most ordinary wooden house requires hundreds of kilograms of iron nails.

The reason why the United States was able to win World War II was largely due to its industrial productivity. Before World War II, the annual production of automobiles in the United States reached more than 500 million vehicles. This number is almost 20 times that of Germany during the same period. The basis of this production capacity is the steel production of the United States. Before World War II, the annual steel production of the United States accounted for more than 30% of the world's total, and after World War II, the proportion increased to more than 40%.

Steel is important!
But the problem is... now, there is no iron ore in the United States!
In other words, America’s iron ore is about to run out!

As the manager of U.S. Steel Corporation, Wells was of course anxious, because as everyone knew, without iron ore, the steel company would have to declare a suspension of production.

and then?
Then what?

Thinking of this, the head of the U.S. Steel Corporation threw away the report in his hand in a somewhat distracted manner and looked out through the thick glass window opposite his desk. At this time, dusk was falling in the central business district of Pittsburgh. The lights were on in the middle floors of the building - the lights on the lowest floors were on all day - and the top floors still had plenty of winter sunlight.

Pittsburgh is the heart of America's steel empire!

This became the heart of the steel empire because the city bordered the Appalachian coalfields, where the Alligator and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River. High-quality "coke" grade coal was mined in nearby Pennsylvania. Iron ore was shipped from the upper Midwest around Lake Superior. Pittsburgh, as the easternmost major port in the Mississippi River Basin, had access to these raw materials via the river. In this way, it became an entrepot between railroad transportation and river shipping, connecting the East Coast with the Midwest.

This favorable geographical location has contributed to the rise of the steel industry in this city.

In the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, 134494 people work in this industry. Of these, 6% are managers and professionals, and 8% are office workers. The remaining 86% can be divided fairly evenly between skilled craftsmen and foremen, semi-skilled operatives, and unskilled auxiliary workers.

Once a steel company runs out of raw materials - the iron ore it depends on for survival!
This means that millions of people will lose their jobs and millions of families will be in trouble!

Of course, Wells is more concerned about the future of U.S. Steel, but the question is, how long can a steel company exist without iron ore?
"Perhaps low-grade iron ore can barely maintain the company's production, but the surge in costs will exhaust the competitiveness of the products. If the products are not competitive, how long will it take for bankruptcy?" Thinking of this in his mind, Wells frowned even more tightly. Right now, the only lifeline for US Steel Corporation is in Australia.

“There’s only iron ore from Australia!”

Wells muttered as the thought flashed through his mind.

"Let's do it, let's fight the British for that iron mine! If we don't do it, we'll die anyway. If we do it, there might be a glimmer of hope!"

Finally, a gleam of light flashed before Wells' eyes!
Yes!

If U.S. Steel doesn't reach out to Pacific Mining Company, it will surely be doomed!

This is the last choice. The world can leave U.S. Steel, but it cannot leave steel!

……

At the same time, at the "Pittsburgh Corner" where the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River meet to form the Ohio River, a black BMW car was parked on the bridge. Despite the heavy traffic on the bridge, the car was parked there so willfully.

Several bodyguards in coats and sunglasses immediately went to the car and the walkway beside the bridge. On the walkway beside the bridge, a woman in a tweed coat and the man beside her were looking into the distance - there was smoke and the flames of the blast furnace were shining.

"…In 8132, the annual steel production of the United States reached million tons. Nine years later, in , the steel production of the United States exceeded million tons! It became the only country in the world whose steel production exceeded million tons! Despite such a large amount of steel production, the demand for steel in the post-war world was astonishing. In post-war America, steel was everywhere: in the skeleton of interstate highways; in the shiny household appliances used to enrich the newly built large houses in the suburbs; in the pipelines that transported oil from the oil fields; in the skyscrapers that stood in the city center during the urban renewal process; and most importantly, in the cars that reshaped American society. Therefore, no one in this world can live without steel!"

Peggy stood by the bridge, pointed to the game on the Ohio River, and said to her son beside her:
"Jason, if you board a boat from here and sail southeast up the Monongahela River toward West Virginia, within 25 miles, wherever the riverbank is not too steep, you will find piles of steel products, a bunch of steel factories, and their chimneys."

Although he had just turned fourteen, Jason looked like an adult standing next to his mother. He was over six feet tall and wore a black woolen coat, looking a bit like his mother's follower.

Of course, apart from that overly immature appearance.

Although it is the Christmas holiday, Jason did not go to Chang'an as in previous years, but came to Pittsburgh with his mother.

Listening to his mother's story, Jason watched it all quietly. He knew why his mother brought him here. Although he was only fourteen years old, one day in the future he would have to take over his mother's authority and be in charge of everything.

"And America's vast steel industry provides America's cars, appliances, airplanes, ships, weapons, skyscrapers, bridges, pipelines, and highways with a complex of factories and plants on a scale that few other industries can match."

Looking into the distance with her son, a smile flashed across Peggy's pretty face.

"But behind the highly prosperous American steel industry lies a hidden danger."

Jason asked:

“Is the hidden danger that the Mesabi iron ore mine has run out of steam?”

Although still young, he also paid attention to the news and knew that even the US economy had been affected by the depletion of iron ore.

"Yes, you see, upstream from here, there are so many steel companies here, with millions of people working here, it supplies steel to the whole world, but once there is no iron ore, they are nothing! The company will go bankrupt, the workers will lose their jobs, and the city will decline!"

Even the entire United States, the most powerful "Mesabite" giant in history, will fall into recession! At least to a certain extent, without iron ore, the US economy will definitely be affected.

"But we have iron ore!"

Jason said.

"So, are we here to discuss cooperation with them? Are we cooperating with U.S. Steel? Selling them iron ore? Aunt Margaret's Pacific Mining owns the largest iron ore in the world."

After thinking about it, Jason added.

"Our company also owns shares of Pacific Minerals Company."

The companies under Li Yian's name all have cross-holdings. Their equity structure is very complicated, with personal shares, company shares, and bank shares. But ultimately, they all belong to Li Yian himself and his wife. As for his mistresses, they are almost all in custody of the children.

Of course, Jason was also a shareholder of Pacific Minerals Company, and he was always fair to his children. Each child had a share of property that belonged to them, and it was definitely worth a lot of money.

Looking at her son's handsome face, which would make countless girls obsessed with him, Peggy took his arm and said as they walked towards the car.

"We came to talk about collaboration, but another collaboration!"

(End of this chapter)