Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1369 Big Brother's Carrot (rd update, please subscribe)
The Steel Building is both named after the steel company and not named after it.

When walking into the Steel Building, Dimitrievich looked up at the steel monster in front of him. Since its completion, this building has been full of controversy in the architectural world. Because the building looks like a mechanical monster from outer space, it is called the "Steel Monster".

The exterior is made of steel, but the interior is made of reinforced concrete. The combination of the two materials gives people a very cold and industrial atmosphere. It is more like a monster made of a pile of technological parts and attracts people's attention.

However, as the headquarters of Donghai Steel Company, it is the most suitable place. After all, steel is their main business!
However, Dimitrievich and his group did not think too much about it at this time. As soon as they entered the lobby, they were led into the elevator by the receptionist and soon entered an office.

Of course, the person he met was not the general manager, but the business manager Schroeder. The two were old friends. After all, the Soviet Union had been a customer of Donghai Steel for the past decade.

We started chatting as soon as we met, and we got straight to the point. The topic we talked about was naturally the "BAT" embargo.

"Yuri, as you know, we have received instructions prohibiting the provision of large-diameter oil pipelines to you, so."

Heinrich shrugged his shoulders helplessly, sighed, and said:

"You know, I really enjoy dealing with you. Over the years, we have exported bearing steel for high-speed trains, oil drill pipe steel, and a variety of other high-quality steel products to you, including large-diameter oil pipelines."

To a certain extent, the Soviet Union can definitely be called a "high-quality customer" of Donghai Steel. Although the Soviet Union's steel production ranks second in the world, they cannot produce many steel grades and the quality is a bit poor, so they need to import them from abroad.

In fact, this is the case in many countries; not every country can produce all types of steel.

“So, we had to stop the previous all-access.”

Then Heinrich emphasized:

"Of course, this is only limited to oil pipelines larger than 30 inches!"

Faced with such an answer, Dimitrievich said directly:

"Heydrich, the large-diameter oil pipeline is exactly why I came here. I believe that as a friend, you should be able to get rid of these!"

Looking at his old friend in front of him, Dimitrievich leaned forward slightly and said:
"We can negotiate on the price!"

Steel is a metal, and like all metals has its price, which is essentially governed by two factors: the necessity of the metal in some process perfected by world industry, and the rarity of the metal.

Steel is a very... common metal. The total annual output in the world is only about 7 million tons! As a common metal, it is one of the basic materials of modern industry and is widely used in many fields such as construction, transportation, and national defense. Steel is an indispensable material for building high-rise buildings, bridges, railways, and highways. In addition, steel is also widely used in the manufacturing industry. From automobiles to mechanical equipment, almost all manufacturing fields need to use steel as the main raw material.

Precisely because it is a basic material with extremely wide applications, there was a saying in the 19th century that "steel is the country". The root of this saying is that all war machines and industrial machines cannot do without steel.

In a word, steel is very important, so important that it can bring down a country!
Just like now, the Soviet Union, which has the second largest steel production in the world, was tripped by this stumbling block. Therefore, Dimitrievich came to Donghai Steel with only one purpose - to purchase a large-diameter oil pipeline.

To this end, he even threw out price bait, which is their most commonly used method in foreign trade.

“We can offer a price slightly higher than the market price!”

Faced with the price bait, Heydrich hesitated and pondered.

"This……"

After a long time, he said:
"You know, there are too many aspects involved in this matter, so I need to report it to my superiors."

……

"Sit down quickly."

Jensen gestured to Heydrich to sit on the sofa and asked:
"Have some tea, black tea or green tea?"

"Thank you, sir, that's all."

Pointing to the teapot in front of him, Heydrich said:

"Haha, Huangya! I like to drink this too."

After pouring tea for Heydrich, Johnson asked:
"How was the meeting with the Russians?"

“Their needs are urgent.”

Taking the teacup, Heydrich said:
"They are willing to increase the price by 15% on top of the current base price." "15%, wow, they are really generous..."

How could they not be generous? When doing business with Russians, it was good enough that they did not lower the price, but they actually took the initiative to increase the price by 12%, which was indeed rare. Johnson said:

"They must be very eager to make such a generous move. However, this is understandable. Oil exports are very important to them! It is almost one of the few commodities they can exchange for hard currency, so in order to ensure the export of oil, they are of course willing to pay some price."

"Indeed, sir, the main feature of trade between Russia and Western Europe is to exchange oil for technology. They use their abundant oil resources to exchange for advanced Western technology and equipment. It can be said that this is the best way that is both realistic and adaptable to the needs of both sides.

For them, energy trade with Western Europe can be exchanged for foreign exchange, creating the necessary conditions for importing products from the West. In addition to trade controls, the lack of hard currency is another major obstacle for the Soviet Union to purchase Western products.

Therefore, they need to make use of their resource advantages and use oil as the main source of foreign exchange. Three years ago, they exchanged nearly $31.5 million for oil exports to Western Europe, which nominally accounted for 50% of the total foreign exchange income of the Soviet Union. They also exported a large number of arms, machinery and equipment, transportation tools and other industrial products to developing countries every year, but in fact, most of these countries did not have enough foreign exchange to pay, and could only use the loans they provided or repay with agricultural products, so basically all the expenditures were nominal. As for the Eastern Group... they all used barter trade and bookkeeping rubles, which also led to the fact that oil exchanged for foreign exchange actually accounted for more than %, and the rest was various rare metals, mineral products, etc...."

As the head of regional business for a large steel company, Heydrich had experience working in the investigation department and was naturally familiar with this data.

"Large-diameter oil pipelines are the key to whether the trade strategy of oil for technology can be realized. After the war, as the resources of the old oil-producing area of ​​Baku oil fields were exhausted, their oil production bases gradually moved eastward to Western Siberia, so oil transportation became an important issue. Pipeline transportation is the most economical and safest mode of transportation, and the diameter of the steel pipe is the key factor in determining the cost.

If 40-inch steel pipes are used, the freight will be 24% less than 39-inch steel pipes and 72% less than railroads. However, their steel pipes cannot meet the needs of the development of the oil industry in terms of output and quality. Large-diameter steel pipes require advanced production technology and are the "bottleneck" of their oil economy.

According to the analysis of their import volume and construction progress, their large-diameter steel pipe production capacity is only a "symbolic amount", so if they want to solve this problem, they must import from abroad. "

Listening to Heydrich's story, Johnson, holding a cup of tea in his hand, was more moved that the country's steel production was the second largest in the world.

They can produce tank armor with excellent performance, but they cannot produce high-quality thin plates for vehicles, which limits their automobile industry.

They can produce excellent steel plates for warships and submarines, but they cannot produce enough steel plates for ships, which has become the weak point of the civilian shipbuilding industry.

Just like now, they can produce large artillery, but large-caliber oil pipelines have become their weak point.

Currently, the United States is the largest producer of steel pipes, and 24% of the world's steel pipes over 60 inches are produced in the United States. However, the United States has imposed a strict embargo on steel pipes, so they can only find other ways to import large-diameter steel pipes.

So, in the past few years, they have imported a large number of large-diameter oil pipelines from West Germany, France and other countries, and Donghai Steel is of course also their choice.

However, now, after Batumi has included "large-diameter oil pipelines" in the embargo items, they have to consider adopting "flexible methods" to obtain this technology product.

"Because oil exports are very important to them, we can even say they are a vital link, so they are willing to increase the price."

After taking a sip of tea, Johnson asked:
"So now, how much do they need?"

The manager's answer made Heydrich's heart move. If nothing unexpected happened, the manager would definitely agree to the deal.

After all, business is about making money.
"At present, the estimated shortage of 40-inch oil pipelines alone is more than 100 million tons!"

100 million tons!

When Johnson heard this number, he did not find it strange. In fact, they needed more steel pipes. This was just a calculation based on the current project volume.

"One million tons..."

Putting down the teacup, Johnson calculated the profits from this deal. Obviously, the profits were extremely considerable. Putting aside the profits, the 12% premium was simply a golden doll delivered to his door.

High profits, of course, also mean high risks.

This business carries risks. Once discovered by the "Battalion Commission", not only will there be a fine, but someone may even have to pay the price.

Thinking of this, Johnson said directly:
"It seems like we need to find a white glove and find a way to avoid all potential dangers!"

"Yes, sir."

Heydrich said:

“But I think the most pressing issue to be solved is transportation!”

(End of this chapter)