Chapter 242: Shipping Scale Expansion

"Okay." Wei Zetao continued, "Mr. Yang, Wang Yongqing has also responded to the polyethylene issue. He said that Germany has a high-pressure polymerization production technology, but it needs to purchase such a production line, which will cost at least $10 to start.
There are many types of polyethylene, so it is best for us to select different equipment after we get the materials and related information, because the equipment parameters corresponding to each material may be different. "

"Well, that's fine. Let's get the patent for the material first." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Once we get this, we can consider the rest."

After Wei Zetao took the order and left, Su Yiyi also took the bag and rubbed it vigorously a few times, making a somewhat harsh sound.

"It's quite uncomfortable to listen to." Yang Wendong suddenly felt a little numb in his ears. He didn't like this kind of sound very much. It was similar to the harsh sound of scratching glass, which he didn't like either.

"I don't have that feeling." Su Yiyi paused and said, "It can't be torn. This bag is pretty good."

"It's also waterproof, you can try it." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

"Yeah." Su Yiyi stood up immediately and trotted to the separate bathroom at the back of the office. After a sound of water, she came out again. After returning to her original position, she said, "This is much better than a paper bag or a bamboo basket."

"Of course." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So I want to produce it in Hong Kong. It's so affordable. This thing means a lot to ordinary people."

In economically strong places like Europe and the United States, paper bags are the most commonly used by ordinary people.

Ordinary people in Asia cannot afford paper bags, which are much more expensive than plastic bags, are afraid of water, and cannot bear heavy objects. Although they are not disposable, the number of times they can be used is limited.

Whether it is paper bags in Europe or bamboo baskets in Asia, the cost is much higher than that of plastic bags.

But when plastic bags are not perfect, Europeans and Americans may not like them very much, but in Asia, most people will not dislike them. They will only think that this thing is cheap, waterproof, and foldable. As for the chrome, the poor are not worthy of being pretentious.
Su Yiyi nodded and said, "I think it's very convenient, and I'm sure other people think so too. It's a pity that this thing requires special materials, otherwise you could register a patent again, Brother Dong."

"What are you thinking?" Yang Wendong shook his head: "If this thing could be made with ordinary materials, it wouldn't be our turn."

"That's right." Su Yiyi smiled awkwardly and asked, "But even if this thing has a patent, it probably won't be very useful. Many people will pirate it, and there's no way to hold them accountable."

"That's for sure." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So I don't plan to make money from this plastic bag like I did with the sticky notes. I just need to do everything I can to reduce the cost to the lowest possible level, and then sell it in various markets at a low profit."

The protective effect of patents is nothing compared to Coca-Cola's lowest selling price model!
As long as I sell it cheaply enough and don't infringe on other people's patents, I can sweep the entire market. The essence of economic competition is cost-effectiveness. When the quality is similar, whoever can make it the cheapest will be the king and beat everyone else.

Su Yiyi asked: "Aren't you going to make money?"

"There are so many ways to make money." Yang Wendong said: "This plastic bag is inherently impossible to make huge profits, so it is better to make a small profit directly. As long as I sell enough, the final profit will still be not low;
Besides, if there are enough of them, more people can get jobs, which is even more meaningful.”

If one only looks at making money, Yang Wendong can make a fortune from real estate in Hong Kong. But as an entrepreneur, one cannot just look at the numbers in the bank card. In this era, earning a million Hong Kong dollars basically means a lifetime of worry-free life.

In the industrial sector, in addition to making money, it is also very important to drive employment, especially in Hong Kong right now, with a large number of foreigners pouring in. Although he may not necessarily recruit these people directly, the labor market is an integrated whole. Even if he recruits a large number of other people, it will eventually make it easier for these outsiders to find jobs.

Not to mention the derivative jobs created by large factories.

"Well, small profits but quick turnover." Su Yiyi nodded.

Yang Wendong once taught her a lot of business knowledge.

Afterwards, Yang Wendong put away the plastic bag and said, "Purchasing other people's patents may not be completed so quickly. Maybe we can't buy them. Let's wait for news from Europe."

Other people are not fools either. Perhaps they can also see the huge value of plastic bags, and even if they want to purchase them themselves, they may not succeed.

However, if it really doesn't work, take a step back and find a way to get authorization. A small European company obviously does not have the ability to produce and develop markets in Asia. The possibility of success is higher this way, but in this case, it will be somewhat controlled by others.

We can only wait for feedback from Europe.

"Yeah," Su Yiyi nodded.

in the afternoon:

"Mr. Yang, Mrs. Yang." Zheng Yuhua greeted the boss after arriving in his office.

"Sit down." Yang Wendong gestured and asked, "How are the negotiations on the five cargo ships from Japan going?"

Zheng Yuhua replied: "It's basically done. The only thing left is the price and some interest rates from the Bank of Japan."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "What about the delivery date?"

Zheng Yuhua said: "The delivery time of the five cargo ships is a year and a half in total. They will be built by multiple docks together, and the first one will be completed within 10 months."

"Okay, we still have time." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then let's reach an agreement on the price as soon as possible. The shipping market has been good recently. It's not cost-effective for us to waste time for the final price. We should also consider this aspect."

In the 60s, the entire shipping market experienced a period of great boom, fundamentally due to the rapid development of the global economy.

Once the economy becomes strong, it will naturally need to purchase many goods that its own country cannot produce. In addition, the United States has been promoting global free trade since World War II. Although it is essentially for itself, trade between other countries in the world has also increased significantly.

However, the development speed of the shipbuilding industry cannot keep up with the demand. Therefore, the shipping industry has always been in a state of supply exceeding demand.

"I understand. I will reach an agreement with the Japanese side as soon as possible." Zheng Yuhua agreed.

Yang Wendong asked again, "How is the progress of the second-hand cargo ship? The new industrial park of Changxing Industry has been completed. It mainly produces suitcases. By the beginning of next year, the output will be much greater than it is now."

At present, the export of suitcases still needs to rely on our own ships, otherwise it would be a huge loss to rent other ships for such space-consuming goods.

The new ship will not be used to transport suitcases, which is not economical. A second-hand cargo ship will do. The cargo is light and the wear and tear on the hull components is low. It will be even more convenient if we have our own shipyard in the future.

Of course, it won’t just be suitcases, but also some other heavier cargo.

Zheng Yuhua said: "I have released the news in the past few months and found six second-hand cargo ships. I also sent people to take a look. They are relatively old, but if we can maintain them ourselves, it should not be a problem.

In Europe, several shipping companies contacted me at the beginning of the month. They had 13 older cargo ships that they wanted to dispose of, and asked if I was interested. I sent someone to take a look, and the feedback was that they were not bad, and were not inferior to the cargo ships we bought from the United States.

"A total of 19 ships?" Yang Wendong thought to himself, this number is indeed enough.

Zheng Yuhua added, "Mr. Yang, freighters also have a lifespan, including the few we have now. Even if we maintain them well, they will probably be out of service by around 1970. The same is true for these 19 ships."

"Is it completely unusable?" Yang Wendong asked again.

Zheng Yuhua replied: "That's not the case, but the ship is too old and the maintenance cost will increase dramatically, which is not economically viable."

"It doesn't matter. We'll talk about it later." Yang Wendong didn't care at all.

Even if there was no Middle East crisis, we would have made back our investment in a few years.

During the years of the Middle East crisis, to exaggerate a little, a ship could make back its investment in one year, and make a huge profit in three years, but the Suez Canal was closed for eight years.

Even if you own a second-hand ship, the maintenance cost increases and you will lose money under normal circumstances, but if you encounter a shipping crisis, you will definitely make money.

Of course, the most profitable time was in the first few years. Later, as more ships were launched, the profits were not so huge.

Zheng Yuhua nodded and said, "Mr. Yang, we have bought so many cargo ships. The existing shipyard only has one dock. Plus we have to do business outside, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

"Then expand." Yang Wendong agreed and said, "When we bought the land, we bought enough land to build five docks, just to take into account future needs."

Building a shipyard in Kwai Chung is not a loss in any way. If the dock is not demolished, you can make money from cargo ships at the port in the future. If the dock is demolished, you still have a chance to obtain a wharf.

"That's good, but we have to wait until Dock No. 1 is built before considering the next one." Zheng Yuhua said, "Otherwise, we may not have enough personnel."

Yang Wendong asked again: "How is the recruitment in Taiwan going?"

We had originally planned to recruit people from other shipyards in Hong Kong, but considering that there are too few talents in this area, it is more convenient to recruit directly from Taiwan.

Zheng Yuhua said: "We have recruited more than 30 people from Taiwan and are currently in training. In addition, the Maritime Academy has been built and enrollment has begun. It is estimated that the first batch will be able to enter the dock for internship in half a year."

"That's good. Bao Yugang's idea can indeed alleviate the problem of staff shortage." Yang Wendong praised.

This also gave him some inspiration. When he enters a higher-end industry in the future, if there is no one, he may need to train himself, or assist local universities in Hong Kong to increase related disciplines...

"Yes, in this case, people won't be a headache." Zheng Yuhua paused, and then said, "Then there is one last problem. These 19 cargo ships are second-hand, and the bank probably won't accept loans..."

"It's not that it's absolutely certain. I'll find a way." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "What's the approximate price?"

Many shipping tycoons in Hong Kong gradually abandon second-hand cargo ships after becoming rich. One reason is that they are always prone to quality problems, and the other is financial issues.

It is true that second-hand freighters are cheap, but normal banks are reluctant to lend money even for new ships, let alone old ones. This means that buying a second-hand freighter of better quality may require higher funds.

Zheng Yuhua quickly handed over a document and said, “This is the other party’s offer. There is no counter-offer yet. I have sorted it out.

There are 6 separate cargo ships of varying ages, with a total bid of US$250 million. There are 13 cargo ships in Europe, which are relatively older, and the bid is US$400 million.

I estimate that if we lower the price, we can get a discount of about 85%. "

Yang Wendong did some calculations in his head and said, "That means it will cost about 550 million US dollars, which is a little over 3000 million Hong Kong dollars."

Originally, I planned to buy a very cheap junked ship, but junked ships are not available everywhere. If there is a slightly better one, that would be fine too. I can easily make it back later anyway.

"Yes." Zheng Yuhua said: "I also know that the group has spent a lot of money recently. This amount of money is indeed not small."

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "This is not a big problem. In Hong Kong, whether it is real estate, shipping, or even industry, who is not operating in debt?
Although these 19 cargo ships cannot be mortgaged, my other businesses can basically be mortgaged, so the problem is not too big.”

Only if you dare to use leverage can you take off, this is an eternal truth, especially in real estate and shipping, you must use the bank's money to the utmost.

As Yang Wendong knows the future, he naturally dares to do so.

Moreover, what gives him the greatest confidence is the super industrial giant Changxing Industry, which has no debts and has extremely high profits every year. It is the cash cow of the entire group.

"So are we going to take down all these cargo ships?" Zheng Yuhua couldn't believe it.

With the addition of 5 new ships, once these two transactions are completed, Changxing Shipping will have 30 cargo ships, and will suddenly become the new Chinese shipping company second only to Tung Chao-Yen and Zhao Congyan.

"As long as there is no problem with the quality of the boat and the price is reasonable, let's take it." Yang Wendong did not hesitate at all.

Perhaps in the next few years, one of these ships could earn him the money for two or three new ships.

What's more, drought is coming in the second half of next year, so he needs to be prepared to transport water, otherwise the people of Hong Kong will suffer and his cash cow Changxing Industrial may also be affected.

"Okay, then I will start negotiating with them right away." Zheng Yuhua said happily.

As a manager, everyone wants to manage bigger and more industries.

"Well, don't worry about the funds, just take these ships as soon as possible." Yang Wendong said again.

He wants to quickly become the shipping king of Hong Kong, which will be in the best interests of everyone.

……

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)

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