Chapter 780 Preparation for the Second Oil Crisis

Chapter 780 Preparation for the Second Oil Crisis

Chapter 780 Preparation for the Second Oil Crisis
The next day, Zheng Yuhua arrived early and Ah Ying told her what happened. Then, Liu Haodong, the director of Kaohsiung Shipyard, and several of his subordinates came to the hotel together.

The two sides met in a tea room box in the hotel. Liu Haodong greeted him first: "Hello, Mr. Yang. I have heard of your name for a long time."

"Director Liu, you are too polite. I have also heard of you in Hong Kong." Yang Wendong said with a smile;

This is not false. The Kaohsiung Shipyard is one of the top ten investments in Taiwan in the past decade. The person who can serve as the factory director is a person that J family trusts very much and has some fame in Hong Kong society.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two quickly entered the official topic. Liu Haodong said, "Mr. Yang, you also know the purpose of my visit this time. I wonder if you have any plans to purchase ships recently."

"Mr. Liu also knows the recent international shipping situation. Our company does not have any purchasing plans." Yang Wendong smiled and shook his head.
Even though he also intended to purchase some ships, he naturally wanted to increase his voice in the initial negotiations, and early refusal was an appropriate way to do so;

Liu Haodong said: "Mr. Yang, you are also a top businessman in Asia. You also know that the shipping market is just like Hong Kong real estate, with ups and downs. It is the most appropriate time to buy at the bottom of the valley.

Now the price of our ships has dropped to the lowest in the world, Mr. Yang, you may consider it. "

"Do you have a quotation?" Yang Wendong asked.

"Yes." Liu Haodong quickly took out a list and handed it over.

Yang Wendong took it and took a look at it, then gave the list to Zheng Yuhua, who also looked at it carefully.

After a while, Zheng Yuhua said, "Mr. Liu, this price is indeed much cheaper than before, but the problem is that the current shipping price cannot make up for the cost."

Liu Haodong said quickly: "Based on the current price, it is indeed impossible to make back the investment, but once the shipping market recovers, the price will definitely rise. In the future, the price of second-hand cargo ships may even be higher than our offer. This happened ten years ago."

"That's because the war broke out in the Middle East and the Suez Canal was blocked. It's impossible for it to happen again, right?" Yang Wendong said with a smile;

The shipping market boom from 65 to 74 was essentially due to the blockage of the Suez Canal. This kind of thing has never happened again since the previous life.

Liu Haodong said: "It's hard to say. The Middle East is still a powder keg. Besides, even if the Suez Canal remains normal, the shipping market will recover sooner or later."

"Given the current number of ships in the world, it may be difficult." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "How about this, Mr. Liu, if the price is right, I can consider buying two container ships. It depends on your company's sincerity."

"No problem, we can still talk about it." Liu Haodong said happily.

The quotation just given is of course not the final price, there is still room for negotiation;

The global shipbuilding market is not doing well nowadays. For shipyards, it is better to start work with orders, even if it means a small loss, than to have no orders and have idle equipment and people.
There is no way. This is the current market situation. It is completely the opposite of a few years ago when shipowners were begging shipyards.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, this kind of order won't be finalized today. You can just contact Ms. Zheng later. I think you two should know each other."

"Of course I know her, Ms. Zheng. I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation this time." Liu Haodong stretched out his hand and said with a smile.

"Okay, Mr. Liu." Zheng Yuhua nodded and said.

Liu Haodong left with satisfaction. Although the order was uncertain, at least there was hope.
Yang Wendong asked Zheng Yuhua: "Your expression just now was not right, what's the problem?"

Zheng Yuhua said helplessly: "Mr. Yang, when the ships were in short supply a few years ago, I also approached him hoping to finish the ships quickly. But he was not like this at that time."

"Haha, it's a different time now. Now he's begging us." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Business is like this. Banks and real estate companies in Hong Kong also perform similar things every few years."

"I understand, Mr. Yang." Zheng Yuhua said.

Yang Wendong said: "Let's spread the news and let Japanese shipyards participate. Let's see the lowest price first."

"Are you sure you want to buy it?" Zheng Yuhua asked.

Yang Wendong said: "As long as the price is low enough, it will be fine. I predict that the shipping market will be bad for a long time in the future, but we can't stop expanding our business forever. Expanding against the trend is also a means. We can seize the market now, even if we don't make money or even lose money. When the economy recovers in the future, we can operate for a long time."

Samsung's counter-cyclical price war, which it is best at, is based on a similar principle, and the same is true in the shipping industry;
However, we must control the scale and choose the direction. We cannot expand like Dong Haoyun, who ignored the capital chain and only wanted to gamble.
Container ships are also the direction of choice, and the demand for this industry will continue to rise.

Especially since the second oil crisis was about to come and the tanker business was going to be hit hard again, he naturally wanted to avoid it.

"Okay." Zheng Yuhua agreed.

On the third day, Yang Wendong left Kaohsiung and headed for Taipei;
After arriving in Taipei, Yang Wendong visited Carrefour supermarkets and cinemas in Taipei City. These are his own businesses, which are now developing well and have a large market in Taiwan.
However, in the early years, due to Taiwan’s foreign investment policy and political considerations, these two companies were also joint ventures with Wang Yongqing;
Today, Wang Yongqing also came here. After the visit, he smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, it is really a pleasure to cooperate with you. You can make money in any industry. I hope that our Four Seasons Hotel can continue in the future."

"Of course. The Four Seasons hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore are doing very good business. It will definitely be the same in Taiwan." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Wang Yongqing nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Yang, you are really amazing."

"Haha, I can't compare with you in the field of plastics." Yang Wendong shook his head and said.

Wang Yongqing said, "I am only good at one business, but you, Mr. Yang, have made successful investments in many fields."

"Okay, we are not here to brag about business today." Yang Wendong said formally: "Mr. Wang, I hope to increase the purchase of plastic particles again."

"Increase purchases? That's certainly not a problem. Is Mr. Yang planning to expand the factory on a large scale, or does he have any new projects?" Wang Yongqing asked curiously.

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "That's not the case. It's just like last time. The Middle East is still in chaos. I'm worried that oil prices will be unstable in the future, which will affect plastics, so I'm stockpiling some first."

"No way, you mean there will be another oil crisis?" Wang Yongqing asked in surprise.

Yang Wendong said: "I am just guessing, I can't guarantee it, so I want to make some preparations in advance."

In 72, he had hoarded a large amount of plastic. At that time, many people did not understand what Yang Wendong was doing, and some even laughed at him for being stupid.
But after the oil crisis broke out, everyone realized that Yang Wendong was smart and had predicted it, although they still found it incredible;

Now, the second oil crisis is about to break out. If he does this again, he will not be able to hide it from others, especially Wang Yongqing, whose own plastic reserves also need to be produced through him.

Wang Yongqing took a breath and said, “Although the previous oil crisis has passed, the oil price has not fallen and remains at around ten dollars. This price has caused economic inflation in European and American countries;
If there is another crisis, and oil prices continue to rise, Europe and the United States will be in chaos. The United States will not allow this to happen, right? "

"What if we don't allow it? Will we end up in a war? Do you think the United States can't even deal with a Vietnamese monkey, and still wants to go to the Middle East?" Yang Wendong asked back;
In fact, the essence of the three oil crises is that the United States has lost its control over the world, especially after two wars in Asia, which made many countries realize that European and American countries are not that strong. As a result, various colonies began to gain independence, the Middle East began to make trouble, and so on. In addition, there is the polar bear behind them.
It was not until the third oil crisis that the Americans defeated all enemies in the Kuwait battlefield and completely established their dominance, which made the rabbits behave themselves. It was not until more than 20 years later that the hollowing out of the American domestic industry became too serious and the country began to decline.
"That's true." Wang Yongqing thought for a moment and said, "But even if the Middle East does not submit to the United States, how can we be sure that an oil crisis will not break out again?"

"I'm not sure, but plastic won't expire. As long as the oil price doesn't plummet in the future, I won't lose money, right?" Yang Wendong said indifferently.

Plastics are not afraid of anything except fire. They will still exist even if they are stored in the natural environment, even if humans become extinct for thousands of years.

This is also one of the lowest risks of hoarding. If it is food or metal, it may expire or rust, but there is no problem with plastic. Modern warehouses have professional fire prevention measures, so even if a fire occurs, it is difficult to burn everything.

Wang Yongqing nodded and said, "Okay, as long as you pay the normal fee, I will naturally be happy for you to stockpile on a large scale. However, since you think there will be problems with oil in the future, I will do the same and prepare to invest in some oil."

"What kind of investment method is this? Are you also hoarding oil? Are you planning to build an oil preparatory warehouse in Taiwan?" Yang Wendong asked in return;
In fact, this is really feasible. Taiwan is not Hong Kong. There is enough space here to build oil storage warehouses, provided that the government permits.

After the first oil crisis, the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries planned to build such oil reserves to prevent similar incidents from happening again. However, a few years later, due to the stabilization of the situation and the large investment, many countries did not support it.
Until the second oil crisis broke out, after learning from the painful experience, oil reserves became the guarantee of national security;

This is why the third oil crisis had a smaller impact on society. Of course, it was also because Kuwait responded quickly, otherwise if it dragged on for more than half a year, the oil reserves would not be able to hold up, and this thing could only be used as an emergency measure.

Wang Yongqing shook his head and said, "That's the government's business. I won't get involved. I'm going to buy some oil fields overseas, which can be regarded as an investment in the upstream of the plastics industry."

"Invest in oil fields? That's fine." Yang Wendong said, "Given your current industrial chain in the plastics industry, you can only continue to expand by investing in oil fields."

Yang Wendong did not manage the oil field, because this business had no direct relationship with his industry, so at most he bought some stocks during the first oil crisis and sold them at a high price after the crisis;
Even if he is a time traveler, he will not invest randomly. All his investments are related to each other to ensure stable benefits.

Wang Yongqing smiled and said, "Do you want to join us? You just invest the money and I'll manage it."

"Which countries do you plan to invest in oil fields?" Yang Wendong asked.

Wang Yongqing said, "Southeast Asia, there are many oil fields there, but the local mining technology is not good. After I acquire them, I can use advanced oil extraction equipment and increase oil production. If the oil price rises sharply in the future as you predicted, the profit will be considerable. Even if it is worse, I can still supply myself."

Yang Wendong asked again: "Are you planning to invest in the oil industry on a large scale?"

Wang Yongqing nodded and said, "Yes, if I want to be strong and stable in the plastics industry, then I must move closer to the front end. Otherwise, I can only buy various oils and chemical reagents, and then I will be completely controlled by outsiders.

Mr. Yang, you invested in the steel mill in Kaohsiung for the same purpose, right? And your paper mill and glue factory are the same, aren't they?"

"Yes, I also thought about making plastic raw materials in the early days, but I didn't do as well as you did in this industry, so I gave up." Yang Wendong agreed;
If it weren't for the plastics king Wang Yongqing, he might have needed to develop the plastics industry separately, otherwise the entire Changxing Industrial and even Hong Kong's plastics manufacturing industry would have been controlled by foreign businessmen.

Other industries are similar. When an industry becomes large, it must expand horizontally or vertically in order to maintain stability. Other companies are basically the same. This is inevitable for economic development.

Wang Yongqing said: "Yes, the raw material of plastic is naphtha refined from petroleum, as well as other derivatives. I already have the ability to process petroleum in Taiwan, and now I am short of petroleum."

"Then which oil field in Asia did you choose?" Yang Wendong asked again.

Wang Yongqing shook his head: "This is not confirmed yet. I also need to conduct a serious on-site inspection and see how much funds I can mobilize. I also need the cooperation of local banks. I don't know yet."

"Well, that's right, but are you sure about such a large overseas investment, especially the political risks?" Yang Wendong asked again;

If you lose money, it's just a loss, you can get some of your capital back, but if you encounter a ZZ problem, you may lose everything;

This is the case with Zheng Yutong from Hong Kong. He went to Iran to invest in casinos and spent 5000 million US dollars. As a result, when the local area was in chaos and warlords were replaced, the funds were forcibly confiscated and all the funds were thrown into the water. If it were not for the strong foundation of Hong Kong, the funds would probably have gone bankrupt on the spot.

Wang Yongqing said: "I have already prepared for this. I plan to cooperate with Temasek. Singapore also has a lot of oil processing industries. Temasek is now also looking to invest in oil fields in Southeast Asia."

"Temasek? You have a good relationship." Yang Wendong said with a smile;

Temasek is a sovereign wealth fund and investment company wholly owned by the Singapore government, with its Ministry of Finance controlling 100% of the shares. As a time traveler, Yang Wendong knew that this company would be very powerful in the future, so when it was just established in 74, Yang Wendong sent people to ask whether they could invest in it, but was rejected.

Temasek was established to develop Singapore’s heavy industry;

In its early years, Singapore, like Hong Kong, started out by relying on light industry, and social capital was not willing to invest in heavy industry. However, the Singapore government realized that without heavy industry, light industry would be a passing cloud. So, without social participation, the government participated. As a result, the state-owned enterprise Temasek was established, which specializes in investing in heavy investment industries such as steel, oil, and chemicals, and has achieved considerable results.

But it doesn’t matter if you can’t invest now. After the 80s, this company will also carry out market-oriented reforms, and there will still be opportunities then.

Wang Yongqing said, "Yes, Temasek has the same goal as me. I have also invested in Singapore, so we are friends. If Mr. Yang gets involved, our three consortiums will invest in Southeast Asia together. With Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan behind us, I think the general government will not offend us so easily, right?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "If you say that, I have to believe it. Okay, I will participate in this investment, but we still need to negotiate the specific investment amount."

"That's as it should be." Wang Yongqing said with a smile;

After parting with Wang Yongqing, Yang Wendong also called Fang Xianming and informed him of the incident;

Fang Xianming said: "Investing together with Temasek and Formosa Plastics, plus our scale, the other risks are indeed much smaller."

"Yes, that's what I thought. You can arrange for someone to connect with them and see how to allocate the investment." Yang Wendong said, "Let's just consider this as a preliminary test. If it succeeds, we can also enter the oil industry in the future."

"Mr. Yang, are you planning to buy an oil field in the future?" Fang Xianming asked back.

Yang Wendong said: "That's not certain. Who knows what will happen in the future? Now that we have an opportunity and can make money, we can arrange for someone to learn it. There is no harm."

This is indeed not in my plan, but many things in the future cannot be planned in advance;

For example, in 1986, Li Jiacheng acquired Canada's Husky Energy, which Li Jiacheng certainly could not have imagined 10 years ago in 1976.

Whether or not to engage in energy in the future is not a matter of whether or not you want to, but rather a matter of whether or not you have the opportunity.
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Fang Xianming asked again, "Mr. Yang, since you think there may be oil problems, should we invest our funds in Europe and the United States in oil field stocks like we did last time?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, just like last time, selectively invest in oil field stocks in Europe and the United States. There is no need to hold too many shares, and the main focus is diversification."

There are still no oil futures today, so unless you want to hoard oil, you can only profit from it by buying oil field stocks;

"Understood." Fang Xianming agreed;
Yang Wendong continued, "There is no rush for this matter, just take your time. Wang Yongqing's investment in the oil field is much more complicated, so you should pay more attention to it."

The speed of buying stocks is very fast, and you can buy them within a few days after selecting them. Even in the United States, as long as your investment does not exceed 5%, you can buy them at will;
But if large conglomerates invest in oil fields in Asia, they will also need to consider future mining, transportation and even processing, which is much more complicated. However, if this is successful, the returns will naturally be much higher, and they can also have a career and strengthen their relationship with other large conglomerates.

Fang Xianming said: "Okay, I will discuss the specific plan with both parties, and I will report to you when there is substantial progress."

"Well, okay, that's it. Thank you for your hard work." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

As a financial assistant, Fang Xianming is now becoming more and more important in his group. As his capital increases, his overseas investments are also becoming stronger.

Fang Xianming said: "Mr. Yang, you are too polite. This is what I should do."

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