1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 148 Supporting Industries
After Gu Kai listened to Qian Tiandun's explanation, the expression on his face did not change, he nodded and said: "Heitu Port will definitely become economically independent in the future, but the time required for this process may be longer than you expected. It may take longer. Everyone here may not be very clear, but in fact, the executive committee has already calculated the investment in the black soil port in the form of loans. The loan repayment method of the black soil port is very clear, and It is very simple, that is, the coal that has been sent back to Victory Port in a steady stream.”

"There are two ways to generate income for Black Soil Port. One is to use coal transportation to make profits after repaying the investment loan of the Executive Committee. But in fact, this way is difficult to work. According to the resolution of the Executive Committee, all The mines will be state-owned in the future, and the coal developed here can only be supplied to the base camp at a very low price, and there will be no profit at all. The other way is to increase production capacity and transportation capacity, and sell the coal here to other places , let’s say the Vietnamese in the west.”

"The views you mentioned are all at the policy level, but in fact, from a technical perspective, there are actually many things that can be produced in Heitu Port...at least in the future." Tian Yeyou disagreed with Gu Kai's statement: "We If we want to develop this place, we can only rely on mountains to eat mountains and water to drink water, and there are billions of tons of coal buried under our feet, so we have to find ways to make full use of this resource."

Gu Kai also became interested when he heard it, and was not unhappy with Tian Yeyou's rebuttal. Instead, he encouraged him: "Then tell me from a technical point of view, how should the future industrial structure of Heitu Port be developed?"

Tian Yeyou said: "First of all, I would like to ask, how much is the executive committee's investment in Heitu Port, and what is the purchase price for our supply of coal to the base camp?"

Regarding these two questions, everyone present will undoubtedly be very concerned. Gu Kai answered frankly: "Let me first explain the calculation principle of investment. The executive committee only calculates the cost of manpower investment based on the current salary. The cost is not high, and the bulk is still in materials. Some materials are difficult to measure in price at present, such as cement, gunpowder, etc. Finally, after various considerations, the investment calculated by the Executive Committee is about Around 5 yuan."

Hearing this figure, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. For an energy base, the initial investment of tens of thousands of yuan is really not much.

Gu Kai continued: "As for the purchase price of coal, the executive committee also fully considered the current coal price in the market, and the final price was... two yuan per ton. Of course, this price is not dead, and it will be determined in the future. Make adjustments according to the actual supply and demand situation. If there are no other questions, then please continue the topic just now.”

The purchase price of the Executive Committee is actually much lower than the market price. Currently, the Transit Group buys coal from Yazhou at two cents per hundred catties, which translates to almost four taels of silver per ton, or four yuan.Considering that sea transportation will also incur part of the cost, the Executive Committee had to further lower the purchase price of production at Heitu Port.However, considering that the Executive Committee's investment in Heitu Port is an interest-free loan, it is reasonable for the price to be slightly lower.

Tian Yeyou obviously thought deeply about this issue for a period of time after he visited here last time, and immediately explained: "Heitu Port itself does not have the conditions for a good natural port, and it is not close to any land in terms of terrain. In a prosperous area, it is unlikely to rely on sea trade for development. But we have enough coal to dig for hundreds of years, which is an inexhaustible wealth for us!"

"Although from the current point of view, the demand for coal in the base camp is not very large, and it is less than 5 tons in a year. But in the long run, it is difficult for us to develop and utilize energy to a large extent for a long time. Hydropower will be the main source of electricity, and the power will basically depend on coal. According to the purchase price of the executive committee, our monthly coal income is only a little over [-] yuan, and we have to repay the investment of the executive committee The loan will indeed last for a long time. But I think that by next year at most, the demand for coal in the base camp will explode, and I am afraid that it will not be able to hold a few hundred tons per month. [-] yuan is not much, It’s only [-] tons of coal. If we put it in later generations, small coal mines with an annual output of less than [-] tons will be shut down. Our output is not enough. If our output can reach the level of small coal mines, then The time to repay the investment loan can be significantly shortened.”

"I think you probably overlooked a problem. We can expand production capacity indefinitely here, but how much we can ship back is still limited by our sea transportation capacity." Xie Chun from the Shipping Department interjected when he heard this.

Tian Yeyou nodded and said: "You're right. Even if we can produce [-] tons a year, it's useless if we can't transport all of them back. So we have to relax our thinking a bit. Since the transportation capacity is limited, we should think The method is to make full use of these transportation capacities and transport more products with higher added value to the base camp."

The eyes of all the people present lit up, as if they already had a premonition of what Tian Yeyou wanted to say.

"Since we are a coal producing area here, we should fully develop coal supporting industries. In layman's terms, it is coal chemical industry!" Although Tian Yeyou is not a chemical major, he has been in contact with a lot of coal supporting industries in his work , also has a certain understanding of this industry: "Among the few mining sites we have found so far, one of them produces high-quality coking coal. We can completely make coke locally and let the ship pull back the coke with higher value. In this way, Our capacity expansion is not so easily wasted."

"And don't forget, there will be a very important by-product in the coking process, that is coal tar..." Tian Yeyou suddenly got stuck at this point, scratching his head and said embarrassedly: "After all, chemical engineering is not my major. Please Qiao Zhiya help me add it!"

Qiao Zhiya stood up, Asada Yeyou nodded, and continued: "The composition of coal tar is very complex, and it is widely used in chemical industry. It contains various aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygen-containing compounds, heterocyclic compounds and polycyclic compounds. organic matter..."

Gu Kai frowned and interrupted him: "You can't get rid of this problem, this is not your laboratory, tell us something we can understand!"

Qiao Zhiya shrugged his shoulders to apologize, and changed the topic: "Well, in short, coal tar can be used in many projects such as the production of plastics, synthetic fibers, dyes, rubber, medicine, and high-temperature resistant materials. Of course, most of them Some things cannot be produced in an industrialized way right away, but we can make a small amount of them through some means in the laboratory."

"Then what good things can be put into production as soon as possible?" Gu Kai asked.

"I'm sure everyone knows about this thing." Qiao Zhiya looked around at the crowd, and continued after he had enough of it: "Asphalt. I want to remind everyone that in addition to paving roads, asphalt is also an excellent waterproof, moisture-proof, anti-corrosion With regard to the policy of "doing big and fast" for infrastructure projects advocated by the Executive Committee, I think that the output of asphalt will be in short supply for many years to come."

"Is the output of this thing high?" Qian Tiandun also interjected and asked with great interest.

"According to the quality of the coking coal we found here, one hundred tons of coking coal can yield three to four tons of coal tar, of which about two tons of asphalt can be extracted." Qiao Zhiya replied.

Seeing the disapproving expression on Qian Tiandun's face, Qiao Zhiya added: "Don't think it's less, things are valuable because they are less. You might as well think about it, compared to the price of coal at two yuan per ton, the price of this product should be How many?"

Now Qian Tiandun came back to his senses: "The output is [-] times worse, so I wonder why the price must be [-] times worse?"

"Fifty times? This thing costs at least two hundred yuan a ton!" Qiao Zhiya also put on a disapproving expression at this time and said: "Do you think the cost of labor and various materials in the processing process need not be included? And This thing will be at a price without a market for a long time, even if the Black Earth Port is fully activated, it will not be able to produce dozens of tons a month, and it will not be able to meet the needs of the base camp..."

Are dozens of tons less?That's thousands of dollars!And it's in short supply!Everyone in this room seems to have seen a bright future ahead.

"...After the output is produced, Heitu Port can customize more chemical equipment from the base camp, and engage in deep processing of coal tar here. The supporting chemical industry for coal has a wide range of industries. It depends on how you go in the future." Qiao Zhiya for a while After a long speech, he finally stopped speaking because of dry mouth.

"It seems that this place can still make some achievements." Gu Kai thought.

"One thousand miners are definitely not enough, at least two thousand must be organized... No, the more the better!" Zhou Hengxing thought.

"Transporting this thing is much more efficient than transporting coal...but asphalt smells so bad, we have to find a way to build a special airtight cabin on the ship..." Xie Chun thought.

"It needs to be charged. I don't understand anything about coal chemical industry!" Tian Yeyou thought.

"Can you convince them to exchange asphalt for some weapons in the base camp?" Qian Tiandun thought.

Early the next morning, the chief officials of several departments were as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they urged the workers to start work as soon as possible with red eyes.Looking at the serious Qian Tiandun, Gao Qiaonan asked cautiously, "Second Lieutenant, did something happen last night?"

Qian Tiandun stared at him and said, "I heard that you did a good job as a foreman in a labor camp?"

Gao Qiaonan immediately raised his chest and said, "That's all because of the superior leadership!"

"Well, flattering is quite professional." Qian Tiandun pointed to the logging site in front of him: "Then show your professionalism and keep an eye on the construction site. If the infrastructure project of Heitu Port can be completed ahead of schedule, The management committee will definitely take credit for the relevant personnel.”

"Yes!" Takahashi Minami replied excitedly, and quickly ran to the construction site.

(End of this chapter)