Sail across the sea

Chapter 456 was just to amuse you?

"What does it mean that there are no middlemen taking a cut?"

A peculiar advertising slogan did indeed attract some curious onlookers, namely two well-dressed Americans.

“It means exactly what it says.” Gao Fan greeted him with a smile. “As we all know, China has the world’s largest reserves of rare earths, especially ion-adsorption type heavy rare earths, which have only been found in China. All heavy rare earth smelting companies in the world use rare earth ore produced in Zeshan City in southern China.”

"This gentleman is the head of China Zeshan Rare Earth Refinery. The high-purity rare earth oxides they produce come entirely from their own mines, without the exploitation of middlemen, so the price is much lower."

"Moreover, because they use their own raw materials, they can strive for excellence from the mineral processing stage, using only high-purity first-pass rare earth mother liquor, thus ensuring that the quality of their rare earth products far surpasses that of their peers."

“That’s an interesting point,” the slightly taller of the two Americans nodded.

“I know China is rich in rare earth elements. But I never knew that the Chinese could also refine high-purity rare earth elements,” the shorter man said bluntly.

"It's just because of the Iron Curtain," Gao Fan said casually. "In fact, China had already mastered the world's most advanced rare earth smelting technology in the 50s. It's just that because of the Iron Curtain, China's rare earth products have never been sold in Western markets."

“Our country has more than 100 international patents related to rare earth smelting, which can be verified,” Pei Hengxue, who was standing next to Gao Fan as a background figure, mustered up his courage and added.

"Then, I'd like to know, what is the purity of your highest grade yttrium oxide?" the other party asked.

“We can produce 5N grade yttrium oxide, but it needs to be customized according to the customer’s requirements. Generally, we provide 4N grade yttrium oxide,” Gao Fan replied.

What is your price for 4N grade yttrium oxide?

"$8 per ton."

"CIF price?"

"Free on Board (FOB) price".

"Can you provide 99% lanthanum metal?"

"It can be customized according to customer needs, at $6 per ton."

Can you provide samples?

"If you can leave your company address, we can mail you samples. 4N grade yttrium oxide is $60 per pound, and lanthanum metal is $45 per pound, including postage."

Both parties exchanged addresses, paid the sample fee on the spot, and then left with the receipt issued by Gao Fan and the product information of Zelian Factory.

Pei Hengxue looked at the other person's back, then at the US dollars in his hand, his eyes gleaming with joy.

"Xiao Gao, do you think they'll be interested in our rare earth?" Pei Hengxue asked.

Gao Fan smiled and pointed to the US dollars in his hand, saying, "Do you think someone gave you $105 just to mess with you?"

"Of course not." Pei Hengxue quickly put the money away.

He was even considering whether to frame the $105 in cash and hang it in the Zeyan Institute's honor room when he got back—this would be a breakthrough! Pei Hengxue understood the matter of mailing samples; in the past, the Zeyan Institute had also mailed samples of rare earth and tungsten ore to foreign clients. The clients needed to test the samples and evaluate their production processes based on the characteristics of the samples.

Generally, when samples need to be mailed, the other party's intention to buy is already very clear, and in about 50% of cases, a deal will be made.

Of course, this is also related to the honesty of Chinese companies. The quality of the samples is completely consistent with the claims made in the advertisements, so customers will naturally be satisfied.

"Xiao Gao, you're amazing." Bi Liansheng came up to him, saying it was half flattering and half jealous.

He recalled Gao Fan's earlier comment that people would proactively inquire about rare earth products, but that wasn't the case for photoresist. Now that Gao Fan's prediction had come true, while he was happy for Pei Hengxue, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for himself.

Gao Fan humbly replied, "Not at all, it's mainly because Director Pei and his team produce high-quality products at reasonable prices. People took a liking to them at first glance."

“Even the best wine needs advertising,” Bi Liansheng said. “You still need to know how to promote your business. You just mentioned that there are no middlemen taking a cut, and that you have your own raw materials and strive for excellence. I could tell those two Americans were convinced by you.”

“Yes, yes, I also think they became interested in our products because of what you said,” Pei Hengxue added.

Just now, Gao Fan was busy making up words to fool people and didn't pay much attention to their expressions. Bi Liansheng and Pei Hengxue, however, saw it all clearly.

The two Americans were initially attracted by the "No middlemen" sign on the booth and only stopped to take a look. However, after Gao Fan's persuasive pitch, their interest was clearly piqued.

“That’s called advertising,” Gao Fan said. “If you look at the booths of those foreign companies, you’ll see they rack their brains to design advertising slogans, with the aim of letting customers know their advantages in the shortest time and in the most direct way.”

“Take Director Pei’s rare earths for example. His biggest competitive advantage is the advantage of having the source of raw materials, but if you don’t emphasize it, customers may not notice it.”

“But you say our raw materials are cheap, fine, but you also say we can be meticulous in the ore beneficiation stage, isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? The mixed rare earths we use are actually no different from the mixed rare earths exported,” Pei Hengxue said.

Gao Fan said, "This is another characteristic of advertising: brainwashing. Regardless of the facts, as long as you dare to repeatedly brainwash customers, they will eventually believe it. For example, when you were in China, you saw advertisements saying that a certain product was renowned worldwide. Did you think it was true?"

Pei Hengxue said, "That's definitely a bit of an exaggeration. If it were truly renowned worldwide, how come everyone hasn't heard of it?"

"However, when it says it repeatedly, it gives you a psychological suggestion that the product is probably quite well-known, right?"

"That seems to be the case."

"That's right. To do business, you have to learn how to advertise. It's 30% product and 70% hype. Go look at the advertising slogans of those big companies in the showroom. We're just getting started."

Pei Hengxue nodded thoughtfully, having unknowingly been brainwashed by Gao Fan. After a moment of stunned silence, he looked at Gao Fan and said:
"But, Xiao Gao, I'm really not good at bragging. How about you write down a few lines for me, and I'll try to memorize them. That way, I can at least handle the clients if you're not around."

Gao Fan thought for a moment, then found paper and pen and began to write:
"【High-purity rare earth, the choice of craftsmanship】Originating from the core production area of ​​rare earth enrichment, it is made from carefully selected natural high-quality rare earth raw ore. Every grain of raw ore has undergone layers of screening, just to retain the purest rare earth essence."

"From raw ore mining to high-purity finished products, it undergoes 36 meticulous processes: first, physical methods are used to crush and grind the ore to ensure uniform particle size; then, multiple rounds of magnetic separation are used to remove impurities, eliminating 99.9% of associated impurities; subsequently, dozens of core processes such as extraction separation, precipitation purification, and calcination transformation are used, with each step controlling purity with micron-level precision."

"The ultimate goal is to achieve high-purity rare earth with a purity of up to 99.999%, with impurity content far below industry standards. It has a uniform luster and stable composition, making it a core cornerstone for high-end manufacturing, new energy, electronic information and other fields."

"High-purity rare earth elements are selected for their ultimate quality and are used with peace of mind and reliability. Every product is the ultimate interpretation of craftsmanship!"

　The last paragraph is an advertising slogan that Orange had AI write for her, and it's truly amazing. The key is that it even describes the production process perfectly. I don't want to change it, so I'll just post the original text. The previous paragraphs exceeded 2000 words, but this part doesn't count; it's purely for laughs.
　　(End of this chapter)