Sail across the sea

Chapter 580 This green fluoride contains a green gas

The move by Chinese exporters to simultaneously raise fluorite export prices has puzzled a number of Japanese companies.

They habitually resorted to the negotiation tactic of "I'll leave if you don't lower the price," which resulted in the other party making a tearful defense, but refusing to budge on the price at all.

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) had issued an ultimatum to China's Ministry of Foreign Trade, claiming that China's fluorite exports to Japan were suspected of dumping and that if the export price of fluorite was not immediately increased, MITI would take anti-dumping measures.

Under pressure, the Ministry of Foreign Trade had no choice but to issue a notice to all fluorite exporting companies in China, requiring them to raise fluorite export prices to a level no lower than international market prices, with violators facing the penalty of having their export licenses revoked.

In the past, when faced with such situations, exporters would complain to the local foreign trade authorities for various reasons, but the core reason was the same: if they didn't lower prices, they would lose export orders and fail to meet their export earnings targets.

When local foreign trade authorities receive such requests, they immediately go to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and offer a variety of reasons to persuade the Ministry to make an exception.

As for the Ministry of Foreign Trade, in the end, they naturally turned a blind eye because there were too many people involved.

This time, however, the Ministry of Foreign Trade's attitude was very firm. The official in question spoke politely, but his words conveyed the same message: this matter was not initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade itself, but rather by accusations made against us by foreigners, and there was nothing we could do about it.

It's common sense to choose the softest persimmon. If a ban is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, local governments have countless ways to force it to compromise. Don't be fooled by the ministries' imposing presence; without local support, they become deaf, blind, and lame, unable to accomplish anything.

Ministries need local support, so they can't refuse the local governments' requests. Once face-saving becomes a concern, principles become meaningless. What are principles anyway? Can something that can't be violated still be called a principle? If you hear an official say "in principle, this is how it is," the subtext is that there's room for flexibility.

But now this is a request from foreigners, so the local government can't do anything about it. The Japanese are saying that Chinese fluorite is being dumped, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade can't do anything about it either, right? Why don't you try "lobbying" with the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry?
"The officials at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry have been kicked in the head by a donkey!"

Japanese importers are furious.

Some companies went directly to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to question why they had initiated such a harmful and unprofitable lawsuit.

Japan doesn't produce fluorite itself, so there's no issue of protecting domestic suppliers. If you can buy cheaper goods, why force sellers to raise prices? Isn't that unreasonable?
Officials at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) were baffled by the questions raised by companies. The companies understand this, and so do the officials; they clearly never intended to file a lawsuit against resource-based products.

After several days of investigation, the culprit was finally found: a low-ranking official who, after receiving a complaint from a company, followed procedure and sent an inquiry letter to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China to inquire about the price of fluorite.

The official in charge of this matter was also knowledgeable; having seen the original letter of inquiry, he knew that the junior official's actions were not problematic, and the implications for the Chinese side in the letter were very clear. Therefore, the whole incident stemmed from the Chinese side misunderstanding the Japanese side's meaning, interpreting a routine inquiry as a formal accusation, thus leading to an overreaction.

Officials from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry remained calm, acknowledging that their actions were entirely blameless and the blunder was orchestrated by the other side. They reasoned that as long as they weren't directly implicated, it didn't matter whether the pot contained radish soup or a whole giant fish; what business was it of theirs?
A detailed investigation report was submitted to the Minister of International Trade and Industry, which stated unequivocally that the matter had nothing to do with the officials of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and that everyone had acted in accordance with regulations.

The fact that China subsequently raised fluorite export prices demonstrates that its suspicions were correct; the other party did indeed engage in dumping, and under its strong accusations, had no choice but to rectify the situation. It's not that no one suspected Tokusatsu Company, which filed the dumping allegations with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, had any issues, but no one bothered to investigate. Everyone understood that uncovering a conspiracy would be a major problem for them.

Life is too short to make trouble for yourself.
The questions raised by fluorite importers were ultimately like hitting a cotton ball—completely ineffective. The production process couldn't afford to wait; without fluorite, production was impossible. Therefore, these companies had no choice but to accept the price increase reluctantly.

The price of fluorite exported from China is similar to that of Mexican fluorite, but the transportation costs are significantly lower. Moreover, over the past few years, people have become accustomed to using Chinese fluorite, making switching suppliers a troublesome matter.

Let's stick to the old way then.

A price of $100 per ton isn't actually that high. It can generate significant added value whether used in metallurgy or for producing hydrofluoric acid. The only thing people are unhappy about is that they can no longer rip off wealthy people like they used to.

Seeing that the Japanese businessmen who had left in a huff a few days ago had returned dejectedly, the export companies finally breathed a sigh of relief. After signing the agreement, everyone discovered that they had earned half again as much money as before, so they were all overjoyed. They started cursing the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, saying that these people were full of planned economy thinking and had hindered them from making money; otherwise, they could have earned even more.

The export of fluorite has nothing to do with ordinary people. A few newspapers published commentary articles about resource exports, but these only attracted the attention of industry insiders. Who would read such content if it were ordinary people?

These days, another topic is being hotly discussed on the streets:
Chlorofluorocarbons are toxic.

"What hydrocarbon?"

"Chlorine and fluorine?"

"What's this thing for? Can you eat it?"

Faced with bewildered neighbors, colleagues, and close friends, a learned scholar would then begin to explain:

The refrigerators and air conditioners we use at home need to be refilled with refrigerant every now and then, right? But not all refrigerants are the same. The refrigerant used abroad is called "light fluorine," which has an "H" in front of it. The refrigerant we use is called "green fluorine," which has a "C" in front of its abbreviation.

This green fluoride contains a green fumes that are highly toxic. Inhaling it can cause more than 200 diseases. An international conference was held in a place called Montreal, which our country also attended. Later, the Montreal Agreement was signed, stipulating that green fluoride could no longer be used and that it must be replaced entirely with light fluoride.

However, our country is poor, and switching from green fluorine to light fluorine would be too expensive, so we can only do it gradually. Let me tell you, when you buy a refrigerator or air conditioner, be sure to ask clearly, and don't try to save a few dollars by buying one that uses green fluorine.

(End of this chapter)