Rebirth 79: I opened a bank in the United States

Chapter 725 High Aluminum Price

"This is the Aluminum Products General Factory, which was established in 63. This year happens to be its [-]th anniversary. It is the largest aluminum product factory in our Beijing area. It has bar, pipe, and plate factories, and has independent processing capabilities. Dongsi South Street, The store at the entrance of Yanle Hutong that sells aluminum bowls and basins belongs to them, so they are fully capable of processing qualified chassis shells for you.”

Under the guidance of Han Xue and a large group of people who looked like leaders, Carter walked into a rolling workshop of this aluminum product factory.

To be honest, Carter didn't understand industrial production management.Walking into the production workshop, Carter actually couldn't see anything, but felt that the workshop in front of him was full of age.
The bottom of the white wall is painted with a circle of green, and some slogans are painted in large red characters on it.Maybe it's because of the engine oil, the ground and walls always feel a little gray, and the leather shoes under my feet feel a little sticky when they step on the ground.And this should have been cleaned up in advance.Maybe it's just my own psychological effect?

As for the workers, they are very enthusiastic about their work, but there may be some elements of acting. This Carter is not interested in going into details.

"Not bad, such a big prefabricated board master, can you show me, please?"

"Yes, yes, Master Zheng!"

Approaching the final stage of plate rolling, looking at the aluminum plates piled up next to him, as soon as Carter opened his mouth, a factory leader graciously directed the workers to lift up an aluminum plate and showed it to Carter.

"Can the thickness of this board be reduced? At least it needs to be reduced to one-third of the current thickness. Then a board with such an area can probably cut out the casings of 5 to 6 computers. How much do you quote?"

"The standard weight of this aluminum plate is 30 kilograms. If the thickness is reduced to one-third, it will be 10 kilograms. 900 yuan! Mr. Black, as long as you purchase from us, we will pay you according to the price of aluminum ingots. Processing It's all free!"

"A ton of 900 is [-]."

Carter was surprised in his heart, but his expression didn't show much ups and downs on the surface.

This quotation completely exceeded Carter's expectations. It was not cheap, but expensive!too expensive! !

Since he had the idea to start the business of computer manufacturing, Carter naturally knew about the raw materials.Although the international aluminum price has risen sharply because of the two oil crises
For example, for aluminum in France, before the first energy crisis, a ton of aluminum ingots cost about 4000 francs, but by 1980, the price had risen to 7950 francs.

In the first oil crisis, the international aluminum price rose by about 38%, and in the second oil crisis, the aluminum price rose by 50%.But even so, buying aluminum in the United States, a ton of aluminum ingots, only costs about 1800 US dollars.If you add the processing fee, you have to get about a ton of processed aluminum chassis, and the actual cost only fluctuates around 2000 US dollars, and the upper limit will not exceed 2200 US dollars.

With this understanding in mind, Carter couldn't help shaking his head when he heard the price quoted by the aluminum products general factory.

Even using the black market exchange rate, the price of aluminum in China is far higher than that purchased in the United States.What's more, in such a situation where one hair can affect the whole body, I can't use the black market exchange rate at all.Calculated based on the official exchange rate of 83 in 1.97, plus subsidies (similar to the import and export tax rebates of later generations), even if the actual exchange rate is calculated at 1:3, the price of this aluminum has far exceeded my expectations.

The outrageous price directly made Carter lose the desire to continue visiting the factory.Han Xue, who had been following Carter, seemed to have discovered this, and she didn't force herself to take Carter to the second stop, Shoulu.
This company, whose name is almost exactly the same as Shougang, has a factory in Langfang, Hebei.At this time, he did not go to the factory, but went to the office in the capital for consultation.And the result. Unsatisfactory as well!

"Secretary Han, there is no need to run away from the aluminum factory. If there are any left behind, please cross them out!"

After pulling Han Xue to the road in front of the door and avoiding the sight of other people, especially the factory representatives, Carter said directly:

"The price of your aluminum products is too high. Although they don't ask me for processing fees, your labor is very cheap, and the final price is still too high. But do you know what the current international aluminum price is? This is far more than my expectations! Even with the high labor costs in the United States, your aluminum product prices are still not competitive!"

"Don't worry. Mr. Black, we didn't mean to quote you a high price either"

"I know, and I understand. The price is always determined by the relationship between supply and demand. In the early years, the price of aluminum was more expensive than gold, because the output of aluminum was too low at that time. I don't know how much the annual output of aluminum is now in your country. But I think it shouldn’t be very high, so I can understand your high price. But I can’t purchase such raw materials, otherwise my products will lack market competitiveness. I’m afraid I will fail your good intentions this time. It’s also hard work for you to run around me.”

Sighing leisurely, Carter was also helpless.

Taking advantage of the opponent's position, he sorted out the internal problems of the company for himself. Out of the idea of ​​"returning the favor", Carter was actually ready to buy something to go back.

After all, friendship and friendship always have to come and go!
Even if you buy aluminum in China, the actual cost has no advantage compared with the United States, Carter would rather go to the trouble and leave some orders here
"Don't say that, of course it depends on the cost when doing business. However, didn't you say yesterday that you can use plastic as well as aluminum for the computer case you want to make? Why don't you look at the price comparison of plastics?" ?”

At this time, Han Xue is not like a public official at all, but like a salesperson in a department store.Seeing that the road of aluminum products was impracticable, I immediately tried to use my brain to try to win this order and let the foreign exchange stay on this land:

"We should have an advantage in plastic parts. The Yantai Synthetic Leather Factory under the Ministry of Light Industry has just been completed recently. The Ministry specially allocated 4.6 million to them to import three production lines of a material called MDI from Japan. Synthetic leather can be used, and it can also be used as a plastic part! No, it should be said to be a plastic!"

"This is the latest international technology, and the cost can definitely be controlled! And you can rest assured in terms of output, theoretically, these three production lines can produce at least [-] tons of MDI per year!"

"4.6 million, a big deal!"

Compared with the MDI that he didn't understand at all, the Ministry of Light Industry allocated 4.6 million imported production lines, which surprised Carter even more.This is 1983, and the country's annual fiscal revenue is only so much
On the other side, hearing Carter's exclamation, Han Xue couldn't help saying:

"Yeah, isn't it a big deal! I'm worried about the money just by selling shoes, belts and so on. So, now is a good time! Yantai Synthetic Leather Factory has just completed construction, and now I can get this They also have enough production capacity to produce for you, and this order can be regarded as a good start for them. It is really a good thing for mutual benefit and win-win!"

(End of this chapter)