Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2731 The Welded-Close Car Door (Third Update, Please Subscribe)
Daito Shipyard went bankrupt!
Overnight!
It wasn't without warning; rather, it was within everyone's expectations. First, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority froze all funds in Tai Tung's accounts and launched an investigation, citing Tai Tung's alleged violation of the embargo order.

Meanwhile, the bank that withdrew the loan requested the court to seal off the market for auction, which made no difference even though Zhou Changdong clearly had money in his account.

Bankruptcy, liquidation.

As for the money he earned, it will remain frozen until the investigation is completed.

For Zhou Changdong, this may not be a case of joy turning to sorrow. Although he filed a lawsuit in court to request the unfreezing of his accounts, this will not affect the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's freezing order.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's freeze was entirely within the bounds of the law—the UK has also imposed sanctions on Iran, and under these circumstances, any direct or indirect trade with Iran would be illegal.

This is not retaliation, it's simply the law.

But Da Dong won't last until the investigation is complete and the funds are unfrozen.

And so, Da Dong went bankrupt.

All assets, including the shipbreaking company and the steel company, were put up for public auction. Who was the biggest beneficiary?
That's Xu Zhiheng.

"Congratulations, Senior Xu. I heard you're planning to further expand the steel mill, is that right?"

When Chen Lixin offered his congratulations, he looked directly into Xu Zhiheng's eyes.

“Yes, Da Dong Steel uses scrap steel from shipbreaking to smelt steel in an electric furnace, and then rolls it into steel products such as rebar. The annual output is only a few hundred thousand tons. I plan to introduce technology from Southeast Asia to expand the scale to 60 tons, and at the same time expand the product range.”

Then, Xu Zhiheng said to Chen Lixin:
"How about it? Junior Chen, could you help me contact a potential partner manufacturer?"

Hearing his senior's question, Chen Lixin shook his head and said:
“We don’t do this business, but I can introduce you to a few Malaysian companies that do a lot of electric arc furnace steelmaking.”

"Then thank you in advance, junior."

As Xu Zhiheng raised his glass to express his gratitude, Chen Lixin added:

"From now on, steel plates made more than 45 years ago should be sent to our company."

Chen Lixin's words startled Xu Zhiheng, who of course knew what ship planks were 45 years ago.

45 years, to be precise, refers to the steel plate before the United States conducted nuclear tests.

As early as twenty years ago, nuclear physicists discovered that the equipment made from newly refined steel could have a slight impact on the results of nuclear physics experiments. They keenly realized that this was a big problem – 45 years after mankind developed the atomic bomb, humanity quickly entered the nuclear age.

The actual use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with thousands of nuclear tests conducted by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries during the Cold War, resulted in a large amount of radioactive isotopes being released into the troposphere and even the stratosphere. These substances spread globally through atmospheric circulation, causing the Earth's background radiation levels to rise continuously.

Radioactive isotopes are incorporated into the air everyone breathes on Earth and into industrial production. These ubiquitous radioactive isotopes mix with oxygen and enter steel. While this does not affect ordinary applications, it does impact the use of steel in some important fields.

Examples include Geiger counters for measuring nuclear radiation levels and radiation-based medical devices for treating cancer.

If these radioactive steels are used in the manufacturing process, the readings will be inaccurate.

Even more seriously, in the nuclear industry, there is a possibility of data deviations leading to catastrophic events such as reactor core meltdown.

However, scientists reacted quickly. Since newly refined steel 45 years later would cause problems due to radiation, why not just reuse the steel from before the explosion?

Thus, it became low-background radiation steel, and its main source was ships built four or five years ago.

Its price is slightly higher than that of ordinary steel plates, but it is not a stable commodity because it is a highly specialized, small-batch, high-value segment of the market. Demand is mainly driven by a few specific large-scale projects and is extremely volatile.

This is why only a few countries in the world need this type of steel plate, and the market is in a state of oversupply.

Therefore, not every shipbreaking yard has the opportunity to sell this type of product. Compared to ordinary ship plates, it requires some surface treatment and takes more time, but the corresponding profit is also higher.

"Thank you for your concern, junior Lixin. Please rest assured that I will provide the highest quality steel plates."

Hearing Xu Zhiheng's gratitude, Chen Lixin simply smiled slightly, then looked at the other person and said:

Betrayal comes at a price, but loyalty is rewarded.

Actually, there's no reward involved. His company has a mission: to collect this type of low-background radiation steel.

Although its demand is not high—only tens of thousands of tons per year unless a giant probe is built—its supply chain is extremely fragile. The raw material, namely pre-war scrap steel, is a non-renewable resource with a fixed and gradually decreasing supply, which fundamentally limits production capacity and long-term supply.

Therefore, the company has been stockpiling this type of steel plate for the past two decades and has built a storage warehouse on Paradise Island, where it stores millions of tons of low-background radiation steel.

For the company, this is a long-term investment. Based on the corresponding assessment, it can be sold for about 3 to 4 times the price of ordinary scrap steel in the future.

They didn't dwell on that topic for long, but continued their conversation. Xu Zhiheng asked, "By the way, I heard that you grew up in mainland China, right? How did you end up in SEA?"

The reason for asking this question was to bring the two of them closer.

Chen Lixin did not hide anything and said:
“My father returned to China after studying in the United States. Due to some special reasons, he had to leave the mainland. Because my mother secretly kept the SEA passport paper she had applied for in the United States, our family was able to reissue passports and go to SEA.”

Hearing his answer, Xu Zhiheng nodded slightly and said:
“Your mother is very thoughtful.”

"Yes, so now my father consults my mother on everything, big or small, and he will never insist if she objects."

Chen Lixin's answer made Xu Zhiheng laugh, and then he asked:
"Where does your father work now?"

"In Southeast Asia Oil."

Chen Lixin then changed the subject, saying:
"By the way, I heard that a lot of people have recently gone to the other side of the strait to investigate. They've built an export special zone there. Are you interested? They're doing a lot of construction there, so they'll definitely need steel."

Xu Zhiheng shook his head and said:

"It's different. They have their own steel mills to supply steel. It's definitely not okay for us to invest in steel mills there. That would be competing with them for business. But if it were a toy factory or something, they would definitely welcome it. After all, this is an export-oriented special economic zone, it's for export."

He had some understanding of the market rules on the other side, after all, Hong Kong Island was too close to it, and most of the workers in the factory came from the north.

While discussing the issues, Xu Zhiheng asked with some curiosity:

"What, Lixin, are you interested in that place?"

When the topic of "interests" came up, Xu Zhiheng gave the other person a careful look, while mentally calculating the meaning behind the other person's words.

The reason for this is that Chen Lixin's company appears to be an ordinary enterprise, but in reality, it has a corporate background. And the word "company" itself is highly unusual. If they are also interested in the other side, does that mean there is an opportunity?
As this thought flashed through his mind, Xu Zhiheng added:
“I happen to have a few friends who recently went north for business. If Lixin is interested, I can introduce you to them later.”

"I might look into it if I have the chance, but as for my interests..."

Chen Lixin drew out his words, shook his head, and said:
"It's not really a question, it was just a casual question. I was overthinking it. Even if it's an investment, we can't take too big a step."

"Yes, at first they definitely only absorbed small businesses like toy factories and electronics factories. You know, the wages there are very low. By moving these factories there, the factory owners' profits will naturally be very considerable."

Xu Zhiheng thought for a moment, then added:

"However, the only problem is the quota... If they want to export, whether to North America, Southeast Asia, or Europe, they are subject to quota restrictions."

Chen Lixin nodded, and then said:

“Hong Kong Island is a zero-tariff zone. You have trade agreements with many countries. They can produce products locally, then ship them to Hong Kong Island for final packaging, transforming them into ‘Made in Hong Kong’ products, and then exporting them.”

Hearing him say that, Xu Zhiheng shook his head and said

"What's the use? Although origin tracing is often meaningless, if the export volume is large, it will still be investigated..."

In fact, Chen Lixin was already familiar with what Xu Zhiheng was saying. When he was in university, he heard his professor lament that the economic boom of the SEA took advantage of the incomplete rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade after the war, coupled with the imperial preference system of the Commonwealth. With the support of these two factors, a solid foundation was laid through trade.

However, with the continuous improvement of the GATT rules, especially after the United States turned the GATT and the internal market into a weapon, it became very difficult for many countries to enter the US market without hindrance.

Trade quotas, labor rights, and many other issues have constrained the exports of other countries. Take Bangladesh, for example; although it has made some progress since independence, that's about it.

If it weren't for the quota given to it by SEA, it probably wouldn't have made any progress at all.

Of course, Bangladesh can obtain quota exemptions by opening its market and reducing tariffs, but this means that the Bangladeshi market will be impacted by products manufactured in Southeast Asia. Therefore, when they choose to protect their own market, they have to face restrictions on exports.

Therefore, under these circumstances, it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve national development by relying on exports.

"We all know that such investigations need to reach a certain number of participants before they can be conducted."

Chen Lixin thought for a moment and then said:

"This means that in the short term, they can definitely export products through this OEM method."

Xu Zhiheng nodded:
"That's for sure, but it will definitely be investigated and punished in the end. After all, every country has relevant agencies that specialize in investigating such matters."

More than an hour later, after leaving the restaurant and saying goodbye to Chen Lixin, Xu Zhiheng was still thinking about the casual question Chen Lixin had asked him during the meal.

"Could it be that they've also become interested in that area?"

(End of this chapter)