I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1097 The Sugar War - Fierce Battle

Former French Finance Minister Charles Alexandre de Carona smiled and returned the greeting, then said loudly, "Thank you, Prince Maximilian, for organizing this reception for us. And thank you all for coming."

He exchanged a few brief pleasantries before getting straight to the point: "I know everyone is very concerned about 'that matter'."

“I also know that some people are thinking to themselves, ‘Carona is probably a fraud.’”

Everyone laughed in agreement.

Carona pointed west: "To allay your concerns, I would like to invite you all to take a trip together."

"Yes, the journey will be very long, but believe me, the scenery along the way will make it all worthwhile."

"And our first stop is Mays."

Bavarian Trade Minister Dietrich asked in bewilderment, "Metz? What's there?"

“Beet gardens,” Carona said in a poetic tone, “and France’s largest sugar warehouse.”

"15% of the sugar sold on the Paris Futures Exchange is delivered from there."

Wallenberg shouted, "What's the purpose?"

Carona winked mysteriously: "The warehouse manager and I are best friends, so everyone is welcome to visit the warehouse. You can even bring some professionals to calculate the storage capacity there."

The people inside immediately became interested.

Because France's sugar reserves are closely related to "that matter".

"After visiting the warehouse, we will travel along the Seine to the port of Le Havre, where we will board a ship to the Caribbean Sea," Carona continued.

A woman in her fifties exclaimed in surprise, "Going to such a far place? My old bones can't withstand the wind and waves."

Carona smiled and shook his head: "Believe me, the benefits of 'that thing' will be enough to make you fall in love with the sea."

"We will be traveling on a Dutch Navy warship, which is as smooth as being on land. I have also hired two frigates to escort us for safety."

Wallenberg narrowed his eyes: "If it was a sugar warehouse last time, is it Santo Domingo this time?"

“Absolutely right,” Carona said. “I have some connections with their speaker. We will see merchant ships loaded with sugar in Port-au-Prince. They are all bound for Marseille.”

"I guarantee you can board any ship you want and check how much cargo is in their holds."

Dietrich casually asked, "And then, where are we going?"

Carona raised his glass: "Then you can send a message to your men waiting at the London Futures Exchange and have them buy up all the contracts."

"To the generous British government!"

The dozen or so people at the party immediately smiled and raised their glasses together.

……

London.

In a small villa on the north side of St. James's Park, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Henry Petty looked at the bustling scene in front of the futures exchange not far away, his face full of smiles.

Judging from the trading volume in recent days, the vast majority of European sugar buyers have gathered here. One can imagine how deserted the exchange in Paris must be.

Because this battle for dominance in the sugarcane market was so crucial, Lord Grenville ordered Petty to personally lead the operation. Petty moved his office near the futures exchange to easily obtain the latest information.

A knock came at the door. Petty's assistant entered with a stack of documents, bowed, and said, "Your Excellency, the report from Paris has arrived."

"The French have been closely following our prices, but the transaction volume is only about 200 dan per day."

Petit smiled and said, “That was purchased by their government to save face for the exchange.” As he spoke, he opened the document, which showed the price of sugar in Paris a day and a half earlier: 3 francs and 2 sous per pound—the civilian sappan towers in France could easily transmit letters to the seaport, but it would take a day to cross the strait.

Petty silently calculated that it was equivalent to 2 shillings and 6 pence.

Meanwhile, the price of sugar in London had dropped to 2 shillings and 4 pence.

He smiled; Paris was probably going to be furious again.

He looked at his assistant and asked, "What was the trading volume today?"

"Around 7 dan, Your Excellency."

Petty nodded and instructed, "List 7500 dan tomorrow at 2 shillings and 3 pence."

"We want to bring the price down to 2 shillings by the end of this month."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

“Miss Monique, Couperin, thank you.” Petty gestured to the musician beside her, then leaned back comfortably in her chair.

The UK has been shorting sugar for over a month now. They have complete control over the market.

Sugar prices in the Paris market have fallen by 40%, and he still holds 970,000 dan (a unit of weight) of sugarcane. At the current sales rate, this should last at least three and a half months.

By then, the price of sugar had already fallen below 1 shilling. He could have easily bought sugar from the Paris market, discounted it slightly, and then sold it on the London futures exchange—the difference would have been far less than the sugar subsidies of the past two years.

This would make London the absolute center of the sugar trade for at least the next six months, while the French market would be marginalized.

Of course, the French could also slash prices even lower than in London and snatch buyers back.

But that would mean helping Britain short sugar prices, and Petty would certainly thank his French counterparts—he would immediately stop selling and even buy from France to replenish his inventory. Once sugar prices in Paris rebound, he would immediately resume shorting.

Sugar prices will inevitably return to the era of 9 pence per pound.

The next morning, Petty had just sat down in his office, pondering which piece of music to listen to, when he heard a series of noises coming from outside the window.

He got up and went to the window, where he saw a crowd outside the futures exchange waving and shouting excitedly, while the exchange staff kept explaining something.

He loudly ordered his men, "Go and see what's going on."

As he was speaking, Blunt, the head of the futures exchange, rushed in looking flustered.

Petty looked displeased: "Knocking is a basic courtesy that a gentleman should observe."

Blunt, however, said breathlessly, "Your Excellency, someone just bought all the contracts for today."

Petty's heart skipped a beat: "You mean, all 7500 dan?"

"Yes, 7500 dan!"

Petty frowned and said to his assistant, "Immediately supplement the contract with 6 dan."

"Yes, Your Excellency. Or two shillings and three pence?"

"Yes! Go quickly!"

However, less than half an hour later, his assistant rushed back: "Your Excellency, the 6 dan have been bought by someone else."

Petty realized there was a problem and subsequently replenished his position twice. Only after the mysterious buyer bought up a total of 37,000 dan did the futures exchange finally have more than 2,000 dan of contracts remaining.

Before Petty could even breathe a sigh of relief, all the sugar was swept away the very next day as soon as the exchange opened.

(End of this chapter)