I saw everything

Chapter 246: Far-reaching Impact (Large Cup)
September 23rd.

Jiang Miao and his group slowly moved northward along the road parallel to the Shiyang River.

After getting off the high-speed train at Liangzhou City, the security convoy prepared in advance by the Security Department drove everyone to Minqin County. The driving speed along the way was not fast, with safety as the main priority.

Entering the southern edge of Minqin County, you can see the golden soybean fields blending into the surrounding desert.

Entering the checkpoint in the southern part of Minqin County, a management strategy of "easy entry and strict exit" was adopted from here onwards.

Everything related to soybeans will be strictly controlled, and not a single soybean or leaf is allowed to be taken out of Minqin County.

In the southern part of Minqin County, the soybean varieties planted are Xiansi No. 1 and Xiansi No. 2, both of which are soybean varieties that produce silk protein.
Xiansi No. 3 and Xiansi No. 4 are soybean varieties that produce spider silk protein-like proteins. These two varieties are mainly grown in the northern part of Minqin County, which is also in the heart of the desert.

This planting plan is because silk-like protein cannot be used for deep processing of special materials, and therefore its importance is slightly lower than that of soybean varieties that produce spider silk-like protein.

Among them, Xiansi No. 4 has the highest value, because after deep processing, the cross-sectional diameter of the fiber of this variety can be as small as 19.4 nanometers, which is also the core raw material for the production of ultrafine silicon nanotubes.

In the laboratory, Jiang Miao used lasers of a specific frequency to sinter diatom filaments, destroying their internal protein structure while fusing the phosphorus and carbon components in the protein with the silicon shell, forming pores of different sizes ranging from 8 nanometers to 18 nanometers in diameter.

The ability to control different scales of pore size is a very important process.

For example, the mercury-silicon tube looks like mercury injected into a silicon tube, but it is actually not that simple. Three very important points are the pore size of the silicon nanotube, the thickness of the silicon shell must be within a certain range, and no components such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen can remain in the tube.

The pore size can be adjusted by pre-treating the fibers of soybean silk so that the diameter of soybean silk protein reaches the required size.

For example, the inner tube diameter of the mercury silica tube is required to be between 86 nanometers and 88 nanometers.

In order to prevent components such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and carbon from remaining on the inner wall, the diatom bean threads are first fixed through a copper plating process, and then a heating process is used to separate the inner wall of the silicon shell from the bean thread protein, and then mechanical force is used to slowly pull out the bean threads.

Of course, this process is not perfect. It is easy to break the bean threads during the drawing process, leaving some of the bean threads remaining in the wire drawing process.

Another process is the vertical sublimation process, which is to allow the bean silk protein in the silicon tube to be heated by a laser of a specific frequency, and then quickly sublimate into gas and escape from the inside of the silicon tube.

However, this method also has disadvantages, that is, phosphorus, potassium and calcium are easily deposited on the inner wall of the silicon tube, thus affecting the conductive properties of the silicon nanotube.

Jiang Miao thought of a supplementary process, which is to turn these vertically sublimated silicon tubes into electromagnetic tubes through silver plating, and then add a large amount of nano-iron powder, perform electromagnetic acceleration back and forth, let the nano-iron powder rub the inner wall of the silicon tube, thereby grinding away the sediment remaining on the inner wall, and finally remove the nano-iron powder and the silver plating layer of the outer shell, which will result in very pure silicon nanotubes.

Such a complex process means that the cost of mercury-silicon nanotubes that can be used in superconducting processes will become relatively high.

...

Pass through several checkpoints.

The convoy finally arrived in Minqin County.

Surrounded by circular soybean farms, Minqin County has seven or eight layers less sand and dust. As for the dryness that may be caused by the Xiansi soybeans, this has no impact on Minqin County because the local area is already very dry.

After getting off the car, Jiang Miao felt the dry air.

"Don't miss it if you pass by..."

"Silk clothes without static electricity..."

The loud speaker of a roadside clothing store is emitting various promotional sounds for its products.

Jiang Miao walked over. The shop owner's eyes were very sharp. Seeing Jiang Miao surrounded by people, she knew that he was an important person, so she smiled and greeted him:

"Welcome, sir. Look, these are all made of silk cloth from Minqin."

"You guys are really quick. The fabric has only been produced for less than half a month and you've already started making clothes?" Jiang Miao joked while touching a few sets of clothes.

The lady boss smiled and said, "My son is a supervisor in a fabric factory. He gave me money to open a clothing store. He said this fabric is very good, almost like natural silk."

Jiang Miao didn't say anything about the relatives and friends of the managers opening a shop. He smiled and asked, "From the boss lady's accent, she's from Southern Jiangsu, right?"

"Yes! My husband and I are from southern Jiangsu. We just came to Minqin to open a store last month, and my daughter opened a store online." The proprietress answered truthfully.

"Isn't it difficult to adapt to the climate in the northwest?"

The proprietress nodded and said, "It's very dry here. My old man and I are staying inside. It will be more comfortable if we turn on the humidifier."

Jiang Miao tried on several sets of clothes.

"It's very comfortable to wear, let's wrap them all up!"

"No problem, sir." The proprietress smiled happily and packed the clothes skillfully.

Jiang Miao took the opportunity to look at the price tags of these clothes.

The prices are not very high. For example, a long-sleeved shirt costs around 120 to 150 yuan.

The prices of underwear, pajamas and the like are similar, ranging from 50 yuan to 300 yuan.

This price is on the low side.

In fact, this is also caused by the cost of bean silk fabric.

A ton of natural silk costs two or three hundred thousand yuan.

The raw material cost of one ton of artificial silk produced by Dousi is 6000 yuan. On average, 2.4 tons of soybeans produce one ton of artificial silk. Adding the processing costs, the factory cost of each ton of artificial silk is about 1 yuan.

After adding the profits, the ex-factory price of each ton of artificial silk is 1.3 yuan.

However, the industrial chain in Minqin High-tech Industrial Park is a direct processing model from soybeans to cloth. Therefore, the subsequent deep processing costs must be added, and the average comprehensive cost per ton of artificial silk is about 1.65 yuan.

There are many types of silk fabrics according to different craftsmanship and specifications, and the unit weight of different types is different.

Georgette: It is light, transparent, with fine wrinkles, and generally weighs between 60 grams per square meter and 100 grams per square meter.

Double crepe: The surface has fine wrinkles and feels soft, usually between 80g/m120 and g/m.

Plain crepe satin: soft luster, smooth touch, generally between 120 grams per square meter and 160 grams per square meter.

Heavy crepe: Thicker than double crepe, generally between 160g/m250 and g/m.

Imitation tussah silk: has a unique style and feels slightly stiff, usually between 180 grams per square meter and 300 grams per square meter.

Sambo satin: The fabric is relatively thick, weighing 250 to 400 grams per square meter.

From these different types of silk fabrics, we can see that the cost of artificial silk made from soybean silk is very low.

If the silk is georgette type, one ton of bean silk can produce about 1.4 square meters of georgette fabric, with an average cost of 1.17 yuan per square meter.

The factory's wholesale price is generally calculated by kilogram, which is about 100 yuan per kilogram, which means 10 yuan for one ton of cloth.

This price is already very cheap.

The reason why we do not refer to the price of natural silk is that the production capacity of bean silk will become larger and larger in the future, and it is meaningless to refer to natural silk.

If the production capacity is only a few hundred thousand tons, you can consider referring to the market price of natural silk, but the problem is that the domestic bean silk production capacity will reach millions of tons, or even tens of millions of tons in the future.

In this case, how to refer to natural silk?
If the price of silk is still based on that of natural silk, then these artificial silks will probably just rot in the warehouse.

After all, the average market price of natural silk fabric is around 500 to 1000 yuan per kilogram, which means that silk clothes are very expensive.

The product price is high, the consumer group must be relatively small, and the overall consumption volume must be small.

High prices will prevent Dousi Silk from expanding its sales.

The production capacity of Dousi silk is destined to be considerable.

Because if the country wants to maintain the scale of soybean imports from South America, it must consume the country's excess soybean production capacity.

Although the Northwest region has only opened up about 2400 million mu of soybean fields this year, the actual scale of soybean cultivation in the country is 8600 million mu.

That’s right, it is 8600 million acres.

Because a large part of the ordinary soybean planting scale in the Northeast Plain, the Huanghuai Plain, and the Guanzhong Plain has been replaced by Senzu soybeans.

Especially in the Northeast region this year, the mixed planting of soybeans and corn has extended the growth cycle of soybeans by about one and a half months, but the overall income has become very high.

The per-acre yield of soybeans in the Northeast region is more than 310 kilograms, and with the harvest of corn, the cost of nitrogen fertilizer has dropped by nearly 30%.

Although the increased income per mu is only about 5 yuan, for large-scale farmers with a planting area of ​​more than several hundred mu, the increased income for every mu is almost yuan.

Currently, the autumn soybeans, just the 8600 million mu of Senzu soybeans, can produce nearly 2600 million tons of soybeans.

After tasting the sweetness, many large grain growers in Northeast China have planned to expand their planting areas next year. It is possible that the corn fields in the entire Northeast will become mixed soybean and corn planting areas next year.

You should know that the corn planting area in Northeast China has reached about 2.25 million mu.

If all soybeans are mixed sown, and even in the case of mixed sowing, only one season of soybeans can be harvested, about 6975 million tons of Senzu soybeans can be produced each year.

Together with the Huanghuaihai Plain, Guanzhong Plain, and Loess Plateau, it is estimated that within a few years, the domestic soybean production capacity will be reduced to 200-300 million tons. At this time, if the use of soybeans is not expanded as soon as possible, the soybean market price is expected to plummet again.

After all, the planting of Senzu soybeans will not affect the planting of other crops too much. It can also quickly accumulate organic matter in the farmland. Even if the price plummets to a few cents per pound, farmers are willing to plant it.

Of course, it is impossible for the price to plummet to a few cents per pound.

This brings us to another issue, namely the price of oil.

No matter how large the soybean oil production capacity is, its value will not be too low, because soybean oil can be refined into biodiesel or aviation fuel.

This means that as long as the fuel price does not drop to a few cents per pound, soybean oil will have a guaranteed floor.

This situation also led to the domestic selection of high-oil variety Sendou No. 2 when promoting varieties. Its oil content is around 29% and its crude protein content is around 40%.

Every ton of Senzu Bean No. 2 can be refined into 290 kilograms of soybean oil. If the raw materials are very pure, 290 kilograms of soybean oil can be refined into about 280 kilograms of biodiesel.

The domestic biodiesel price is 7000 yuan per ton, and 280 kilograms of biodiesel is about 1960 yuan.

Therefore, the current purchase price of the high-oil type Xiandou No. 2 at the farm gate is still maintained at around 2.4 to 2.5 yuan per kilogram.

Since last year, the three major oil companies have set up several biodiesel, bio-aviation fuel and bio-ship fuel production bases.

Many private enterprises have also entered this market.

Currently, Zhuoyue New Energy, the first domestic company engaged in the research and development of biodiesel technology for preparing waste oil and fat and its industrial production, has used Senzu soybeans to become the largest biodiesel production company in China with the largest production and sales scale and the largest export volume, with an annual production capacity of 100 million tons.

Following closely behind is Jiaao Environmental Protection, whose biodiesel production capacity is 85 tons.

Haixin Energy has also achieved a production capacity of 70 tons of biodiesel.

There is also the 50-ton biodiesel production base of the Mo'nan Branch of Hailufeng Company, which will be put into operation in October this year.

The production lines of these companies began to be transformed last year in order to better adapt to the production process of extracting biodiesel from soybean oil.

Currently, the raw material cost of Xiandou No. 2 is about 2450 yuan per ton.

One ton of soybeans produces 290 kg of soybean oil and 710 kg of soybean meal.

The recent price of soybean meal is around 2100 yuan per ton.

710 kilograms of soybean meal can be sold for 1491 yuan.

2450-1491=959，这就是290公斤大豆油的原材料成本，平均每公斤3.3元。

The current production cost of each ton of edible soybean oil is about 3800 yuan. If the production model of biodiesel is directly refined from soybeans, the cost of industrial soybean oil is 3600 yuan per ton because there is no need for deodorization and edible issues. After being refined into biodiesel, the cost is about 4000 yuan per ton.

Although the current biodiesel production capacity is still small and has not affected the domestic fuel market price, almost all domestic fuel industry practitioners are aware of one thing: biodiesel will soon impact domestic fuel prices.

In addition, as the number of electric vehicles in the market continues to increase year by year, the price of traditional fuel will undoubtedly fall in the future.

Even with taxes and other costs included, the expectation that fuel prices will fall to RMB 6000 per ton has become a consensus among all fuel industry practitioners.

Although the current purchase price of Senzu Beans is 2450 yuan per ton, this price will definitely continue to decline in the future until the price and the market form a new supply and demand balance.

Of course, the current price of Senzu soybeans can be maintained for a while, mainly because many pressing companies will purchase domestic soybean oil and then sell the pressed imported genetically modified soybean oil to biodiesel refining companies.

Why does this oil change happen?

The reason is that the oil from Senzu soybeans is of better quality and is non-GMO, making it more popular among consumers.

Currently, the market price of imported genetically modified soybean oil is only 3100 yuan per ton, which is yuan cheaper than Senzu soybean oil. For companies that refine biodiesel, the cheaper the better.

With the support of the biodiesel industry, it is ensured that the price of Senzu soybeans will hardly fall below two yuan per kilogram.

However, the huge soybean meal, or soybean protein production capacity, has also become an issue that must be considered in China.

Currently, the largest use of soybean meal is still animal feed; the second largest use is food processing raw material; organic fertilizer production ranks third; and sponge battery consumption ranks fourth.

Therefore, there will definitely be an oversupply of soybean meal production capacity in the future.

Although sponge batteries will consume a lot of soybean meal in the later stage, maintaining the regular update of the entire sponge battery will definitely require a large amount of soybean meal. At present, an average of about 0.32 tons of soybean meal is required per cubic meter of sponge battery cell.

Based on the standard of replacing 5000 million cubic meters of sponge batteries every year, it may be necessary to consume to million tons of soybean meal every year in the future.

This consumption accounts for only about one-tenth of the annual soybean meal production capacity of 100 to 200 million tons, which is still not a very high proportion.

However, Xiansi soybeans are confidential crops and are not suitable for large-scale promotion in densely populated areas, especially for private enterprises and self-employed individuals, and it is impossible for them to obtain franchise planting licenses.

In the future, Xiansi soybeans can only be grown in Gansu Province, the western part of the southern desert, and the Western Regions, where special independent planting areas will be designated.

Of course, Jiang Miao is not too worried about the problem of overcapacity of soybean meal in the future.

The reason lies in another technology possessed by Hailufeng Company: microbial fuel cell technology.

Currently, many companies are looking for cooperation with Hailufeng Company, hoping to jointly build a biofuel base.

This biofuel base can use soybean meal as raw material. Using soybean meal as the raw material for microbial fuel cells can generate electricity, and the waste residue can be fermented again to produce methane. The final waste residue can be used as organic fertilizer.

According to the latest technology, high-content soybean meal plus inulin and straw powder are used as raw materials. Each ton of soybean meal is combined with 0.48 tons of inulin and 1.4 tons of straw powder, which can generate 2436 degrees of electricity, 968 cubic meters of biogas and 3.5 tons of high-nitrogen organic fertilizer.

The total value of these outputs is about 5000 yuan, especially the high-nitrogen organic fertilizer, which can be exported abroad.

After all, high-standard high-nitrogen organic fertilizer can cost more than one thousand yuan per ton. In foreign countries where Senzu soybeans cannot be grown, to supplement the nitrogen element in the soil, either chemical fertilizers or organic fertilizers are used.

As long as the comprehensive output value can reach 5000 yuan, the profit can probably reach 1000 yuan.

In the future, the domestic production capacity of soybean meal and inulin will become larger and larger, and the price will become lower and lower. At that time, this composite production model of power generation-biogas-organic fertilizer will become valuable.

This means that the global feed, biodiesel, organic fertilizer, soap and plant protein industries will be completely controlled domestically.

There is no way. Unless foreign parties completely close their doors to the outside world, as long as international trade exists, they will not be able to resist Seres' cheap feed, cheap plant protein, and cheap organic fertilizer.

Sometimes the more concentrated an industry is, the lower the production cost is; the more comprehensive the industrial chain is, the less likely it is that it will be surpassed by outsiders.

Since last year, the share of feed produced by Seris in the global feed market has increased significantly.

For example, in terms of animal protein feed, in the first three quarters of this year, domestic animal protein feed has accounted for 86% of the import share of countries around the world.

The domestic production capacity of Egyptian catfish meal was 487 million tons last year, and the capacity in the first three quarters of this year has reached 642 million tons. It is estimated that the annual capacity will be close to 850 million tons.

Even if other regions do not want to import, they cannot withstand the extreme weather in recent years and can only grit their teeth and purchase feed from various feed companies in Seris.

In order to balance the trade deficit, the country has increased the scale of imports of various minerals. Even coal, lithium, tungsten, antimony, molybdenum, magnesite, graphite and rare earths, which have good domestic resource reserves, have been imported on a large scale this year.

As for other minerals that are in short supply in the country, such as iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, natural gas, oil, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals, the scale of imports has also been increased.

Many of the mining areas that were originally mined in the country have been transformed into protective mining areas, maintaining the mining industry while protecting domestic resource reserves.

Of course, many imported resources are also used as strategic reserves.

For example, Hailufeng Company, which has sufficient funds recently, plans to import 100 million tons of borax from abroad as a strategic reserve in the next five years.

Although some of the performance of boron bean silk is not as good as that of silicon bean silk, it is almost difficult to be replaced in the airship industry and high-airtightness lightweight materials due to its relatively light weight.

Therefore, as the parent company of Minqin Group, Hailufeng Company needs to consider the future surge in borax consumption. While the price of imported borax from abroad is not high, it should continue to increase imports and stockpile it.

If we encounter any emergencies in the future, we can use the reserves to deal with them for a few years.

As for other minerals, Hailufeng Company has also recently increased imports and reserves.

For example, the mercury-silicon tube room-temperature superconducting technology, which is currently highly confidential, requires the use of mercury. In September, Hailufeng Company, through a hidden vest, sought about 1 tons of cinnabar concentrate powder with a mercury content of about 50% from abroad.

Currently, several companies in Spain and Italy have taken up this order, mainly because Hailufeng’s bid was relatively high, and cinnabar ore is a small-category mineral in the international market and has relatively few buyers.

Spain and Italy, which were experiencing relatively difficult economies, began to expand production without thinking too much.

Hailufeng Company has no plans to publicly disclose the mercury-silicon tube room-temperature superconductor in the next few years. Even if it is used, it will be used internally in secret.

Therefore, while the situation has not been exposed in the past few years, we should quickly import more cinnabar ore for storage, and buy as much as we can from the reserves of Spain and Italy, the two major cinnabar mining countries. It would be best if we could empty their reserves.

After all, the current global mercury resources amount to only 70 tons, and the exploitable amount is only 30 tons.

Among them, Spain has reserves of 9 tons, making it the world's largest reserve country; Italy has reserves of 6.9 tons, making it the world's third largest reserve country.

China is the second largest reserve country, with 8.4 tons of mercury reserves.

Considering the wide range of uses of room-temperature superconductors, this mercury is definitely not enough. Once Hailufeng Company's technology is exposed, the value of cinnabar mine is estimated to skyrocket hundreds of times.

If you don't seize the time to stock up now, you will miss the chance later.

(End of this chapter)