My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 707 Who's the wolf? It's still uncertain.
Therefore, Wei Dong even dared to threaten Guo Yuan when making this choice.

“I saw some internal documents from the International Container Terminal (ICJ) before. Guoyuan is currently ICJ’s only customer. It’s obvious that Guoyuan doesn’t value containers very much. So ICJ can’t keep up with the production scale. We’re sorry, but we can only take advantage of the open port of Pengzhen to try to encourage Hong Kong businesses to build larger container ships and buy more of our containers.”

Chief Engineer Tang almost choked: "Just to sell containers, you're inviting trouble!"

International giants have already taken a lot of the cargo capacity from Guoyuan, and you still want to strengthen Hong Kong businesses to seize the mainland market?
Wei Dong argued confidently: "What else can we do? The National Container Terminal also needs to survive. We also bear the responsibility of promoting the development of ocean shipping. The West Wharf, the East Wharf... well, even the site selection for the new Shanghai Wharf is all centered around container terminals. Not to mention all over the world, just look at the current scale and proportion of Singapore's ports. Bulk cargo terminals are scattered here and there, and all of them are large container terminals. Hong Kong is even phasing out bulk cargo terminals and marginalizing them, and building new ones are all container terminals. Can't you see this trend?"

Even ocean-going shipping companies haven't given Weidong as many opportunities to go abroad as he does now.

This perspective did indeed persuade them, even though Singapore is a transshipment port with a throughput of over ten million containers and more than ninety percent of its port berths are container terminals. Hong Kong is also now mostly a container terminal.

Furthermore, although Shanghai Port currently only has a throughput capacity of 200,000 TEUs, it is also focusing on developing container terminals. The new site selection is based on the standards of large container ships and deep-water terminals, while also taking into account bulk cargo terminals.

Chief Engineer Tang struggled to envision future trends, and it was indeed difficult to form such a clear path, especially since they chose to invest heavily in oil tankers in the past two years. This was based on the consensus of a booming energy demand, which was not wrong in itself.

As a result, the Iran-Iraq War broke out, oil transportation in the Middle East came to a standstill, oil prices soared, and oil tankers had no work and completely collapsed, with prices falling by 40%!
The chief engineer ultimately decided to leave the decision to his superiors, focusing his attention on engineering technology: "Then why must we break through and skip ahead to develop a super Panamax container ship?"

Wei Dong quickly admitted, "I was a bit too ambitious. If we can produce Panamax container ships right now, that would be the best we can do. Here's what we'll do: we regularly ship more than 500 containers of computer OEM products to Citibank every month from Shanghai, and we also regularly ship 4,000 containers of off-road vehicle parts from California to Tianjin Port every year. The shipping bills were previously handled by the shipping company designated by the US side. We can give them to Guoyuan as a way of supporting you in developing Panamax container ships."

The chief engineer, who wasn't in charge of business, was still focused on asking: "I will pass this on to the other comrades in charge of transportation. I'm asking why it has to exceed the Panamax hull size? We currently have 12 Panamax bulk carriers of over 60,000 tons and 6 Capesize carriers of 150,000 tons, with a total tonnage of nearly 100 tons. International container ships are now concentrated in the Panamax size."

Wei Dong gestured to the spring rolls and flower rolls again: "Wasn't I clear enough? As long as the mainland lifts foreign trade restrictions, it will become the main force for shipping to Europe and the United States. The China-US Pacific route and the China-Europe Mediterranean route will definitely become the focus. Whether or not it passes through the Panama Canal is not the most important link."

Of course, Wei Dong still thought that Citibank, like the mainland later, had a well-developed railway freight and high-speed freight system.

It's absurd to assume that domestic transportation in other countries uses train cars and container trucks, and that going from the West Coast to the East Coast requires going through the Panama Canal in a roundabout way. Isn't that just pointless?

He had heard the joke about Citibank spending tens of billions to build a high-speed rail line that only covered a few kilometers, but he didn't know that Citibank's rail freight also had many deep-seated problems.

In any case, the ignorance of the ignorant conveniently blocked this narrow-minded thinking: "So your conclusion is based on a positive outlook for a significant increase in the volume of goods exported from mainland China in the future?"

Wei Dong nodded: "It's not a significant increase, it's a doubling of growth. As far as I know, even with the current strict control over foreign trade, there are still private enterprises that have achieved annual foreign trade volumes exceeding 100 million US dollars. However, this company seems to have been cracked down on for reasons such as tax evasion and smuggling. This is definitely not acceptable, but it also demonstrates the enormous potential of international trade. Ship production can take time, and the technical and material difficulties can also be addressed in time. If we wait until the momentum picks up, the most lucrative opportunities will be snatched away by others. Don't blame me for not warning you, Lao Tan can testify."

The leaders of Hongyan Machinery Factory nodded vigorously: "Weidong's assistance to us has indeed been very steady. We started by making construction elevators. After we became familiar with that, we ventured into passenger and freight elevators. Moreover, our computer board technology was not up to par, so we first used semi-automation and elevator operators to solve the problems. But we seized the opportunity precisely. Now we have delivered more than 80 elevators to Pingjing, Shanghai, and Pengzhen, and at the same time we are working on the technology of full automation."

This case is truly apt.

It's exactly the same as the shipbuilding industry: "Now, the major domestic factories all choose to introduce foreign technology, either by forming joint ventures to assemble imported parts, or by buying production lines and blueprints. The costs are very high, and they even have to continuously consume foreign exchange, so their market competitiveness is much worse than ours. Now we have begun to further expand our external customers. Come on, Weidong, let me toast you."

Finally, Chief Engineer Tang managed to squeeze out, "Wei Dong, can you convince Hong Kong businessmen to build this kind of large container ship?"

Wei Dong nodded firmly and affirmatively: "Absolutely! Never underestimate the capitalists' fanaticism for pursuing profits. The cost of a large ship with more than 10,000 containers running a fixed route is ten times that of your existing, well, more than 1,000 containers... My God, is it really ten times the cost?"

Chief Engineer Tang shook his head: "Not counting the depreciation of the cargo ship, the cost per trip should be four or five times, or even lower."

He could rattle off data off the top of his head: "We currently have a 1200-TEU container ship, making eight trips to North America every year, with a profit of $62 per voyage. The biggest problem is that 40% of the containers are empty on the return trip. If we had ten times the size of the ship..."

Therefore, it must have been truly difficult for the predecessors who fought on these lines.

The engineer could hardly believe it: "The country requires us to transport at least half of the foreign trade goods, but due to capacity limitations, it's currently at most 30%. What if the Hong Kong merchants' fleets become even stronger..."

Wei Dong secretly gasped: "You don't think I'm betraying you, do you? It's just business... not even competition. At most, I'm using Hong Kong businesses to force state-owned enterprises to develop faster." In fact, he unintentionally helped Shanghai avoid the decision of building a port and helped Guoyuan seize the huge opportunity of container ships.

Chief Engineer Tang slowly shook his head: "We are paying off our debts. Last year, three oil tankers were destroyed in the war. This year, war insurance premiums have soared to 50% of the total freight cost. In the end, we still have to pay $180,000 for each shipment. Last year, we had to sell more than 20 ships."

Wei Dong now knows he won't reach out to them lightly: "Anyway, my suggestion is to build container ships, especially large vessels of the Panamax class and above. They'll earn more and be able to better support our Western District Terminal in taking business from Hong Kong as much as possible. Of course, everything still depends on policy adjustments."

A thought suddenly popped into my head.

Is this the only way to loosen the shackles on foreign trade and revitalize the economy?

Therefore, he stopped reaching out, as Guoyuan was a behemoth even larger than Guoji.

Not to be messed with.

Chief Engineer Tang didn't stop him, but thought deeply for a moment and said, "I'd like to see the deep-water port terminal and these kinds of large ships that you've been working with Hong Kong businessmen to promote."

Wei Dong nodded repeatedly: "No problem, I'll contact them right away to arrange for you to visit. It seems they've already completed the deep-water port plan for the eastern district of Pengzhen. Our western district port hasn't been built yet because we're going to reclaim land to create deeper water, so our approaches are different. As for ships, it's just a pie in the sky. We'll have to see if the Zhenhua Port Machinery can meet their requirements."

Unexpectedly, Chief Engineer Tang's intention was to follow along and watch how Wei Dong would make empty promises!
Even this word was explained by Wei Dong pointing to the scallion pancake on the table.

But isn't it a bit too abrupt to involve a third party in business negotiations?

However, considering the sense of ownership among state-owned assets and the willingness to act as a collaborator without fear of suspicion, Wei Dong readily agreed.

Then call the West Wharf in person to inquire about the progress of the quay crane installation.

The staff on duty at the wharf management committee office building reported that the Shanghai factory workers, who had been working late into the night, were almost finished and were just about to call Weidong to come and inspect the work.

Those damned bastards!
Wei Dong was sent to traverse mountains and valleys in Shanghai to observe the coastline and various hydrogeological conditions, which delayed him for more than ten days.

The installation will begin once the ship arrives.

Wei Dong calculated that there was still more than a week left.

I just got back and caught my breath.

Chief Engineer Tang was still craning his neck and listening to the phone call without any hesitation!
Do you really think that just because it's not a third-tier factory, there are no confidentiality measures?

When I contacted Zhong Zhenhua, he was indeed very confident: "I also heard in Pengzhen that the city emphasized listening to your opinions and broadening our thinking and pace. Perhaps only a natural leader like you can see so far ahead. So I urged everyone to hurry up with the assembly and debugging, and also to rush back to participate in the battle to conquer the docks in Shanghai!"

Wei Dong couldn't help but laugh and scold: "Can't you grasp what's important? If these two machines are handled carefully and meticulously and pass the Hong Kong businessmen's inspection, that's enough for dozens of business units. Shanghai New Port is still in the verification and inspection stage, it's a long way off, what are you panicking about!"

Old Zhong was, after all, a key member of Shanghai Port Machinery: "We must obey the organization's arrangements. We can't be negligent. Besides, once these two machines are installed, we can try to install and purchase them at the existing docks in Shanghai. Hurry up, please come and inspect them!"

Wei Dong couldn't help but glance at the mother and son, Feng Chu, at the next table, truly experiencing the feeling of being so busy that Yu the Great didn't even go inside while taming the floods.

Then let's go to the beach together!

(End of this chapter)