Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 281 Foreign Trade
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law!" On this day, Yan Hui was preparing to leave home and called his brother-in-law aside.

"What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?" My brother-in-law asked, puzzled.

"That's right. It's almost March, and I was wondering if you still have any good sales." Yan Hui said with a sly smile.

"Huh? Didn't you say you'd give me two out of three salespeople? You're trying to poach people from my company? Are you trying to take advantage of me all by myself?" My brother-in-law exclaimed in surprise. "I only have eight salespeople in total. I gave you three, so I have five left. You might as well take them all!"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Yan Hui shook his head. "What I meant was, I found both Wang Yongjun and Kong Qingwei's products quite comfortable to use."

"That won't do either. One of these two people has to be sent back to me." My brother-in-law still disagreed.

"Huh?" Yan Hui sighed. He had tried to ask for more people first, then suggest keeping two, but he failed.

Isn't it said that Chinese people like to compromise?

"Trying to play these tricks on me! I see, you want to keep Kong Qingwei, right? He's quite capable, and I bet he'd do well with you. If you really like him, you can keep him." My brother-in-law snorted twice.

"Sigh, I can't trick you anymore, brother-in-law. Well then, you like Kong Qingwei, so I'll keep Wang Yongjun." Yan Hui made his decision after all.

"That works too. This person is more reliable and less troublesome," the brother-in-law agreed.

"Okay, it's settled then. When you get back, please tell Wang Yongjun, otherwise it wouldn't be good for me to force you to stay," Yan Hui said.

"Aren't you supposed to go back first?" the brother-in-law asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I need to go to Binzhou first; I want to check out their textile and aluminum industries."

"Okay, you go first. I'll go and tell Wang Yongjun."

Yan Hui was somewhat frustrated that his attempt to scam his brother-in-law hadn't succeeded. These old foxes...
However, for Yan Hui, having Wang Yongjun is enough. His statement was a compromise. In short, it is also important to keep a reliable person.

Wang Yongjun is down-to-earth and honest, and Yan Hui prefers his work style. Moreover, he can mentor other people.

Kong Qingwei is capable, but somewhat selfish. It's unrealistic to expect him to lead a team; he's only suited for working alone. High commissions are a good incentive for him. He's certainly talented, but it's not essential to have him.

After this matter was settled, Yan Hui stayed at home for two more days. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, he left home, took a plane back to Quancheng, and then immediately took a train to Binzhou.

When they arrived in Binzhou, Wang Zongbo was already there, but because it was late, Wang Zongbo briefly talked about the textile industry in Binzhou and then sent Yan Hui to rest first.

When discussing the textile industry here, it's impossible to avoid mentioning Weiqiao. Although later generations know it as an aluminum giant, insiders know it started out in textiles.

When I was learning geography in junior high school, we discussed the industrial zone on the Liaoning Peninsula. One reason for building textile factories near steel mills was to address gender disparities among workers. The proximity of these two factories was believed to improve marriage prospects, family life, and worker stability. The same principle applies here. The establishment of an aluminum plant has a positive impact on the textile industry! Similarly, workers at a new aluminum plant won't have trouble finding partners, making it easy to attract a large workforce.

This is also a form of industry consolidation!
In 2002, Binzhou accounted for 5% of the country's cotton spindle production capacity, with annual exports of approximately US$2 million!
A $2 million export might not seem like much in later generations, but at that time, Binzhou's total annual exports were only $5 million, with cotton products accounting for 40%.

Currently, the main export destinations are the United States, Japan, and Europe.

The next day, Wang Zongbo arrived early to have breakfast with Yan Hui, and then they went to a cotton textile trading company where they met one of the owners.

"Our biggest advantage is that it's cheap. Our equipment is advanced, our scale is large, and our labor is cheap!" the person in charge said frankly.

This man, surnamed Guan, was also a manager. He was very straightforward and became extremely enthusiastic upon hearing that Yan Hui had millions in funds. He knew Wang Zongbo and knew that Wang Zongbo had no reason to lie to him.

"To be honest, I'm just starting to learn about this. I have a brother in Brazil, and I'm considering doing trade there." Yan Hui had also discussed this with his boss.

Brazil is a timber-producing region, and Yan Hui initially wanted to import timber from Brazil. However, the types of timber in Brazil didn't really align with Yan Hui's business. If Yan Hui had continued with timber trading at Jianye, he would have inevitably become involved in international timber trade around 2001.

But that's not possible now. His main raw material is locally grown fast-growing poplar, which Brazil is not competitive in.

Sea freight is very cheap. It takes tens of thousands of nautical miles to transport timber from Brazil, but the average cost per cubic meter of timber is lower than that of transporting it by truck for 1000 kilometers.

While importing timber is currently unresolved, exporting isn't necessarily a bad thing. With the current favorable policy of export tax rebates for cotton textiles, Yan Hui still has this plan. He needs to first understand the domestic export policies before figuring out how to discuss it with his boss.

"You have channels in Brazil! That's great!" Boss Guan really likes clients like Yan Hui.

I don't understand, but I have money and connections!

He was a very sincere person, so he simply talked a lot with Yan Hui.

"We don't do much business with Brazil, but since you have the channels, it's no problem! Brazil only requires INMETRO certification, which isn't difficult; we have it. If you need a freight forwarding company, I can help you with that too! I can handle the entire export customs process! Boss, just contact me if you need anything. I'll calculate the costs clearly for you all at once, then you can calculate the profit. If it's satisfactory, we can send one container to test it out!" Manager Guan tempted. "If you send just one container recently, I'll give you the biggest discount; I can guarantee I won't make any money off you! Once you've made some money, come back, and I'll give you the lowest discount so we can also make a little less profit, and we can have a long-term business together."

"How much does it cost to ship a container?" Yan Hui asked.

"The value of this goods depends on what you buy, since there's a significant price difference between cotton spindles and worsted yarn. As for shipping costs, if we disregard seasonality and you're not in a rush, a standard TEU small container would cost around 20,000 yuan, and a larger FEU container would be about 35,000 yuan. These aren't final prices, as I haven't shipped to Brazil before, and I need to investigate further. If you're interested, I can get you an accurate price by tomorrow at the latest. However, I do know that Brazil has a 17% tariff on textiles, and I've also explained the tax refund policy to you."

Manager Guan rattled off a long speech, becoming increasingly professional, to the point that Yan Hui could barely understand a word.

(End of this chapter)