Material Empire

China, Pujiang International Exhibition Center.

Outside the gate, the huge poster of "China's New Polymer Structural Materials Forum and Business Fair" hangs from the roof of the exhibition center to the ground, and these dozen characters can be clearly seen from a long distance away.

Callum, Jofts, and La Paz dressed inconspicuously and walked into the exhibition center with the endless stream of people.

In La Paz's view, this exhibition has nothing to do with Vale, and he doesn't understand why the Chinese side sent him such an invitation. Vale mines iron ore, and its polymer materials rely on petrochemical, coal chemical, and salt chemical industries, which are completely incompatible with iron ore.

However, given that the negotiations with the Chinese side are currently at an impasse, and the company intends to find an opportunity to contact the Chinese side, La Paz feels that it is okay for him to use this excuse to go to China, at least to explore the Chinese side. details.

What he didn't expect was that after the president Callum and the director of the strategy department Jofts knew about this, they immediately decided to go to China to participate in this forum at the same time. La Paz suddenly became a poor little follower .

The reason why Callum decided to visit this forum in China was also because he wanted to take the opportunity to find out the attitude of the Chinese side. In addition, he felt uneasy about such an invitation that was obviously sent to the wrong person. , There seems to be some inexplicable connection between this forum and the iron ore negotiations.

When entering the door, Callum concealed his identity and only asked La Paz to register as a senior business manager of Vale. He and Geoffs both pretended to be La Paz's assistants, so as not to alarm the Chinese host. Those who leaked the company's real cards.

The hall of the exhibition center is divided into several parts, and each part corresponds to a theme, such as the application of plastic-steel profiles, the application of glass fiber reinforced plastics, and the replacement of steel bars with polymer fibers as reinforcement materials. There are some mature application samples in each area, such as plastic-steel doors and windows for residential use, glass-steel yachts and pressure vessels, and so on.

Guests from all over the world gathered in front of different booths according to their interests, and communicated with the staff in the booth. Many people had excited smiles on their faces, and carried several paper bags in their hands, which were full of local Contains various materials.

"I can't see what this forum has to do with our Vale company. It is impossible for these materials to be used to manufacture mining machinery. These are ordinary civilian products." La Paz muttered.

Callum and Jofts ignored him. They crowded to each booth, carefully read the introduction text on the display board, and listened to the staff's explanation. After walking past four or five booths, the faces of both of them were as cloudy as if it was about to rain.

"Jofts, do you see the intentions of the Chinese?" Callum asked in a low voice.

"I can see it..." Joefts replied, "It really is vicious."

"Mr. Callum, Mr. Jofts, I don't understand what you saw. These are all polymer materials, and have nothing to do with our iron ore." La Paz said.

"Because they have nothing to do with iron ore, they are the scariest thing." Jofts said angrily.

"I don't understand..." La Paz scratched his head, unable to figure out what was so terrible about it.

Jofts asked with a bit of resentment: "La Paz, didn't you understand the topic of today's forum?"

"Isn't this a polymer materials forum?" La Paz asked.

Geofts said: "This is not just a polymer materials forum. The content exhibited here has a common theme, that is, 'replacing steel with plastic'. Don't you understand?"

"Replacing steel with plastic?" La Paz glanced back at the various booths they had just seen, and couldn't help shivering, didn't they? All these booths said the same thing, that is, replacing steel with plastic.

The so-called replacement of steel with plastic refers to the use of polymer materials, commonly known as plastics, in places where steel is traditionally required. For example, iron doors and windows used in residential construction can be replaced by high-strength PVC materials, which are so-called plastic steel doors and windows. Containers, pipes, etc. used in chemical production are traditionally made of steel, but on this forum, they are promoting the use of FRP instead.

Replacing steel with plastic is not a new concept. At least 20 years ago, some people have been doing this, and they have made a lot of progress. However, according to La Paz's impression, it should be the first time for such a large-scale forum to publicize the replacement of steel with plastic. Many of the technologies introduced at the various booths are also said to be international frontiers, which have never been announced to the industry before this forum.

Why the Chinese want to hold such a forum, La Paz turned his head a little, and he thought it out clearly. Since steel is replaced by plastic, it means that the demand for steel will drop significantly. The reduction in steel demand will directly affect the supply of iron ore. Under the impact of plastics, the global iron ore demand originally calculated by Vale will shrink significantly.

Of course, replacing steel with plastic cannot be achieved overnight. Whether it is a change in customer usage habits or an increase in the production capacity of new plastic materials, it will take a long time. However, the Chinese made such a gesture, and at the same time specially sent the invitation to La Paz, the purpose is very obvious, that is to issue a warning: if the price of Vale’s iron ore is too high for the Chinese side, then China will consider a substantial increase in the use of plastics to reduce its dependence on steel.

This move, called dredging from the bottom of the pot, will directly turn the global supply of iron ore from a shortage to an oversupply. Once this happens, it will no longer be China that needs to beg international mining giants to provide iron ore, and these mining giants will in turn beg China imported.

At this moment, accompanied by applause, a young man stepped onto the stage in the center of the exhibition hall. La Paz recognized that this young man was Qin Hai who had given him a strong warning.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!"

Holding a wireless microphone in his hand, Qin Hai spoke loudly to the guests in the exhibition hall.

The guests stopped their clamor and turned to Qin Hai on the stage.

"Today, we are holding such a forum on polymer structural materials here to share our new progress in the research of polymer structural materials with global counterparts, as well as the application practice of polymer structural materials instead of steel. As we all know, due to mining costs Since the previous year, international iron ore prices have continued to rise. This year, several major iron ore suppliers have even proposed a 70% increase in iron ore delivery prices.

Entrusted by colleagues in the Chinese steel industry, I went to Brazil to negotiate with Vale. Vale said that they have great cost pressure and it is impossible to reduce the price of iron ore. They also told me that in the next few years, iron ore will continue to grow, and the possibility of an increase of 100% or even 200% from the current price level cannot be ruled out. "

Qin Hai talked to everyone.

La Paz's face turned pale. What Qin Hai said was indeed what he had said. The purpose of his saying these words was naturally to put pressure on the Chinese side, but Qin Hai unexpectedly threw them out here as an argument.

"Then, in the face of the unstoppable increase in the price of iron ore, how should we deal with it?" Qin Hai asked mysteriously.

"Of course it is to reduce the use of steel and replace it with other materials!" Someone from the audience replied loudly.

"Well said, this gentleman's point of view is indeed insightful!" Qin Hai gave a thumbs up to the person in the audience, and Callum and others in the crowd couldn't help cursing, damn, who doesn't know This is a commission arranged by you, please don't act so professionally, okay?

Qin Hai didn't care about his performance being misleading anymore, he knew that what everyone cared about was not his acting skills, but what he was going to say next.

"In response to the current situation of increasing steel costs, we decided to carry out the practice of replacing steel with plastic on a large scale. As you have just seen, in many occasions where steel is traditionally used, it is possible to use plastic to perfectly replace it, and sometimes it can even be used. It has a better effect than steel. For example, using high-strength fiberglass to represent steel to manufacture the main shaft and propeller of a ship engine can completely solve the problem of steel materials being corroded by seawater and extend the maintenance cycle of the propeller by at least three times. "

"Mr. Qin, are you sure that FRP can be used as a substitute material for propellers?" A bearded European in the crowd couldn't help asking.

"That's right, we have already done corresponding practices. Of course, the glass fiber reinforced plastic we use is also specially treated, and its strength is no less than that of ordinary alloy steel." Qin Hai replied.

"Are you willing to transfer this technology?" The European directly asked the most critical question.

Qin Hai smiled slightly and said: "There is no problem. We will authorize all the patented technologies exhibited in today's forum to all manufacturers in the world who intend to use these technologies. In order to promote the development of replacing steel with plastic, all of our patented technologies The fee is only equivalent to 20% of the general patent licensing fee!"

"20%!"

The crowd suddenly became restless. Everyone has seen the exhibition just now and knows that many technologies on display have great economic value. What everyone is most worried about is that the Chinese set the technology authorization fee too high, so that after the introduction of technology, they can only work for the Chinese in vain. Now Qin Hai claims that the authorization fee is only equivalent to 20% of ordinary patents, which is like giving it for nothing. If you miss such a good thing, you will regret it for the rest of your life.

The faces of Callum and Jofts suddenly turned pale.