Chapter 1156 The End of the Giant (Third update, please subscribe)
No matter what position people hold,
there is one thing that cannot be denied - New York is the world's financial center!
After World War II, the first handover between the declining British Empire and the rising American Empire was the handover of finance.
The symbol of this is that the world's financial center has shifted from London to New York!
New York, Manhattan.
Not only does this place have the most prosperous skyline of this era, but it is also the heart of world finance!
No matter what impression people have of Wall Street, it cannot change this fact.
The prosperity of Wall Street seems to reflect the prosperity of the United States!
While the whole world was looking up to the prosperity of the United States, a storm came quietly in the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
All steel stocks fell across the board, and all iron ore stocks rose across the board.
“Mesabi Iron Ore is depleted!”
With the news, the sensitive market immediately reacted - iron ore stocks rose rapidly!
In fact, as early as seven years ago, the high-grade iron ore located in the Mesabi Mountains of Minnesota, USA, had been exhausted. This large iron ore discovered in 1887 is 1 to 1.5 kilometers wide, 150 meters thick, and 180 kilometers long. The iron content in the ore exceeds 70%. Therefore, the iron ore here basically does not need any treatment before it can be loaded directly. blast furnace. And, not far from it, are the excellent coal mines of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania coal and Minnesota iron ore provide ample raw materials for the U.S. steel industry. In just ten years, the United States will become a real "Mesape" - the Indian word for "giant", which was created by the Mesape iron mines.
In 1952, when this news came out, the U.S. market was in panic. But now - just seven years later, when even low-grade iron ore cannot guarantee effective supply, for the U.S. For the steel industry, this is undoubtedly disastrous news!
The market began to panic as a result - although it was silent on the surface, the most eye-catching performance on the stock market on this day was Nanyang's Pacific Mining Company. In just a few days, this company owned by Australia The share price of the mining giant with tens of billions of tons of high-quality iron ore has risen by more than 70%.
On Wall Street, I don’t know how many people have set their sights on this company, but for these financial giants, all they can do is... look at the mine and sigh. After all, as we all know, Pacific Mining Company’s The major shareholder is Princess Margaret - she is not only a British princess, but also the First Lady of Southeast Asia and the Queen of the Kingdom of Sarawak. The share structure of this company is extremely complicated. It is certain that it involves two countries. .
One is an established power, and the other is a new power.
“Damn, how could this happen?”
In an office of U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh, a middle-aged man with a big beard was looking at the shareholding structure of Pacific Mining Company, cursing and writing there with a pen. It seems that he is looking for some opportunity.
“Is there no chance to make a move?”
As the deputy manager of U.S. Steel, Wells has been paying attention to Australia’s iron ore mines in the past few years. Faced with the reality that the Mesabi iron ore is depleted, he must find "raw materials" for the company around the world. If there is no iron ore, then U.S. Steel will go bankrupt due to lack of raw materials. This is obviously impossible for him. accepted.
But in the world, only Australian iron ore can meet the needs of American steel companies. As for Europe, there is no need to even think about it. As early as a few years ago, the Europeans established the "European Coal "Steel Community" to share coal and iron ores to ensure production in all countries.
If U.S. Steel wants to solve the problem of raw materials, it can only make a fuss about Pacific Mining Company. But how can it get a share of the pie?
Wells frowned, and his expression became more and more solemn...
Steel is a kind of metal, and like all metals, it has its own price.
This price is basically controlled by two factors:
One is the necessity of this metal in certain processes of world industrial perfection; rarity.
Steel is a very common metal. The world's total annual production reaches several hundred million tons per year.
Although it is not as scarce as gold, not as rare as silver, and not as expensive as copper and aluminum.
But as we all know, steel is the standard to measure whether a country is strong.
A country can be without gold and silver, but it absolutely cannot be without steel. Steel is the core raw material of modern industry. Without steel, neither machinery, vehicles, ships, or aircraft can be manufactured, nor can it even be built. A house, even the most ordinary wooden house, requires hundreds of kilograms of iron nails.
The reason why the United States was able to win World War II was largely due to its industrial productivity. Before World War II, the annual automobile production in the United States reached more than 5 million vehicles. This figure is almost 20 times Germany's automobile production during the same period. The basis of this production capacity is the steel production of the United States. Before World War II, the annual steel production of the United States accounted for more than 30% of the world's total. After World War II, the proportion increased to more than 40%.
Steel is important!
But the problem is... now, there are no iron ores in the United States!
In other words, the iron ore in the United States is about to be exhausted!
As the manager of U.S. Steel, Wells was of course anxious, because as we all know, without iron ore, the steel company would have no choice but to announce a shutdown.
What then?
Then what?
Thinking of this, the head of U.S. Steel threw down the report in his hand in a somewhat upset manner and looked out through the thick glass window opposite his desk. At this time, twilight filled the central business district of Pittsburgh. combine. Electric lights were on in the middle floors of the building—and on the lowest floors all day long—but on the top floors there was still plenty of winter sunlight.
Pittsburgh is the heart of the American Steel Empire!
This became the heart of the Iron Empire because the city was adjacent to the Appalachian coalfields, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers met to form the Ohio River. High-quality "coke" grade coal is mined near Pennsylvania. Iron ore was shipped from the upper Midwest surrounding Lake Superior. As the easternmost major port in the Mississippi River Basin, Pittsburgh has access to these raw materials through the river. In this way, it became an entrepôt between rail transport and river shipping, connecting the East Coast with the Midwest.
This favorable time and place contributed to the rise of the steel industry in this city's market.
In the Pittsburgh metro area, 134,494 people work in this industry. Of these, 6% are managers and professionals, and 8% are office workers. The remaining 86% can be divided fairly evenly between skilled craftsmen and foremen, semi-skilled operators, and unskilled auxiliary workers.
Once steel companies run out of raw materials - the iron ore they depend on for survival!
This means that millions of people will be unemployed, and millions of families will be in trouble!
Of course, Wells is more concerned about the future of U.S. Steel, but the question is, how long can a steel company without iron ore exist?
"Perhaps low-grade iron ore can barely maintain the company's production, but the surge in costs will exhaust the competitiveness of the product. If the product is not competitive, how long will it take to go bankrupt?" I thought to myself. Wells frowned even more. Right now, the only life-saving straw for U.S. Steel lies in Australia.
"Only Australian iron ore!"
When this idea flashed, Wells murmured.
“Let’s do it, let’s do it, and fight for that iron mine with the British! Anyway, if you don’t take action, you will die, but if you do, there may be a chance of survival!”
Finally, Wells’ A light flashed before my eyes!
Yes!
Without reaching out to Pacific Mining Company, U.S. Steel will surely come to an end!
This is the last choice. The world can leave U.S. Steel, but it cannot live without steel!
......
At the same time, at the "Pittsburgh Corner" where the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River meet to form the Ohio River, a black BMW car was parked on the bridge. Although there was a lot of traffic on the bridge, this car just stopped here willfully.
Several bodyguards wearing coats and sunglasses immediately arrived in the car and on the footpath beside the bridge. On the footpath beside the bridge, a woman in a woolen coat and the man beside her were looking at In the distance - where the smoke is thick, where the fires of the blast furnaces shine.
"...In 1944, the annual steel production in the United States reached 81.32 million tons. Nine years later, in 1953, the United States' steel production exceeded 100 million tons! It became the only country in the world with a steel production exceeding 100 million tons. Despite so much steel production, the demand for steel in the postwar world was staggering. In postwar America, steel was everywhere: in the skeletons of interstate highways; In household appliances; in the pipelines that carry oil from the oil fields; in the skyscrapers that rise downtown during urban renewal; and, most importantly, in the automobile that reshapes American society. So no one else in the world can. You can get away with steel!"
Peggy, standing by the bridge, pointed to the game on the Ohio River and said to her son beside her:
"Jason, you can board a boat from here. Boat, sail southeast up the Monongahela River toward West Virginia. Within 25 miles, as long as the river bank is not very steep, you will find piles of steel products and a bunch of steel factories. "
Although he has just celebrated his fourteenth birthday, standing next to his mother, Jason already looks like an adult. He is over six feet tall and wearing a black woolen coat. He looks a bit like his mother's follower.
Of course, except for that too immature look.
Although it is now during the Christmas vacation, Jason did not go to Chang'an as in previous years, but came to Pittsburgh with his mother.
Listening to his mother's narration, Jason watched all this quietly. He knew why his mother brought him here. Although he was only fourteen years old, he would have to take over one day in the future. Take over the mother's authority and take charge of all this.
“The vast U.S. steel industry has a huge number of factory complexes that provide steel for America’s automobiles, appliances, airplanes, ships, weapons, skyscrapers, bridges, pipelines, and highways. There are few other industries that can match it.”
Looking into the distance with her son, a smile flashed across Paige’s pretty face.
“Behind the high prosperity of the U.S. steel industry, there is a hidden danger.”
Jason asked:
“Is this hidden danger that the Mesapi iron ore is being depleted?”
Although he is still very young, he also pays attention to the news and knows that recently, even the United States The economy was affected by the depletion of iron ore.
“Yes, you see, going upstream from here, there are so many steel companies here and millions of people working here. They supply the world’s steel, but once there is no iron Mines, they are nothing! Companies will go bankrupt, workers will lose their jobs, and cities will decline!"
Even the entire United States, the most powerful "Mesabi" giant in history, will also fall into recession! At least to a certain extent, without iron ore, the U.S. economy will definitely be affected.
"But, we have iron ore!"
Jason said.
“So when we come here, are we talking about cooperation with them? Are we cooperating with U.S. Steel? Are we selling them iron ore? Aunt Margaret’s Pacific Mining owns the world’s largest Iron ore."
After thinking about it, Jason added.
“Our company also owns shares of Pacific Minerals.”
The companies under Li Yian's name are all cross-shareholdings. Their ownership structures are very complex, including personal shares, company shares, and bank shares. But in the end, they all belong to Li Yian himself and his wife. As for his lovers, Almost all are managed for children.
Of course Jason is also a shareholder of Pacific Mineral Company, and he is always fair to the children. Every child has a piece of property that belongs to them, and it is definitely valuable.
Looking at her son's handsome face, which made countless girls obsessed with him, Paige took his arm and said while walking to the car.
“We came to talk about cooperation, but another cooperation!”
(End of Chapter)