Chapter 230 Preparation for Future Drought
The time soon came to the end of September.
During this period, Yang Wendong is more concerned about the dock project at Zuizui Bay in Kwai Chung.
A more professional team conducted seabed topography mapping in Drunken Bay and considered other factors from all parties to calculate how much reclamation costs it would cost to build a dock here.
September 26, Geely Building:
Yang Wendong is reading the newspaper.
"Dong dong dong~" There was a knock on the door. Yang Wendong looked up and saw that it was Zheng Zhijie, so he said, "Come in."
Zheng Zhijie walked in and said, "Yang Sheng, I have a few things to report to you."
"Okay." Yang Wendong also put down the newspaper.
Zheng Zhijie said: "Our residential construction site in Causeway Bay may need to suspend construction for three days because there is no water. Many construction processes require a lot of water."
"Lack of water?" After hearing this, Yang Wendong asked: "Is there no water coming from the water plant?"
Zheng Zhijie replied: "Not really, there is still running water, but it is always intermittent. The water pressure is also low, so we need to stop work for three days to reserve enough water in the water storage tank before starting work.
Many things on the construction site require water. There needs to be enough water, otherwise there will be great losses if there is no water in the middle. The most common thing is mixing cement. "Yes, okay, I understand this," Yang Wendong nodded and said. "Water shortage is a difficulty for the entire Hong Kong society, and it is normal for us to be affected.
Then give the workers three days off and take a rest."
The most serious water shortage crisis in Hong Kong's history was in 1963, but it has already begun to occur in 1958.
In 1959, the current Governor of Hong Kong, Roberto Robertson, negotiated with the mainland to transport water from eastern Guangdong Province and opened a pipeline to a reservoir in eastern Guangdong Province.
But in 1962-63, the drought intensified, and the rivers in eastern Guangdong Province near Hong Kong ran out of water, which led to the outbreak of the largest drought in Hong Kong's history.
In the end, the Hong Kong government negotiated with the mainland to build a grand canal to divert water from the East River, which solved the problem.
During the drought in Hong Kong, not only the common people suffered, but the entire industry and commerce were severely affected, because water shortage affected too many industries, and even power generation required a large amount of water.
"It's already a holiday." Zheng Zhijie added: "The second thing is that the reclamation budget for Zuizui Bay has been released. The reclamation cost for us to build a dock is estimated to be around 6 million Hong Kong dollars.
I also asked Zheng Yuhua. It would cost about seven to eight million to build a large-scale ship repair yard and dock. "
"That's more than ten million." Yang Wendong nodded. Asked: "How much does it cost to acquire this land?"
Zheng Zhijie replied: "This is not expensive. It cannot be said that it is deserted, but it is not a good location. Even if the area is larger, it costs three to five million. That's enough."
"Hmm." Yang Wendong thought for a while and asked: "Then we can use more area to reclaim the sea. Maybe when the business is good, we will need to expand the dock."
This possibility is also possible. In the future, Kwai Chung will be the place where all ships in Hong Kong gather, and the demand for ship maintenance and repair will inevitably be very high.
As for the existing shipyards, they will be closed or relocated in the next ten years due to the high value of land development. Then, I might have the opportunity to grab a bigger market.
"It should be possible, but this requires negotiation with the Hong Kong government." Zheng Zhijie said.
Yang Wendong asked again: "Has the Hong Kong government agreed to this?"
"The official document has not been issued yet, and the process has not been completed." Zheng Zhijie said: "They usually Wouldn't disagree.
The Hong Kong government has always implemented free market principles. Except for restrictions on household items such as water, electricity, and buses, all other items are accepted as long as normal businesses apply. "
"Okay, get the license as soon as possible, so that I can feel more at ease. Yang Wendong nodded and said.
The containerization revolution is already a global shipping trend. However, due to the limitations of infrastructure and millions of workers, its popularity has been a bit slow.
Before Yang Wendong doesn't know if Hong Kong's senior officials have any ideas in this regard. It seems that even if they know about it, they haven't put a lot of effort into finding a suitable location.
In other words, they haven't found Kwai Chung yet. Bian, this gives you an advantage.
"Okay, I'll urge the Hong Kong government as soon as possible." Zheng Zhijie agreed.
Yang Wendong picked up the phone, dialed a short number, and said to Zheng Zhijie: "Let Zheng Yuhua come and discuss it together."
"Yes." Zheng Zhijie nodded. Said the head.
......
They were all in the same building. Two minutes after receiving the call from his boss, Zheng Yuhua came to Yang Wendong's office on the top floor.
"Yang Sheng." Zheng Yuhua greeted.
"Sit down." Yang Wendong gestured and said, "There is progress over at Drunken Bay... Lao Zheng, please explain in detail."
"Okay." Zheng Zhijie Zheng Yuhua was quickly informed of the matter.
After hearing this, Zheng Yuhua said happily: "That would be great. Having your own dock would be so convenient.
Swire, Wheelock and Jardine can become bigger , it also has a lot to do with having its own dock.”
Yang Wendong asked again: "What about that person? Are you poaching people directly from several shipyards in Hong Kong?"
Zheng Yuhua said: "Yes, I know many professional engineers in this field. Ordinary employees can also do it. In the later stage, we will cultivate it ourselves."
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Well, then you can cooperate and set the overall budget and time to build the dock as soon as possible."
"Okay. "Yes." After Zheng Yuhua agreed, he asked, "Yang Sheng, the cost of this dock is also relatively high. I still need to find a bank for funds."
"I know this." "After the Hong Kong government issues the license, I will talk to Sanders from HSBC. By the way, we will go to Japan to buy new ships and talk about it together."
"Thank you, Yang Sheng." Zheng Yuhua said with a smile.
Yang Wendong added: "There is another thing, you should also know about Hong Kong's water shortage, right?"
"Yes." Zheng Yuhua naturally also knows that now the entire Hong Kong, All have been affected.
Even if you live in a mansion, your water supply will be cut off at every turn. Maybe only the super rich will not be directly affected.
Yang Wendong added: "Our original plan for future ship purchases was to buy both new and old ships.
The new ships are used for the shipping company's own business, and the old ships are used for Changxing Industrial's products to go to sea. But I want to buy more old ships for offshore business. ”
“Offshore business? "Zheng Yuhua is also a smart man. Thinking of the drought just mentioned, he asked: "Is Yang Sheng thinking of going to the mainland to buy water and then transport it back to Hong Kong? ""right. "Yang Wendong nodded.
The best mode for large-scale water transportation is naturally to open canals, but this takes too long. In the original history, the Dongjiang water supply was considered complete in 1965 The solution was solved by introducing Hong Kong and building large-scale fresh water reserves within Hong Kong. The water shortage problem that has plagued Hong Kong for decades
65 years ago, millions of people in Hong Kong and a large number of industrial, commercial, and construction industries were in a very tight situation. Geniuses get an average of one liter of water, barely enough to drink
The impact on industry was even more serious. In 1963, Hong Kong's industrial exports experienced a rare decline. As the largest industrial group in Hong Kong, Changxing Industrial Group will only become larger in scale in a few years, and the impact will only be more serious.
Whether it is for his own interests or for the survival difficulties of millions of Chinese in Hong Kong, he needs to plan for this disaster earlier and prepare early. Although he cannot defeat the natural disaster, he can at least reduce the losses. Reducing it to the lowest level can also make millions of ordinary people feel more comfortable.
Zheng Yuhua thought for a while and said: "Yang Sheng, from my personal point of view, the more people transporting water, the better.
But from the company's point of view, none of us can I don’t know if this drought will continue. Maybe there will be another one. With the big typhoon, there is water in eastern Guangdong, and the water-carrying boats will have no business."
"If this is the case, I will be even happier." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "The worst is the old boat. Just go back to the normal shipping business nearby.
You also said that one of the biggest costs of old ships is maintenance and repair. We will have a shipyard soon, so we can’t lose money if we save this. ”
Right now, because Hong Kong is short of water, the Hong Kong government has entrusted some freighters from Hong Kong to go deep into the mainland to buy water and transport it back to Hong Kong.
This can be regarded as a business, and the Hong Kong government pays Pay the bill, but for Yang Wendong, there are too many ways to make money in the future. If it is just to make money, there is no need to participate in this.
The reason for the current layout is because when the drought is very serious, the ships will be gone. It’s far from enough.
In this era, shipping can make a lot of money because of the shortage of ships. Now the Hong Kong government needs a few ships. It’s okay to say, but in another year when there will be a serious drought, dozens of ships will suddenly be needed. Where do so many empty ships come from?
And what capitalists do best is to take advantage of the opportunity to raise prices. In the end, it is ordinary people who pay the bill.
Zheng Yuhua thought for a while and said: "Okay, then I can buy some very old boats. After buying them, I can transport water first. When the drought is over, I can do business around Southeast Asia and not go to those in Europe and the United States that are too far away. "
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Just. As long as there are no safety issues, scrap ships can also be used. Pick a good one and send it to be scrapped after a few years. "
Scrap ships are not completely unusable, but they have already been destroyed from an economic perspective. A boat that is not cost-effective, or in some countries, a boat that can no longer be used because it has reached the age specified by law.
In the early years, scrapping old ships to recycle ship steel was also one of Hong Kong's major industries. These ships were normally brought from European and American countries to be scrapped.
Some Chinese shipping kings in Hong Kong also bought some of these scrap ships at low prices in the early days, and then started to make money by running offshore business, especially in the early 1950s.
"Understood, Yang Sheng." Zheng Yuhua also understood what the boss meant, and reminded: "It's just Yang Sheng, there is no way to get a bank loan for such an old ship. Although it is cheap, it is We have to pay for it ourselves."
"Well." Yang Wendong asked again: "What is the price of such a very old ship or even a scrap ship?"
Zheng Yuhua said: "The better-quality ones worth one million Hong Kong dollars are the same as those we bought from the United States before. At that time, the United States also wanted to dismantle and sell scrap iron, but there were not many such ships.
The difference may be hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. When the market is bad, many European and American companies will even dispose of old ships for free or at a discount.”
"Okay, then just pay for it yourself." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I will mobilize funds from other places."
At this price, it only costs tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars to buy a few dozen boats. Even if we only do water transportation business in the future, we can share the operating costs and fuel expenses.
Especially if your own company has priority, you can also avoid industrial losses caused by water shortage. If you don't care about anything and let it go, then your several industries in Hong Kong may lose more than tens of millions.
Zheng Yuhua reminded again: "Yang Sheng, although scrap ships are cheap, they are not something you can buy in a short period of time. It depends on how many such ships there are in the market.
If we need more, we may still have to buy a cargo ship like the Shun An, which will be much more expensive. ”
"It doesn't matter. Second-hand freighters with better quality can last longer." Yang Wendong naturally didn't care.
As long as it was a ship that could be driven, it would be impossible to lose money by 1967. Even before that, he would buy a large number of new and old ships, otherwise he would be really sorry for the prophet's advantage.
"Okay." Zheng Yuhua asked again: "Now there are two big projects. I don't know if I need to slow down when buying new ships from Japan."
"No. "Yang Wendong shook his head and said: "As long as the expected income is high enough, it is cost-effective to operate with debt.
These three projects are all independent on your side, except for the purchase of old ships for water transportation. , I will take advantage of the loan.”
In the shipping industry, whether it is buying a ship, building a ship or even leasing a ship to an end customer, a large amount of bank funds are required.
The loan rate is also far higher than that of the real estate industry.
In the 1960s, global shipping was in a state of rapid development. The Chinese shipping kings in Hong Kong basically developed in this decade.
"Okay." Zheng Yuhua said again: "One more thing, if we buy ships in large quantities, we will need to recruit people on a large scale, especially old ships, which require professional technical engineers."
"No problem, just recruit." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "A large number of crew members are also the basis for our future development."
Even if there is no drought, he still needs to recruit people on a large scale to prepare for subsequent shipping expansion.
......
The next day, Peninsula Hotel:
Yang Wendong came to the first-building suite. At this moment, a young woman wearing a white nightgown was doing a simple Preparing lunch.
“Yu Shan?” Yang Wendong said with a smile after coming in.
"Brother Dong!" Bai Yushan turned back: "I asked the hotel to prepare the food you like to eat."
"My favorite food is not these." Yang Wendong laughed and hugged the person He stood up and said, "Let's do business first!"
"It's daytime~" Bai Yushan said and then responded.
The food next to it was left behind and gradually cooled down~
……
An hour later, Yang Wendong looked at the food with some confusion.
“It’s not cold, so let’s just eat it like this.” Bai Yushan didn’t care much: “It would be too troublesome to ask someone to take out the hot food.”
“Okay.” Yang Wendong was too lazy to bother anymore. He was tired and hungry after just doing physical labor.
It’s really inconvenient without a microwave.
He has actually thought about some ideas for electronic products. After the Kwun Tong Industrial Park is built, he will also prepare to enter the electronics industry.
……
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket.
(End of this chapter)