Sail across the sea

Chapter 235 Gao Fan's Infinite Loop
"Yes. The market for vitamin raw materials is very large. We are now testing the waters with vitamin E. If we can open up this channel, we can also produce vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D, etc. in the future, making billions of dollars a year. It's not uncommon for them to do business," Gao Fan replied.

Zhu Nian automatically filtered out Gao Fan's "billions of dollars" figure.Just kidding, last year, the country’s exports just reached 200 billion U.S. dollars, and nearly half of them were primary products such as agricultural products and mineral products. If you want to sell billions of U.S. dollars a year just by selling vitamins, isn’t that true? Nonsense?
Alas, it seems that this young man was indeed dazzled by the export of chemical cleaning agents, and he was a little ignorant.The province is also really confused, to appoint such a child under the age of 18 as the general manager of a company, isn't it counterproductive?

Thinking about it this way, Zhu Nian is really not good at reprimanding Gao Fan directly.He is different from Huang Qiming. He is a department-level cadre and knows more about politics.He knew that Canghua Technology and Trade was the first joint-stock company in the province established under the personal care of the provincial leaders, and it was a benchmark enterprise for the reform and opening up of Maolin Province.

The Department of Foreign Trade finally squeezed out a quota for the Spring Fair to Canghua Technology and Trade, which also took this into consideration.Before coming to Yangcheng, the party group of the Foreign Trade Department assigned Zhu Nian a task to help Canghua Technology and Trade get a few foreign trade orders to prove that the provincial leadership's decision was upright.

"Xiao Gao, I think it's better for you to focus on the promotion of chemical cleaning agents. Aren't your chemical cleaning agents selling well in the Japanese market? Work hard, not to mention opening up the European and American markets, at least in Southeast Asia It is still very hopeful to get several large orders.”

Zhu Nian advised.

Gao Fan said: "We will continue to produce chemical cleaning agents. However, the technical threshold of this product is not high, and any small company can imitate it.

"We just made a time difference before and made some quick money. Once other companies crack our formula or develop a similar formula, our market will be divided."

"You mean, vitamin production is not easy to imitate?" Zhu Nian asked.

Gao Fan said: "Yes, the production of vitamins has a certain threshold. At the very least, a set of production equipment with an annual output of 100 tons of vitamin E requires an investment of more than 200 million yuan, which is beyond the reach of ordinary small enterprises. As for the production process of vitamins, there are also certain technical difficulties, and it is very difficult for other companies to imitate."

"So, what kind of companies are the companies that produce vitamins now?"

"All of them are large Western companies, including Germany's Lowe's Chemicals, Japan's Warren Chemicals, and the US's Jensen. They almost monopolize the global production of vitamins."

"You mean, you plan to grab business from these established Western companies?"

Zhu Nian asked in disbelief.

As an old man in the foreign trade port, Zhu Nian is aware of several companies mentioned by Gao Fan.Of course, what he knew was not the vitamins produced by these companies, but other bulk chemicals they produced. Compared with their main products, the vitamin business was insignificant.

In wishing the new year, the technology mastered by these established Western companies must be unattainable. Not to mention the companies in Maolin Province, even those large companies affiliated to the country want to grab business from Western established companies. It's wishful thinking.How could this young man in front of him dare to have such a dream?

"Actually, it's not a business grab." Gao Fan said, "The profit margin of vitamin production is relatively high, but the scale of the industry is limited. For these big companies, it is actually a piece of cake.

"The reason why they still maintain the production of these products is mainly because the market has requirements in this regard. They are reluctant to maintain production. If other companies can replace their production, they are eager to ask for it."

"There is such a thing?" Zhu Nian was a little surprised.

Gao Fan's statement is really beyond the scope of his knowledge.But he didn't dare to ask Zhu Nian to say that Gao Fan was talking nonsense, after all, Gao Fan spoke clearly and clearly.In this day and age, no one really can make up such a story.

Gao Fan's words are actually half true and half false.It is a fact that the vitamin business is small and out of the reach of the western chemical giants.However, due to their monopoly position, these chemical giants can arbitrarily increase the prices of vitamin products in order to obtain excess profits, so this business can also be done.

If other companies enter this market and pull down the price, resulting in diluted profits, then the chemical giants will give up this business.

Many industries developed by China in later generations were abandoned by Western countries because they thought the profits were too low.Of course, they will eventually find that China started to exert its strength from these low-end industries, constantly eating away at the entire industrial chain, and finally made many products at the price of cabbage, leaving the western giants with nowhere to go. This is a later story .

"You said you were going to sell vitamin E. Have you produced the finished product yet?" Zhu Nian asked.

"We have already completed the synthesis in the laboratory. Currently, because the equipment is not in place, we cannot carry out small and pilot tests." Gao Fan replied.

"This is difficult." Zhu Nian said, "The products you haven't produced are traded at the Spring Fair. If a foreign businessman places an order and you can't produce it, won't this damage the reputation of the country? "

"This is impossible. The production of vitamin E is not a complicated process. As long as we have the equipment in place, we can produce it."

"Isn't it better for you to produce it first and then participate in the transaction? For example, when the Autumn Fair is held, the Foreign Trade Department can continue to give you a quota."

"Director Zhu, I also want to do the same." Gao Fan said in a helpless tone, "Our original idea was to produce products first, and then sell them at trade fairs. However, production requires equipment, and equipment The investment needs more than 200 million, and the money needs to be loaned by the bank.

"The province said that if we don't have an order in hand, it is impossible to approve a loan for us. But without a loan, we can't produce finished products. What do you say?"

Zhu Nian understood it all at once, and the senior manager in front of him was caught in an endless loop.If there is no order, there will be no production, and if there is no production, there will be no order.Gao Fan obviously wanted to come to the Spring Fair to play White Wolf with an empty glove, but can Zhu Nian let him play like this?

After weighing again and again, Zhu Nian finally agreed to Gao Fan's request, but he was only allowed to make some low-key publicity, not too publicized.In addition, if a foreign businessman is really interested in their vitamin E products, Gao Fan must also sign an agreement of intent with the foreign businessman under the supervision and guidance of the Foreign Trade Department, and must not talk too much.

Of course, if there is an intentional agreement, after returning to Maolin from Yangcheng, the Foreign Trade Department can help Canghua Company to coordinate the loan matter, after all, it was famous at that time.

(End of this chapter)