"Lx (Blue Star) 1-26 automotive special steel is an alloy steel specially designed by me for Blue Star Automobile. It can fully meet the steel performance requirements of Blue Star Automobile." Kaneki said, "In terms of cost, it is higher than Niijima.
Steel companies offer direct reductions of more than 70 percent."
"So, as long as we officially produce steel, we can completely get rid of the control of international steel giants and become self-sufficient. We can even bring Shanxin Steel Factory back to life?" Lu Yong asked in surprise.
The profit margin of ordinary steel is only a few tens of yuan per ton, while the profit of special steel for automotive steel plates is around 300 to 500 yuan per ton, and the profit of higher-grade precision steel is even around 1,000 yuan or even 10,000 yuan per ton.
The steel industry is a technology-intensive and capital-intensive industry. No matter how high the output of low-grade steel is, the profit will not be worth one hundred, thousand, or ten thousandth of that of special steel!
So as long as what Jinmu said is true, then Shanxin Steel Factory can directly become a top steel manufacturer.
"It can't be that easy. It's a donkey or a horse, and it has to be pulled out!" Yu Wenbo still expressed doubts about this.
"Let's try it out!" Meng Xiaobai ordered.
"Start work!" The workers and technicians of the new production line are already in place, performing their duties according to the positions previously arranged, and starting to smelt lx1-26 automotive special steel.
The raw materials are injected into the ultra-high temperature electric arc furnace, where they are quickly melted.
Previously, Shanxin Steel Plant used electric arc furnaces relatively rarely because their electric arc furnaces and corresponding technologies were not advanced.
The electric arc furnace modified by Jinmu can generate high-energy arc through electrodes to quickly melt ore and metal into liquid, with the temperature reaching thousands of degrees Celsius.
The most flexible thing is that by controlling the current, the temperature of the electric arc furnace can be accurately controlled and impurities can be effectively removed.
When one or several alloy metals are added to refined carbon steel to change the structural structure of the steel, it can produce different special properties. This is the so-called special steel.
"It's out! The first steel plate!" After smelting, the first automotive special steel plate produced by the new production line came out.
"Test immediately!" Yu Wenbo ordered.
The technician immediately sent the special steel plate for vehicles for testing. The performance of the test included many aspects, and everyone waited patiently.
"Report, factory director, all the test items are qualified! Not only the first piece, but the quality of the special steel produced later is also very stable. There are no problems so far!" The technician came to report the good news.
"Is this done?" Yu Wenbo was stunned. He has been working in this industry all his life and has never encountered anything so smooth.
Smelting a new material, designing, researching, and upgrading the production process, which point should not be slowly explored over several years. But now, in just one month, it is all done?
"Come on, show me!" Yu Wenbo immediately came to the test form and checked every data in detail. Even though he looked at it with the mentality of asking questions, he couldn't find anything wrong. It was completely in line with the original material design requirements.
.
"The design and manufacture of special steel has been successful!" Lu Yong was also surprised. Although he knew that deep space technology was technically powerful, he had never heard of them doing metallurgy. Even if they had some technical reserves, they should still experiment and explore.
For a while, it was an unexpected surprise for him to succeed so quickly!
"Great, great!" Lu Yong held the test form with excitement on his face, "With this, we can make our own special steel, and we no longer have to produce one ton and lose one ton!"
"This..." Yu Wenbo was speechless. He suddenly felt out of touch with the times, as if he had suddenly aged ten years.
"It seems that I am behind the times." He sighed at first, but immediately became happy again, "It seems that handing over Shanxin Iron and Steel Plant to you is a wise choice."
Lu Yong knew that Yu Wenbo already wanted to retire. But this is also a good thing. The factory also needs fresh blood to replenish it. This old tree that is about to die is regaining its vitality!
Meng Xiaobai was not surprised by this. In addition to special steel for vehicles, he also needed more high-performance metal materials. So he asked Jinmu to stay at Shanxin Group for the next step of technological upgrades.
…
Niijima Steel Company, China Headquarters.
Sumitomo Maiki is kneeling on the tatami, discussing with Kengo Takahashi from Toyota Motor.
"Zhenhui-kun, we have reached an agreement with other consortiums and all automobile and metal manufacturers in the island country." Kengo Takahashi said, "From now on, the export of raw materials and parts related to Blue Star Automobile will be restricted.
.The domestic joint ventures in China are the same as Blue Star Motors.”
"I believe that with these measures, they will definitely struggle. As long as they persist for a few years, when our automobile industry has mastered mature battery and motor technologies, we will no longer have to worry about them."
"Don't worry." Sumitomo Maiki said proudly, "We control more than half of China's high-end automotive special steel market! Suppliers in Europe and America offer higher prices than us, and Blue Star Motors has no other choice!"
"I recently received news that the output of the Blue Star Super Factory has dropped by one-third due to insufficient raw materials! It won't be long before they are begging to continue buying our special steel."
"Okay!" Kengo Takahashi smiled, "So what if they develop L5 fully autonomous driving technology, we are still stuck! This time when I return to China, I can also give advice to the president and the Japan Automobile Industry Association.
Accounted for!"
"Hahaha!" The two were laughing when an inappropriate voice interrupted them.
"President, Blue Star Motors kicked us off their raw material supply list!" an assistant reported in a panic.
"What's going on?" Sumitomo Maiki asked with a frown.
"Just now, Blue Star Motors announced that because the price of our metal materials is too high, it will give up purchasing our metal materials and choose other suppliers." The assistant replied.
"Who is it?" Kengo Takahashi said angrily, "Who dares to supply them with special steel? All the major steel companies in the island country have signed the agreement. Who violated the agreement?"
The assistant whispered: "It's not our country."
"Is it the Germans? Or the Americans!" Takahashi Kengo wondered, "No, they should be more afraid of the rise of Blue Star Motors than we are. Anyone who dares to provide cheap high-quality metal materials will definitely be restricted from exporting.
"
"It's not them, it's Shanxin Metal Group." the assistant replied.
"Shanxin Metal?" Sumitomo Maiki was stunned at first, then laughed, "Hahaha, it seems they have no choice. Shanxin Metal has no ability to make special steel at all. It can only make some mid-to-low-end steel products.
"
"In this case, you can ask the navy to publicize that the quality of Blue Star Automobile's steel is not high." Takahashi Kengo immediately thought of a trick.
"President, Shanxin Group just announced that they have successfully developed lx1-26 special steel for automobiles and will become Blue Star Automobile's new metal material supplier." the assistant added.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Sumitomo Maiki had already decided to fire this assistant, and kept talking, making him happy in vain.
"Lx1-26 special steel, is there a model of this special steel?" Kengo Takahashi asked doubtfully.
"This is a new variety they developed themselves. It is said to have better performance than our special steel!" the assistant replied, "The first batch of lx1-26 automotive special steel from Shanxin Steel Manufacturing Plant has been sent to Blue Star Automobile Super Factory.
The goods are ready.”
"It seems true!" Sumitomo Maiki realized something was wrong. "They mastered the special steel smelting technology so quickly? Or is it that Shanxin Group has already mastered this technology and then deliberately sold the group to Shenzhen at a low price?
Empty technology?”
"In either case, Blue Star Motors already has its own steel smelting technology!" Kengo Takahashi said with a cold expression, "The restrictions we have spent so much effort on have failed!"
"Not good!" Sumitomo Maiki felt more and more terrible the more he thought about it, "Shanxin Group is an old metal industry, and their steel factory has a high output. If all the processes are upgraded to produce special steel, our market in China will be over.
!”
Over the years, the island country's special steel products have made huge profits by relying on early deployment and price advantages compared to the steel tycoons in Europe and America.
As a result, Niijima Steel Company has even become the first of the four major steel companies in the island country. Now, this monopoly is about to be broken!
Sumitomo Maiki knows with his toes that if Chinese steel companies can produce high-quality special steel on their own, it will be difficult for Niijima Steel to compete with them, whether in terms of material cost or labor cost.
"Has the performance of lx1-26 special steel been confirmed?" Sumitomo Maiki still has a glimmer of hope, hoping that the performance of this special steel is not very high.
"It's confirmed." The assistant said helplessly, "It has passed the review of the Chinese automobile industry, and its overall performance is stronger than our special steel."
"Baga! Everything is ruined!" Takahashi Kengo yelled and punched the tea table. He felt like a fool, running around various countries, balancing the interests of all parties, and finally reaching an agreement to suppress Blue Star Motors.
agreement.
Now that Blue Star Motors is directly self-sufficient, their agreement immediately became a piece of waste paper!
"This Meng Xiaobai is so abominable! Twice, he has tricked us twice!" Kengo Takahashi's veins popped out. As an important member of the Mitsui Consortium, a senior executive of Toyota Motor, a member of the Japan Automobile Industry Association, and a member of the World Automobile Industry
Member of the Board of Directors of the Manufacturers Association.
He is also a world-class figure in the automobile industry. Everyone who meets him will give him some face. He has never failed in anything he has put so much effort into.
But this time, after gathering the strength of so many companies, he failed twice in a row! First, it was Blue Star Motors’ L5 fully autonomous driving technology certification. As soon as they rejected the L5 certification, Blue Star Motors held an autonomous driving competition.
The match against professional drivers slapped them in the face.
The subsequent restrictions on special steel were also agreed upon by all parties, and they joined forces to suppress it. It had already failed before it even started!
"We have lost a lot of profits for this time." Sumitomo Maiki's face turned ugly, "Now, it's all over!"