Pujiang International Exhibition Center, China.

Outside the gate, the huge poster of "China New Polymer Structural Materials Forum and Business Fair" hangs from the roof of the exhibition center to the ground, and you can clearly see these dozen big characters from afar.

Callum, Joftz, and Lapadz dressed up in humble manners and followed the crowd into the exhibition center.

In Lapatz's view, the show had nothing to do with Vale, and he did not understand why the Chinese would send him such an invitation. Vale is mining iron ore, and polymer materials rely on petrochemical, coal chemical, salt chemical and other industries, and are completely incompatible with iron ore.

However, given the current impasse in negotiations with the Chinese side and the company's intention to find an opportunity to engage with the Chinese side, Lapaz feels that it is okay to use this excuse to go to China, at least to find out the details of the Chinese side.

What he didn't expect was that after President Callum and Director of Strategy Jofts knew about this, they immediately decided to go to China to participate in this forum at the same time, and Lapadz suddenly became a poor little follower.

The reason why Callum decided to visit this forum in China was also to take the opportunity to find out the attitude of the Chinese side, and in addition, he had a feeling of uncertainty about such an invitation that had obviously been voted to the wrong person, and he vaguely felt that there seemed to be some inexplicable connection between this forum and the iron ore negotiations.

When he entered the door, Callum concealed his identity and only asked Lapadz to register as a senior business manager at Vale, while he and Jofts both pretended to be Lapaz's assistants, so as not to alarm the Chinese organizers and leak the company's real hole cards.

The hall of the exhibition center is divided into several sections, each corresponding to a theme. There are about the application of plastic steel profiles, there are about the application of FRP, and there are polymer fibers instead of steel bars as reinforcing materials. In each area, there are some samples of mature applications, such as plastic steel doors and windows for residential use, yachts and pressure vessels made of fiberglass, and so on.

Guests from all over the world gathered in front of different booths according to their interests. Communicating with the staff at the booth, many of them had excited smiles on their faces and carried several paper bags full of various materials.

"I don't see anything this forum has to do with our Vale company, these materials simply cannot be used to make mining machinery, these are ordinary civilian products." Lapaz muttered.

Callum and Jofts ignored him, crowding into each booth, looking carefully at the introductory text on the display board and listening to the staff's explanations. After walking past four or five booths. Both of their faces were already cloudy as if it was going to rain.

"Joftz, do you see the Chinese's intentions?" Callum asked in a low voice.

"I can see it......" replied Joftz, "and it's vicious." ”

"Mr. Callum, Mr. Goufts, I don't understand what you see, these are all polymer materials, and they have nothing to do with our iron ore." Laparz said.

"Because they have nothing to do with iron ore, that's the scariest thing." Joftz said angrily.

"I don't understand......" Lapaz scratched her head. I can't think of anything terrible about this.

Howfts asked with some hatred: "Lapaz, don't you understand the topic of today's forum?" ”

"Isn't this a forum for polymer materials?" Lapadz Road.

"It's not just a forum for polymer materials. The content on display here has a common theme, which is 'replacing steel with plastic', don't you understand? ”

"Replacing steel with plastic?" Lapaz glanced back at the various booths they had just looked at and shuddered, but didn't they, all of them said the same thing. That is to replace steel with plastic.

The so-called plastic instead of steel is to replace it with polymer materials, which are commonly known as plastics, in the traditional occasions where steel is needed. For example, iron windows and doors used in residential construction. It can be replaced by high-strength PVC materials, which are the so-called plastic steel doors and windows. Containers, pipes, etc., used in chemical production, are traditionally made of steel, but at this forum, it is advertised to replace them with fiberglass.

Replacing steel with plastic is not a new concept, it has been done for at least 20 years, and a lot of progress has been made. However, this is the first time that such a forum has been promoted on a large scale to replace steel with plastic, according to Lapatz's impression. Many of the technologies introduced at each booth are said to be at the forefront of the international market, and have not been announced to the industry before this forum.

Why the Chinese want to hold such a forum, Lapaz turned his brain a little, and he thought clearly. Since it is a substitute for steel with plastic, it means that the demand for steel will drop significantly. The decrease in steel demand has a direct impact on the supply of iron ore. Vale's calculated global demand for iron ore will shrink dramatically under the impact of plastics.

Of course, replacing steel with plastic is not something that can be achieved overnight, whether it is the change of customer habits or the increase in the production capacity of new plastic materials, it will take a long time. However, the Chinese made such a gesture and sent the invitation to Lapadz with the obvious purpose of issuing a warning: if Vale's iron ore prices are too high for China to accept, then China will consider massively increasing the use of plastic to reduce its dependence on steel.

Once such a situation occurs, then it is no longer the Chinese side that needs to ask the international mining giants to provide iron ore, and these mining giants in turn ask China to import.

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

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!"

Qin Hai held a wireless microphone in his hand and said loudly to the guests in the exhibition hall.

The guests stopped the hustle and bustle, and they all turned their eyes to Qin Hai on the stage.

"Today, we are holding such a forum on polymer structural materials here, with the purpose of sharing our new progress in the research of polymer structural materials and the application practice of polymer structural materials instead of steel with our global peers. As we all know, due to the substantial increase in mining costs, since the previous year, the international iron ore price has continued to rise, and several major iron ore suppliers this year have put forward a request to increase the delivery price of iron ore by 70%.

I was commissioned by a colleague in the Chinese steel industry to go to Brazil to negotiate with Vale, and Vale said they were under great cost pressure and could not reduce the price of iron ore. They also told me that iron ore will continue to grow in the coming years, and the possibility of an increase of another 100% or even 200% from the current price level is not ruled out. ”

Qin Hai talked eloquently to everyone.

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

"So, in the face of the unstoppable growth in iron ore prices, how should we respond?" Qin Hai asked in a vague manner.

"Of course, reduce the use of steel and replace it with other materials!" Someone in 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 the others in the crowd scolded loudly, Nima, who doesn't know that this is a trust arranged by you, please don't act so professionally, okay?

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

"In view of the rising cost of steel, we have decided to carry out the practice of replacing steel with plastic on a large scale. As you have just seen, in many cases where steel is traditionally used, plastic can be a perfect substitute, and sometimes even better than steel. For example, the main shaft and propeller of a ship engine made of high-strength FRP representative steel can completely solve the problem of steel materials being corroded by seawater, and extend the maintenance interval of the propeller by at least three times. ”

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

"That's right, we have done the corresponding practice, of course, the FRP we use is also specially treated, and its strength is no less than ordinary alloy steel." Qin Hai replied.

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

Qin Hai smiled slightly and said, "There is no problem. All the patented technologies on display at today's forum will be licensed to all manufacturers around the world who are interested in using these technologies. In order to promote the development of plastic instead of steel, all our patent licensing fees are only equivalent to 20% of the ordinary patent licensing fees! ”

“20%！”

The crowd suddenly became agitated, everyone had already seen the exhibition just now, and knew that many of the technologies on display had great economic value. What everyone is most worried about is that the Chinese set the cost of technology licensing too high, resulting in the introduction of technology can only work for the Chinese in vain. Now Qin Hai claims that the licensing fee is only equivalent to 20% of the ordinary patent, which is like giving it for nothing, such a good thing, if you miss it, you will have to regret it for the rest of your life.

Callum and Joftz's faces turned pale all of a sudden. (To be continued......)