Yang Peiqi knows very well that Baosteel actually has a strong Japanese ancestry.

Mitsui's penetration of Baosteel can be traced back to the beginning of Baosteel's establishment. As early as 1977, during the preparation period for the establishment of Baosteel, it imported technology and equipment from Nippon Steel, Japan's largest iron and steel company, and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. owned 20 percent of Nippon Steel's equity.

As early as the forties and fifties of the last century, Mitsui & Co. began to collect information and buy iron ore from overseas, signed long-term contracts with foreign countries, further invested in mines, and finally became the board of directors of mining companies. Mitsui & Co. has accumulated rich experience in iron ore trading, and has formed a community of interests with mining companies through long-term trade contracts, investment, equity participation, joint ventures, and participation in operations.

Nippon Steel Corporation and Mitsui & Co. are a community of interests, and they have a relationship of mutual shareholding and joint investment; Secondly, Brazil's Vale and Australia's two extensions have long been firmly bound and become part of Mitsui's global layout.

After China's reform and opening up, Mitsui & Co. has already seen that the Chinese market will drive up the spot price of iron ore, thus creating a community of interests such as Nippon Steel, Mitsui & Co., MOL, Baosteel, and Vale of Brazil.

The most unpleasant thing is that after the Japanese chaebol controlled the domestic steel enterprises, not only did the domestic iron ore acquisition be controlled by others, but even Baosteel also had a Mitsui bloodline in the shipping logistics link. MOL carries more than 10 million tons of iron ore for Baosteel every year.

It can be said that since the day Baosteel was born, its dependence on Mitsui's technology, talent and logistics has been deeply rooted and deeply rooted in the bone marrow. The main production equipment and core technology are all from Nippon Steel.

However, although Baosteel enjoys a controlling stake in the joint venture company in the steel processing base jointly operated by Mitsui & Co. and Baosteel Group in China, as well as the production base under construction, due to policy restrictions, Mitsui's power is not limited to this.

In some companies, although Baosteel's investment ratio is 51 percent, the chairman is appointed by Mitsui & Co. In addition, Baosteel Group's guaranteed loan is also guaranteed by a letter of guarantee provided by Mitsui & Co.

Mitsui controls Baosteel in Huaxia, POSCO in South Korea, and the Tata family in India. The layout in various places is to cooperate with the largest local enterprises in joint ventures and cooperation, grafting capital, industry, information, circulation and other aspects, and finally controlling the entire industrial chain. This situation makes Yang Peiqi more worried. Because Yang Peiqi's plan for the future is to take the route of mineral resources. And now the right to speak in the industrial chain is in the hands of Mitsui. If Yang Peiqi wants to become bigger, he will definitely face the obstruction of the behemoth Mitsui.

However, Yang Peiqi could not do anything about such a situation, because Baosteel had already fallen into the hands of the Japanese.

In fact, Baosteel will fall into the hands of the Japanese, and it is also because of Huaxia itself.

Since the nineties of the last century, under the influence of the strategy of going out. Learning from the Japanese and South Korean models and making Chinese enterprises bigger and stronger has become a mainstream trend. During this period, there was an upsurge in research on general trading companies.

However, with the rapid development of China's economy, the inflation rate reached 21.7 percent in 1994. Since 1995, the Chinese government has shifted to the U.S. economic model, intervening in the economy through macroeconomic management methods, interest rate leverage, and monetary policy. The interest rate on deposits once rose to about 12%, and savings with a term of more than five years can also get about 12% interest on hedging value, which means that the interest rate on long-term deposits has reached almost 25%, and this kind of high interest rate is probably rare in the world. As a result of a series of policies, the withdrawal of money, the disappearance of inflation, and the rapid braking of economic development have also been caused.

As an integrated trading company, one of the important functions of Mitsui & Co., as a general trading company, is to assist the consortium's affiliates in entering overseas markets. At this time, because the Chinese market was not really opened, many companies of the Mitsui consortium were investing in Southeast Asia on a large scale, but the target was still the Chinese market. At the same time, Mitsui & Co. has led Japanese companies to set up a number of joint ventures in China.

Beginning in 1992, Baosteel took the lead in carrying out a pilot project to settle working capital debts, and then cleared up the triangular debts of key enterprises in the four industries of coal, electric power, forestry, and non-ferrous metals. However, by 1996, the triangular debt had reached $800 billion. At this time, triangular debt caused enterprises to blindly expand production, resulting in a surplus of products, and breeding an economic crisis.

At that time, after many large state-owned enterprises adopted the Western accounting system, they were exposed to insolvency, and were indiscriminately forced to liquidate triangular debts, which eventually led to a major loss of blood and collapsed, and China's independent industrial system continued to disintegrate due to the destruction of symbiotic relations between enterprises.

At this time, after the triangular debt was liquidated, a pillar large enterprise like Baosteel lost the support from many domestic enterprises, and formed a severing relationship with domestic foreign trade, shipping, financial and other enterprises, which brought opportunities for industrial organizers such as Mitsui & Co.

It was also at this time that Baosteel began to fall into the hands of Japanese companies.

Zhu Huanlin saw that after Yang Peiqi answered a phone call, her expression became complicated, and she felt very strange, so she asked, "What's wrong?" I think your expression seems complicated? ”

Yang Peiqi shook his head and replied: "How to say it, the current mood is more complicated, Baosteel has increased its price." ”

"Baosteel often raises prices, so what does it matter?" Zhu Huanlin asked a little puzzled.

In Zhu Huanlin's view, as soon as the price of the steel market rises, it means that the price of iron ore will also rise, and now Yang Peiqi is doing iron ore business, which should be a good thing for him, right?

Even, Zhu Huanlin had imagined that after the news spread, Explorer Mining's stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would rise again. And owning 3% of the shares of Explorer Mining, his assets will also be greatly increased.

Although Zhu Huanlin is not a person who loves money like life, she will naturally not be unhappy if she can have more money.

"It's a mixed bag!" Yang Peiqi explained to Zhu Huanlin, "If Baosteel's price increase this time is in line with the trend of the market, it will be okay if there is a need to raise prices, but if this is manipulative, things will not be so simple, which cannot but make people feel worried." ”

As Zhu Huanlin said, the rise in the price of steel raw materials will inevitably drive the collective price increase of the upstream industry, and some low-end raw material suppliers, such as iron ore supply and coke supply, will move randomly and swarm into this price increase trend. The rise in the price of iron ore is good news for Explorer Mining, which will inevitably lead to the rise in the share price of Explorer Mining. These are all good things for Yang Peiqi, because it means that he is making money again.

But the disadvantage is also obvious, the rapid rise in steel prices, will inevitably lead to the rise in the cost of various infrastructure projects, so that prices re-enter a new round of climbing, which is very unfavorable for the overall situation, this big order is to be paid by all Chinese people.

In addition, if this matter is really controlled by the Japanese in the back, it will not be a good thing for Yang Peiqi. Think about it, the Japanese can command the most powerful steel companies in China, how will Yang Peiqi fight with others in the future?

Zhu Huanlin is not an ordinary girl after all, after thinking for a while, she knew Yang Peiqi's worries, and she said to Yang Peiqi: "The Japanese deployed in the field of iron ore very early, and the network that has been operated for decades is definitely not easy to deal with, and we can't do anything about it." ”

Yang Peiqi nodded, it is already an established fact that Baosteel fell into the hands of the Japanese, and with his current identity, there is really nothing he can do about it. But so-called crises have always been both dangerous and opportunity-related. Just like Baosteel's price increase this time, it is also an opportunity for Yang Peiqi, not only because the share price of Explorer Mining on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is going to rise, but what Yang Peiqi thinks of is another thing.

That is, Yang Peiqi wants to sell the mine again, although now his mine does not produce even a ton of iron ore.

The next day, Rio Tinto and BHP announced that the price of iron ore would rise by 7 percent, from the original price of $140 to $150 per ton.

The weather is still quiet in Western Australia, where Explorer Mining is mobilising large numbers of workers to build a port to the open sea, as well as a rail link between the port and the mine. These projects are contracted to several large domestic construction companies, firstly, Explorer Mining has no construction business, and secondly, those large domestic construction companies not only have guaranteed quality, but also have faster construction speed. According to the current construction progress, what Bai Yawei said at the beginning seems to be really good at producing iron ore within a year.

However, despite the rapid progress of construction, Yang Peiqi is feeling the financial pressure. Although Explorer Mining has been very happy in the Hong Kong stock market for a period of time, it still can't meet the speed at which these projects devour funds.

The railway line, which costs up to 8 million Australian dollars per kilometer, is a key project of Explorer Mining Company, and it is only just beginning, 50 kilometers of railway, direct investment has reached 400 million Australian dollars, plus other investments, a total of 1.2 billion Australian dollars, this money still looks quite scary, especially for an iron ore producer, to earn back this money, it means that more than 40 million tons of iron ore need to be sold.

However, Yang Peiqi also took into account a factor of rising prices, so he hoped to solve this problem through the capital market, and he not only wanted Explorer Mining to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but he was also seeking to list Explorer Mining in Australia.

In this way, the money raised through the capital market can soon be used to build factories, railway lines and ports, etc., but if prices rise too quickly, they will be able to relieve their own repayment pressure. (To be continued......)