Chapter 368: The Phosphate Mine Controversy

Morocco, not Monaco.

One in Africa and one in Europe.

Of course, Africa is all black, but North Africa is actually white......

Morocco, 90% white.

As soon as Sean returned to Newark, he asked people to take the information about Morocco, Algeria, and Western Sahara, and go through it, focusing on a few important points.

Morocco, in 1986, GDP of 19.462 billion US dollars, per capita GDP of 840 US dollars, predominantly white, YSL Sunni, phosphate as the main resource, reserves of 110 billion tons, accounting for 75% of the world's reserves, ranking first in the world. Other mineral resources include iron, lead, zinc, cobalt, manganese, barium, copper, salt, magnetite, anthracite, oil shale, etc., of which oil shale reserves are more than 100 billion tons, containing 6 billion tons of crude oil.

Resources are extremely abundant, but the poor are constantly fighting.

Algeria, with a GDP of 63.692 billion US dollars in 1986, 2,756 US dollars per capita, the same white predominant, the same YSL Sunni, oil reserves of about 1.7 billion tons, accounting for 1% of the world's total reserves, ranking 15th in the world, natural gas recoverable reserves of 4.58 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 2.37% of the world's total reserves, ranking 10th in the world, iron ore reserves of 3 billion ~ 5 billion tons, lead-zinc ore reserves estimated at 150 million tons, uranium ore 50,000 tons, phosphate 2 billion tons, gold 73 tons.

Extremely rich in resources, rich, constantly fighting.

Western Sahara, here is more interesting, this is a disputed area, sovereignty is unknown, the former Spanish colony, Spain withdrew in 75, Mauritania announced in 79 years to renounce its territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara, after which Morocco has always claimed sovereignty over Western Sahara, and the XX Front of the People of Western Sahara does not think so, the two sides have been exchanging fire, and Morocco currently has an absolute advantage (Chuan Bao once announced that it recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, but before that, the United States was unclear).

ADM is concerned with extremely rich phosphate reserves, accounting for about 20% of the world's reserves, with 1.7 billion tons of reserves in Bukhara alone, and modern phosphate mining sites, which came to a halt after the war in 1976 and resumed production in 1979.

The two countries and one region have been in constant conflict, with the Moroccans rejecting Algeria in the west and Western Sahara in the south.

"It's a werewolf!" Here's what Sean had to say about Morocco.

It's hard to fight, there is faith, and it's very determined in the region, especially YSL, which has always been the hardest bone to gnaw.

The other is the intricacy of power, the Spanish have ruled here, the French have ruled here, and now although the colonists have retreated, the influence is still there and will continue to be influenced.

First, the Strait of Gibraltar, the only exit from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, is only 14 kilometers wide, and whether Morocco has its own ideas or not, but the strategic location is too important.

Second, phosphate mines, the reserves are too large and too abundant, agricultural necessities, and no big country can turn a blind eye.

Of course, this was something Sean had seen from the more sketchy information at hand, which he had never paid attention to and didn't know much about.

After looking at it, Sean gave up, the information was incomplete, and the attitude of the four major grain merchants to find him was unknown, and he asked for the unknown, so wait.

……

Sean didn't expect ADM to be in such a hurry, and the next day he arrived in Newark.

It wasn't the president of ADM, nor the vice president, but a director, Belloc Tony, who was enthusiastic and fiery when they met.

The place where Sean talked about things was arranged at the Peace Hotel, and Sean liked to talk about things at the wine table.

Drinking, touting, Belloc Tony began to blow from the first appearance of the umbrella in HK, and the British didn't dare to let go of any pressure, to the heroic wind of the Americans in a big battle with Ah San, from Yang Wei in the Strait of Malacca, to bombing YL with the power of annihilation, from Lin Meng's blitzkrieg to 1.3 billion smashing HSBC.

Blow, blow to death!

In the mouth of Belloc Tony, Sean is already a hero, a national hero of the United States, the greatest man of the 20th century.

It's embarrassing to blow Sean with such a thick skin.

However, some of the information revealed when Belloc Tonny bragged also let Sean know that ADM set up a branch in HK in 83 to enter Southeast Asia, and in 86 began various acquisitions in the Netherlands and Germany to enter the European market.

Blowing and blowing, Sean suddenly found a problem, he seemed to have made a mistake!

The British "Guardian" once described it in a report: "As long as you live, you can't escape the world's Big Four." ”

In a Cargill brochure, it reads: We are the flour in your bread, the wheat in your noodles, and the salt in your fries...... Chocolate in desserts, sweeteners in soft drinks...... We are the beef, pork or chicken you eat for dinner, the cotton on your clothes, the fertilizer in the fields.

What a simple, warm sentence.

From farmland to table, the four major grain merchants control the entire industry chain, affecting the daily lives of more than 7 billion people around the world.

But that was more than 30 years later!

But now it's only 87 years, and the four major grain merchants are still the six major grain merchants, in addition to ABCD, there are also mainland grains and cook industries.

ABCD is not yet a Fortune 500 company.

Listening to Belloc Tony's bragging, Sean suddenly raised his hand and touched his chin, does ADM have any money of his own now?

If ADM is not as good as himself, then what's the point of listening to him brag?

Can I Shaun be comfortable with anyone?!

"What does the ADM want an umbrella for?" Sean asked suddenly.

Ga......

Belloc Tonny froze in place, I was blowing so hard, why don't you seem to feel anything?

It took a long time for Belloc Tony to react, cough lightly and said: "Western Sahara, we have some business over there, but you know, it's too chaotic over there, fighting all day long, Moroccans, the Sahara Front, the law and order is extremely chaotic, we can't carry out normal production and trade at all, so we want to hire an umbrella company to maintain security in the surrounding area." ”

"It's very expensive, the previous business of the umbrella was all national, Sri Lanka, Xingcheng, mud, and the U.S. government." Sean had no expression on his face, and said to himself: "The lowest business is $100 million a year, so what price is ADM ready to offer." ”

Belloc Tony licked the corners of his mouth, Sean's asking price was too ruthless, and the annual profit of the entire ADM was only much, "Uh, there is no need to make such a big fuss, there is no need to dispatch warships, it is the army, well, 500 people." ”

"I don't think it's high." Sean smiled, "Even I don't think 200 million is high!" ”

"How is it possible, this is crazy, it's just a region of Western Sahara, a very small city!" Belloc Tony jumped to his feet, waved his arms and said.

Sean looked at Belloc Tony without speaking, and suddenly smiled for a while: "Bukla, 100 kilometers southeast of Laayoune." The reserves are about 2 billion tons. Mining began in 1972, and the ore was transported to Laayoune Praia on the Atlantic coast, where it was selected and shipped for export. ”

"Uh, ha, hahaha." Belloc Tony let out a polite but embarrassed laugh, "We know we can't hide it from Mr. Sean, yes, our target is Bukhara." ”

"In whose hands is Bukra now." Sean asked.

"A bunch of mercenaries."

"Mercenaries from that country?"

"It's in every country, a ragtag army."

"Where is the place of registration?"

Belloc Tonny: "......"

"Paris."

"To whom is Bukhara's ore currently supplied?"

Belloc Tonny: "......"

You know so much!

"Louis Dreyfus."

"It's the French."

"What do you mean, Mr. Sean?" Belloc Tony's expression was solemn, and he could see that Sean had other plans.

"It's not interesting, Morocco is messy and someone needs to open up the situation here." Sean leaned back tactically and looked at Belloc Tonny with his nostrils, "It's not 100 years ago, you can't play the colonial game anymore, either you can support the agent, or you can only open up the situation with a private company." ”

"I guess there's no one better suited than me right now, right?"

Belloc Tony was silent.

"YSL people are not easy to do, everyone knows this, troublesome, very troublesome, let me fight with YSL people for a little money, I don't do it, the umbrella has a lot of interests in Southeast Asia to ingest, oil, natural gas, palm oil, wheat, rubber, coconut products, minerals, many things I can intervene, and it's not so troublesome."

"So, give me a reason to get involved in the Moroccan dispute."

Belloc Tony was silent for a long time and looked up at Sean, "What do you ask for, sir?" ”

Sean spread his hands, "I have a shipping network in South America, North America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, with controlled docks, ore mining and transportation, and I can do it myself." ”

"Don't Mr. Sean think it's too much to steal business like this!" Belloc Tony's face became more and more ugly, he didn't expect that he not only failed to reach a cooperation with Sean, but made Sean have an exclusive mind, which was so fucking infuriating.

"Business is business, you have no problem if you want to control the Bukhara mining area, but you can't rely on imagination alone, you have to have strength." Sean smiled at Belloc Tony, "In this way, you think again, think more." ”

"Alright, Mr. Sean, I'll take my leave." Belloc Tony stood up, took a deep breath, and forced a smile.

Sean didn't go over again when he delivered it to the door of the box, he thought about it, picked up the phone and called John William Weisey Jr., chatted a few words, and then got down to business, "I want to buy another Conz-class missile destroyer, 2 Keeling-class battleships, and 2 troop carriers." ”

"So much, are you going to organize another fleet? Where to put it? John William Wesey Jr. did not object directly, but asked rhetorically.

"Africa, I have taken a fancy to the phosphate mining industry in Monaco, this thing is a necessity for agricultural phosphate fertilizer, 90% of the reserves are in this area, not only economic value, but also high strategic value." Sean spoke his mind.

"Let's meet." Vesy thought for a moment and said.

Sean didn't let Weisey come over by himself, but sent his own palace in the air to pick up people, spending some money to look solemn, Sean has always been able to do things, always give others enough face, by the way, took an arc, and took the newly retired Secretary of Defense Weinberg.

Sean needs a group of people with international vision to help him refer to it, and it's really not a simple question of how much money he makes.

Simply making money, Sean stares at Silicon Valley faster than anything else.

……

"The situation in Africa is different from that in Southeast Asia, which is an island country with a very low strategic depth, and the missiles on warships can achieve full coverage, and there is sufficient strategic deterrence." "But Africa is different, and if you are going to establish yourself in Africa, then the use rate of the army is much higher than that of the navy. ”

"In addition, the African region has been in war for many years, and at present, it seems that the war will not be quelled in the next ten years, and this kind of war will be dominated by small-scale regional conflicts, and the probability of large-scale regional wars is not large, and even if there is, the scope of the impact will not be very wide."

"Therefore, whether from the perspective of terrain or the situation of the war, the African region is more suitable for the development of the army and air force than the navy."

"Yes." Weinberg took over and said: "The development of Europe needs raw material sources and low-end labor, and there is nothing better than Africa, so Africa will not develop, so there will be wars, and it will be uninterrupted, and war is the best way to interrupt development." ”

"However, the scale of the war must be controlled, and it is not permissible that a large-scale war will bring production to a complete standstill."

"The European region will definitely keep the unrest in Africa under control, on a small scale, for a long time, which is easy to control and easy to draw nutrients."

The two analyzed the problem for Sean from the perspective of war and economy, and Sean nodded frequently.

"That is, I can intervene in Morocco and in order to cope with the situation on the ground, it is best to vigorously develop the army, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, radar, land-based missiles, helicopters and fighters." Sean dotted on the map of Morocco.

"There is no need for fighter jets, we are mainly stationed for defense, deterring the perimeter, and land-based anti-aircraft missiles are cheaper." Vesy thought for a while and said: "Armored troops, missile units with helicopter formations are enough." ”

"Then get a batch!" Sean slapped the Moroccan map, "Expand the army!" ”

"What about the last 2,000 people you expanded?" Vesey asked, he didn't care much about it.

"The mud left 1,000 towns, and the other 1,000 went to Qatar, the oil guys are really rich, they are afraid that YL will always harass them."

"How many people are there in the Umbrella now?"

"More than 4,000, the labor cost alone is 150 million a year, plus the maintenance of the battleship, the consumption of ammunition, various insurances, and the consumption of living materials, and the military expenses of about 250 million a fucking year." Sean couldn't help but grin when he said it, if he hadn't signed several regional defense agreements and let others help raise them, he really couldn't afford to raise them himself.

"Tsk." Wei Xi sighed for a while, "This private armed force looks good and majestic, but this expense is really not something that anyone can afford." ”

"How many people are going to be expanded this time in the army?"

"Look, I don't know." Sean's current plan is to move a few hundred people from all over the world to Morocco to test the waters, and then see how he plays according to the demand and the profits he can generate.

"What are you going to do, and you still want to eat it yourself?" Weinberg saw that the two had finished talking about military matters, so he asked Sean.

"Phosphate ore is very concentrated, this is a natural advantage, of course I want to control it in my hands, and then I will have the power to speak." Sean smiled.

"It's almost impossible, although Morocco doesn't have much presence, the government won't allow it, and the people won't allow it." Weinberg said.

Sean shrugged, "So I'm looking for you to discuss what to do." ”

"In any case, we need a mining company, and then, we need a terminal that can guarantee safety and the customers who buy these ores."

"How about buying a fertilizer production company?" Sean raised an eyebrow.

Weinberg glanced at Sean, what a greed!

"If the interest chain is monopolized, it will definitely be resisted by many people in the entire industrial chain." Without Sean asking, Weinberg himself said: "For example, several major grain merchants, the prospect of the phosphate fertilizer market is certain, and most of the mineral deposits in Morocco are also certain, but other countries are not absent, it is just a matter of reserves and mining difficulty, they will definitely not look at you and choke their throats, absolutely not." ”

"Either you choose to only do mining and not get involved in production, or you pull some people in."

"And what do you mean?" Sean touched his chin, he wanted to hear the opinion of this strategist.

"First take control of the entire Moroccan phosphate mine, and then use this as a bargaining chip to replace the equity of other phosphate mining companies, and then penetrate upstream and downstream industries, such as docks, warehousing, transportation, fertilizer production, and finally have the right to speak in the phosphate mine, plus the entire industrial chain."

As he spoke, Weinberg looked up at Sean and said, "It's best to invest in ADM, Bunge, Cargill, so that you can be undefeated in the entire industry chain." ”

Ruthless enough!

Sean grinned and gave a thumbs up, "I want to manipulate the price of ore at most, to threaten people, good guy, you want to control the whole industry chain, you are more ruthless than me!" ”

Weinberg smiled very reservedly, "I personally believe that the food strategy can play a very important role in the future international situation, it is very important to the United States, it is a force that Congress must win over, and at the same time, it can also play an important role in manipulating the world." ”

"Okay, just do what you want." Sean laughed, "It's just that ADM is probably going to curse." ”

Weinberg spread his hands, then it has nothing to do with him, he is no longer the Secretary of State for Defense, and the ADM does not have any checks and balances against Sean.

……

"We at ADM want to partner with Mr. Sean to form a mining development company, what does Mr. Sean think?" Two days later, Belloc Tony came back to him.

"Company." Sean glanced up and down at Belloc Tonny, "So, what is the core competitiveness of ADM in this company?" ”

Ordinary people do business in partnership, it is because one person has insufficient funds or shares risks, but at the level of Sean and them, cooperation in business is a core competitiveness.

"Production, sales." "We at ADM consume tens of thousands of tons of fertilizer every year and eat all the products. ”

Sean shook his head, "What does that have to do with Bukhara, there is only so much phosphate mine production in the world, and I don't need to get involved in production and sales at all." ”

"Mr. Sean is really going to do things to the last minute!" Belloc Towne's face became gloomy, and he gritted his teeth, he regretted it so late now, he knew he was looking for MPRI!

Now to lure out such a guy who eats people and doesn't spit out bones, MPRI will definitely not take on this task in order to avoid conflict.

You can look at other security companies around the world......

What's more, as far as the umbrella is concerned, Belloc Tonny himself has no confidence in those small security companies.

"Business is business, ADM can't get the core competitiveness, what does this have to do with me." Sean raised his hand and plucked his ears.

"That bank, Mr. Sean doesn't want it!" In the end, Belloc Tony could only throw this, he really had no leverage.

"Yes, of course, one yard to one yard."

Ha, Belloc Tony was so angry, he had never seen such a brazen person!

"Mr. Sean is really cold."

"I owe you ADM a favor."

"You already owe one, and it's clear that Mr. Sean's favor isn't worth much."

Sean touched his nose embarrassedly, "People are also big and small, like this." ”

Therefore, after making a difficulty, Sean said: "Monaco's phosphate mine, I, Sean, are going to decide, and Jesus can't stop it!" ”

"But, I, Sean, am not a person who only thinks about eating alone."

"Phosphate mines involve a complete industrial chain, he is not isolated, and I can set up a joint venture with ADM, a company that specializes in phosphate fertilizer production." Sean looked up at Belloc Tonny, "What you want is to ensure that the supply of fertilizer is not interrupted, it is enough to have this company that specializes in making products, there is no need to meddle in the ore business." ”

"To be honest, the mining business in Africa is not stained with blood, this business has a bad reputation, you are in agriculture, this is not for you."

Belloc Tony frowned and did it again, Sean's proposal was above the seven inches of ADM, if he didn't cooperate, it would definitely be a loss, and he fed the dog with a message, and nothing fell.

Cooperation and unwillingness, specially, mining mining, such a big profit, every shovel is full of dollars!

"From the perspective of your ADM, I think you should agree, ADM has just stepped out of the United States for 3 years, and you should feel that even if you are backed by the United States, there are some things that are difficult for the state to do, but it is a private company like me that has no scruples in acting."

"For example, ADM's expansion in Southeast Asia, I can provide no less help than the United States!"

This last sentence knocked out Belloc Tony's last breath.

"Well, Mr. Sean, personally, you won, however, I'm sure the company won't refuse to work with Umbrella in Southeast Asia."

"You see, that's right, cooperation is better than confrontation, as we all know, I'm a good talker." Sean laughed and said, "Then, we can talk about cooperation in Southeast Asia, for example, the establishment of a joint venture!" ”

Belloc Tony looked at Sean dumbfounded, and what a joint venture, Sean, peel the skin, right!