Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 223: An idea struck and a win-win plan came up

Many things in China in 2003 are still different from those in 2023.

Especially business matters are not necessarily solved by commercial means.

More often than not, everyone wonders if there is a shortcut.

Obviously, Baosteel wants to take shortcuts this time.

"Mr. Cao, people from Baosteel have found Yangcheng. I also received a call today, asking me to ask you about cooperation."

"I personally definitely do not support Baosteel's acquisition of Nanshan Special Steel."

Liu Tianwu thought clearly on the way to Nanshan.

Nanshan will definitely support it.

Cao Yang must not be made to feel that he has been bullied.

Otherwise, in the future, the fourth phase of Nanshan Industrial Park will probably not have a share in Yangcheng.

"Our production capacity is only 30 tons. We have just begun to open up the market and the price is lower."

"Slowly, the price of our special steel will become higher than that of other domestic steel mills. Even compared with imported steel, it will not be much cheaper."

"Under such circumstances, Baosteel can take a fancy to Nanshan Special Steel, which can be regarded as their vision is good."

Cao Yang didn't get angry.

Many times, if getting angry can solve the problem, the world will be peaceful.

"The quality of your special steel is very good. I've also heard about this."

"But I want to remind you, beware of someone poaching people in advance. Not only will the technology not be sold for money, but it will be stolen by others."

Liu Tianwu's words can be regarded as completely on Nanshan's side.

"Not at all!"

"I believe that a company as big as Baosteel still has this kind of magnanimity."

"Of course, to be honest, I'm not afraid of them stealing it!"

"If this technology was so easy to steal, domestic special steel technology would have been developed long ago."

Cao Yang naturally made some preparations and precautions for what Liu Tianwu said.

So saying I'm not afraid of stealing is not just a boast.

"Then I will reject their contact this time?"

Feeling that Cao Yang was not angry because of this incident, Liu Tianwu breathed a sigh of relief.

Whether the district's GDP growth rate can continue to rank first in Yangcheng depends on Nanshan's contribution.

It can be said that Liu Tianwu was more concerned about the development of Nanshan than Cao Yang at this time.

"Refuse first!"

"The planned production capacity of our special steel plant is only 30 tons. Even if we fully dig it, it will not exceed 50 tons."

"In the next three years, I have no plans to further expand production capacity. It is more to meet Nanshan's own needs. The impact on Baosteel is still very limited."

"If they are really worried, then I would suggest that they put some effort into the car panels. Maybe there will be an unexpected surprise."

Baosteel's status in the country is quite special, and Cao Yang doesn't want to offend them.

Maybe ten years from now, we will still be cooperating.

"Car plate?"

"Mr. Cao, didn't you write a paper on hot stamping before?"

"It seems that Nanshan is also researching automotive panels used in hot stamping?"

I have to say that Liu Tianwu still put a lot of effort into Nanshan.

Even Cao Yang’s undergraduate thesis is known.

Of course, this incident was considered a bit of a commotion at the time, so it's not surprising that Liu Tianwu can remember it.

"Do you want Nanshan to cooperate with Baosteel to produce hot stamped steel plates?"

Cao Yang thought quickly in his mind.

At present, the hot stamped steel plates in the world are basically produced by ArcelorMittal, and they are extremely expensive.

Obviously the cost is not significantly different from ordinary car panels, but the price difference is several thousand per ton.

It’s quite a huge profit!

Nanshan Special Steel Plant does not have the ability to produce automobile sheets, so it is not impossible to cooperate with Baosteel.

"Mr. Cao, if we can cooperate with Baosteel, I think it will be beneficial to the development of Nanshan."

"Of course, the premise is that Nanshan cannot suffer any loss."

Liu Tianwu originally didn't expect that he could have a good explanation with the person on the phone.

Unexpectedly, as I talked, new hope seemed to come out.

"Leader, please help me make an appointment with someone from Baosteel later. Let's talk to him first!"

Instead of letting ArcelorMittal make a lot of money in the future, it is better to support Baosteel and make a small amount of money along the way.

In this way, the sale was considered a favor to Liu Tianwu, Baosteel also benefited, and Nanshan was also considered a profiteer.

A win-win-win solution!

……

"Mr. Lai, are the people in Nanshan willing to talk?"

At Baosteel Southern, Lai Liang asked Jin Tai to arrange a meeting with Nanshan (the names related to Baosteel in the previous chapter were spelled incorrectly and have been corrected).

This made Jin Tai feel excited all of a sudden.

This period of time was quite difficult for him.

Customers continued to turn to Nanshan Special Steel, which put a lot of pressure on him.

Although as an employee of a state-owned enterprise, Mrs. Jin is not worried about being laid off, but if her performance is not good, it will be much more difficult to get promoted and get a salary increase.

"We are willing to talk, but not about special steel, but about cooperation in automobile sheets."

Lai Liang is quite satisfied with the effect of his strategy.

Although the effect has not been fully achieved, as long as Nanshan is willing to talk, anything can be said.

He still has the confidence to go further.

"Car plate?"

Jin Tai was stunned for a moment and said: "Their special steel factory can't produce automobile panels, right?"

"The entire Nanshan business, that is, the Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory, which accounts for 3% of the shares, does stamping parts and has something to do with automobile sheets."

“But they are already using our materials, so there’s nothing to talk about, right?”

As Baosteel's biggest competitor in South China, Jin Tai still had a good understanding of the situation in Nanshan.

Now when he heard Lai Liang say that he wanted to discuss automobile panel cooperation with Nanshan, he felt a little strange.

"Let's see the situation first."

"I didn't see that Nanshan had any accumulation in special steel before, but they have made special steel whose quality is not inferior to imported materials."

"This time, they specially invited us to discuss cooperation in automobile panels, so let's first listen to what they think."

After staying in Yangcheng for so many years, Lai Liang is naturally very familiar with the names of Nanshan.

Although we have had a direct cooperative relationship before, the situation is naturally different if you negotiate cooperation directly and find an intermediary to discuss cooperation.

That's why Lai Liang asked the headquarters to find connections to say hello to the people in Nanshan.

Everyone is in Yangcheng, so it is not difficult to meet.

Adhering to Chinese characteristics, business that can be discussed over the wine table should not be done in the conference room.

So Cao Yang and Lai Liang met at the White Swan Hotel.

Although this hotel has a bit of history, the restaurant's dishes have always been online.

This was not the first time we met, and we were here to discuss cooperation, so the atmosphere was naturally quite harmonious.

After some pleasantries, Lai Liang couldn't help but take the initiative and said: "Mr. Cao, as an excellent parts company, Nanshan can have such deep attainments in the steel field. It's really admirable."

Obviously, Lai Liang wanted to get something out of Cao Yang.

Until now, he has not figured out where Nanshan obtained his steel technology.

He didn't believe a word of the research and innovation promoted by Nanshan Special Steel.

If it were really so easy to independently develop special steel products that surpass foreign products, would the materials for so many parts of automobiles still need to be imported from abroad?

Hollow stabilizer rods, suspension spring wires, valve spring wires, various special steels on steering columns...

As long as the special steel is used in a vehicle, [-]% of it is imported from abroad.

The so-called localization rate, the proportion under different statistical calibers, the results are absolutely different.

That kind of imports components from abroad, sets up an assembly plant in China, and then it is considered to be domestically produced.

This kind of localization rate is definitely a big question mark.

"No pain, no gain. We in Nanshan have always attached great importance to R&D investment. Now we have more than 3000 employees engaged in R&D. Last year, R&D investment reached 10 billion."

"Whether it is special steel, resin materials or rubber materials, we have a dedicated R&D team doing research."

"So, others only saw the results of Nanshan Special Steel, but did not see the tremendous efforts we made for these results."

"It took a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to achieve today's achievements."

Cao Yang said nonsense with a serious face, but Lai Liang had no way to refute.

People spend money on research and development, so they have some achievements. Can you refute it?

But this was definitely not what Lai Liang wanted to argue with Cao Yang, so he quickly went on to say: "It is indeed not easy to engage in research and development, especially in the field of materials, it is even more difficult."

"I heard that Nanshan has also achieved some results on automobile panels?"

Nanshan Special Steel was definitely out of business today, so Lai Liang directly talked about automobile plates.

The joint venture factory between Baosteel and Nippon Steel produces automotive sheets.

According to the progress, mass production will be possible next year.

By then, Baosteel Nippon Steel's production scale will reach an annual output of 170 million tons, including an annual output of 90 tons of cold-rolled steel plates and an annual output of 80 tons of hot-dip galvanized steel plates.

In this joint venture steel plant, the main production equipment and core technologies embody the first-class level of the contemporary world steel manufacturing industry.

At least that's what Lai Liang thinks.

So now he really wants to see what Nanshan can come up with.

Because Baosteel Nippon Steel initially produced ordinary automobile sheets with a tensile strength of 270MPA and automobile sheets with a tensile strength of 440MPA.

Nippon Steel has not yet produced automotive sheets with tensile strength of 590MPA and higher in the joint venture.

If Nanshan comes up with technology below 440MPA, then this cooperation will obviously be meaningless.

But if this is not the case, then it may be a good opportunity for Baosteel to surpass Bao Nippon Steel (Baosteel Nippon Steel).

This is definitely a very remarkable political achievement.

After all, if Baosteel can produce automobile sheets in its own wholly-owned company, why should it go to a joint venture to make money for others?

"Mr. Lai, with the strengthening of collision regulations in various countries and the policy guidance of reducing fuel consumption, the strength of steel plates used in cars will inevitably become higher and higher."

"Nowadays, 590MPA steel plates are used in A-pillars, B-pillars and door sill reinforcements, which is considered very good."

"But ten years from now, this intensity will definitely lag behind."

"You should agree with this, right?"

Cao Yang did not answer Lai Liang's question directly, but talked to him about other things first.

As the general manager of Baosteel's Southern District, if Lai Liang has poor market acumen, it is hard to say whether Baosteel is the best partner for Nanshan's hot stamped steel plates.

After all, Baosteel is not the only one in China that is optimistic about the prospects of automotive sheets.

The eldest brother Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. is also making efforts in this regard.

"Yes, lightweighting of automobiles is one direction. In the future, the use of high-strength steel plates and ultra-high-strength steel plates will definitely increase."

"Even overseas, some models have begun to use 980MPA steel plates in large quantities."

Although most of Lai Liang's work involves eating and drinking, he still has a basic business perspective.

"The higher the tensile strength of the steel plate, the stronger the rebound during processing, and the higher the difficulty of mold design and the higher the requirements for mold materials."

“And the accuracy of the parts tends to decrease.”

"Especially when it reaches 980MPA, many manufacturers no longer have the ability to produce stamping parts of this level of material."

"So in Europe, they have begun to expand the use of hot stamped steel plates."

"Whether it's Audi, BMW, or Volvo, their application in this area is much faster than that of domestic companies."

Cao Yang didn't go too far in circles, and slowly returned to the hot stamped steel plate.

"Hot stamped steel plate?"

Lai Liang felt a little familiar, but also a little strange.

Obviously, Baosteel does not have such technology now.

So he immediately turned around and asked Liu Jianguo, who was in charge of technology next to him, and said, "Xiao Liu, does your technical department know anything about this kind of steel plate?"

Fortunately, Liu Jianguo did not disappoint him. He replied without thinking: "The technology department has done some theoretical research on hot stamping steel plates. This is a steel plate developed for the hot stamping process."

"Hot stamping forming process?" Lai Liang is a little unfamiliar now. He has been away from technical positions for more than ten years. He is relatively familiar with the technical parameters of traditional steel plates, but he is very unfamiliar with new types of steel plates.

"The hot stamping process generally heats the sheet to a recrystallization temperature of about 900 degrees Celsius to make it completely austenitized before stamping."

"After stamping, the pressure must be maintained for a period of time to stabilize the shape and size of the parts and ensure that the quality of the parts meets the drawing requirements."

“During the forming and holding process, in order to prevent the sheet strength from decreasing, quenching treatment must be performed to obtain ultra-high-strength steel parts with a uniform martensite structure at room temperature.”

"Since hot stamping is quenching the sheet metal during the stamping process, the material composition design of the steel plate used for hot stamping must adapt to the thermal cycle during the hot stamping process."

"According to literature records, the best in the industry is ArcelorMittal Steel Company, which uses boron-containing steel plates."

"In addition, when the steel plate is heated to the recrystallization temperature of 900 degrees Celsius, surface oxidation and decarburization will inevitably occur in the air, which will affect the strength of the steel plate. Therefore, hot stamped steel plates should have high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance Plating.”

"ArcelorMittal, the leader in the industry, solves this problem through aluminum-silicon coating."

"I heard that Volkswagen is reviewing whether to use hot stamping technology for its next-generation Passat model."

Liu Jianguo's professional skills were still very solid and he did not embarrass Lai Liang.

However, after listening, Lai Liang had more questions in his heart and said, "Mr. Cao, could it be that Nanshan also has some research on this hot stamping steel plate?"

"impossible?"

"I heard that the aluminum-silicon coating technology used on this hot stamped steel plate is a patented technology of ArcelorMittal. It cannot be used without the authorization of the other party."

"After all, the customers of these steel plates are automobile giants, and they will not buy a material with patent disputes."

Before Cao Yang could speak, Liu Jianguo couldn't help but interjected.

In his opinion, it is impossible for Nanshan to master any hot stamping technology.

Even the technical source of Nanshan Special Steel is questionable.