Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 472 My family also wants a mine

As 2008 enters December, the world's economic situation becomes more complex.

In recent months, news about various corporate bankruptcies have emerged one after another.

The prices of crude oil, soybeans, iron ore and other raw materials that were originally at high levels have continued to fall, and everyone has no confidence in the future.

Nanshan Investment, which has money in hand and has been looking for investment projects, naturally has some new ideas.

"Mr. Cao, at present, iron ore and coal mines are both good investment opportunities, especially the minerals from Australia, many of which are exported to China."

"Taking advantage of the financial crisis, investing in some large ore companies or acquiring some mineral deposits should yield good returns in the future."

Lin Ling took a break and began to look for investment opportunities again.

For ordinary people, the impact of the financial crisis is quite large.

It’s hard to find a job.

Revenue is down.

The company laid off employees.

But for wealthy people, financial crises are often a good time to reallocate assets.

In the long run, investing in minerals now will definitely pay off in the future.

There are actually many people who can see this, but not many can invest money in this environment.

"Iron ore and coal mines are indeed relatively stable investment objects, and the future returns will not be particularly low."

"After all, China's steel production has been growing, and its consumption of iron ore and coal is relatively large."

"However, the market in these two fields is too big. Our few billions of dollars seem to be a lot. In fact, if we invest in iron ore and coal, it is completely insufficient."

In later generations, China's annual iron ore demand was 20 billion tons, more than half of which was imported from overseas.

Large mining companies such as Vale, Rio Tinto, and BHP Billiton have a relatively high share of the world's iron ore trade and have a greater say in the pricing of iron ore.

Mainly China's iron ore mines are mostly buried deep underground and need to be dug wells. They face multiple constraints such as the environment and land. Development is difficult, very laborious and costly.

Moreover, even if it is mined, it is still low-quality and lean ore, and it still needs to be crushed and ground to make iron concentrate powder before it can be used.

These processes are time-consuming and expensive, and the pressure on safe production is high. Adding the cost of land transportation, the cost is further increased.

Most of Australia's iron ore is concentrated on the surface. It is very easy to mine and the ore is of high quality. The price of shipping it to the Chinese port by sea is much lower than the cost of China's iron ore.

It is said that the mining cost of iron ore in China is about US$80 per ton.

What about Australia?

Low beyond imagination!

Australia's iron ore infrastructure is very good, such as Rio Tinto's transportation network of more than 100 giant trucks, more than 20 smart trains, and more than 1700 kilometers of railways. It runs directly from the depths of the mine to the port and operates 24 hours a day, reducing transportation costs. 15%-20%.

Moreover, there is a port next to the mine, and the cost of sea transportation is far lower than that of land transportation, and cheaper than the iron ore in inland China.

This puts the cost of Australian iron ore at around US$14 per ton.

Of course, the cost is the cost, and the selling price is the selling price.

If you look at the selling price of iron ore in later generations, you will know how profitable this business was.

If Cao Yang had tens of billions of dollars in hand, he would dare to rush in and have a good time.

We might even take advantage of the financial crisis to see if we can acquire one of those large mining companies.

But the current situation is obviously still not strong enough.

The situation in coal is even more complicated and the water is deeper. Cao Yang does not intend to be the coal boss.

"Mineral investment is indeed an investment worthy of our consideration, but the existence of Nanshan Investment is not simply investment for the sake of investment, but investment to cooperate with the development of Nanshan Group."

"Although we have special steel plants, our annual production capacity is only 100 million tons. Compared with the steel production capacity of several hundred million, this output is nothing at all."

"So there is no need for us to spend too much energy on iron ore and coal investments for the time being."

"At most, we can just do some iron ore-related futures price insurance in the future."

Cao Yang felt that he could not be like the little monkey going down the mountain and picking up whatever he saw.

There are many money-making industries in this world, and it is impossible for him to be involved in them all.

But Nanshan Group also wants to have mines, which he has no objection to.

"What is the current situation of lithium ore, nickel ore and cobalt ore in the international market?"

Just after rejecting Lin Ling's proposal, Cao Yang immediately raised a new topic.

This topic obviously still revolves around mineral investment, and it is somewhat related to Lin Ling's preparations during this period.

"The market demand for lithium and cobalt mines has always been relatively small."

"Although the development of lithium batteries in recent years has made some people optimistic about lithium and cobalt mines, the amount of lithium batteries needed for consumer electronics is really not large."

"And the lithium deposits that have been discovered are stable enough to supply these needs."

"Although the situation of cobalt mines is a bit more complicated, as most of them come from Africa, the price has always been relatively stable."

"Of course, affected by the financial crisis, the prices of both lithium and cobalt mines have dropped significantly."

"Battery-grade lithium carbonate, for example, is now less than 2 yuan per ton."

"As for ordinary lithium carbonate, which is less than 1 yuan per ton, it doesn't cost [-] yuan."

Lin Ling did a good job. She had never thought of investing in lithium or cobalt mines before, but she knew the relevant market trends very well.

"As for nickel ore, due to the large amount of stainless steel used, the output has always been relatively large."

"The combined output of lithium mines and cobalt mines is less than a fraction of that of nickel mines, and there is a huge gap in output value."

"And whether it's lithium or nickel ore, domestic resources are relatively abundant."

Lin Ling explained in a moment, almost just saying that resources such as lithium ore and nickel ore do not have much investment value.

However, Cao Yang's thoughts were obviously different from hers.

Nanshan Battery's new factory has almost been built.

The era of electric vehicles will come sooner or later.

For example, the price of lithium carbonate rose to 60 yuan per ton at the craziest time.

Is this an increase in shipping costs or an increase in fuel costs?

How high are the profits behind it?

Whether it is from an investment perspective or for the sake of supply chain stability in the battery industry, it is necessary to invest in some of its own lithium mines.

Even cobalt and nickel mines are worth investing in.

During the "demon nickel" period, the price of nickel also reached a record high.

When the battery industry is at its craziest, almost all the materials needed to produce batteries are skyrocketing.

The price is not the highest, only higher.

In order to ensure the supply of batteries, major OEMs have signed various "underground alliances" with battery suppliers.

It is commonplace to buy out production lines and sign unit quantity guarantee agreements.

This approach is definitely a huge impact on the traditional automobile industry.

At this time, have you seen any supplier that dares to tell the OEM that we need to sign a unit guarantee agreement? If you can't guarantee how many thousands of parts you will buy from me, how much extra money will you have to pay me?

But in the battery era, almost every battery manufacturer dares to say this!

Even like this, sometimes there will be supply problems.

No wonder some bosses from OEMs complain that they are working for a battery factory.

In fact, the battery manufacturers also feel that they have been wronged.

They are actually working for the "mine" too!

Most battery companies do not have very high profit margins, and many are even losing money.

But lithium mining companies, their profit margins...

It's just a money grab.

In this case, Cao Yang must plan to deploy lithium mines in advance.

By the way, let’s also lay out the situation of nickel mines and cobalt mines.

Nickel cobalt manganese is the most important raw material for ternary lithium batteries.

"You're right. Right now, whether it's lithium ore, cobalt ore, or nickel ore, they haven't received enough attention from everyone."

"Relatively speaking, they are not as eye-catching as iron ore and coal mines."

"However, our group has now begun to enter the battery industry. With the development of new energy vehicles in the future, battery production volume will definitely continue to increase."

"The demand for lithium ore, cobalt ore, and nickel ore will also continue to rise in the future."

"With existing production capacity consumed, the prices of these minerals will not change particularly drastically."

“But once there is an imbalance between supply and demand, it’s time for the prices of these minerals to skyrocket.”

"We are now laying out these mines. We only need to spend US$10 billion to buy many related mines."

"We even directly bought the shares of some lithium mining giants."

“Whether it’s at home or abroad, these preparations can begin.”

Cao Yang gave his instructions directly.

Nanshan Investment Want to invest in minerals?

you can!

But the objects are lithium ore, nickel ore and cobalt ore, and the others must come later!

"In terms of development prospects, the future prospects of lithium minerals, which are related to battery production, are worth looking forward to."

"But according to the current situation, at least within three to five years, the battery industry is unlikely to experience explosive growth, which means that our investment is unlikely to receive huge returns within three to five years."

“It can even be determined that within three to five years, these investments will not be as good as the returns from iron ore.”

<divclass="contentadv">"Mr. Cao, should we wait until Nanshan's battery production reaches a certain level before we start laying out these minerals?"

Although Lin Ling has a relatively high professional level, she has never experienced those crazy scenes in later generations.

So if she had to choose now, she still wouldn't want to choose lithium mine.

The production of batteries is not like steel, which can easily reach hundreds of millions of tons per year.

How long will it take for lithium ore prices to skyrocket?

“Although there may not be particularly good returns in three to five years, we certainly won’t lose money.”

"And in the long run, the investment will be well worth it."

“A lithium mine worth US$2000 now may be sold for US$10 billion in a dozen years.”

"We buy one more lithium or nickel mine at home and abroad. As long as one of them is successfully transferred, the cost will be fully recovered."

"What's even more important is what I just said. Nanshan Investment serves the development of Nanshan Group and is not simply an institution for profit."

"In the future, a complete industrial chain will be formed around Nanshan batteries. By making Nanshan batteries bigger and stronger, perhaps the market value of one Nanshan battery will exceed US$1000 billion."

"Compared with these prospects, the money spent on buying mines now is nothing at all."

Cao Yang directly threw out a big pie.

Nanshan battery market value exceeds 1000 billion US dollars?

No matter how courageous and confident people are in Nanshan Battery, they still absolutely do not believe that its future will be so huge.

But if you think about the trillion-dollar market value of King Ning in later generations, you will actually find that Cao Yang's big pie was not drawn blindly.

But people today don't realize this yet.

Sure enough, after hearing what Cao Yang said, Lin Ling didn't want to argue anymore.

My boss feels that these investments are closely related to the future of Nanshan Battery, and in the long run, these investments are indeed impossible to lose money.

So she had no reason to refute anything.

Nanshan Investment serves the development of Nanshan Group.

Today, she had a deeper understanding of this.

"Mr. Cao, then I will go and learn about the situation of lithium mines and nickel mines at home and abroad. I will also pay attention to the cobalt mines."

"However, these mines and related mining companies are generally still in a relatively chaotic situation. It is not like iron ore has formed several giants."

"So it is inevitable that there is always a mixture of good and bad, and it takes some time to identify them."

Lin Ling took a deep breath and prepared to implement Cao Yang's instructions.

"Don't worry, it's only December now. I think the impact of the financial crisis will only get bigger in the next three months."

"The prices of related mineral resources are all in a declining stage, and there is no obvious rebound."

"But don't delay it too long. The relevant acquisitions must be completed by June next year at the latest."

Cao Yang didn't want to have long nights and dreams, so he quickly bought the relevant mines at home and abroad.

If you spend 10 billion US dollars to buy a mine now, you can easily buy tens of billions of dollars in the future.

Of course, apart from cashing out some at crazy times, most of the mines still need to be reserved for your own use.

The low-priced lithium ore resources can be regarded as laying a solid foundation for Nanshan Battery to compete in the future.

With good technology and low cost, other battery manufacturers cannot compete with Nanshan Batteries even if they lose money, right?

When the time comes, throw Nanshan Battery into the stock market and give it a try...

Thinking about the bright future, Cao Yang doesn't feel sorry for the current US$10 billion at all.

However, Nanshan Battery had spent such a large sum of money before it could make any big name. Naturally, Cao Yang wanted to call Lin Cheng over to have a chat and see how Nanshan Battery was doing recently.

"Mr. Cao, we now have a FHEV hybrid battery mass production line and a trial production line."

"In addition, there are two PHEV plug-in hybrid battery trial production lines to support the technical research and development of parts."

"In addition, the pure electric battery production line has also built two trial lines to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries respectively."

"Basically, FHEV batteries have formed a development pattern dominated by lithium batteries, while PHEV batteries and pure electric batteries have formed a pattern of simultaneous development of lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium."

"As long as there is market demand, we can invest in large-scale mass production lines based on the trial production line."

"It's just that the current market acceptance of models with batteries is not particularly high, so Nanshan's battery production capacity has not been directly increased."

Lin Cheng is actually quite satisfied with the current situation of Nanshan Battery.

The foundation has been laid solidly, now we are just missing a good opportunity.

“What is the level of our battery production line automation level and battery technology nationally and globally?”

Although Cao Yang is also personally involved in battery research and development, he is very confident in the technology he has developed.

But after all, Lin Cheng led people to implement some things.

What the final effect will be, he is not particularly clear yet.

"Mr. Cao, the automation level of our battery production line is definitely the highest in the country, and it is even the mainstream level globally."

"Not to mention that BYD's battery production line cannot compare with ours, even if we take out the battery production lines of manufacturers such as Panasonic and LG, we are not bad."

"Nanshan Equipment does this very well."

"And in the future, our large-scale mass production lines will further improve the automation level of battery production lines."

"Basically, except for the mixer that adds materials, which requires some manual labor, the entire battery cell production line has been fully automated and does not require manual operation."

“As for battery technology, that’s not even worth mentioning.”

"Our lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries are unique in the industry. This year alone, we have registered more than 100 patents."

"Now Nanshan Battery is really just one chance away."

Lin Cheng's eyes were full of expectation.

He is full of energy now.

"The group's mobile phone industry will begin to develop next year, and Nanshan Battery's consumer electronics business will also be launched as soon as possible."

"Then I thought about it. Regarding passenger cars, apart from the fact that hybrid batteries can consume part of the production capacity, it is unlikely that the sales of electric vehicles will increase immediately in a short period of time."

"So we can consider putting more effort into commercial vehicles."

"During the Olympic Games this year, the electric buses developed by Teito University of Technology in cooperation with several manufacturers were put into use in some Olympic venues. I was wondering if we could communicate with the Asian Games and we could produce a batch of electric buses in a targeted manner. Passenger buses or electric buses specifically for the 2010 Yangcheng Asian Games?"

As soon as Cao Yang said these words, Lin Cheng immediately became excited and said, "Mr. Cao, I think this plan is completely feasible."

"We now have a complete set of hybrid system technologies and have almost completed our technical accumulation in electric vehicles. We can definitely find a platform and implement them."

"Don't we have a commercial vehicle company with Yangcheng Automobile Group?"

"In addition to producing trucks, we can also produce passenger cars and buses in this company."

"The Asian Games side will definitely be interested."

"We can even be bolder and join forces with Yangcheng City, Yangcheng Automobile Group, and Yangcheng Public Transport Group to turn Yangcheng's buses into electric vehicles."

"For these buses, their mobile routes are fixed, and the charging problem is easier to solve."

"If we just try it in Yangcheng first, we can quickly participate in solving any problems that arise."

"There should be almost 1 buses in the entire Yangcheng city. If all are replaced with electric buses, this will definitely help Nanshan Battery complete the initial ramp-up of production capacity and successfully stand at the forefront of the industry."

"For electric vehicles, whether they are electric buses, electric buses, or electric passenger cars, the systems are almost the same."

"When the time comes to integrate this set of technologies into passenger vehicles, the maturity of our electric vehicle technology will immediately increase."

"We can even push it further and see if we can cooperate with Nanshan Hongqi and Yangcheng Trumpchi to produce a batch of taxis and replace all taxis on the market with electric vehicles."

"This is very meaningful in terms of the general direction of energy conservation and emission reduction, and in terms of improving the technical level of Nanshan Group."

"Don't those in Yangcheng City often ask us if we need any help?"

"I think we can raise these demands this time and let Yangcheng City come forward to help coordinate them."

"With Yangcheng Automobile Group taking advantage of it, I think this project shouldn't be very difficult to implement."

Lin Cheng found that his thoughts were suddenly opened up.

Nanshan Battery now has all its abilities, but it cannot find a very suitable stage for its performance.

If battery technology cannot be mass-produced and put into use on a large scale, it will sometimes be difficult to continuously improve the technology.

Because the production volume cannot increase, some problems cannot be discovered at all.

If you don’t even know what the problems are with current technology, how can you talk about technological improvement?

“Is there sufficient guarantee for the safety of ternary lithium batteries now?”

"Busses and coaches are special vehicles, and any accident is unacceptable."

Cao Yang didn't expect to see fires on buses equipped with Nanshan batteries every now and then, which would be very fatal.

After all, if something happens to a vehicle of this nature like a bus, it's a big deal.

It's impossible to suppress it even if you want, and it's pointless to divert attention.

"If you want to be on the safe side, you can first use lithium iron phosphate batteries in buses and coaches. They are relatively large and do not have such big requirements on the weight and volume of the battery."

"But for electric taxis, you can try our ternary lithium battery. Its energy density is much higher. For taxis, battery life is quite important."

Lin Cheng quickly provided a solution.

In response, Cao Yang naturally took action immediately.

It's not long before the 2010 Asian Games.