Rise of the Argentine Empire

"I have another condition. One of our financiers also owns a steel mill. If possible, he would like to increase production, but he doesn't have the channels for that. If possible, let his steel mill also expand, with a scale of about 1 million tons. He can't handle more than that."

Arturo said at the end.

"Competition is a good thing, and I'm happy to help facilitate."

Saint Hesser nodded. This was exactly what he wanted. He even hoped Argentina could have more steel mills. Why not moonlight as a steel broker? There was no competition.

This was the last condition of the conversation with Arturo. Argentina needed not just one steel mill, but many. If they were willing to invest, he would help them establish connections and do them a favor.

Moreover, multiple steel mills could reduce the pressure of imports and divert others' attention.

Saint Hesser quickly weighed the pros and cons of this matter and suddenly felt that there was great potential.

Building a large-scale steel mill himself was too high-profile and could easily attract attention and cause trouble. Even with the protection of the military's Blue faction, he might not be able to cope. Oligarchic capital and foreign capital were not to be trifled with.

It would be better to have more competitors, and it wasn't necessary to have such large blast furnaces. Like Rosario, he could also invest there. As for iron ore and coal mines, if Thunder Mining could settle things in Western Australia, he could also get a share, killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, to be honest, although the Argentine treasury was short of money, the private sector had money. Their ancestors were rich, and there weren't many places to spend money, so it was all deposited in banks and gathering mold.

Currently, the domestic private capital was not really short of money. If it really didn't work, they could use beef and wheat as collateral. Money left in the bank was just a number and would continue to depreciate. These nouveau riches lacked investment channels, and packaging the steel mill to let them do more wouldn't take much effort.

Only by turning money into real industries could the country's industry be continuously strengthened and the risk of unemployment reduced. Money needed to circulate to be truly valuable. To be honest, investing in steel was not a loss, just a slow way to make money.

Money in the bank was just a pile of numbers and couldn't generate value.

Argentina in the past few decades was like the Middle Eastern oil tycoons of later generations, but a bit inferior. At least the oil tycoons could buy luxury cars and invest abroad.

Moreover, a blast furnace with an annual output of 300,000 to 500,000 tons was not too small, and 1 million tons was not too much. He could also get some kickbacks and lower the overall procurement price.

Excited by his thoughts, Saint Hesser quickly slapped his thigh and drove to the consulting firm. The consulting firm was as usual. Only then did Saint Hesser seriously look at the building. In the sunset, it was full of beauty, with scattered golden light, mottled and fragmented.

Saint Hesser had bought a 4-story office building. The scenery was very good, the location was not remote, and it exuded French charm everywhere. There was also a small courtyard, with more than 2,000 square meters on each floor.

The setting sun shone into the room through the glass windows, and the faint aroma of coffee permeated the air. It was now five o'clock in the afternoon, and the employees were basically there, already starting to prepare to leave work. The consulting firm had the appearance of a consulting firm.

Saint Hesser walked briskly to the elevator. Everyone greeted him along the way. He walked to the old-fashioned iron elevator, pressed the button, and the basket-style elevator, like the one in Inception, slowly rose.

Let Isai send a telegram to Europe again, asking them to discuss more medium-sized steel mills and lower the negotiation price, as it was still quite expensive.

There were not many people on the 4th floor, mostly core members of the Falcon Bureau, which was relatively hidden.

After receiving the information from Europe, Little Knicks in Vienna said that the boss was right, and everything would be done according to the boss's instructions. They would continue to negotiate with Austrian United Steel, asking them to arrange more people and lower the price.

Ian in Brussels, Belgium, was dumbfounded, but he immediately started to continue negotiations with Thomas Steel. The boss's judgment had always been accurate.

Thomas Steel and Ximate Steel in Brussels had already planned to unite. They were strongly impacted by the steel recovery in West Germany, and the coal and steel raw materials mainly came from the Ruhr area, which constituted strong competition with Krupp Steel. The impact was very large. The steel industry in neighboring Luxembourg also received a lot of impact, while Belgian steel was very strong and the technology was very advanced.

The boss had spoken, so they would continue to negotiate. It was just that they didn't know what the boss's purpose was, wanting four or five medium-sized steel mills, which was very uneconomical. It should be known that the two blast furnaces that Saint Hesser was preparing to build were all large 1500 cubic meter blast furnaces, with much lower energy consumption in all aspects.

While Saint Hesser was having Isai send a telegram, he had already begun to consider how to get Argentinians to invest in the steel industry. In fact, apart from the three major steel mills, it seemed that no other steel mills could continue to expand production.

Not only could steel mills be established, but people could also be pulled in to invest.

Buenos Aires Steel was the factory that Arturo wanted Saint Hesser to help connect with. It was actually a private steel mill.

Belville Steel in Rosario was also a private steel mill. He planned to have Lucien of the Cohen Brothers Company come forward and ask them if they wanted to expand production, with the latest European technology, an opportunity not to be missed.

The Argentine National Steel Mill south of Bucheng was state-owned. If this factory needed it, it would be done; if it didn't need it, it would be fine.

"Hello, I'm Saint Hesser Cohen, connect me to the general manager's office."

Saint Hesser dialed the phone number of the New Argentina newspaper and looked for Andre.

"Hello, boss, what can I do for you?"

"How are the advertisements for the New Argentina newspaper this month? Have they all been sold out?"

"Boss, the advertisements for this month are still in the competition, and many companies are planning to advertise."

"That's good. Let the New Argentina newspaper publish a full-page advertisement in Wealth, with the content: Argentina's Most Profitable Industry - All at the Plaza de Mayo Auditorium, New Release on March 15th, signed by Plari International Company, and let the people in the editorial department process and embellish it.

Then find a few more newspapers to create momentum together. I want everyone in Argentina to know about this news, and radio stations should also insert advertisements. I'll give you more budget."

"Yes, boss."

Although he was at a loss, Andre honestly did as the boss said.

"Immediately have the people from the editorial department and the advertising department come over, especially this person Boen."

Andre instructed his secretary. The New Argentina newspaper had more than a hundred people, and it needed many new employees, and Andre also needed to pretend to be a manager.

Ten minutes later, the elites of the editorial department of the New Argentina newspaper gathered, among which Boen was a complete eccentric.

Andre looked around and asked everyone to be quiet before opening his mouth and saying,

"The boss has issued us a task, which is to advertise. You should study carefully how to create this momentum."

The people in the editorial department took Andre's handwritten paper, which only had a dozen or twenty words, directly saying that people should invest.

"Editor-in-chief, will this be a bit difficult?" A member of the editorial department raised his hand and said that ordinary advertisements are usually written by the advertising department, and the effect is very good. This time, the situation is obviously different, and the editorial department must also come forward.

"Well, just do it carefully, don't worry, speak freely, brainstorm, just spread the news quickly and well, and you know Plari International, it's the company that's been in the limelight recently."

"Understood, editor-in-chief."

The editorial department and advertising department of the New Argentina newspaper can be said to be extremely powerful, receiving the true teachings of Saint Hesser. To put it bluntly, it is to hype up news hotspots, but it must also be advertising.

For newspapers and media, news hype is actually the pursuit of the entertainment of news functions and the maximization of communication effects. This is an exaggeration and deformation of news report planning, an excessive planning and design of news reporting activities by news communicators in violation of the laws of news communication.

But what is not prohibited by law is permissible. Saint Hesser can't control that much. He will gather the power of private capital to add bricks and tiles to Argentina's steel industry and seize new development positions.

......

After arranging the public opinion hype of the newspaper, Saint Hesser prepared again. He planned to hold a wealth summit, attract investment, and let Argentine private capital build steel mills.

To convince them, there must be sufficient reasons to give a speech.

And for dissemination and sales, Saint Hesser recalled some brainwashing rhetoric, the atmosphere of the scene, and also some shills.

Argentina currently has no investment channels. The market value of the Argentine stock market is too low, and their own family has houses, high-interest loans are illegal, farming is too tiring, and investing in other things is easy to lose money.

This was indeed a good opportunity, and the principle behind the steel investment boom in later generations of New China was what Saint Hesser was studying. He could consider it from several aspects and deduce it backward.

First, there was strong market demand, which required creating momentum. For example, the Birón government's investment in 300,000 real estate properties, highway transportation construction, and neighboring countries' need for steel, especially construction steel.

Second, it was driven by profit. New countries were constantly being born in the world, and everyone was working hard to develop industry. The average price of steel rose after the war and peace, which was a big entry point.

Saint Hesser himself was a big consumer of steel, such as the infrastructure construction of Morado Town and Maria Town, as well as future tractors, motorcycles, Rhein Industries, and Rhein Military Industries, all of which required a lot of steel, as well as seamless steel pipes.

Third, encourage the development of the steel industry with preferential policies from local municipal governments to accelerate the growth of steel investment, which required the cooperation of the Radical Party.

Fourth, let bank capital promote it and borrow chickens to lay eggs. This required lobbying banks and financial oligarchs, which the Radical Party would handle. Everyone wanted to make money, and banks also needed it.

Fifth, Saint Hesser had channels for steel plants. It was not easy to build a steel plant before, but now there were new ways to make money, so get on the bus quickly, because this opportunity would not come again.

Sixth, this was more absurd, that is, Argentina should have what Brazil has. Brazil's steel production last year was more than 6 times that of Argentina, and it was still growing rapidly. Where were Argentina's patriots? The development of the national steel industry could not be delayed.

Saint Hesser extracted these six core points and filled them with various interesting things, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals writing style.

Saint Hesser did not finish writing the speech until the evening, and directly engraved the content in his mind for field practice.

Returning to the academy area, Ilena had already left for something, and only a faint fragrance remained in the room.

Natalie had been looking for him for the past two days. He happened to be going home with Ilena, and he didn't know what was going on. Natalie seemed to have moved out of the slum, and he didn't know where her new home was.

Since the last time he persuaded her not to marry, he didn't know if she listened. The relationship between the two was lukewarm.

Rosa went back to Maria Town this morning, escorted by people from the Delta, so he was very relieved.

Saint Hesser calmed down and carefully planned his own affairs. The hype about customs duties had not yet gained much momentum. Saint Hesser temporarily turned his attention to the steel plant. The reduction of customs duties could not be rushed. The initial public opinion still had to come slowly.

Just as Saint Hesser was about to rest, Natalie secretly entered Saint Hesser's home. She had the key to the house.

"Natalie, did you come here for something a few days ago?"

"No, I just broke off the engagement with that man. I plan to continue studying for a while. I took a university exam in February. I don't know what you think, boss."

"Good idea, going to university is good. Which university is it?"

Saint Hesser also looked at her with admiration. People who could persist in learning were indeed very worthy of praise. He had always admired them.

"National University of La Plata, what do you think, boss?"

Ilena's face was blushing, and her light yellow dress made her look very cute.

"This is a very good university. I'll give you a leave of absence with pay. Study hard. You don't have to worry about the affairs of the New A News Agency. Tell me if you run out of money."

"Well, boss, wouldn't that be bad?"

"It's okay, I'll talk to Andrew. We also have a branch of the newspaper in La Plata. You can work part-time there. Don't worry about living expenses."

"Okay, boss, thank you."

Natalie kissed Saint Hesser, happy like a child. Going to university was her dream for many years, and now it was finally realized.

The two lay on the bed, not speaking, only a faint warm feeling.

Saint Hesser only had blessings in his heart. Obviously, Natalie was also a little genius.

The two cuddled for a night.

……

It is worth noting that Argentina's economic development is also divided into three major oligarchic groups, namely the agricultural oligarchs, who are the strongest, the financial oligarchs, who are the middle faction, and the industrial oligarchs, who are the weakest but have the greatest vitality and potential.

The financial oligarchs are the national banking and securities financial system. They have connections with the military, the Radical Party, the Birón Justicialist Party, and any other factions. They have good relations and are also divided into various factions internally.

Saint Hesser is essentially on the side of the industry. In fact, only two forces participated in the establishment of the Argentina Import and Export Association this time, but they were all small and medium-sized agricultural and industrial companies. No powerful oligarchs participated, and they had higher-end circles.

This time, being able to meet many truly capable people in the association may allow them to try investing in steel plants, raising funds for investment, and joint investment.

A small blast furnace with an annual output of hundreds of thousands of tons only requires millions of dollars in investment, and the benefits are very rich, and it is advanced European technology with a promising future.

In fact, Argentina's private sector is not short of money, and there are indeed many Argentinian tycoons. They are like landlords in the old era. On the surface, they do not seem extravagant, but in fact, they hoard a lot of money but do not spend it. Saint Hesser has set his sights on these people's wallets. They are only one investment opportunity away from being richer.

In the future, large steel plants will be built near ports. The Port of La Plata currently has a small shortcoming, that is, the draft depth is only less than 10 meters, and only 10,000-ton giant ships can stay. There is still a certain gap from the future 50,000-ton and 100,000-ton super giant ships. This can also be solved, such as dredging the seabed channel and killing.

Moreover, the air pollution from building steel plants, and even the need to build coal coking plants, is even greater air pollution. These all need to be taken into account. Of course, for now, La Plata is still the first choice.

It is too troublesome to build a steel plant in the capital, and the land is not that big. The land in the first phase of La Plata is enough, and maybe it is time to start arranging land leveling.

In just a few days, Saint Hesser's wealth conference has spread throughout Argentina, and everyone has begun to head towards Bu City to check out the new steel plant for national construction.

Internationally, the recovery of Japanese steel has shocked the world.

At present, Japan's steel production is also recovering very quickly. Last year alone, it added 600,000 tons, which is equivalent to two Argentina's steel production.

Moreover, the development of Japanese steel plants is getting faster and faster, and the technology is also getting more and more advanced.

During World War II, Japanese steel plants were bombed and destroyed, and the annual output of crude steel decreased from 7.65 million tons in 1943 to 557,000 tons in 1946. Only 4 open hearth furnaces were maintaining survival.

In order to restore the Japanese economy, the reconstruction of their steel industry was a top priority. This was Saint Hesser's backup plan for the subsequent development of the steel plant, but for now, the investment failed. Saint Hesser's funds could not even make a splash in it, and eventually he invested in four small-scale and promising companies.

Europe cannot always provide you with technology upgrades, but there is an opportunity in Japan. Japan is the future world's super steel power.

The series of measures implemented by Dodge in Japan two years ago were called the "Dodge Plan." The main contents included balancing the fiscal budget, reducing government subsidies, and setting a fixed exchange rate of 360 yen to 1 US dollar. The Dodge Plan successfully curbed Japanese inflation, but the resulting deflationary effect triggered a severe economic recession.

The Korean War was an important reason for Japan and the United States to make peace and eagerly sign a treaty. The US-Japan "San Francisco Peace Treaty" was about to take effect, ending the occupation of Japan by the Allied forces, which accelerated Japan's recovery.

Among them, Kawasaki Steel was separated and independent from Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in 1950 under the leadership of its first president, Yataro Nishiyama. It is still a very young company.

The No. 1 blast furnace of Kawasaki Steel Chiba Works is already under construction frantically, which will be an important symbol of Japan's revival.

Saint Hesser plans to learn from the development model of steel plants in later generations, and issue bonds for financing for the new La Plata steel plant, as well as bank loans.

The target plan is as follows: issue corporate bonds of 10 million US dollars, bank loans of 20 million US dollars,

Self-raised capital of 10 million US dollars, military Blue Faction investment of 3 million US dollars, revolving capital of 5 million US dollars, totaling at least 48 million US dollars, to build a steel plant with an annual output of 5 million tons, instead of the original two blast furnaces with a capacity of 3.5 million tons.

The most important thing is to use banks for huge financing to build a new coastal steel plant, which requires cooperation with the financial oligarchs of Argentina, uniting all forces that can be united.

Of course, this is only one of the purposes of the wealth conference. Promoting medium-sized steel plants is his purpose, so that Argentine private capital can be revitalized and advance into the steel industry!

He called it, "Collective Investment in Steel Embraces the Future!" This is also the theme of his speech, to make Argentinians more interested in investing in the steel industry, so that more than ten steel plants will appear in Argentina, saving Argentina's unemployment rate, and Saint Hesser's La Plata steel plant can occupy the majority.