Rise of the Argentine Empire

It was late autumn in Bu City, and winter was fast approaching.

In Argentina, outdoor work like that at the steel mill usually stopped during the winter, but a long-awaited piece of good news gave him some cheer.

In reality, the fishing boat technology acquired by Sanhai Shipbuilding wasn't complex, but because it was a newly established team,

things were quite troublesome. The first prototype boat took nearly 11 months from design to construction. Fortunately, the dockyard was built very large.

Fortunately, Saint Hilaire had sent people to shipyards in countries like Germany, Spain, and Italy for learning and cooperation, so building fishing boats was just practice.

He took a few people to La Plata. The sun hung in the sky, drying the rainwater on the ground.

The golden leaves of some deciduous trees fell to the ground, filling the air with the atmosphere of late autumn.

They passed a small hill on the plain, with large tracts of wild pine forest inside. It would take three to five people to encircle the pine trees, which covered the mountains and plains.

The rainy season from May to August each year was the golden period for these things to grow. Often, after a rain, the pine forest would change the next day, for example, with matsutake mushrooms.

Sanhai Shipyard,

Saint Hilaire saw the prototype fishing boats, a total of three, which had cost about 500,000 US dollars to build.

They were designed with a displacement of 580 tons, with a metallic texture, painted in the blue of fishing boats. The hull number had not yet been named, a metal behemoth.

These large-tonnage fishing boats were each 52 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 4.5 meters deep, with large cabin capacity. They could accommodate large trawls and refrigeration equipment, belonging to ocean-going fishing boats.

The water volume of the La Plata River did not change much in autumn and winter. Saint Hilaire visited the boat.

"Boss, can this fishing boat be sold? The cost alone is 150,000 US dollars. Mass production may be cheaper, but ordinary people can't afford it, right?"

To be honest, the shipyard's team members didn't have much confidence. Saint Hilaire planned to sell a fishing boat for 200,000 US dollars, which was quite expensive, but also had great advantages.

It was indeed very expensive. You should know that the cost of a Liberty ship during World War II was only 1.6 million US dollars, and the selling price was only 750,000 US dollars, with even more discounts. After all, there were too many Liberty ships, and even the Americans disliked them.

And the Victory ships were now in greater demand, selling for 1.1 million US dollars each. That was a giant ship of 15,000 tons, while this fishing boat had such a good selling price, which was indeed difficult.

"Don't worry, if no one wants them, we'll just build our own fishing fleet."

Now marine fishery resources were abundant, and basically, recouping the cost in a year was not a problem. Moreover, these boats were equipped with refrigeration, living quarters, and various functions, all for only 200,000 US dollars, which was quite a bargain.

The Prari fleet now had about 16 Victory ships and 25 Liberty ships, most of which were bought in full. This was also unavoidable, who told him he wasn't American?

Fortunately, these ships were already earning him a lot of money. Saint Hilaire opened a fixed route from Western Australia to Argentina, with 10 Liberty ships each time, leased to Thunder Mining, transporting about 130,000 tons of coal at a time, sailing year-round, while helping Argentina stockpile raw coal and coke.

These coal resources were stored in a super-large open-air warehouse, and also supplied to many Argentine companies.

Most of the other ships were leased to Prari International, as well as the Argentine Import and Export Trade Association, Sunshine Agriculture, and other companies, transporting agricultural products exported to Europe, as well as textiles, clothing, shoes, beverages, and importing some raw materials.

The total tonnage of ships currently purchased by Prari International in the United States was close to 600,000 tons, and there were also more than 10 second-hand freighters of 10,000 tons bought cheaply from Europe during the Western European economic crisis, totaling more than 700,000 tons, which was basically enough.

This tonnage was far from the world's shipping magnates, still a younger brother. The current total tonnage of the American shipping magnate was 5.5 million tons. He owned hundreds of ships, not to mention the 20 million-ton shipping companies of later generations.

The main reason was that there was no way to use financial leverage, otherwise Prari's number could very well be 6 million tons. In the future, he still had to build his own ships. The cost performance of a 10,000-ton ship was actually very poor. Single ships of 50,000 tons and 100,000 tons were his future goals.

Saint Hilaire actually liked to use financial leverage. Those world shipping magnates basically did the same. It was a pity that behind him stood a weak Argentina, not a prosperous America.

This was also something that couldn't be helped. He couldn't pass the review when he took out a loan from an American bank, and it was impossible for him to do such self-deceiving stupid things, so he had to buy in full, which was also more reassuring.

Moreover, he missed the opportunity for post-war low-price sales. At that time, the price of Liberty ships and Victory ships was even cheaper, about 400,000 US dollars could buy a Liberty ship, and 600,000 US dollars could buy a Victory ship, not even one-third of the original cost of the Americans, but the US dollar was also more valuable at that time.

Now he had Balun Bank. When he built his own ships, he could transfer money from his left hand to his right hand for loans. If he relied on accumulating step by step to buy in full, he didn't know when he would get the ticket to become a world shipping magnate.

This time, three fishing boats were built, but it was not easy to sell them. Normally, ships were built according to orders, after all, it was considered the first time.

"Everyone can also look for orders. In the future, we will build ships according to needs. Everyone should bring out their best state."

As long as the European team returned, he would build 10,000-ton giant ships. In fact, there was no shortage of orders at all.

If there were no orders for fishing boats, then he had to start building 10,000-ton giant ships, which was the way to make money. Selling 100 fishing boats would only earn 5 million US dollars.

Three docks were started at the same time, with an annual production plan of 27 ships, 3 ships each time.

"Don't worry about sales. I've already asked someone to advertise."

Yes, when he notified them yesterday, he also brought reporters, so he could write commercial advertisements and take some beautiful photos.

One ship could buy a large apartment in New York.

“You don't have to worry about whether you can afford it or not. We have Balun Bank, which can provide installment payments and loan services.”

Yes, he had already thought about it. If he couldn't afford it, he would pool money to buy it, or get a low-interest loan.

No problem at all, a win-win situation.

Take a gamble, a bicycle turns into a motorcycle.

Soon, a wealthy tycoon came and bought one, paying the full amount.

After completion, it can be launched directly for installation of other equipment. Fishing is possible in autumn and winter, but mainly near the coast.

After talking with Saint Hesser, he discovered that there are many Argentine fishing boat tycoons. They even buy them together and sign agreements.

After selling a boat, Saint Hesser also arranged to go home to see how things were going.

The real technological upgrade in shipbuilding still needs to be seen in Europe.

In one month, they actually sold 5 ships and received deposits, and signed loan agreements with Balun Bank. With experience, the shipbuilding speed should be able to shorten the construction period, and it wouldn't hurt to build one or two more docks.

By then, with a high-tech team, it would not be difficult to build 10,000-ton giant ships.

Diesel engine research and development is still ongoing.

There are some differences in the field of marine diesel engines, which require high horsepower, and we can't catch up.

Saint Hesser also went to the newly built diesel engine factory to see the research and development.

“We still need to introduce technology, otherwise we really can't do it.”

Nowadays, it is the era of teams.

Balun Bank directly set up branches here to help with loan orders.

How can fishermen engage in deep-sea fishing without large ships?

… …

Last year, that is, in 1952, when the new president came to power through a coup,

The Bolivian government issued a decree nationalizing the mining industry and established the Bolivian Mining Corporation to take over the country's mining production. It was considered a hold.

Because Bolivia cannot mine so many ores, they also plan to carry out land reform to liberate productive forces. Bolivia as a whole is located on a plateau and has a tropical climate, making the environment relatively harsh.

Among the foreign mining companies, only Thunder Mining is an exception, possessing some special privileges to mine ore.

Of course, Thunder Mining also provided some help for its meritorious service, and the Bolivian president, not forgetting his roots, gave Bill some help, allowing Thunder Mining to own some small mines.

In fact, Argentina also has iron ore, near the Lithium Triangle, but the grade is average. Argentina even has coal mines, also near the Lithium Triangle, but the grade of the coal mines is also not good, mostly low-quality coal such as lignite.

Most of the coal produced is of very poor quality, and the iron ore is also the same, with too few rich ores and mostly poor ores.

South America's iron ore is mainly in Bolivia and Brazil. Bolivia is also known as the "Republic on a Mining Cart", somewhat similar to Saint Hesser's investment in another country, Australia.

Brazil's iron ore is even more ridiculously high-grade, high-quality iron ore.

The personnel of La Plata Steel Construction have guaranteed that the first molten iron and molten steel will be produced before the end of this year.

A lot of coke is now stored. In fact, whether it is coke or raw coal, it is transported to Argentina in large quantities, and it can be said to be at a bargain price.

Because coal mines are also needed to build thermal power plants, and there is currently no ultra-high voltage power transmission technology, Buenos Aires Province mostly relies on hydropower. Supplying electricity to a steel complex of several million tons is no small matter.

Moreover, iron ore has also begun to be stockpiled, which is also a top priority. It can only be purchased from Brazil. Fortunately, iron ore is not expensive now, and Australian iron ore has also been successfully explored, the open-pit iron ore in Australia.

Western Australia Thunder Mining Company is fully responsible, buying several places where iron ore may exist, even if it is sold in the future, it can make money.

Now, making a fortune in silence is the key.

After all, Australia is a bit far away, and Bolivian iron ore is still the safest.

However, as long as Argentina is strong enough, will the Australians dare to cut off this route?

The three major sources of coal are South African Mining, Australian Mining, and Colombian Mining, all of which are transported by sea. Even Indian coal mines are not impossible. The Indian Ocean is actually not too far. When Japanese steel companies did not have Australian coal and iron ore supplies, they purchased Indian coal and iron.

It must be said that India does have a lot of resources. For Japanese steel companies, the distance is actually quite far.

La Plata Steel's three major sources of iron ore are Brazilian iron ore, South African iron ore, and Australian iron ore. Bolivian iron ore cannot be mined at present.

Through Thunder Mining, Saint Hesser is slowly establishing a foreign ore transportation network and shipping routes. At the same time, by investing in several countries, he can obtain the cheapest ore resources in the future and develop the national steel industry. The price of raw materials is already unbearable.

The only thing is that covering up too much can easily attract attention. After all, with so many coal and iron resources, after early intervention, it still needs to be opened up and cooperated with other countries. In the end, it is still because the country is weak.

Australian iron ore is very good for investment, and it is also necessary to build infrastructure, such as railway investment, connecting ports. Fortunately, most of the undiscovered iron ore is located near coal mines, which can save investment and is more convenient than Bolivia.

The climate and environment are more suitable for mining. In the future, only enough transport ships will be needed to continuously transport enough raw materials.

Even in the future, large steel plants can be built in southern ports, which are closer to the shipping lanes and can save one or two thousand nautical miles.

“Puerto Blanca is very suitable for building a large industrial base.”

He quickly took out a pen and drew on the map, selecting several ports.

… …

Saint Hesser looked at the shameless missionaries, but did not empathize with them.

Peron is already preparing to be more thorough.

Argentina does not need these social parasites. They not only possess huge wealth, but also control the spiritual world.

There are too many devout men and women, and they can't be pulled back.

Peron was beaten back step by step.

After returning to his residence, Saint Hesser was bored again.

There is nothing to be busy with during this time window.

… …

The following is a discarded draft of 500 words. I will try to finish updating before 8 o'clock on the 11th. I really can't handle it tonight.

… …