I Have a Mansion in the Post-apocalyptic World (Web Novel)
I Have a Mansion in the Post-apocalyptic World (Web Novel) - Chapter 508: Mutually Satisfactory Agre

Chapter 508: Mutually Satisfactory Agreement

Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_

鈥淏ecause of the breakthrough you made in the deepwater mining field, the futures of iron, copper, gold, and molybdenum have accelerated their demise. To maintain the stability of the market, the mining giants have spent quite some effort. Of course, the key to solving the problem is on you.鈥?/p>

How many deposits were there in the ocean? If Future Mining made a significant breakthrough in the area, investors鈥?expectations for deep water mining would, without a doubt, heat up. How many resources were there available in the sea? Aside from Jiang Chen who already acquired a global mining reserve map, no one knew.

And investors themselves were creatures who loved to imagine.

Luke smiled at Jiang Chen.

鈥淚f I guessed correctly, Future Mining鈥檚 costs for deepwater mining projects aren鈥檛 high, and the production is sizable.鈥?/p>

Luke鈥檚 expression clearly showed he wasn鈥檛 clueless. There was no purpose in covering things up, so Jiang Chen didn鈥檛 try to hide the truth.

鈥淵ou guessed correctly.鈥?/p>

Labor costs only included the salary of the employees on the sea platform; the underwater equipment was powered by the tidal generator, making the cost of maintenance almost negligible. The only equipment costs were paid in crystals. Without knowing the ratio between crystals and modern world currency, he couldn鈥檛 calculate the cost of equipment.

But he was certain about one thing 鈥?the costs of deep water mining were extremely low before space mining appeared.

鈥淭he world鈥檚 iron, aluminum, and copper markets are already on the brink of collapse. Without any exaggeration, if the price of iron continues its downward trend, by end of the year, 47 mining companies will face the risk of bankruptcy. In the short term, it may be beneficial to us, but it鈥檚 also dangerous for us in the long term. So I want to solve the problem by taking a step back.鈥?/p>

鈥淪o what do you propose?鈥?Jiang Chen was quite intrigued as he looked at the smiling Luke.

鈥淚f I remember correctly, you can influence the political decisions of the Xin government. We want you to influence the presidential office鈥檚 decision and increase the mining export tax by 50% to limit domestic exports of mining resources,鈥?Luke said in a quiet voice.

To Jiang Chen鈥檚 surprise, he previously thought Luke wanted to purchase Future Mining鈥檚 technology, but he didn鈥檛 even mention this and only offered a proposal that didn鈥檛 really affect Future Mining.

鈥淟imit Future Mining鈥檚 access to the international market to cooldown the investors? But what do I gain from this?鈥?/p>

鈥淲e obviously won鈥檛 make you do this for free. I鈥檓 willing to provide you contracts for iron, aluminum, copper and other metals effective within five years at 80% of the current market price.鈥?/p>

For BHP, it was indeed a big step backward. A discount of 20% meant they were essentially providing the metals at cost and working for free for Future Group for the next five years in exchange for slowing down Future Group鈥檚 low-cost ores from entering international markets.

鈥淯se the power of capital to slow down the introduction of new technologies?鈥?Jiang Chen鈥檚 words seemed to carry more meaning than the surface suggested.

鈥淵ou could interpret that as paying enough compensation in the hope of delaying the introduction of technology to the world. In a market where supply exceeds demand, introducing technology isn鈥檛 beneficial to the market,鈥?Luke said with sternness.

Luke was clear with BHP鈥檚 stance on this.

For an international mining tycoon, Jiang Chen wasn鈥檛 na茂ve enough to think they would use market competition to solve the problem. To be able to own so many mining resources in multiple nations around the world, their political investments certainly couldn鈥檛 be underestimated.

The reason why Luke brought it up was because they wanted to avoid a direct conflict with Future Group. Since Future Group was no longer a small fish in the sea, its core focus was in space tech and not in resource extraction, so both sides could avoid unnecessary conflict.

On the other hand, BHP wasn鈥檛 the only company affected 鈥?Rothschild-controlled Vale was the largest mining company in the world. It would be hard to say this encounter had nothing to do with Carmen.

Jiang Chen鈥檚 head spun rapidly as he weighed the pros and cons of the proposal.

If possible, Jiang Chen wanted to avoid a direct conflict with the mining giants. Future Technology鈥檚 business expansion required a stable environment. It was unwise to create enemies for himself.

Especially since excessive resources were only relative to the current situation. Although the theme of the proposal required both parties to take a step back, it would be hard to determine who actually gained and who actually lost鈥?/p>

Luke patiently waited for Jiang Chen鈥檚 response.

Without making him wait for long, Jiang Chen spoke after a momentary pause.

鈥淔ive years? Can I ask the supply amount?鈥?/p>

鈥淒etermined by you.鈥?Luke made a generous offer as he elegantly sipped his champagne.

When Jiang Chen heard this, an undetectable smile appeared on his face.

鈥?0 million tons.鈥?/p>

When Luke heard Jiang Chen鈥檚 number, he almost spat out the champagne in his mouth.

鈥?0 million tons? Does Mr. Jiang have an idea of the number you just provided? I鈥檓 not joking 鈥?even if all of Xin鈥檚 steel plants operated continuously for 50 years, there would still be an excess of ores left.鈥?/p>

Hua鈥檚 iron ore imports for 2015 was 950 billion tons and Xin鈥檚 total area was less than half of any of Hua鈥檚 provinces. It was a question if they could process the ores in 15 years, let alone five years!

But this was an outsider鈥檚 perspective.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to worry about this 鈥?Future Group naturally has the resources to process the resources. Also, something worth mentioning is that the 80 million is the sum total of iron, aluminum, copper, nickel 鈥?not just iron alone. Of course, iron would make up the majority of the number, at least 75%.鈥?Jiang Chen smiled.

With his eyebrows tightly locked together, Luke hesitated for a moment before nodding.

鈥淎t most 50 million tons, and you must assure me that the ores provided at cost must not enter international markets. This will be written in the contract.鈥?/p>

鈥淣o problem. But I have to mention now that the mines may be processed at neighboring Papua New Guinea before being transported to Xin,鈥?Jiang Chen reminded him.

With the shortage of labor, Jiang Chen planned to move the industries with high population and labor demands to neighboring countries. As a developing country, Papua New Guinea was a great choice in addition to Moro still in its beginning stages.

Luke deliberated for a bit longer before finally giving him a nod.

鈥淣o problem.鈥?/p>

鈥淎lso, molybdenum, uranium, and other precious metals are not included in the contract restrictions,鈥?Jiang Chen proposed.

鈥淣o problem. Molybdenum and the precious metals market have been under the control of Hua and nothing to do with us鈥?Also, if I may ask, is it feasible to extract uranium from deep water?鈥?Luke was curious.

鈥淣ot now, but it doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 not feasible in the future. We may have a breakthrough in the next five years; it鈥檚 hard to say,鈥?Jiang Chen replied with ambiguity.

鈥淚s that so? That鈥檚 surprising. If you don鈥檛 have any other opinions, then I鈥檓 happy we鈥檝e reached an agreement.鈥?Luke raised his glass with a smile.

鈥淚 wish only success for our partnership.鈥?Jiang Chen also raised his cup with a mysterious smile flashing and fading on his face.

Following the crisp sound of their toast, the agreement worth billions had been settled. The two sides both had satisfied smiles as they received what they needed.

Luke received the promise that Future Mining wouldn鈥檛 introduce deep water mining technology to the global market. Although they wouldn鈥檛 make money on 50 million tons of ores, BHP would not take losses on these. With the current market, it was incredible to maintain an income statement without losses without decreasing production. Although on the surface, it might look like BHP was working for Future Group for free, from another angle, Future Group solved the excessive production capacity issue faced by BHP.

The gains for Jiang Chen were obvious 鈥?he obtained 50 tons of ores at the floor price. It was a critical deal for Future Group鈥檚 planned construction of floating ocean cities, space elevator terminals, and habitable mega space stations.

It wouldn鈥檛 be five years before Luke would regret the agreement he made tonight.

Excessive production was always relative to the present.

The only thing that made Jiang Chen puzzled was how Luke was so confident about Future Mining鈥檚 costs and production as well as his calmness about deep water mining technology without any intention of acquiring the technology.

Jiang Chen stared at the glass in his hand and entered deep thought.