Chapter 84

Thump thump, thump thump!

When the knocking sounded, the Old Factory Director lifted his head, rubbed his eyes, and only then realized that he had, once again, fallen asleep slumped over his desk all night!

After the meeting, his mood wasn't good; back when First Heavy Machinery was just founded, he joined as an engineer and participated in the entire construction of First Heavy Machinery. Over the years, he grew alongside First Heavy Machinery, and no matter what difficulty arose, it was First Heavy Machinery itself that solved it!

His gaze swept over the photos on the wall, each one a project he had participated in, the record of his growth together with First Heavy Machinery!

Now the state wants to build its own nuclear power plant, yet it still has to buy materials from abroad, and many people consider it perfectly natural, which makes him, who has always walked the path of independence and self-reliance, feel somewhat unaccustomed…

Technology is constantly developing; the technology we previously mastered may truly be insufficient now that the gates are open, we can see just how advanced foreign technology has become…

Thump thump, thump thump!

The knocking continued, so he walked to the door and opened it.

"Old Factory Director, people from Rheinmetal Metal Company have come over." Factory Office Director Song Ming walked over: "Would you… like to come along to the meeting?"

The Old Factory Director took a deep breath: "Good!"

Inside the meeting room.

"We, Rheinmetal Company, are an old-line steel firm; we can produce any advanced steel. Back when it was still the Qing government, we already did business with you, and over the years our cooperation has only grown."

"Rheinmetal Metal Company's overseas sales manager Karl Yus had a smile all over his face: 'So, hearing that you need thick-wall P92 steel tubes, we came in person—this grade of steel tube can be made by only three steel companies worldwide, and we Rheinmetal are one of them! Moreover, our tubes perform the best!'"

Saying that, he produced a stack of documents: "Please, everyone, look at our steel tube's technical specifications."

The Old Factory Director also received a copy, which the other side thoughtfully translated into Chinese.

Chemical composition:

Carbon: 0.07~0.13%.

Chromium…

Mechanical properties:

Tensile strength: 620 MPa.

Yield strength: 440 MPa.

Elongation: …

The performance of this steel tube is indeed good, but the price is also not ordinarily high!

The others present, after looking at the document, also nodded in agreement.

"Old Factory Director, the performance of this steel tube is good; we should—"

The Old Factory Director sighed, said nothing, and merely gave a slight nod.

Song Ming spoke up: "How much for your steel tube per ton?"

"To our Eastern friends, we are most sincere, but in recent years the international community has been phasing out old boilers and installing new subcritical ones, so this steel tube has remained in a state of supply falling short of demand."

Karl Yus looked quite embarrassed: "If you place the order now, our quote is $150,000 per ton; if you wait until your power plant project breaks ground to order, the price could rise, possibly to $200,000."

The project has only just begun its feasibility study, construction will still take years; ordering now would be wasteful, but if we don't order now, the price will rise later!

"Wasn't the previous quote $120,000 per ton?" the Old Factory Director said.

"That was the old price; now… it has risen again. Recently, the price of this steel has been climbing…"

"What rise? It's just because they saw we need it!" the Old Factory Director clenched his fists.

"What we lack, the West will either ban sale of or demand a lofty price; unless we can produce it ourselves, we will forever be led by the nose."

The nuclear power plant needs at least five hundred tons of these thick-wall tubes, which works out to sixty million dollars! How much are the nation's foreign exchange reserves, anyway?

The Old Factory Director's face grew ever colder.

Bang!

Just then the door was flung open: "You're all in here! Old Factory Director, everyone, Ha Gong Da wants to order a new machine from us—with this machine we can produce as many thick-wall tubes as we want! Good grief, there are foreigners too?"

Zhao Dong widened his eyes.

Last night he had received the Ha Gong Da faculty and students, then brought up the vertical metal extruder, which made him happy; on the spot they discussed how to manufacture it, the talk went on until late at night, and since it wouldn't be appropriate to report to the plant leaders then, he arranged for the guests to stay at the guesthouse and went home to sleep.

Then… he overslept, came back to work, found nobody around, heard movement in the meeting room, and came straight over—little did he expect… there were foreigners!

Karl Yus's gaze also turned to Zhao Dong; his translator whispered a few words to him, and instantly his eyes widened.

"What machine do you intend to use to produce the thick-wall tubes?"

"Well…"

"Mr. Zhao, we Germans and you Easterners have always maintained good relations; we are both metal enterprises, we ought to cooperate and communicate with each other."

"All right." Zhao Dong nodded: "We plan to build a 36,000‑ton vertical metal extruder; with this machine we can directly turn steel ingots into thick-wall tubes…"

The specific technical details can't be disclosed, after all it's a Ha Gong Da design, but this simple plan can still be presented.

Karl Yus's heart gave a sudden jolt.

"These Easterners actually want to make this product? With such a big beast, won't they be able to make as many thick-wall tubes as they like? Given Eastern production costs… it would also be quite competitive internationally."

No, we must not let the Easterners build this machine!

"A metal extruder of this grade is very difficult; it's unlike a ten‑thousand‑ton hydraulic press, it extrudes upward, so the columns and such must bear great force—you'd be better off not going down this road, as it's prone to failure."

Karl Yus began to talk nonsense.

"Moreover, even if you had this machine and could make thick‑wall tubes, you still couldn't produce P92 steel that meets the ASTM A335M standard, so it would be utterly pointless."

"I never expected you to be this determined; I'm moved by your work ethic, so… I'll file a report with my company to get you the best possible price—I estimate we can reach $80,000 per ton."

From $150,000 per ton straight down to $80,000 per ton! This American's aloof‑then‑fawning attitude is precisely because… we Easterners are also going to build it! At this moment the Old Factory Director's mood is immensely complex.