Greece’s Roman Road - Chapter 304
“In short, when a war breaks out in Europe, it is difficult for Greece to be spared. Your company is the mainstay of the Greek national economy. You must take precautions against a war that is likely to come.” Constantine turned to the conference table. The crowd, said earnestly.
“Greece’s main commodity export market, once involved in the war, the original trade may be interrupted”
The new manager of Greek Steel Company, Curtis said with a sad face: “For steel companies, the coal problem is only one of the problems. Even if they can hoard some coal, it is still a drop in the bucket for the huge coal consumption of steel companies. “
When buying a large amount of coal, the first problem is that it takes up too much capital, and the second is management and storage.
A large amount of coal is piled together for a long time, and it is easy to spontaneously ignite.
“Secondly, there is the issue of the source of iron ore. When the war was going on, the price of industrial raw materials such as iron ore was very sensitive. During the two Balkan wars, the price of iron ore in southern Spain increased several times. This only happened in the Balkan Peninsula. Small-scale wars with limited impact on the prices of industrial raw materials”
“It is hard to imagine how high the price of iron ore will be if there is a war that affects the whole of Europe. I am afraid that even if the air route between Greece and Spain can be smooth and not affected by the war, Greece’s steel production capacity will drop significantly.”
Everyone in the conference room remained silent. The source of coal and iron ore in Greece has not been a day or two, and there has been no good solution.
In order to solve the coal problem, Greek businessmen, with the support of the government, have been trying to obtain the right to develop the Zonguldak coal field in the Ottoman Empire.
This coal field is the only fat coal field in the Balkans and Asia Minor, and the coal is a rare high-quality hard coal.
In Asia Minor and the Balkans, only the Zonguldak region contains hard coal.
In addition, the location of the coal mine is also very good, located in the coastal area of Asia Minor in the southwest of the Black Sea, not far from the Bosphorus Strait.
The coal mined can be loaded on ships nearby, passing through the Bosphorus Strait, and going directly to Thessaloniki or Athens.
Moreover, the coal seam of this coal mine is shallow and can be mined in the open pit, and it is not difficult to mine.
If Greece can obtain coal deposits in the region, it can completely solve one of the long-standing problems that plagued the Greek economy, the source of hard coal.
This was the dream of Constantine and the Greek business community.
To be honest, although Greece is rich in wine, the money from exporting wine every year is not enough to import coal from Britain.
In 1913, the export value of Greek wine reached 75 million drachmas.
In 1913, Greece spent nearly 80 million drachmas on British coal imports.
It’s just that the Ottoman government has always blocked the Greeks from doing so.
First of all, the composition of coal reserves in the Ottoman Empire is surprisingly similar to that in Greece. Lignite reserves are very rich, but there is no better quality coal.
For the Ottoman Empire, it was also the only source of high-quality coal.
If the Ottoman Empire planned to develop its own steel industry, the hard coal of Zonguldak was also indispensable.
Secondly, the lack of coal in Greece is not a secret at all, and the Ottoman Empire also deliberately prevented Greece from acquiring the Zonguldak coal mine so as not to finance the enemy state.
After all, the relationship between the two countries has been in a state of mutual hostility for a long time. Greece’s economic development speed is fast enough, wouldn’t it be more powerful to acquire the Zonguldak coal mine?
Until now, the coal in Zonguldak is still under the control of the Ottomans, with backward technology, slow efficiency and extremely low output.
And also not for sale to Greece.
Now that the issue of Greek coal is mentioned again, Constantine can’t help drooling over the Zonguldak coal mine.
Constantine once sponsored a group of adventurous teams, including several geologists, who privately traveled to the Zonguldak region to explore for coal mines.
The news they reported was that the coal-bearing area of the coal mine is huge, and the coal-bearing areas include Zonguldak-Kezilu, Kirekiliko, Alajia and other places. It is conservatively estimated that it has reached 100 million tons of coal reserves. The quality is fat coal.
Since then, Constantine has been obsessed with this coal mine.
The outgoing Governor of Congo, Banning, who just returned to Greece, also participated in the meeting this time.
Seeing that both Crown Prince Constantine and Prime Minister Venizelos were worried about the supply of coal and iron ore in Greece, they said: “If only the shortage of coal and iron ore is solved in wartime, available from the Congo”
Banning’s speech instantly attracted everyone’s attention to him, so he explained to everyone: “Congo does not lack coal and iron ore, but because Congo is located in the interior of Africa, the transportation is inconvenient. Stone, if you want to transport it to Greece, you have to go through the Congo River inland river shipping, railway, and arrive at the port of Matadi at the mouth of the Congo River before it can be loaded on ocean-going ships.”
“Every change of transportation in the middle will push up the price of coal and iron ore.”
“For a long time, our company has discovered a lot of iron ore and coal mines when developing mines in Africa, but from an economic point of view, they lack mining value.”
Congo has developed very maturely, and a steady stream of agricultural products are transported to Greece every year.
However, as Greece gained Macedonia, the status of the Congolese colonies tended to decrease in importance.
In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of the people to develop the Macedonian wasteland, the government intends to maintain the domestic food price in Greece, and does not want to see cheap agricultural products from the Congo impact the domestic food market in Greece.
After last year’s Macedonian development, a large number of crops were planted in the wasteland of Macedonia, and a bumper harvest was obtained.
Obviously, in the eyes of Greek government officials, Macedonia is much more important than Congo.
And Greek individuals or companies investing in the cultivation of agricultural products in Congo are now in an embarrassing situation.
For a long time, agricultural products produced in Congo, such as rice, sugar cane, timber, etc., have been continuously shipped to Greece.
In terms of mineral deposits, Constantine will naturally not forget the Congo, which is known as the “world raw material warehouse” and “Central African gem” in later generations.
At present, Greek companies in Congo have developed gold, manganese, chromium, tungsten, lead-tin-nickel and other rare metal deposits.
The only large-scale industrial metal developed by Greece in the Congo is copper.
Because the value of copper mines is relatively high, even if the transportation cost is higher, it can be afforded.
For late-developing countries in industrialization, the lack of resources is often a problem, because scarce resources are often in the hands of big countries.
For a long time, in the process of industrial development in Greece, in addition to the headaches of coal and iron, Greece has never lacked those rare metals.
The copper mines in the Katanga province of Congo have been transporting 20,000 tons of copper ore to Greece every year in recent years.
In addition, the rubber trees invested and planted by Greek companies in the Congo have also passed the production period and ushered in a prosperous period. A large amount of rubber is produced every year, which can not only meet the domestic use in Greece, but also be exported to European countries.
As Andros Machinery’s cars continued to roll off the assembly line, the Greek auto industry boomed, and the use of rubber in tires began to grow on a large scale.
It is also the vast rubber plantation in Congo, which gives Greece no worries about the development of the automobile industry.
As for coal and iron mines, Constantine has never heard of any company developing in Congo.
Curtis interjected: “For a long time, steel mills have been short of coal and iron ore. We also thought of using Congolese coal and iron ore for smelting, but the freight is too high.”
“We have calculated that if the steel mills in Greece use Congolese coal and iron ore, then we may not be as cost-effective as importing finished steel directly from other countries. The price is too uncompetitive.”
“Besides, the war in Europe will end in a few months, and the exploitation of resources will take a long time from the start of investment to the official production, at least several months are indispensable.”
“If we start investing now in mining coal and iron ore in Congo, and in a few months, when the war is over, the prices of commodities come down, and it’s still more economical to buy coal from Europe, then our investment in Congo will be wasted. Is it?”
Constantine, however, was very interested in Banning’s proposal.
If the war in Europe is over in a matter of months, it would be foolish to invest in coal and iron mines in Congo.
The question is, what if the war in Europe becomes a protracted war?
“In this case, we plan for the worst, Curtis, the duration of the war, we can’t predict, if the trend of the war, unlike you said, ends in just a few months. , then what should Greece do?” Constantine asked rhetorically.
Andros, the manager of the Andros Machinery Factory, also came to participate in the conference room in person, and echoed Constantine’s point of view: “His Royal Highness is right, it is better for us to lose some money, but also to guarantee the coal and coal of Greece. Unobstructed supply channels of iron ore”
Andros Machinery Plant is a major steel consumer in Greece. With the popularity of cars, the consumption of steel is still increasing day by day. Once the steel plant stops production due to lack of raw materials, the Andros Machinery Plant will soon face a crisis.
After all, the products of Andros, whether it is a car, a truck or a tractor, are inseparable from steel.
“In this way, the worst result is that the coal and iron mines invested in Congo will be invested in vain. We can still bear this loss.” Venizelos also nodded in agreement.
“In exchange, no matter how the situation in Europe develops, as long as the shipping routes in Europe are not affected, Greece does not have to worry about the supply of coal and iron being cut off.”
“Your steel plant can contact the mining companies in Congo to discuss the development of coal and iron mines there, and come up with a plan as soon as possible,” Constantine made a decision.
Facing Banning, Andros praised his deeds very much: “Governor Banning has been running Congo for more than 20 years. Without your efforts and the excellent work of the Congolese government, the industrial development of Greece will definitely not be as it is now. smoothly”
“In my car factory, all car tires are made of Congo rubber”
All the rubber used in the cars produced by Andros comes from rubber plantations in Congo, which makes Andros very fond of Banning, who has helped Constantine manage Congo for many years.
With the rise of the automobile industry, especially the rapid development of the American automobile industry, the price of rubber has risen, and rubber forests have become a scarce resource.
Banning smiled calmly: “Actually, the reason why the rubber forest in the Congo has its current scale is largely due to the insistence of Crown Prince Constantine, who has just been crowned as the king of the Congo, and has played an important role. Influence, allowing Greeks to invest in rubber planting in Congo”
“At that time, rubber was not as widely used as it is now. Now the development of the rubber industry in Congo is due to the forward-looking foresight of Crown Prince Constantine.”
“If a full-scale war really breaks out in Europe, the Congolese rubber alone could make a lot of Greeks a fortune.”
Hearing the two talking about rubber, Constantine also remembered that after the outbreak of the First World War, the price of rubber skyrocketed.
Constantine vaguely remembers that during the First World War, the price of rubber almost returned to its 1910 peak.
Even so, not anyone who wants to buy can buy it.
Because all ships, cars, submarines, and planes need rubber, and even artillery needs rubber, the participating countries in the war rushed to buy rubber everywhere.
When I visited Congo last time, I also inspected the rubber plantations there.
“Banning, how much is the area of rubber planting in Congo now? Can you give me a detailed introduction?” Thinking of this, Constantine immediately asked with concern.
Banning replied respectfully, “His Royal Highness, about 100,000 mu.”
“Dispersed in various parts of the Congo, the rubber plantation is too large and prone to problems, especially once there are pests and diseases, the rubber production will drop significantly, requiring too many workers, and it is not easy to recruit people.”
“So a rubber plantation is usually around four or five thousand mu. Usually, there are only 60 or 70 workers, and it is easy to manage. When it comes to the busy season of rubber cutting, each rubber plantation will urgently recruit additional short-term workers.”
“Now the price of rubber has risen slightly every year~www.mtlnovel.com~ The market has been rising all the way, and generally speaking, the income is good. It depends on the specific management level of each rubber plantation. If the management is ineffective, it will also lose money. If It’s a very bad situation when it comes to wind and rain and outbreaks of pests.”
Constantine continued to ask him: “How much rubber is generally produced, what is the income, and how is the global market for rubber?”
When the participants heard the crown prince talking about Congo’s rubber, they also listened carefully.
Banning responded: “The rubber plantations in Congo are all about 20 years old trees. They have passed the growth period and produce a relatively large amount of rubber.”
“Usually one acre of rubber plantation yields close to three hundred pounds of dry rubber, compared to a newly planted rubber plantation that usually has only one hundred and eighty pounds per acre, and it takes about ten years to increase to three hundred pounds year by year. After 30 years, the harvest will gradually decline, and at this time, it is usually cut off and replanted.”
“According to the statistics of the Congolese government, the 100,000 acres of rubber forests in Congo produced 18 million pounds of dry rubber last year, at a price of two shillings per pound, and the income was about 1.7 million pounds, after deducting all expenses. and the earliest investment, almost a million pounds in profit last year”
“According to local rubber businessmen, the total value of rubber imported by the United States exceeded 10 million pounds last year, and it is also the country with the highest import of rubber in the world. More than half of the world’s markets are in the United States. In other words, the total global import and export of rubber is now At the scale of about 20 million pounds, the United States imports the most, followed by Germany and France, and the United Kingdom imports less.”
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