Chapter 807 – Grain storage
“Feng Yu, Beidacang had won two advertising slots in CCTV. Although it is expensive, the timing of the slots is quite good. We are going to market our Beidacang brand. What about our brand cooperation?” Zhang Ruiqiang looked at Feng Yu.
“You started working at Beidacang? Shouldn’t Niu Kun speak to me about this? I told him to discuss it with Zhang Ming. What’s the problem? Zhang Ming did not agree?” Feng Yu asked while trying to hold back his laughter.
Feng Yu had told Zhang Ming to delay their cooperation until Beidacang bought the advertisement slots from CCTV. Without Feng Yu’s approval, Zhang Ming will never agree to their collaboration.
Zhang Ming also wanted to wait and see. This Beidacang Group was too ambitious and does not have sufficient funds. He needs to see if the Provincial Government will pump in money into the company this year. If the Provincial Government provided some funds into Beidacang, then it will be worth cooperating. If the Provincial Government only wants to get the funds from the higher-ups and does not care about Beidacang, Zhang Ming will not work with them.
Tai Hua Food Products company is now famous throughout China. Although the investments and scale are not as significant as Beidacang, its worth had reached a few hundred million RMB. Its annual sales are more than 1 billion.
Zhang Ming wanted to wait until Beidacang fails, and he will persuade Feng Yu to acquire it or let Tai Hua Food Products get listed and use the funds to buy out Beidacang.
This way, Tai Hua Food Products will become Asia’s most prominent agricultural food products company. Zhang Ming will also stand to gain from it.
But Feng Yu stopped him. Feng Yu does not want to do this as this concerns all the farms in Longjiang Province. The farmers’ income will be affected if he did this. Feng Yu does not want to take advantage of those farmers. The Central and Provincial governments’ relationship with Feng Yu will sour, and Tai Hua Food Products company’s development will be affected.
That’s why even if Zhang Ruiqiang did not bring up this subject, Zhang Ming would also sign the cooperation agreement before Lunar New Year.
“I have lots of work in the City Government and the Provincial Government. I do not have time to manage Beidacang. Old Niu is still waiting for Zhang Ming’s reply. He had no choice but to ask me for help. You don’t tell me that Zhang Ming or your father is the decisionmaker. I know you are the one who makes all these decisions.”
Zhang Ruiqiang knew Feng Yu when he was starting out. He had seen Feng Yu’s business expanded step by step. All the crucial decisions in Feng Yu’s companies were decided by him!
“This Zhang Ming…… I have told him that we must work with our hometown companies. Don’t worry. I will call him later to scold him.” Feng Yu ‘angrily’ replied.
Zhang Ruiqiang rolled his eyes.
“Since we will be cooperating, will you help us with our grain products exportation? Russia’s demand had fallen a lot this year.”
Zhang Ruiqiang was frustrated when he mentioned this. Russia had been buying grains from China, especially from Longjiang Province.
But these few years, Russia’s farming industry had recovered faster than expected. This was not because of the Russians, but Longjiang farmers.
Because of Feng Yu’s suggestion to export farmers, many Longjiang farmers went to Russia to rent their land. The City provided loans to the farmers and helped them to rent Russia farmlands and machinery.
The farmers’ income had increased several folds!
But this created another problem. Russia’s demand for Longjiang food supplies fell because its own food supply had increased.
Russia’s eastern regions had similar climate as Longjing. When Longjiang farmers went over to Russia, they could cultivate the wastelands there. This increases Russia’s domestic food supply, and Longjiang’s farm produce could not be sold to them!
Soybeans, corn, wheat, and beetroots. These were the 4 main farms produce. The demand from Russia had fallen more than half. Of course, Longjiang province was not the only affected party. Other food exportation countries were also affected.
Beidacang was newly established and their first year’s produce was unsold. This was a failure!
Zhang Ruiqiang knew Feng Yu had connections in Russia. His Songjiang Motor vehicles could be exported to Russia and even sold to the Russian government and military. It should not be a problem for him to sell Longjiang’s crops to Russia.
Feng Yu had heard about this from his father. His father told him that the crop prices had fallen this year. But luckily the Provincial Government had controlled the crop prices, and they did not make any losses. Their profits were much lower compared to last year.
Feng Yu had only wanted to help the Longjiang farmers increase their incomes and help Uncle Wen to get some credit. He did not expect his suggestion to affect Longjiang province’s economy.
Feng Yu thought back. No wonder Russia agreed readily then. Although they had given up some of their lands, they got the rental and cheap grains in return. Russia’s grain prices were slightly lower than the Longjiang. Overall, Russia had gained more than Longjiang province!
Feng Yu scratched his head. With Kirilenko’s help, it should not be a problem to export Longjiang’s crops to Russia. Even if Russia does not need these crops, the other former Soviet Union countries still have high demand. Should I ask Brother Ki for help?
Eh? Wait. Why should we sell off those crops? We should start storing up the crops this year!
“We do not need to sell those crops. We can store the wheat, corn, soybeans, etc. in our grain depot for emergency. If the grain prices increase next year, our value will increase too.”
There will be a few natural disasters and flooding in two years. If they store part of their harvest these two years, it will be enough for them to tide over the difficult times in 1998. If not, food production in 1998 will decrease, and Beidacang’s cost will increase a lot. They will no longer be competitive.
“Why would the grain prices increase suddenly? Furthermore, our exportation to Russia is affected, and the grain prices should drop.” Zhang Ruiqiang could not understand what Feng Yu said this. Feng Yu should be able to understand this simple logic.
“What if our crops supply drop? Our Longjiang province has 3 rivers. If there is a sudden flood, those farms in the lowlands will be gone.”
“What are you talking about? Do you wish for there to be natural disasters?!” Zhang Ruiqiang retorted.
Feng Yu was feeling helpless. He could not explain how he knows that there will be severe flooding in the future. People will see him as a conman!
“I am saying what if. What’s wrong with preparing for the worst? We never know when disaster will strike.”
Feng Yu was trying to persuade Zhang Ruiqiang to store their crops, and Zhang Ruiqiang felt something was off……