The steel industry has always been the focus of the San Jose government. Argentina's steel industry has increased its production capacity 20 times compared to five years ago, but it is still far from meeting the needs of Argentina's economic development.
After all, Argentina was not so lucky to have the help of the Soviet Union or the United States. Argentina was not able to develop its steel industry independently. Even because it was isolated in South America, it was not as important as Brazil in the world.
Americans have never been a good thing to Argentines, even their biggest competitors. Argentine wheat and meat have never been able to enter the U.S. market, and even the European market is occupied by American agricultural products.
Not to mention industrial products, Argentina's current American industrial equipment is extremely scarce. Because the new president is opening up to the world, a number of Argentine companies have been acquired by large American companies at low prices, and competition pressure has become great.
These foreign investments, especially those from the United States, are not all industrial investments. They are more monopolistic, such as banks, tobacco, automobile assembly plants, and oil.
Fortunately, Argentina has smooth access to Western Europe. Without the United States, some advanced steel smelting technology and important production equipment can be imported to Argentina. You can always buy them by spending a little more money.
Steel is the foundation of an industrialized country. For Argentina to achieve preliminary industrialization, Saint Jose himself estimates that it will be enough to produce at least 80 million tons of steel per year. After all, the small South Korea produced 60 million tons of steel at its peak, and Japan also produced 1.2 billion tons.
Prioritizing the development of heavy industry requires investing a lot of money. Argentina had no money before and still has no money now. The La Pampa Provincial Hall is actually not rich either. It relies on a large amount of debt and customs taxes to barely maintain fiscal balance. Blanca City Hall is considered It's relatively rich, but after all, it hasn't really developed yet.
It seems unnecessary for the La Pampa Provincial Government Office, headed by San Jose, to build the La Pampa Grand Canal in advance. However, investing in infrastructure construction is after all a very good carriage for economic development, and can lead to better development. Riverine agriculture.
The total investment of the La Pampa Canal may exceed 200 million U.S. dollars, but it can bring a value of 500 million or even 1 billion, which is relatively cost-effective, and it can bring a population of 30-50%.
This project has been supported by the Presidential Palace. Buenos Aires will transfer a large number of unemployed people to the La Pampa Canal project. Most of these people come from the "poor towns" of Buenos Aires. Planting shantytowns, the prototype of future slums.
To alleviate the unemployment crisis, we received a low-interest loan of US$40 million from two Argentine national banks, a subsidy of US$2 million, and investment from three state-owned power companies, which alleviated more than half of the pressure.
The main force of Argentina's industrialization has become dominated by the military. Almost every general under President Aramburu controls several large factories, including a general who advocates the nationalization of the Rennes military industry.
This is San Jose's ally in the industrialization of Argentina. It is impossible for Argentine compradors to industrialize. These generals of the Ministry of National Defense are mainly in the military industry. Relations have improved. A lean camel is better than a horse. Largely, the development of Rennes Military Industry continues to move forward, although this military industrial group no longer belongs to Saint Jose.
Although Saint Jose is not an orthodox soldier, at least he was not promoted normally, he is now regarded as a high-ranking military official, and he has integrated into this circle.
In addition to the military industry, the automobile industry and the petrochemical industry are developing very fast. Overnight, Thunder Shield Automobile has 23 foreign competitors, mainly American and European automobile companies, such as Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Citroen, and Mercedes-Benz. New car plants are being built in Argentina, and these companies are big customers for future steel plants.
It takes two to three years to build a new car factory.
The same is true for the oil industry. The Federal Petroleum Reserve Company YPF signed a contract with the American Standard Oil Company to develop oil, which requires a lot of steel. This is a huge demand.
Returning to the canal project, this is just one of the infrastructure projects in the province of La Pampa. San Jose also needs to build a large amount of urban infrastructure. The dominance of the coastal highway has also been transferred from Blanca City to the provincial government office. There are plans to deepen the water depth of the Blanca Bay port and build various water conservancy facilities. The total investment is expected to exceed 1 billion US dollars.
However, the landlords did not have enough food left. Saint Jose had to go through a group of American companies, but it was not convenient. Sequoia Investment Bank even planned to acquire a commercial bank, but it was more difficult because the United States currently does not allow investment banks to control commercial banks. Financial "innovation" is required to do so.
In 1933, with the advent of the "Roosevelt New Deal" era, the U.S. Congress passed the famous financial risk control segregation bill "Glass-Steagall Act", which strictly separated commercial banks and investment banks.
If a U.S. commercial bank were established to conduct international investment and invest in Argentina, Argentina would be able to obtain more funds and loans, but this is not realistic. At least such an enemy cannot exist.
The core of Argentina's Cohen consortium is Barron's Bank. It is currently one of the largest private banks in Argentina, with total assets of more than 500 million US dollars, of which loans exceed 300 million US dollars. However, this is the data for all of Argentina. It is impossible to lend all the funds to Province of La Pampa.
Blanca Commercial Bank, a subsidiary of Blanca City Hall, is developing rapidly, but its ability to attract money is not strong. It can only lend out 100 million US dollars a year. In the final analysis, Argentina's overall economic strength is not strong enough, and no one is willing to save money.
Despite the difficulties in development, San Jose still established the Commercial Bank of La Pampa, which is the second commercial bank in La Pampa Province. In the past, no one in La Pampa Province knew how to open a bank. It was a money-losing business. Now I think It’s also very difficult to open, and the Provincial Government Office can’t pass it.
With a bank, you can raise funds. La Pampa Commercial Bank was established to absorb more deposits, but it currently cannot play a big role. Blanca Commercial Bank has also expanded to the limit.
However, these banks are more of a auxiliary. The core now is to develop the steel industry, which is also an industry that can always make money.
There are not too many steel plants in Argentina, but too few.
Twenty more La Plata steel plants would be enough.
Steel is also an important basic industry supporting the automobile, home appliance, shipbuilding, machinery and construction industries.
Argentina's automobile industry had a difficult start. The home appliance industry only produced some electric fans or bought spare parts to assemble some refrigerators. The shipbuilding industry still imported British diesel engines. This is no excuse not to develop the steel industry.
The development of the steel industry has a strong driving force on the upstream and downstream industries. Therefore, the development of the steel industry will help enhance Argentina's industrial competitiveness and ultimately promote the growth of Argentina's national economy.
The development of Argentina's steel industry can not only reduce the import of steel products and improve the foreign trade structure, but also lay the foundation for the development of heavy industry and promote the development of other industrial sectors.
Therefore, the La Pampa Provincial Department of Government promulgated the "Law on the Promotion of the Steel Industry", which clearly supports the expansion and growth of the two major steel companies in La Pampa, namely Blanca Steel Company and Hans Steel Company, and also launched the second steel industry promotion law. Three steel companies, Medanos Steel Associates.
The provincial government also provides various preferential conditions to private companies, such as long-term loans with lower interest rates, large-scale infrastructure construction, and cheap land.
The steel industry is a capital-intensive industry with very high production capacity barriers. Economies of scale can only be guaranteed with a certain degree of production capacity.
Therefore, the provincial government focused its resources on the steel industry and provided support in the form of finance, taxation, foreign loans and technological development.
San Jose's strategy is to build a representative state-owned enterprise and concentrate resources to cultivate it. Blanca Steel Company and Hans Steel Company are both private steel plants, and Blanca Steel Company is a steel plant of the Cohen Consortium. , Argentina's current largest La Plata steel plant is also a private steel plant.
Argentina currently does not have a large state-owned steel plant. The largest state-owned steel plant in Buenos Aires has an annual output of only 200,000 tons. This is because a new blast furnace was built in the past two years.
Therefore, San Jose used the State Assets Commission of La Pampa Province to establish the United Steel Company of Medanos in Medanos County on the southern shore of Blanca Bay, integrate state-owned factory resources, and develop state-owned steel companies.
Medanos County is located south of the Argelic District, where the provincial capital is located. It is a booming agricultural county with an area of 1,200 square kilometers and a population of 30,000. It is the largest suburban county in Blanca City. It has an excellent harbor. However, its economic development is lagging behind and cannot be compared with Alta, the largest district in Blanca City.
The coastal highway in La Pampa Province has begun to be constructed southward from Blanca City. There is no need to worry about traffic. The Medanos Port has also begun construction. Blanca City has now built more than 10 ports, distributed along the coast.
Sanjesé personally served as the head of Medanos United Steel Company. The La Pampa Provincial Office raised $30 million in loans to use the most cost-effective 500 cubic blast furnace technology to build the La Plata Steel Plant and the Blanca Steel Plant. Direct counterpart support to build new steel plants.
Originally, San Jose's original intention was to move the equipment from the Blanca Steel Plant directly, but his subordinates told him not to go too far, so he gave up.
The Medanos Steel Plant does not use the most advanced technology, but it is the largest state-owned factory of the La Pampa Provincial Office.
In less than a year since San Jose came to power, the overall debt of the La Pampa Provincial Office has quickly reached 180 million U.S. dollars. This is just the beginning. San Jose has begun to contact foreign banks, hoping to obtain more loans. For economic development, especially the development of the steel industry, as well as the petrochemical industry.
This is unavoidable, and loan development has become a necessary path. Although most of the 180 million are loans from American companies obtained through St. Hesse, mainly from Sequoia Investment Bank.
Taxation in La Pampa Province is currently useless. It is not as much as the money collected by Blanca Customs. The tax reform is still being debated. This is the lifeblood of the city hall and a big obstacle. Although most of the fiscal power is controlled .
But tax collection is still dominated by people below.
San Jose had to resort to external loans, but fortunately he was very good at this.
He has also begun to prepare for some cooperation with foreign consortiums or national levels, which will depend on the chips in hand.
As the chief executive of a province, he also has this qualification. The most urgent thing for St. Jose is actually to hook up with the Soviets, but it is too far away. The next best thing is Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy. If they can establish some Cooperation at the official level would be great, such as establishing a consulate or something like that.
Argentina is a country of immigrants and has relatively close relations with Europe. Saint Jose is also looking for channels to establish various foreign cooperation.
Some of his capital in the United States has also entered these European countries, and Prali International also has some investments in Europe.
But this time it is to obtain foreign investment. There are already many foreign companies in Blanca City, but the scale is too small.
It is impossible for these foreign companies to invest in the steel industry, and they still have to rely on themselves.
They can invest in high-profit industries, cars, oil, tobacco, but never steel.
Saint-Jesse's focus on attracting and obtaining investment from Western European countries is on other industries.
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Through the construction of the La Plata Steel Plant, Argentina has basically matured and mastered the construction of 500 cubic blast furnaces. However, the challenge now is not 500 cubic meters, but not 1,580 cubic meters, but a more difficult 2,000 cubic meters.
On the Coastal Industrial Avenue in Alta District, Blanca City, a super-large steel plant covering an area of 3,000 acres has begun to take shape. This is the headquarters of the second plant of Blanca Steel Company.
The planned total investment scale exceeds 100 million U.S. dollars, and the construction period is 3-5 years. The annual iron-making production capacity is expected to reach 5 million tons, and the annual steel-making production capacity of the Argentine super steel plant is 4 million tons. The scale of this plant is larger than the entire output of Argentina last year. More.
The first plant of Blanca Steel Company is located on the other side. It has now almost repaired 12 500 cubic meter blast furnaces and is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 4 million tons next year. However, the 500 cubic meter blast furnace can only be said to be a temporary measure after all.
Not far away is the new factory area of Hansi Steel Plant, which also covers an area of 2,000 acres. The construction scale of Hansi Steel Plant is 2 million tons of iron and 1 million tons of steel.
After the construction is completed, the Blanca Steel Plant will surpass the Hans Steel Plant and the La Plata Steel Plant to become a world-class steel plant.
After World War II, the steel production capacity of the world's major steel powers increased rapidly. Urbanization and the growth in the number and size of towns led to the expansion of infrastructure construction space, which increased steel production from the demand side. In addition, the development of international trade also stimulated the demand for steel. surge.
In countries such as Asia, Japan, New China, and India, steel production capacity has increased rapidly, and various new technologies have been applied. The fastest growing among them is Japan. Japan focuses on the development of heavy industry, investment in the steel industry has increased, and crude steel production has also surged. In the years after World War II, The average compound growth rate is as high as 22%, with Japan reaching 9.41 million tons and New China reaching 2.85 million tons.
With the support of the Soviet Union, New China started the First Five-Year Plan with the 156 Project as its core. After the implementation of the first Five-Year Plan, steel production may increase to more than 5 million tons.
In Europe, after the establishment of the Coal and Steel Community, Western Europe's steel production capacity has increased at a rate of almost 10 million tons per year, and supply exceeds demand. Among the three giants in Western Europe, West Germany has 21.34 million tons, the United Kingdom has 20.11 million tons, and France has 12.63 million tons.
The steel production capacity of the superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union has also grown rapidly. Last year, the United States had 106.17 million tons and the Soviet Union 45.27 million tons.
Last year, Argentina's steel production reached 3.2 million tons, ranking 13th in the world, lower than Italy, the Czech Republic, Canada, and the Netherlands. It did not enter the top ten as Saint Jose expected. Even so, Argentina's steel output is very amazing. Become the largest steel country in South America.
The main reason for the low steel production capacity is that the third blast furnace of the La Plata Steel Plant was put into operation at the end of last year and can only produce output this year. However, the Blanca Steel Plant built 12 500 cubic blast furnaces and the Hans Steel Plant built 6 500 cubic blast furnaces. The blast furnace is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year at the earliest. The blast furnace construction progress of other domestic private steel plants is not fast. From this point of view, Argentina's steel production is expected to lag behind again this year.
Through Thunder Mining, Saint-Jesse formed Australian Mining, Colombian Mining, and South African Mining to mine and purchase coal to ensure the coal needed for steelmaking.
In terms of domestic coal and mineral exploration, San Jose has newly established the Southern Mining Company to conduct geological exploration work in the Patagonia region. Argentina has so much peat. If several high-energy coal mines are found, it will be very good. Mitigating the risk of supply interruption.
In terms of iron ore, Prali International has established the Uruguay Iron Mine, the Northwest Iron Mine of Argentina, the Brazilian Iron Mine, and the Bolivian Iron Mine to ensure sufficient supply of iron ore.
The new steel plant uses a large number of advanced technologies. The size of the blast furnace will be an astonishing 2,000 cubic meters, which is larger than the 1,580 cubic meters of the La Plata Steel Plant. The technology is more complete and more energy-saving.
At the end of last month, capacity expansion was temporarily halted after the successful ignition of the third large blast furnace at the La Plata Steel Plant.
The vitality of the real steel industry is not here, but around the Blanca Special Steel Plant. The Special Steel Plant is the old factory area of the Blanca Steel Plant. It is mainly based on converters. After two years of expansion, the annual output is now With a steel capacity of 1.6 million tons, it is the second largest steelmaking plant in Argentina. It can produce a large number of important materials such as stainless steel, cast steel, steel plates, and spring steel. Its scale is second only to the La Plata Steel Plant.
Now Blancat Steel Plant has in-depth cooperation with Hans Steel Plant. After the molten iron comes out of the blast furnace of Hans Steel Plant, it is directly sent to the converter of the special steel plant for smelting and processing.
The most active steel market in Argentina is formed around the two major steel plants, which is much higher than the steel market in La Plata and Buenos Aires.
This market is inseparable from the support of Blanca City Hall. As the city with the largest urban growth in Argentina, Blanca City has a rapid increase in steel demand, road and bridge construction, real estate, construction industry, machinery, automobiles, shipbuilding, railways, etc. Industries such as petroleum require massive amounts of steel.
This also creates a lot of demand.
80% of these steel products are consumed domestically in Argentina, and the rest is exported.
Argentina's major industrial cities have acquired new steel production capacities such as La Plata and Blanca, and the economy has begun to return to normal growth. Other neighboring countries also hope to import steel from Argentina. This is why San Jose continues to build Blanca without stopping. Because of the steel factory, now you can earn a lot more money by producing one more ton of steel, which can be called a huge profit industry.
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