How a Calamity Necromancer Retires

Kim Tae-ryeong left a bluff saying that he would regret it.

However, unlike those bluffs, things went quietly without major incidents.

That’s why I continued to increase the production by increasing the number of ships without any special measures.

Then one day.

“How are you?”

Deokbae Kim said with a firm expression.

“That’s right. The Chinese government has decided to impose tariffs on South Korean zinc and copper to protect its miners.”

Just as Hwaryeong Mining accounted for 20 percent of the world’s zinc mining market, China was the world’s number one zinc miner and smelter at the same time.

So, with the recent increase in production, Chinese smelters were also showing interest in the zinc developed by Seron, but the Chinese government stepped in and imposed tariffs on Korean copper and zinc.

“How much did you charge?”

“Twenty-five percent.”

“and. Are these bastards crazy?”

It was only a 5 percent discount, but if a 25 percent tariff is imposed, there is no reason for Chinese smelters to buy Zinc and Copper from Seron Development.

It is said that the moment you cross the sea and arrive in China, an additional 25% tax will be added.

“I’m pretty sure the Chinese government is behind them, too.”

All land in China is owned by the state.

Of course, in such a situation, there is no way the government will give mining rights to a company that has nothing to do with them.

So, I expected that there would be a connection with the Chinese government, but to come out like this.

“Isn’t there an FTA between Korea and China? Can we just raise tariffs like this?”

FTA agreement to eliminate each other’s tariffs.

“When I inquired, they said that when the FTA was signed a few years ago, they thought there would be no export of minerals, so they were not included in the agreement at all.”

“…well, it’s worth it.”

The FTA agreement is indeed a fierce push and pull.

Because it is the basic logic that they want to abolish tariffs that will be advantageous to them, and want to maintain tariffs that will be disadvantageous to them.

That’s why each other gives up what to give up and brings what to bring, and negotiations take place over several months. In such an important negotiation, there’s no way they put their negotiating power on a mineral whose export potential was close to 0% at the time.

“Anyway, so you’re saying there’s no way to do it?”

“I think we will have to give up exports to China for the time being.”

Obviously, not being able to sell minerals to a country that smelts and produces the most copper and zinc in the world is a huge loss.

But it doesn’t matter.

I said with a bright smile.

“Right, what.”

Why do countries around the world always struggle with the supply and demand of raw materials?

That’s because one raw material is affected by the fluctuations, and the secondary and tertiary industries derived from it are all affected.

“Let’s play a game of chicken properly. Even if it’s not the case, they’re clamoring for it’s too expensive, but I’ll supply it cheaply, well.”

But what if I supply zinc at a lower price than the market price?

It doesn’t matter to the smelter anyway, they just buy it at the market price, process it, and then resell it, so it doesn’t matter. If raw materials are supplied at such a low price, manufacturers also reduce their cost, so it’s only mining companies that suffer losses and die because raw material prices are cheap.

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Moreover, since zinc and copper are both essential raw materials, both of which are ranked in the top 4 of the world’s most used metals, the effect will be further maximized.

“China is overwhelming, but zinc smelters are not only in China, are they?”

Just as Korea, which has no resources at all, has a sizable zinc smelter, most countries, large or small, have smelters because smelters are a national industry.

If cheap zinc is supplied to these smelters, companies that receive products from those smelters can make products cheaper, which naturally leads to a deterioration in the competitiveness of Chinese companies that have no choice but to use expensive zinc.

“Both copper and zinc are 20 percent off.”

So, take this opportunity to discipline yourself, well.

It’s just exactly that it’s a little more expensive than the Chinese tariff, so I can’t do it either.

Of course, it is not enough to break down the strong cartel with the power of the development of Seron, which only has a mere 6-7 percent of the world market share.

However, the story is different when it comes to the future Seron.

“And prepare for the press conference.”

“What content should I prepare?”

I said with a bright smile.

“Future Plans for Seron Development.”

*

“Seron development will make Korea a raw material powerhouse through more active submarine mine development, and will also strive to stabilize the recently soaring raw material price by supplying more minerals to the global market.”

At my words, the reporter raised his hand and said.

“How much do you plan to add to your supply?”

“We plan to build at least 70 mining vessels within a year and triple our production.”

“Three times as many as now?!”

Then the reporters said with their eyes shining.

“This means that if Seron’s production triples now, copper and zinc supply will rise by nearly 20 percent in a year.”

“Is that enough to cause the price to plummet?”

As the electric vehicle spreads and the flow changes to the information age, the consumption of core metals copper and zinc increases every year, but the supply only increases by 2% per year.

Because of this, copper and zinc, whose prices have continued to soar.

But at this time, Seron suddenly appeared and tripled production within a year, saying that a whopping 20% supply bomb would fall.

Of course, these supply bombs lead to price drops.

However, this was the order of the day anyway.

Because I was thinking of continuing to increase production for the time being.

But even so, the reason I haven’t announced future plans was because I had no reason to lose money by causing a sharp price drop with my own hands, but since I used my hand to say I didn’t listen, I have to fight back.

‘I heard that all the major zinc mining companies are gathered. Compared to losing 6 percent of the public development, isn’t losing 94 percent of you much more overwhelming?’

Besides, my position is different from companies that mine only minerals, which are the main items in limited mines.

What if copper and zinc crash?

Then, like Japan, among the countries that want to develop their own submarine minerals, it is enough to join forces with countries that have minerals other than copper and zinc to mine the minerals again.

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Minerals aren’t just copper and zinc, are they?

The world of minerals is truly diverse, so just change the position of the submarine mining ship and skeleton developed by Seron Development to mine another mineral that does not fall in price, and that’s it.

In a word, this chicken game was an event that I had to lose in the first place so I couldn’t lose.

It’s because I can always switch to a mineral that makes money.

In the first place, it was said that production would be tripled, but it never said that copper and zinc were the targets.

There is aluminum, there is manganese, there are rare earths, how many.

‘uh? Wait, rare earth?’

One of China’s usual actions was to use its 83 percent global share of rare earths as a weapon.

Right now, in Japan alone, in the territorial dispute with China, did not it eventually give up its pride and take a step back from China’s threat to ban rare earth exports?

‘Shall we look into rare earths?’

Of course, I know that various contaminants come out during the refining process, but I need to find out.

anyway.

I looked at the reporters and said.

“Do you have any questions?”

Then the reporters raised their hands and said.

“When will the S-class bodyguard skeleton be released…”

“I heard that Seron Shoes recently signed a contract with the world’s largest shoe maker…”

Reporters pouring out questions about not only Seron development but also other businesses.

I answered their questions appropriately, then checked the time and said,

“Today’s press conference ends here. I have a lot of work to do.”

As I went down the podium, I muttered quietly.

“ruler. I rolled the ball, so take care of yourself. Because I don’t care either way.”

*

The news that the development of Seron lowered the price of copper and zinc by 20 percent, and the press conference to triple production in the future, greatly shaken the international market price of zinc and copper.

Unsurprisingly, mining companies have been the most sensitive to this.

“You madman!”

Wang Baekchi, general manager of Hwaryeong Mining, said angrily.

“what? Lowering prices by 20 percent and tripling production in one year? Isn’t it crazy that even if you raise the price, it won’t be enough?!”

Then Kim Tae-ryeong said with a firm expression.

“Anyway, he seems very determined. Talking about news like this with your own mouth.”

Holding a press conference encouraging the price of raw materials to fall, and even lowering the price.

This was something a typical raw material producer would never do.

“Maybe it’s a response to the imposition of tariffs…”

“What kind of response is this guy who runs business if he’s not in his right mind!”

Kim Tae-ryeong sighed and said.

“ha. I don’t think I touched you for nothing.”

“no. He was someone I would have to stick with someday anyway.”

The development of Seron, which supplies minerals through a completely new route, with existing companies that have already established themselves and adjusted their production to benefit.

Conflict between the two was inevitable.

That’s why I appeased first, and when I refused to appease, I put Kangsu, and Seron responded with Kangsu in the same way.

“If 6 percent is a lot, it’s a lot, but it’s not enough to shake the world market as a whole. Now, I was shaken by the press conference to increase production, but I will go back to my place.”

However, despite Wang Baekchi’s words, Kim Tae-ryeong still spoke with a serious expression.

“But if you really tripled production in a year, the crash would be real.”

“So we should make them bend even more before then. sh*t. Even if he wasn’t only SS class…”

“Then what will you do?”

“We contacted other companies and lowered our prices.”

Wang Baekchi said with a cold face.

“We have to show that the only competition is destruction.”

*

Zinc mining companies following Seron and lowering prices.

Of course, it’s not as much as Seron, but it’s 10 percent, but it’s proof that they’re seriously fighting this fight.

But there’s no harm in doing that to me.

“Here it is.”

After checking the materials the professor handed to me, I said with my eyes shining.

“Hey. Many, many.”

I asked the professor for a list of major minerals in areas where each country holds seabed mining rights in preparation for a sharp drop in copper and zinc prices.

Although the profitability was low and commercial mining was not carried out, it was not very difficult to obtain data because most countries had investigated what minerals were under the seabed.

Of course, the list is full of all kinds of minerals that exist on earth.

“It’s not bad because it uses a lot of aluminum. oh. Is there a manganese in the Korean area?”

Unlike submarine hydrothermal deposits, which mainly contain copper and zinc, manganese shells mainly contain manganese and cobalt.

“Both manganese and cobalt are essential minerals in battery manufacturing. In terms of price, manganese is comparable to copper, and cobalt is about 10 times more expensive.”

“Oh oh!”

“In contrast, the overall size of the market itself is small. Together, roughly half of the copper market? However, with the spread of electric vehicles, we expect the market to more than double in size in the next few years.”

I said with a smile on my face.

“Good, good.”

That means you can dominate the market more easily.

Besides, the reason I asked for this data is to prepare a plan B that can be avoided at any time since they are targeting copper and zinc now, nothing less.

“It is infinite, minerals.”

“Of course. That’s why it’s not common to call seafloor resources a black bonanza. Of course, well… Seron is the first to commercialize it properly.”

“I admit it.”

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My opponent is holding only one hand, but I am literally all the minerals that exist on earth are different from my hand.

“ah. By the way, professor, what about the rare earths?”

“You mean rare earths?”

“Are there any rare earths on the ocean floor?”

“Of course there is.”

yes.

I knew there would be

“Especially, the subsea rare-earth deposits in the waters of Japan are of considerable size. In fact, the Japanese government is preparing to mine rare earths using unmanned submersibles.”

“japan?”

Could this be what you suggested then?

“By the way, I heard that rare earth elements pollute the environment, is that true?”

“you’re right. Rare earths tend to be distributed near radioactive materials, but the problem is that these rare earths are distributed in very small amounts and over a wide range. Since the content is so low, a large amount of rocks must be dug up, crushed, and refined, but there is no way to prevent radioactivity from leaking out during this process. But if it’s an undersea rare earth…”

The professor said with his eyes shining.

“I think we can reduce that pollution considerably. Subsea deposits have already undergone the first refining with lava, so the content is very high.”

A rare earth element that can only be obtained in extremely small quantities by crushing it in large quantities.

However, it was said that the seafloor rare earths, thanks to nature’s primary refinement, are high in content, which can reduce damage from radioactive leakage.

“By the way, doesn’t that mean that you can’t stop the release of radiation at all?”

“It can’t be helped. But that alone is great. While China crushes and refines so many rocks for rare earth refining, it is done in open ground, but this is still high in content, so it can be refined in a small space prepared for radioactive leakage.”

“Ohh.”

It’s a rare earth.

Even if it wasn’t so, didn’t China’s weaponization of rare earths have such a great influence that even the United States was embarrassed and its proud Japan backed down?

If I can produce this on my own, it will be absolutely welcomed by countries hostile to China, such as the United States and Japan.

At the same time, it would be foolish not to do this because it could destroy China’s key strategic resources that touched me.

But no matter how little contamination there is, radioactivity can leak out during the refining process, right?

“If we did this in Korea, it would be a mess.”

But then an idea comes to mind.

“You said there are rare earth deposits in Japan, right?”

“There may be other places, but Japan is the closest and largest.”

If you say you do it in Korea, it’s obvious that people will rise up, but the situation is a bit different in Japan.

The fact that Japan succumbed to China’s pressure on rare earth elements in the territorial dispute is an important event that left a big scratch on the pride of the Japanese government and people.

That’s why Japan has been struggling to secure rare earth elements somehow since then, but that attempt has never been successful.

Wouldn’t Japan accept the radioactivity of the first-refined seafloor rare earth?

I said with my eyes shining.

“I think we should seriously talk about this with the Japanese government.”