America: My Time

Chapter 1064 The Neon's Compromise

Chapter 1054 The Neon's Compromise

Seeing Akio Morita's expression, John smiled calmly and said, "I have no other intentions, nor do I want to take advantage of you. I just want to sell my goods in Japan, including non-ferrous metals and energy. As you know, Quantum Mining has its own smelter, and Western Energy also has its own oil fields, refineries, and chemical plants. So they are quite interested in the Japanese market!"

John is acutely aware of Japan's current situation. They desperately need more cheap goods, energy, and raw materials; otherwise, a recovery is impossible. Commodity trading isn't something just anyone can do. John currently controls a significant amount of non-ferrous metals, as evidenced by Quantum Mining's expansion. Much of Russia's wealth has fallen into Quantum Mining's hands, and John has also benefited considerably from other countries that seceded from Russia.

"I will raise this with my superiors, but whether it will succeed is beyond my control. However, Sony also needs cheap goods and raw materials, and we can cooperate." Akio Morita was quite tempted by John's proposal. John currently controlled a huge amount of cheap resources, much of which were traded from Russia.

Although Russia has dissolved, trade between John and Russia has never stopped. In addition to energy, steel, and timber, John provides them with meat, grain, and light industrial products. Russia today is not the Russia of the future; it is also a grain exporter, and their demand for grain is still very high.

John's wine group's biggest customer is Russia, given its huge demand. The same goes for India, as John can offer the lowest prices at his wineries in Southeast Asia, something others can't do.

“I understand, I just want to achieve mutual benefit with everyone!” John’s calm expression made Akio Morita unable to see through his true thoughts, but just the fact that John said such a thing under these circumstances made him feel that there must be more to it than met the eye. John must not be just making a small scheme, but simply trying to cooperate with them.

This guy was right. John is indeed more than that. He has made so many arrangements, and it's not as simple as it seems on the surface. John has already established the Intercontinental Exchange in Portland, which deals in energy and non-ferrous metals, and even other things that he can't do yet. After all, John has been preparing for these two for many years. Moreover, Western Energy and Quantum Mining also control a lot of resources. Now he just needs to increase his brand awareness, open up more markets, and gain more market share.

John's goal isn't just to build an ordinary exchange; it's to create a global trading network. This system is already under development and has made significant breakthroughs. With the completion of the submarine communication cable, John has been making numerous preparations to get ahead of the internet age. Compared to stock trading, this will make many people uneasy, especially those on Wall Street. While futures will also cause them concern, the impact will be much smaller, at least not as conflicting with their interests.

John was also prepared for the settlement business; Standard Chartered Bank was enough. Now, as long as he could deal with the Japanese, the problem wouldn't be too big. Moreover, the current dire situation in Japan gave him more opportunities to enter the Japanese market, especially the meat market. After all, John, who was eager to expand agricultural output, wouldn't let go of such a large market as Japan, as well as the market in South Korea.

Energy is of paramount importance to Japan, a fact that Akio Morita is well aware of. As one of the energy giants, Western Energy is a force he cannot ignore. Moreover, John's crude oil reserves in Asia are enormous and ongoing, showing no signs of stopping. In particular, trade between Russia and Japan continues, using the most primitive form of barter, which is something many people find hard to believe.

"No, I agree. If we let this guy into the Japanese market, it will have a significant impact on us. Quantum Mining's steel group has the largest crude steel production capacity and also has high-end products. If he enters our market, it will definitely impact the Japanese steel industry, and even the entire Japanese smelting industry. The same goes for the energy sector. We can't let him control our lifeline!"

"This won't work, that won't work, we're always worrying about this and that. But if we don't agree, the pressure on ourselves will only increase. Banks are already going through a series of defaults. If this continues, there's no hope for Japan's economy. I think we should put aside our prejudices and cooperate with them. What Japan needs now is cheap products and cheap raw materials, and they have all of that!"

When Akio Morita brought John's 'demands' back, the Japanese had different options. Those who were stubborn refused, believing this shouldn't be happening to Japan, that they shouldn't compromise, and that it would threaten Japan's safety, putting their lifeline in John's hands. "Actually, it's not about putting our lifeline in John's hands. Even if we refuse, even if we don't want to cooperate, how will we meet our own needs? Compared to others, I'd rather cooperate with him. After all, his integrity is beyond question, and previous events have made us understand how much pressure the situation is putting on us. Cooperation isn't a problem, as long as he can supply us with enough cheap resources, everything is negotiable."

Nowadays, Taiwan and South Korea have snatched a lot of ship orders from Japan. The reason is simple: they have enough cheap steel, while Japan does not. Even though Japan has already cut costs as much as possible, the difference in raw material prices is not so easy to bridge, not to mention labor costs.

Now that Bentley's car factory in Taiwan has started production, Japan's market share in the Taiwanese car market has been affected, and even their market in Southeast Asia has been impacted. Although this market is not very large now and cannot be compared with North America and Europe, it has still had a significant impact on them.

John used low-grade iron ore to disrupt Japan's market share. Lower labor costs and cheaper iron ore prices allowed him to directly capture a large share of the global crude steel market, leaving the Japanese with no chance to fight back! In a price war, Japan is no match for Quantum Mining, which truly controls its own raw materials, something Japan cannot do.

"That's right. As long as we have cheap raw materials, everything is negotiable. Why are those Koreans able to impact our global market share in automobiles and shipbuilding orders? It's because they have cheaper raw materials. If we had the same raw materials, they wouldn't be our competitors at all. We could crush them!"

For many Japanese conglomerates, what they need now is stability. The continuous bank defaults are putting a lot of pressure on them, as are the schemes of the oil tycoons. In particular, the US response has angered them. Now that there are cheap resources available, they have no choice but to compromise.

Building factories overseas is indeed a good thing, very beneficial to conglomerates, as it can alleviate their own pressure. However, it is a disaster for the Japanese government and for the Japanese people, as it will cause them to lose more jobs. Even though the bubble has been burst, the yen exchange rate has not fallen, which still puts enormous pressure on the Japanese domestic economy.

John had considered taking down Japan's steel industry more than once, but he knew it was impossible. Even if he targeted Japan's steel industry and made prior arrangements, he couldn't truly destroy it. After all, those steel companies were the assets of conglomerates, and they wouldn't stand by and watch the steel industry crumble.

With the collapse of the Russian conglomerate, Quantum Mining has become the world's largest steel group, having acquired numerous steel companies and continuously increasing its crude steel production capacity. However, this is only temporary; those factories need upgrading, similar to its acquisition in Mexico, which involves a complete shift towards steel production for the automotive industry. This is the main reason why Bentley and General Motors are willing to build massive industrial parks there: cheap steel supply and a significant advantage in labor costs.

Under the pressure of the current economic climate in Japan, these guys, though unwilling, compromised. However, feeling they were being taken advantage of, they hatched another plan to gain some benefits from John, and they started looking for loans. In the eyes of these Japanese, John's frenzied expansion was putting immense pressure on their own finances, so they wanted to cooperate with him again. John had already repaid a large portion of his previous loans from Japanese banks. They didn't want to let go of such a high-quality financial backer.

John's assets in Japan are now almost entirely high-quality, so they aren't worried about him being unable to repay the loans. Furthermore, these guys want to leverage the Nissan acquisition as well, with the loans naturally going to Japanese banks. In their view, this is a highly profitable scheme. This is the reaction of the Japanese banks; after all, they can't rely on the Japanese central bank, so they need to save themselves, and naturally, they've turned to John, given his excellent credit.

(End of this chapter)