Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 438 Water-reducing agents

"Steel formwork?" Yan Hui nodded upon hearing this. "That's doable. Whose equipment is it for sale? And why?"

“Your old rival, Mr. Qian, do you still remember him?” Wang Yongjun said with a hint of schadenfreude. “Back then, when we sold the company to him, he made money and still talked badly about us behind our backs. At that time, Mr. Yan, you were planning to build a chemical plant and didn’t have time to deal with him. Four years have passed, and he has run into big financial problems. I heard it’s related to the steel price fluctuations at the end of last year.”

"President Qian?" Yan Hui certainly remembered this person.

To fund the construction of Heng Hui Chemical, Yan Hui took a gamble, selling his well-performing steel formwork company to a competitor for approximately 600 million yuan. Steel formwork itself was worth about that much, not to mention the lucrative market.

Generally speaking, a company that is running so well would not be sold, so the money was a bargain.

“Well, we work in the plywood business and come into contact with plywood every day, so I hear a lot about it. After 05, Mr. Qian was quite successful for a while, but his company didn’t grow much. I heard he had several mistresses and two or three illegitimate children, so it was pretty messy.” Wang Yongjun gave a brief account of Mr. Qian’s situation.

In that era, business owners with a certain asset base could easily make money riding the wave of the real estate boom. Keeping mistresses and illegitimate children was very common, even more so than in later generations. These entrepreneurs were often very traditional, favored sons, and were willing to spend money on them. After 2020, the situation changed. Many people kept mistresses purely for dual purposes, not wanting children or shares, and would simply switch partners when they got tired of them.

"What is his current asset size? What is the market like? What is the annual return rate for steel formwork rental? Is it still above 30%?" Yan Hui asked.

“He currently has about 4000 tons of steel formwork, with a total value of over 1000 million yuan. Recently, steel prices have fluctuated too much, so I'm not entirely sure of the exact price. The return on investment is around 30%, considering the wear and tear on this stuff. However, as far as I know, he's not the sole shareholder; he only owns about 70% of the company. In addition, the company has approximately 500 million yuan in bank loans,” Wang Yongjun said.

"If that's the case, he must be overwhelmed by external debts, right? His current scale is actually smaller than when he first acquired our company," Yan Hui shook his head helplessly.

Over the years, Yan Hui has seen many people rise to prominence with the wind, and also too many people fall to their deaths after being swept up by hurricanes. How could someone run a company like this, which is so simple, like steel formwork, in such a state?
"That's for sure."

"So, how's his company's market performance? What's their occupancy rate?"

"The market is still okay. This wave of steel price fluctuations has affected more than just him. But I'm not sure about the rental rate, but I estimate it's around 80%."

“Previously, Mr. Qian was the sole shareholder, but now he has become a major shareholder. Who is the other shareholder? If we want to acquire him, we certainly can't just acquire his shares.”

"I inquired and found out they are relatives of Mr. Qian, and both of them want to sell."

"Hmm, I'll contact the Brazilian side tonight to analyze the steel prices. By the way, how's the person in charge of the plywood company doing? Can they manage? If there aren't suitable replacements, I don't have the energy to handle this right now." "That's indeed a big problem, I'm afraid I can't manage it either. However, Mr. Yan, you've hired quite a few people recently, you could try putting a couple in the plywood company and see if there are any worth training," Wang Yongjun suggested.

After Yan Hui won the bid, recruitment at the university of science and technology naturally began. Companies of Yan Hui's caliber, according to procedure, could already participate in the university's job fair; because of the good compensation offered, they received many resumes. Professor Wang recommended more than twenty of them.

“We’ve been operating the plywood business all along, and expanding into steel formwork is also an option, but there’s no rush. Now that Mr. Qian wants to sell, we don’t need to buy immediately; let’s wait for an opportunity. If there’s a particularly suitable price, preferably within 10% higher than the scrap steel price, let me know anytime. In the next few months, let’s focus on selecting and training talent.” Yan Hui’s company is developing too fast, and the talent pool simply can’t keep up.

The undergraduate and master's students graduating in June will be joining a company that is still growing rapidly. Whether they can seize the opportunity depends on themselves.

"Understood, I'll keep an eye on things here." Wang Yongjun was very concerned about this matter. Back then, when Yan Hui sold the steel formwork company, it was through his own channels that Boss Qian was criticizing Yan Hui behind his back, and Wang Yongjun had always held a grudge about it.

"As for concrete water-reducing agents, I'll take a look at the one you mentioned when I have time. When we won that government steel contract for the stadium, I treated some of the primary agents to dinner. At that time, Zhao Changhe from Laiwu Steel told me that he wanted to invest in concrete water-reducing agents, but he didn't seem to know much about them back then. I'll give him a call later and ask him." Yan Hui recalled that scene.

Lignosulfonates, sodium β-naphthalenesulfonate formaldehyde condensate, aminosulfonates, polycarboxylic acid polymers; the first one is a traditional water-reducing agent, the last one is a high-end water-reducing agent, and the two in the middle are common high-efficiency water-reducing agents.

Yan Hui, accustomed to producing high-end products, didn't like traditional water-reducing agents; he wanted to at least work with these two common, high-efficiency water-reducing agents. This β-water-reducing agent, known in the industry as naphthalene-based water-reducing agent, is the most widely used and common type on the market.

In conclusion, Yan Hui is most optimistic about polycarboxylate-based polymers, followed by naphthalene-based water-reducing agents. The former has a higher water reduction rate, lower dosage, excellent slump retention, less concrete shrinkage, higher strength, and is more environmentally friendly; the only drawback is its high price.

Currently, there are very few production lines for polycarboxylate-based polymers. They are somewhat similar to polyurethane and belong to the high-tech category of this era. Even with Yan Hui's current technical reserves, it would be extremely difficult to build such a factory. He would probably need to conduct research for two or three years and invest at least tens of millions of yuan.

If there are other people's mature production lines, Yan Hui is very willing to help by acting as an agent or even taking a stake. However, he simply doesn't have the technical expertise to do it all himself.

In front of Wang Yongjun, Yan Hui directly called Zhao Changhe. When Zhao heard it was about water-reducing agents, he immediately said, "My friend makes naphthalene-based water-reducing agents, and the production capacity is quite good. After communicating with you last time, I did some research and found that the market prospects are quite good. I invested several million, and the sales are currently doing well."

"Mr. Zhao really did participate. Congratulations on your fortune!" Yan Hui said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)