Great Power Industry: You're a private company building an aircraft carrier?

The meeting lasted all day, and when it ended, Ander felt his head was spinning. He walked out of the meeting room, still not fully awake, as the cold wind blew outside.

Click, click!

Reporters had already gathered around.

"Mr. Ander, how are the long-term contract price negotiations going this year?"

"I heard there will be a significant price reduction this year? Will this lead to a decrease in the company's profits?"

"I heard that a company has asked for a price of $15 per ton, while the international estimate for BHP Billiton's production cost is $16.8 per ton. Will the company have to operate at a loss?"

"No, nothing at all! You've all heard nonsense!" Ander waved his hand. "Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

The reporters weren't about to back down. As journalists, they had to swallow their pride; fabricating stories for firsthand scoops was perfectly normal. But… the next moment, someone shouted, "Mr. Martindale is out!"

A crowd surged forward.

Martindale looked grim. The day's meetings had yielded nothing. Even some companies holding shares in Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were beginning to waver, believing that prices needed to be lowered because the international iron ore market was oversupplied. Only by lowering prices could they gain a certain market share.

But for these mining companies, this is a devastating blow. Which company would operate at a loss?

The blow is even greater for Australia, which relies on taxes from iron ore exports to make money. Now that the iron ore industry is declining, their tax revenue has decreased, so how can they maintain the government's various expenditures?

damn it!

Looking at the reporters before him, Martindale smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please don't believe those rumors. Our country, Australia, possesses the world's best iron ore mines and has many long-term clients. Even if Guinea acquires iron ore mines, they cannot replace our position. As for the price of iron ore, it hasn't been finalized yet, but please rest assured, we will definitely maintain normal iron ore market order..."

You must remain calm in front of reporters and let them know that everything is under control!

Unfortunately, the stock market's reaction is the most telling.

Due to the time difference, this place is 15 hours ahead of the United States. When it is already night here, the United States is in the darkest hour before dawn. During this time, newspapers are frantically printing the latest newspapers. Because of the events in Australia, all their previous newspapers are invalid and have to be reprinted.

The front page headlines are all about the difficulties encountered by this long-term iron ore agreement!

As for the internet, these messages spread even faster. So when people went to the subway station to buy newspapers in the early morning, they were all stunned. Then, some people started running to the stock exchange, and some took out their smartphones with stock trading software. As long as they got out of the subway and onto the ground, in a place with a signal, they could use it.

At 9:30 a.m., the stock market opened, and the stocks of companies like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto began to plummet like a waterfall!

At this moment, the company executives who had just fallen asleep were all woken up.

They regrouped, their faces grim.

"Damn it, someone must be pulling the strings!" Ander gritted his teeth. "The conspiracy started the moment the Guinea railway line opened! This is a huge conspiracy targeting us iron ore suppliers!"

"Everyone, there's no use saying all this now. The key question is what to do. The whole world is pessimistic about us. If we don't rescue the market quickly, we'll go bankrupt before this long-term iron ore agreement is even finalized!"

“That’s right, we have to save the market. We need to take out all our working capital and put it into the stock market. We must stabilize the stock price, otherwise everything will be over!” Paul nodded.

Although they are two different companies, they are both mining in Australia and are facing the same problems.

“It’s not enough. The market sentiment has already formed. No matter how much we pour in, we can’t stop the decline. After all, the market no longer has faith in us. Unless we buy back all the shares, but… we don’t have that much capital.” Louis looked desperate.

“Our government in Australia will provide some of the funding,” Martindale said.

The iron ore belongs to Australia, but the mining is done by these international giants, who pocket all the profits. Now, they're seizing this opportunity to acquire more shares in these two mining giants! Therefore, the Australian government is willing to provide funding!

"Thank you, then let's get started!"

On this day, the long-term agreement meeting was suspended. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, with the support of the Australian government, began their battle to protect the stock market. A steady stream of funds poured into the stock market to buy up the stocks that were being sold off in an attempt to stabilize the stock price, but it was no use. No matter how much they bought, several times more stocks would soon be sold off, and the stock price continued to fall!

Half an hour later, the government funds stopped purchasing.

The more they bought, the more they lost! Of the one billion dollars they invested, only eight hundred million dollars are left now! It's not that they don't want to support the two companies, but why not wait a little longer when they can buy more shares with the same amount of money?

They waited and waited until the market closed, by which time the stock had already lost half its value. Countless investors had their wealth wiped out, and tonight, some people will probably be jumping off rooftops!

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have also completely collapsed. All their funds have been poured into the company, and they can't even pay their employees' salaries next month!

Inside the meeting room, smoke filled the air, and everyone remained silent. Some clenched their fists, while others wept softly. If the company hadn't gone bankrupt, they would have lost their jobs anyway. They were eager to sell all their stock holdings, as they would soon become worthless.

just now……

“It’s pointless to just buy stocks on the market anymore. The stock price will continue to fall when the market opens the next day. We need to think of other ways!” Paul said.

“That’s right. Now we realize that the market had already started shorting our stock in large quantities. This scheme was set up a long time ago. We need to think of other ways!” Ander added.

"What method?" Martindale asked.

Paul and Andrew exchanged a glance, then spoke at the same time.

"Angola!"

To boost the hopes of stock market investors, the only thing to do is tell them that we have found new mineral deposits, and that mining them is very cheap, so we can continue to make a profit! Angola is the best choice; let's snatch the Angolan iron ore from the East!

The production costs there are very low!

Martindale was stunned. "No, how could you do this? You can't give up our iron ore from Australia!"