Chapter 409: Thanks to the Americans
"No."

When Ji Linchuan said this, his face looked frank, in other words, he was very single.

Guo Yang raised his eyebrows, "What's the reason? Jiahe's cotton quality is still good!"

Ji Linchuan thought for a moment and said, "The first phase of the cotton ginning plant of the Cotton and Linen Company has just been put into operation, and all aspects have not been sorted out. Domestic cotton brands are mixed, and the foundation is not solid. If we go the brand route now, we may end up suffering the consequences.

The foundation of brand building is product quality, so we must strictly control quality, starting from the source, optimizing seeds, doing a good job of planting management, unified transportation, paying attention to details and strict control in every link.

At present, we only have advantages in seeds and planting management, and there is still a long way to go in transportation and processing."

The cotton and linen company was established only one or two years ago, and initially it was engaged in trading. It was only in the past year that it began to engage in processing. Ji Linchuan believes that he has done his best to achieve the current level.

Guo Yang didn't make it too difficult as he only had a vague understanding of cotton processing.

“How many cotton brands are there in Xinjiang Province now?”

"There are 17 relatively well-known ones, such as Jinpai, Yinli, Xinnong, Yarkand, Shazaohua, Kaixin, etc. There are even more unknown ones. The Construction Corps alone has 10 cotton-planting divisions and 117 cotton-planting farms. In addition, there are cotton brands of local cotton enterprises.

Therefore, there is no shortage of branded cotton in China.”

Ji Linchuan calmly introduced the number of cotton brands in Xinjiang Province.

"But it's not certain how good these brands are. The domestic self-sufficiency rate for mid- to high-end raw cotton is only 30%, and the other 70% has to be imported from the United States and Australia.

If Jiahe wants to be a cotton brand, I think it should target the mid- to high-end cotton market from the beginning and compete with Australian and American cotton.”

Somehow, when Guo Yang thought about competing with Australian and American cotton, the first thing he thought of was sanctions.

I am afraid that the sanctions will come earlier this time, but this is also an inevitable step in industrial upgrading.

Guo Yang also wanted to hear other people's opinions on how to solve the problem.

“Sanctions from abroad?”

"The country's cotton production is not yet self-sufficient and it still needs to import more than one million tons of cotton every year. How can there be sanctions?"

When he raised this question, everyone hesitated for a moment, as they really could not think of a reason to sanction Xinjiang cotton.

Guo Yang said: "In the past, labor costs were low, and domestic cotton was mainly picked manually. The quality was also good, and it was very popular in the export market due to its advantages of good quality and low price, but the volume was not large, and it did not have much impact on the European and American cotton markets.

Nowadays, although domestic labor costs have increased, the development speed of machine-picked cotton is also very fast, and the output has also increased significantly. However, machine-picked cotton contaminates seed cotton, which damages the quality of lint cotton, so the fat piece of mid-to-high-end cotton is still left to Europe and the United States.

But I think this situation will not last long. The huge pressure of survival will force domestic cotton companies and governments to jointly promote cotton supply-side reforms.

This will inevitably take away the high-end raw cotton that Europe and the United States control. Therefore, trade sanctions are a problem that will definitely be faced in the future.”

Everyone soon realized that this worry was indeed possible. The rice bowl is so small, if you eat one more bite, I will eat one less bite, and a fight will naturally break out.

"Then why don't we make mid- to high-end cotton?"

"We will definitely do it. The quality of our cotton is not inferior to that of American and Australian cotton. The profit of one ton of mid- to high-end cotton can be several hundred yuan more."

“What about sanctions?”

"Can a living person be suffocated to death by urine? There must be a way."

Ji Linchuan was also thinking quickly.

The industrial chain of cotton in Xinjiang Province is roughly: raw material base - production and processing - spinning and weaving - market sales - export and foreign exchange earnings.

This whole set of systems has matured in Xinjiang Province.

This has also led to the formation of several major industrial clusters, particularly the Shihezi in northern Xinjiang and Aksu in southern Xinjiang.

Shihezi's Yinli brand cotton is also an internationally renowned brand. Although there is still a gap between it and Puma brand American cotton, Ji Linchuan believes that although this gap exists, it is also due to prejudice.

In a few years, Shihezi's silver might really be able to compete with America's Puma.

After thinking for a while, Ji Linchuan said, "There is indeed a risk of being targeted by trade, but should we not do it just because of this?"

His words attracted the attention of the whole audience.

Ji Linchuan said: "I don't need to elaborate on how big the difference in profit is between low-grade cotton and high-grade cotton, right?

Tianmian 20 and Tianzamian No. 1 are both high-quality cotton varieties, which is equivalent to laying half the foundation. As long as the processing technology is refined, the output ratio of high-grade cotton is expected to reach 90%.

The profits will be very considerable, and by then, the entire cotton and linen company will be truly revitalized.”

Someone said: "But the export market is the main source of high-end cotton, and we don't have the final say."

“There is no shortage of clothing brands in the country.”

"But the clothing brands with the highest premium are all overseas." said Pan Duanxing, production manager of the Cotton and Linen Company.

"Some well-known domestic clothing companies are also more willing to use imported cotton."

"Just take it back."

Guo Yang glanced at them and patted the table again, "Okay, this meeting is not for you to quarrel."

After everyone calmed down, he said, "Since they want to create a cotton brand, Jiahe must be targeting high-end cotton. Besides, sanctions are just my guess and may not happen yet. How can we be timid?"

Ji Linchuan curled his lips and said that it was you who was sanctioned and it was also you who was timid. So you have said all the words for a long time, right?
"Mr. Ji."

Ji Linchuan was startled, thinking that his little trick had been discovered.

Guo Yangcai didn't know this. He asked, "Do you have much contact with companies downstream of the industry?"

Ji Linchuan pondered and said, "There will be more contact with textile companies."

“What about the clothing industry?”

Ji Linchuan shook his head.

Guo Yang asked again: "How many of the others have had close contact with clothing companies?"

Although he was speaking to many employees, Guo Yang kept staring at Pan Duanxing.

"No."

"No."

Pan Duanxing also shook his head helplessly.

Guo Yang thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the breeding and planting stages have not dealt with terminal brands."

No one in the Cotton and Linen Company said anything, not knowing what he meant. Ji Linchuan also frowned.

Guo Yang noticed all this and asked, "Do you think it's enough to deal with textile and clothing companies?"

Someone nodded subconsciously, then suddenly realized that the others were silent, so he also remained silent.

"It seems so." Guo Yang sighed, "But now it is demand that determines the market. If we don't even know the demand, how can we compete for the market?"

Ji Linchuan figured out something.

"Boss, you mean that the cotton and linen company also needs to communicate with downstream clothing brands."

"This is just one point." At this point, Guo Yang has a general understanding of the level of the cotton and linen company.

There are professionals in the company, but Guo Yang is not wrong to call it a half-baked level, as there is still a long way to go in terms of processing.

Guo Yang said: "I originally wanted to invest more money to open up the upstream and downstream chains of the cotton industry. Now it seems that even if I have money, I can't do this."

Ji Linchuan did not deny that he had worked in the cotton spinning industry for many years. The entire industry is like this, with one link after another: seed companies and cotton farmers, cotton farmers and cotton ginning mills, cotton ginning mills and textile companies, textile companies and garment companies... It is rare to skip the middle links.

Even if a company has laid out an industrial chain from planting to clothing, it will not communicate about seeds and clothing.

Jiahe is strong in breeding and planting, and has a foundation in cotton ginning, but its textiles and clothing are extremely weak.

Moreover, since the financial crisis, domestic textile enterprises have not had an easy time. First of all, there has always been a price difference between domestic and foreign cotton, and the sliding scale tax is more to protect cotton farmers;

Secondly, the industry has been criticized for its high pollution and environmental unsafeness. The country’s determination to eliminate low-level products and enterprises is unprecedentedly strong.

Jiahe's entry into the textile industry at this time was equivalent to joining the National Army in 49. Fortunately, the boss had no intention of entering the textile industry.

What else can he do? Have a fight, Ji Linchuan doesn't think he has the ability to do that.

According to his idea, only national organizations can integrate the industrial chain.

"The topic is back to the cotton brand that Jiahe wants to build." Guo Yang asked, "What is Jiahe's biggest advantage?"

"Seeds." someone answered quickly.

Guo Yang nodded, "So we need to make something out of seeds."

Many people don't understand why.

Tianmian 20 and Tianzamian No. 1 are excellent, but being able to improve yield and cotton quality is already a remarkable achievement, and there is still room for improvement!

Everyone present listened quietly.

"I plan to let cotton and linen companies take the lead in establishing an industry alliance, establish their own cotton brand, open up the industrial chain from planting to terminal clothing brands, and mark branded cotton on fabric labels.

This industrial alliance includes enterprises from the entire industrial chain of 'scientific research and production - processing and circulation - textile and clothing'.

In simple terms, the demand side produces what the seed companies provide, and the scientific research institutions develop what the seed companies provide.”

Ji Linchuan was not surprised by his boss's idea. In fact, most of the people at the meeting had guessed his idea.

After thinking for a while, Ji Linchuan said, "There are also problems. For example, some farms or cotton fields often have more than one variety, Tianmian 20."

Guo Yang smiled and said: "One of the purposes of the industry alliance is to solve the problem of mixed varieties."

As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately agreed.

"The mixture of varieties has always been the reason why the proportion of high-grade raw cotton in ginning factories cannot be increased."

"Yes, the cotton varieties must be separated when harvesting."

Guo Yang coughed twice and said, "Not only that, the alliance will also determine the standards for high-quality cotton varieties, seeds, processing technical regulations, raw cotton, and establish bases for branded cotton varieties, production, processing, textiles, clothing, and home textiles. The ultimate goal is to continuously provide high-quality cotton that surpasses Australian and American cotton to demand parties, and the alliance is not limited to Xinjiang Province."

Ji Chuan was surprised and asked, "Has Tianhe Seed Industry entered the cotton-producing areas of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River?" "Not yet, but it's a matter of time."

Guo Yang pondered and said, "Jiahe is not an official organization after all. The only core bond is the seeds. We must cherish every force that is willing to join us."

Ji Linchuan also said: "Indeed, building a cotton brand is a slow process, but now we are gradually entering the era of machine-picked cotton. Tianmian 20 has advantages in this regard, and the matching cotton pickers are also advantages."

"So you have confidence?" Guo Yang asked.

"Yes." Ji Linchuan said, "As I said before, the foundation seeds and planting management of brand building, with these two things, it should be attractive to downstream companies. What we need to do now is to contact them and reach cooperation."

Guo Yang was very satisfied with Ji Linchuan's change of attitude. At the beginning, he still had doubts, but he was mainly worried that Jiahe wanted to enter the textile and clothing industry.

However, Guo Yang's path to brand building is industrial alliance. Although it is also difficult, there are traces to follow.

Ji Linchuan's confidence comes from seeds and Jiahe's breeding capabilities.

The same is true for Guo Yang.

The weak link in the domestic cotton industry is mechanization, especially machine-picked cotton, which is also the main reason for the difference in cotton prices at home and abroad.

However, this shortcoming will be gradually made up in the next few years, and the processing technology will not be much different, which means that the companies in the chain are almost at the same level.

At this time, the importance of cotton raw materials becomes apparent, and this brings us back to Jiahe’s advantage.

As time goes by, the brand advantage will become more obvious.

Guo Yang pondered and said, "For terminal clothing and home textile brands, Weilai Tianjian has resources to provide, and we need to talk to each of them in the future."

"Of course." Ji Linchuan was ready.

Production manager Pan Duanxing thought of his previous speech and was still in shock. He quickly said, "As for textile enterprises, I will be able to contact large textile enterprises such as Youngor and Huafu later."

“The enterprises in the regiment should also be interested.”

“Hey, should the local government be brought in?”

"Do scientific research institutions also need it?"

Everyone started talking about it, trying hard to leave a good impression in front of the boss.

Guo Yang couldn't say that he didn't care at all.

If the cotton industry alliance is established, the benefits will be obvious. Even if the country wants to form a similar alliance in the future, there will be no conflict.

Jiahe mainly targets the high-end cotton market, and also aims to consolidate and expand the sales market for cotton seeds.

The meeting lasted nearly a day before a rough framework was established.

The alliance is named Jiahe Cotton Industry Alliance, abbreviated as JCIA, which is also the brand name of cotton.

The original purchasing department was also renamed the Purchasing Quality Department, which is responsible for the corresponding base business management, cotton brand construction and maintenance, etc. The department manager is Feng Yuening.

After the meeting, Guo Yang and the management of the cotton and linen company deepened their relationship over a drink.

I also gained a deeper understanding of the company's personnel composition.

In addition to General Manager Ji Linchuan, he also took note of the heads of various departments, including Pan Duanxing of the Production Department, Di Shan of the International Trade Department, and Peng Ziyi of the Information Department.

There is also a marketing manager, Zhao Ruining, who stayed in Xinjiang Province to be responsible for the purchase of cotton seeds this year.

Generally speaking, this is a relatively new company whose main business is to purchase seed cotton, process it into lint cotton, and then sell it to textile companies.

The company is headquartered in Aral, Aksu Prefecture.

This is also one of the cotton gathering centers in southern Xinjiang, and one of Fengkai's cotton picking machine bases is also built here.

Aral is still some distance away from Jiuquan. The next day, except for Feng Yuening, the manager of the acquisition quality department, the rest of the people rushed back to Aral.

Guo Yang took Feng Yuening and Qi Ziwen to make the connection, and also introduced her to Qu Sheng, Miao Lanchun, Ji Zhuowen and others to facilitate her contact with downstream brands.

Feng Yuening is a middle-aged woman in her forties with a capable short haircut. After receiving the task, she immediately got involved in various docking activities.

She first contacted Huafu Textile Aksu Company, with whom she had cooperated before. This company and the recently listed Huafu Fashion are backed by the same holding company.

Huafu Fashion is also the first A-share listed company in the color spinning industry and the world's largest supplier and manufacturer of new yarns. The 'Huafu Brand' color spinning yarn is also an international brand, and its market share in the world ranks among the top.

Its clients include international brands such as H&M, ZARA, POLORL, GAP, UNIQLO, as well as domestic brands such as Semir, Li Ning, and Septwolves.

At the same time, Huafu Fashion has also established a planting base upstream of the industrial chain, which is also in Aksu. It is extremely satisfied with the output, planting model, quality and other performances of Tianmian 20.

When Jiahe proposed to establish a cotton industry alliance, Huafu Fashion agreed immediately.

First, Jiahe promised not to enter the textile industry, which means that Jiahe is only a raw material supplier for Huafu. Second, Huafu also has demand for high-quality cotton varieties.

One makes money from the textile industry, and the other makes money from the seed industry. The cooperation between the two parties is mutually beneficial and they hit it off immediately.

After reaching a preliminary agreement, Huafu Fashion also started to recruit people.

Feng Yuening was also busy. Through the cooperation resources of Hexi Dairy and the national badminton team, Feng Yuening contacted Anta.

Through Huinong.com, I got in touch with Boyang Home Textiles, and later came into contact with many brands such as Erke, Peak, and Heilan Home.

These companies have always had a demand for high-quality cotton. Companies such as Hongxing Erke are still loyal customers of domestic cotton.

Certain high-end products also urgently require customized cotton, and can even be traced back to the most upstream varieties.

Therefore, most brand companies are willing to at least learn a thing or two about JCIA and will not directly turn people away.

Many brands thought that Jiahe’s claim of customizing cotton seeds according to demand was just bragging.

But there are also companies willing to try.

When Guo Yang met Feng Yuening again at the headquarters, it was already December and the other party seemed to be in a hurry.

"Manager Feng, how many companies have you negotiated with?"

Feng Yuening seemed to hear someone calling her. She turned her head and saw Guo Yang in a suit.

"boss."

Feng Yuening took two steps back and said with a smile: "Septewald, Anta, Erke, and Peak, these four companies are interested in giving it a try, but their willingness is not strong."

"What about the others?"

"After the conversation, they all said they needed to consider it and were unwilling to give me even a chance to try." Feng Yuening said. She was not too frustrated. One seed company and one textile company were not enough. Fortunately, Jiahe had many interests in various aspects.

"We were able to negotiate with these four companies thanks to Mr. Fang Xiaozhang, Mr. Ye and the Fujian Provincial Government acting as middlemen."

Guo Yang was surprised, "Why are they involved?"

Feng Yuening smiled and said, "The companies that agreed to cooperate with us are all from Fujian Province, including Erke and Septwolves from Xiamen, Peak from Quanzhou, Anta from Jinjiang, and Jiahe Biochemical, which have strong connections there!"

Guo Yang was stunned. "Who is Mr. Ye you are talking about?"

"It's Ye Huo from Zhuoyue New Energy!" Feng Yuening smiled, "He helped take down both companies in Xiamen and opened up a breakthrough."

"Oh, good." Guo Yang said, "The progress is good. Next, we will try our best to meet their needs."

Feng Yuening nodded, "I came here to see Dean Bi this time."

"He and Yan Qun just went to the corn seed processing workshop. You can call and ask first."

After sending Feng Yuening away, Guo Yang was still thinking about Ye Huodong in his mind, asking him to keep a low profile, but this guy suddenly did this.

But how did he get involved with Fang Xiaozhang?
He is really a ruffian who will take advantage of any hole he sees. However, in the cooperation of "Operation 900 Yuan", both parties had a good understanding and achieved their goal.

Just recently, the relevant departments officially issued opinions on exempting biodiesel from consumption tax.

Perhaps it was the release of this opinion that prompted Ye Huodong, who participated in this action, to spare no effort.

Feng Yuening found the right person this time.

After coming to his senses, Guo Yang continued walking forward. This was the floor where Jiahe Grain and Oil was located. Jiahe International was also on the same floor. The two companies were just on the left and right of the elevator.

After a while, Guo Yang knocked on Chen Yanqiu's office door.

"Enter."

Guo Yang pushed the door open and walked in. The handsome Chen Yanqiu from Fengyi just happened to raise his head.

"Boss, I was just thinking of coming to you to report my work!"

"I heard you were back, and I couldn't stay here, so I came to see you right away." Guo Yang said with a smile, sitting down on the soft sofa. "How are your overseas sales this year?"

Chen Yanqiu was about to get up to make tea, but Guo Yang waved his hand and said, "No need, I'll do it myself. Look at you, you came back and no one even made you a cup of tea."

"Everyone has been sent out."

Chen Yanqiu didn't dwell on this matter too much, and talked about work, "The financial crisis still has a huge impact, and consumption in Europe, America, Japan and South Korea is all sluggish.

Fortunately, the United States has produced a lot of grain, cotton, and forage in the past two years, and the domestic corn and forage have an increasingly important voice in the Japanese and Korean markets.
Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Japan, and CJ of South Korea have once again increased their purchases of corn and forage in China.
This year, Japan and South Korea have contributed nearly 30 billion in revenue to Jiahe in corn and forage!"

This accounts for almost one-fifth of the group's operating income last year. Although Jiahe's growth this year has been rapid, this is not a small number.

Guo Yang pondered and said, "No wonder the grain merchants of the island countries have been active in China recently, launching equity participation, acquisitions, and mergers one after another."

Chen Yanqiu is also very vigilant. "This is supported by the island government. After all, it involves food security. Therefore, island grain traders such as Marubeni and Itochu are developing very fast. Marubeni's soybean and grain marketing volume exceeds 4000 million tons."

Guo Yang calculated in his mind, "Higher than Jiahe?"

"Yes, this is the data when Jiahe dispersed the sale of corn to island companies. Mainly because Marubeni's trade volume increased significantly after it established a joint venture with a local Brazilian company," said Chen Yanqiu.

“What about other markets?”

"Thanks to our price advantage, we have captured the largest corn market share in Mexico and Egypt."

"Domestic corn has a cost advantage?" Guo Yang's eyes widened. What kind of ridiculous words were these? The cost of domestic grain production has always been higher than that in North and South America.

Chen Yanqiu smiled and said, "It's also thanks to the Americans."

(End of this chapter)