novelraw Chapter 170: Industrial Base Development
Chapter 170: Industrial Base Development
Although the economic crisis has been temporarily alleviated, the impact caused by the economic crisis cannot be resolved in a short time.
The greatest impact it caused is the shock to the industry and economy markets of various countries.
Depending on the different causes of the economic crisis, the impact of the economic crisis is also completely different. Take this economic crisis as an example: the economic crisis caused by severe overproduction has led to a crazy plunge in industrial output and prices in various countries, mainly manifested in the metallurgy industry and metal processing industry.
The steel demand worldwide is gradually increasing, and steel prices are also continuously rising. But after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the selling price of steel in European countries dropped by more than half, and in some more severely affected countries, the decline even exceeded 60%.
However, even with steel selling prices so low, the amount of steel imported by European countries is still not much, far less than before the economic crisis.
After the outbreak of the economic crisis, Spain drastically reduced imports of foreign materials to protect its fragile domestic economy.
Even when countries led by Germany lowered the export price of steel to below Spain’s steel production cost, Spain still did not choose to import steel from abroad.
After all, importing steel from abroad would reduce the orders received by domestic steel mills. This would not only affect the business of domestic steel mills but also impact more enterprises due to the steel mills.
At the time of the economic crisis outbreak, various countries very tacitly reduced the scale of imports and strove to export more materials.
But except for those countries with relatively small industrial scale that rely more on material imports, other countries would not increase the scale of imports. After all, these industrial manufactured goods are cheap, but they would impact domestic industry and economy. This kind of cheapness is not so easy to enjoy and would also let one’s own industry and economy be influenced by other countries.
Among many European countries, Spain is relatively special. Because it has not been greatly affected by the economic crisis, industrial enterprises in Spain are still producing non-stop.
After the government announced the second five-year plan, these civilian factories seemed to have been injected with stimulants, completely relieved, and production work became more passionate.
But due to the overall decline in European prices, Spain’s prices are inevitable. As of now, Spain’s prices have overall decreased by about 10%, which is already a relatively good level compared to other European countries.
“Prime Minister Primó, how much impact does the current price fluctuation have on various industries?” At a certain cabinet meeting, Carlo asked the question he was more concerned about.
Prices, that is, the selling prices of all goods, have a relatively serious impact on the economy. Both decreases and increases in prices can cause economic fluctuations, and may even cause turmoil in an industry.
“There is some impact, but the current impact is not too serious and is acceptable to us,” Prime Minister Primó replied: “
The most severe price drops are in the metallurgy industry and metal processing industry, but under the government’s timely control, it has now been effectively alleviated.
After the announcement of the second five-year development plan, our country’s prices have warmed up to a certain extent and are still at a relatively healthy level compared to other European countries.
However, the selling price of industrial manufactured goods cannot temporarily recover to the pre-economic crisis level. Currently, our country’s steel selling price has decreased by about 15% compared to before the economic crisis, but due to the reason that steel demand has increased rather than decreased, factories and enterprises in the steel industry are currently operating stably, with no major problems temporarily.”
European prices are continuously decreasing, and Spain definitely cannot escape disaster.
If Spain’s prices remain at a high level, it would lead to a large amount of smuggling. Purchasing large quantities of cheap products from abroad, as long as they can be transported back to Spain, a lot of profit can be made, which would lead many people to take risks.
However, compared to the price drops in other countries, Spain’s price drop is under certain control, and the impact is not that serious.
Although the price drop in the steel industry is relatively large, due to the construction demand regarding railways mentioned in the second five-year development plan, Spain’s overall demand for steel is continuously expanding.
With sufficient demand, it means steel mills have sufficient orders. Although the money earned is much less than before, as long as there are continuous orders, steel mills can survive on these meager profits.
Moreover, steel mills are not low-profit enterprises. Originally, steel mills’ profits were frighteningly high, and even if steel selling prices are now much lower, steel mills will not go bankrupt as a result.
It’s just that one order could earn a large sum before, but now one order can only earn a small sum.
“How about the selling prices of agricultural products? How big is the impact of this economic crisis on farmers?” Compared to the industrial aspect, what Carlo is actually more concerned about is farmers’ income.
There is no way around it; most of Spain’s population are farmers, and caring about farmers’ income is actually caring about Carlo’s throne.
“This aspect is good news. This economic crisis has not had a big impact on agricultural products. The selling prices of industrial manufactured goods are continuously decreasing, but agricultural product prices have remained relatively stable, overall still at the pre-economic crisis level.” Speaking of farmers’ income, Prime Minister Primó smiled, smiling as he said.
“That’s good.” Carlo nodded, also relaxing a breath.
No matter how hot Spain’s industrial construction is, it cannot change the fact that Spain is currently an agricultural powerhouse.
If this economic crisis had a significant impact on agricultural products, neither Prime Minister Primó nor Carlo could smile.
As long as farmers’ income is not affected, Spain’s basic foundation is still there.
This is also why this economic crisis has lasted for several years, but the final impact has not been that fatal.
It has not hurt the fundamentals, and the impact on industry can even be compensated back in just a few years.
Although this economic crisis effectively curbed the industrial expansion of Germany and the United States, it only curbed it for a few years.
In history, the economic and industrial scale of the United States eventually surpassed the British Empire, and Germany followed closely, with its industry already surpassing the United Kingdom before World War I.
“How is the construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base going?” After confirming that agricultural products have not been impacted, Carlo turned his attention to the Barcelona Industrial Base under construction.
In Spain’s development layout, Barcelona’s importance is second only to Madrid; it is Spain’s future industrial center and economic center, and an important port for Spain’s outward product exports.
The reasons for choosing Barcelona are many. Besides Barcelona having a larger population suitable for industrial development, its geographical location is also closer to European countries; after all, Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula, already at the edge of Europe.
“The construction of the second phase of the Barcelona Industrial Base is going very smoothly at present, and it is expected to be fully completed and enter production status next year.” Mentioning the Barcelona Industrial Base, the smile on Prime Minister Primó’s face never stopped.
The construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base is also a huge merit for Prime Minister Primó, because it represents a major progress in Spanish industry from 1 to
As for the previous Seville Industrial Base, it is more like a small-scale demonstration base that summarizes Spain’s original industrial capabilities.
The Barcelona Industrial Base is the most costly and largest-scale industrial base in Spain’s industrial base construction, and it is also the industrial center envisioned by the Spanish Government.
The total investment in the construction of the first phase of the industrial base exceeds 15 million pesetas, and the total investment in the construction of the second phase exceeds 45 million pesetas.
What can such an industrial base with a total investment exceeding 60 million pesetas bring to the Spanish Government?
Of course, it is an industrial zone with a total steel output exceeding 300,000 tons, expected to accommodate hundreds of factories and enterprises, equipped with dozens of super-large storage warehouses and freight transport lines.
The construction of the first two phases can provide nearly 100,000 jobs for the Catalan region, which will greatly meet the employment needs of the Catalan region and turn the Catalan region into a region with both developed industry and economy.
It should be noted that the total population of the Catalan region is just over 1 million. This also means that after the construction of the second phase of the industrial base is completed, one out of every ten people in the Catalan region has the opportunity to work in the industrial base.
A single Catalan region alone cannot meet all the employment needs of the industrial base. Therefore, after the second phase of the industrial base is completed, Spain still needs to select suitable workers from other regions to relocate to the Catalan region to help with better construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base.
Doing so actually has another potential benefit, which is to reduce the proportion of Catalans in the Catalan region.
Once the main population in the Catalan region becomes Spaniards, it will not be so easy for Catalans to cause trouble.
As long as the Catalonia problem is solved, a single Basque Country cannot stir up much trouble.
With just the population size of the Basque people, they are destined to submit to the rule of the Spanish Government. If any radical Basque elements dare to cause trouble, what awaits the Basque Country will be high-pressure rule policies.
At worst, transfer all these hundreds of thousands of Basque people to regions outside Spain, and immigrate Spaniards to occupy this area.
Under the premise that the Basque people cannot stir up much trouble, solving the Basque Country is just a matter of whether the Spanish Government wants to.
Hearing the news of the smooth construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base, Carlo nodded, then instructed Prime Minister Primó: “
The construction of the industrial base is not urgent, and our demand for steel output is not that great. Also, when the industrial base introduces various factories and enterprises, increase the proportion of other industrial sectors, such as the chemical industry, shipbuilding industry, and machining industry.
After the second phase construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base is completed, remember to remind me; I want to personally attend the completion ceremony of the industrial base construction.”
Prime Minister Primó nodded, indicating that he understood.
In fact, not only Carlo, Prime Minister Primó also attaches great importance to the construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base.
This not only concerns the future development of Spanish industry but also the Spanish Government’s layout for the Catalan region.
When the industrial base construction is completed, it will be the time for a large number of Spaniards to enter the Catalan region and dilute the Catalans.
This is the most promising way to solve the Catalan region problem in a peaceful manner, and it is also the reason why Prime Minister Primó pays great attention to the construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base.
As a Catalan, Prime Minister Primó naturally knows the problems of the Catalan region. Although many radical Catalans have been forcibly immigrated, this cannot solve the fundamentals of the Catalan region.
After all, it is caused by the awakening of national consciousness. Either Spain assimilates this ethnic group before national consciousness fully awakens in Catalonia, or it can only gradually reduce the proportion of Catalans in the Catalan region through subtle means, making Catalans a minority ethnic group in Spain, unable to become the main population in any administrative region.
Prime Minister Primó is currently adopting a two-pronged approach. On one hand, through more effective policies to strive to assimilate most Catalans, and on the other hand, by constructing the industrial base to attract more Spaniards to enter Catalonia, reducing the proportion of Catalans.
After these Spaniards entering the Catalan region marry local Catalans, their offspring can be more easily assimilated into Spaniards.
Coupled with the population growth of the dominant ethnic group, Catalans will become fewer and fewer in the future, while the proportion and scale of Spaniards will increase more and more.
“How are the industrial equipment we purchased from other countries and the production lines dismantled from the acquired enterprises being handled?” Besides the development of the industrial base, what Carlo is more concerned about is the things purchased from foreign countries.
After all, it cost the Spanish Government 300 million pesetas in real gold and silver, so naturally, these equipment must be fully utilized to the extreme.
“We have taken out some equipment and production materials and sold them to major domestic enterprises through auctions. As for those production materials and equipment that are not easy to master, they were sold at low prices to state-owned enterprises.
A large batch of industrial equipment has been transported to the Barcelona Industrial Base, and they will expand the factories and enterprises of the industrial base along with the second phase construction of the industrial base.
It is estimated that it will take at least three years for us to fully utilize the production capacity of these equipment. In the next three years, our industrial production will enter a relatively stable growth state, and the enterprises that obtain production materials and equipment have hope to continue expanding production by taking this opportunity,” Prime Minister Primó replied.