Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 489: Commercial Paper Crisis Erupts

There’s a saying that makes a lot of sense.

Personal effort is very important.

But the change of external environment might be the key to determining success.

The Serbian Steel Factory struggled to make money before, and there are reasons for it.

It wasn’t so much related to the Serbian Steel Factory itself, but rather because further north, in Ukraine’s Mariupol region, there was a larger plant with higher production and lower labor costs, known as the Mariupol Steel Plant, the largest steel plant in Europe.

This plant continuously supplied steel to the entire Europe.

If everything developed normally, the Serbian Steel Factory would never have been able to capture market share from the Mariupol Steel Plant.

But, how should I put it.

No matter how brilliant the business plan, it’s not as good as having your competitor go bankrupt on the spot.

Just when Serbia was relying on minimal welfare to maintain the lowest level of operation...

The war started.

The Mariupol Steel Plant, the largest steel plant in Europe, was bombed into ruins!

All businesses that had relied on Mariupol Steel Plant for supply looked around Europe repeatedly, and then discovered the Serbian Steel Factory.

As a result, the Serbian Steel Factory, which was nearly at a standstill, suddenly took on the task of supplying many European customers.

The factory ramped up its full capacity and started making a lot of money!

Chen Yiyang listened to Danica’s account.

And didn’t quite know what to say.

This windfall, why didn’t it come to him.

Such a big opportunity.

After finishing talking about the steel factory, Chen Yiyang and Danica discussed the matters to consider when building a factory in Serbia.

Chen Yiyang subtly mentioned to her that he had met some Serbian officials before, and they brought up the issue of bribery.

"If your investment scale is confirmed to be a few hundred million Euros, rest assured, no one will come to you asking for bribes for this project."

Danica patted her chest and assured Chen Yiyang, "As long as you can ensure employment, I’ll handle the rest."

"Then that’s fine." Chen Yiyang nodded.

After finishing their coffee, the two shared a meal together.

Then they agreed to meet again the next day for a detailed discussion.

That evening, Chen Yiyang returned to the hotel and talked to Schaefer about Danica’s situation.

"I probably know who you’re talking about. This family is quite famous in Serbian politics."

After Schaefer finished speaking, he grabbed Chen Yiyang’s arm and said, "But we need to agree in advance, if you’re sure about building the factory, when there’s an event, you have to take me along. I still need to collect my commission from Serbia."

"Once the automobile factory is built, I’ll need someone to help me connect with the European networks, to expand into the European market."

"No problem, leave it to me," Schaefer immediately agreed.

This job is quite a lucrative deal, with plenty of opportunities to take advantage.

Chen Yiyang just needed Schaefer to get the job done; how much he makes out of it didn’t really concern Chen Yiyang.

Dealing with a professional broker like Schaefer is often more enjoyable than handling those European politicians directly.

Primarily because Schaefer takes the money and then praises you a bit, providing some emotional value.

If you directly deal with European officials, after giving the money, you also have to endure their lectures and ideology.

The next morning.

Before Chen Yiyang could head out to meet Danica, he got a video call from Liu Xiaoyue back home, bringing some bad news.

"Something big happened recently in the automotive industry. Some auto parts suppliers have united and discovered...

Certain car companies were using banknotes or electronic debt certificates to collude with banks to gain spreads from suppliers."

Liu Xiaoyue explained the detailed situation using simple language.

As mentioned before, although major car manufacturers have promised to pay within two months,

in most cases, they actually pay with banknotes or electronic debt certificates.

Car manufacturers would promise to settle these within a few months, usually about six months.

But some suppliers, due to a lack of cash, would sell these commercial papers and electronic bond certificates to banks to get cash.

By the time banks ask for money using these notes, it has nothing to do with the suppliers anymore. Of course, the banks charge a hefty fee.

Initially, this was no big deal, many small suppliers just considered it bad luck.

Unexpectedly, some suppliers united and discovered that some automakers deliberately delayed the redemption of the notes, aiming to force suppliers to sell their notes to banks due to cash shortages.

Then, the automakers would cooperate with the banks to split the fees.

In other words, automakers with enough cash still refused to pay suppliers, instead, they used this method to indirectly squeeze the suppliers and lower their own costs.

You should know, supplier profits are already very low due to mutual competition.

Now they took another hit.

So they immediately exploded.

Some suppliers united to request timely redemption of the notes from the automakers, or strictly adhere to the two-month payment term.

Of course, large companies haven’t been affected yet, since they have many suppliers and stable relations. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But some small enterprises don’t enjoy such treatment and were forced by suppliers to settle accounts within two months.

Unfortunately, Chen Yiyang fell within that category of small enterprises.

Previously, it took great effort to appease suppliers, and now they expect Chen Yiyang to settle payments promptly due to this issue.

"This shouldn’t be." Chen Yiyang scratched his head.

"Those suppliers should be aware of my strength and status, right? I’m not like those automakers with investor or bank loan money at risk of sudden bankruptcy. Why am I included in this?"

"Because there’s a rumor in the business world that you’ve invested in too many industries, spread yourself too thin, have cash flow issues, and fled abroad without plans to return."

Damn.

Chen Yiyang initially felt somewhat angry.

But he quickly realized.

Such an incident happening in the country as soon as he left.

Isn’t that too coincidental?

Could someone be pulling strings behind the scenes?

But now, the Yiyang Automobile inspection team hasn’t arrived, and he just reached Serbia, he couldn’t possibly leave immediately.

They really seized a perfect timing gap.

"Boss," Liu Xiaoyue spoke up, "actually, we aren’t short of money. The over one hundred billion you got from selling the Russian factory is enough to sustain us for a long time.

The main question outsiders have is your ability to earn long term. Although over a hundred billion is a lot, in the automotive industry, once you start burning cash, it’s not as durable.

Moreover, Yiyang Automobile’s self-sustainability is weak at present, you need to show the outside world that you have a stable cash flow income. Otherwise, this situation won’t be resolved easily."