I See through Everything

Jiang Miao turned to look at Liu Hongjun. "Old Liu, what’s the company’s price for crude fish oil?"

"Boss, the price for crude fish oil is set by the Cost Accounting and Product Pricing office. It’s 4,800 yuan per ton." Liu Hongjun had actually been planning to talk to the boss about giving the other party a discount. After all, only customers who purchased in such large quantities could absorb the company’s production capacity.

The Yandun Mountain Feed Factory currently produced a surplus of eight tons of crude fish oil per day. The cold storage warehouse already held 123 tons. If that number kept growing, storage costs would continue to pile up.

However, Jiang Miao had no intention of lowering the price. He knew that oil from Egyptian Catfish was different from ordinary sardine oil.

The polyunsaturated fatty acid content in crude Egyptian Catfish oil was around 31%, about 6.7% higher than the 24.3% found in sardine oil.

In terms of monounsaturated fatty acids, the two were nearly identical.

Besides, a price of 4,800 yuan per ton was already the lowest on the market for domestically produced crude fish oil. Going any lower would just be asking for trouble.

Jiang Miao said with a smile, "General Manager Li, I understand your company’s difficulties, but business is business. Plus, our company’s crude fish oil has a polyunsaturated fatty acid content as high as 31%."

Li Jianye was well aware of the content issue Jiang Miao brought up. He had already run tests on the sample of crude fish oil he’d received from the Hailufeng Company.

If they purchased at this price, the Oulaiti Company would still turn a profit. They could reduce their costs by at least 10%.

But he was a businessman, and chasing profits was a natural instinct.

Naturally, Li Jianye hoped the Hailufeng Company would lower its price so he could secure a larger profit margin.

After talking for a while, Jiang Miao had already seen the other party’s bottom line and had no intention of backing down.

Left with no choice, Li Jianye accepted the price of 4,800 yuan per ton.

As for minor details like signing the contract, Jiang Miao didn’t need to worry. Liu Hongjun and the sales department would handle it.

After signing the contract, Li Jianye and his group left in a hurry, leaving behind a contract for the Hailufeng Company to supply 200 tons of crude fish oil per month.

And don’t mistake that for a small order.

Last year, the entire country only imported 57,000 tons of crude fish oil and related products. Combined with the 30,000 tons produced domestically, the total was a mere 87,000 tons.

Of that total, the top dozen or so companies consumed 95%.

Therefore, for the Oulaiti Company to be purchasing 200 tons of crude fish oil per month meant they were a relatively large-scale fish oil deep-processing enterprise.

While they were signing the contract, Jiang Miao spent over an hour inspecting the construction sites for the neighboring fish ball factory and the Egyptian Catfish Breeding Base.

When he returned to the feed factory, Liu Hongjun immediately appeared before him. "Boss, it’s too hot outside. Come in and rest for a bit!"

Standing at the entrance to the purchasing office, Jiang Miao waved his hand. "No need. I’ll just sit here for a moment. How has production been the last few days?"

Hearing this, Liu Hongjun breathed a silent sigh of relief and replied cautiously, "Boss, for the three types of eel feed, we’re producing about 24 tons a day. The crude fish oil byproduct has a surplus of about 8 tons daily, and we’re producing about 150 tons of the No. 4 Egyptian Catfish feed each day."

"How are the crude fish oil sales?"

"They’re okay. A few days ago, the sales department secured a deal with a pharmaceutical raw material manufacturer from Peng City. They’ve placed a monthly order for 50 tons of crude fish oil at the same price as the Oulaiti Company, 4,800 yuan per ton."

Jiang Miao’s eyebrows shot up. "Not bad. The sales department did a good job."

Liu Hongjun knew it was the sales department’s achievement, but he still explained the broader market situation. "Fish oil is selling well right now. That’s because over the past three months, the sardine catch from the Peruvian Fishery has dropped by about seventy percent compared to previous years. This caused the price of fish oil, a byproduct of fishmeal, to skyrocket. Currently, the landed price for imported crude fish oil is 5,300 yuan per ton. Refined food-grade fish oil is 15,000 yuan per ton, and pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is 22,000 yuan per ton."

This reminded Jiang Miao of a document he had approved a few days ago. "Manager Fang mentioned wanting to purchase fish oil refining equipment a few days back. I assume that was because he saw the surge in market prices?"

"It’s normal for Manager Fang to have that idea. After all, the higher the unsaturated fatty acid content in the fish oil, the higher the price, and it helps with product diversification." As Liu Hongjun began to speak about the factory’s products, his nervousness vanished.

Jiang Miao didn’t object to Fang Yi’s idea.

After all, with the local Egyptian Catfish farming operations continually expanding, he estimated that by November, the feed factory would be able to purchase around 800 tons of Egyptian Catfish daily. At that point, they would have a daily surplus of about 80 tons of fish oil.

In one year, they could produce nearly 30,000 tons of crude fish oil, equivalent to the country’s entire domestic output.

This represented a handsome profit, but also a considerable burden. After all, the domestic market was only so big.

And developing a diverse product line would help increase their risk resilience.

After all, customers for crude fish oil were feed companies and deep-processing enterprises. Food-grade fish oil, on the other hand, could be sold to health food companies and pet food companies, while pharmaceutical-grade fish oil could be sold to pharmaceutical companies.

Only by diversifying their products could they expand their market share.

After sitting by the purchasing office for a while, Jiang Miao saw a few fish farmers who had just sold their fish turn around and buy a dozen or so bags of No. 4 feed from the feed storage warehouse next to the office.

"How are the sales for the No. 4 feed?"

"We’re selling over a hundred tons a day, but it’s mostly on credit. It takes some time to get the payments back," Liu Hongjun explained.