I See through Everything

If the atmosphere back home was festive due to the arrival of the Spring Festival, then the rest of the world was shrouded in a pall of gloom.

Shouguang Fishing Port in Da Nang, An Nan.

This fishing port was located in Da Nang City in central An Nan, and it was also the largest fishing port in the central region of the country.

As the "little hegemon" of Southeast Asia, An Nan’s marine fishing industry had developed rapidly, especially after the turn of the twenty-first century. It currently harvested 3 to 4 million tons of seafood from the ocean annually, ranking second in catch volume in Southeast Asia.

The country that ranked first in Southeast Asia for marine fishing was Java, known as the "Nation of a Thousand Islands," which caught around 6 million tons of seafood annually.

In comparison, Cyrus, which also possessed vast maritime territories, only had an annual marine catch of around 9.5 to 10 million tons.

This showed that An Nan’s per capita marine catch was several times higher than that of Cyrus.

At this moment, however, a fishmeal production company at Shouguang Fishing Port suddenly posted a notice announcing the suspension of cheap sea fish purchases.

Having just come ashore after catching over ten tons of sardines, a fisherman named Ruan Zhiqiang was about to haul his catch to the fishmeal factory to sell. But when he arrived at the entrance of the purchasing point, he found a large crowd of fishermen surrounding it.

"What’s going on?" Ruan Zhiqiang was completely baffled.

He quickly grabbed an old acquaintance by the shoulder. "Ah Xin, what’s happening?"

The man turned and saw it was Ruan Zhiqiang. With a long face, he said, "Oh, it’s you! Yonghuan Company just put out a notice. They’re suspending purchases of cheap sea fish and processing materials for one month."

"What!?" Ruan Zhiqiang was stunned. "In previous years, they only took a three-day break for the Spring Festival. Why are they suddenly off for a whole month this year?"

Ah Xin took the cigarette Ruan Zhiqiang offered him. "I heard fishmeal prices have dropped sharply recently. Yonghuan Company figures it’s unprofitable, so they’re planning to cut production and see how the market trends."

"Fishmeal prices dropped? Then what am I supposed to do with these ten-plus tons of sardines?" Ruan Zhiqiang’s head was spinning.

After lighting the cigarette and taking a drag, Ah Xin shook his head. "You should go ask Old Coconut. See if he can take them off your hands."

"Where’s Old Coconut?"

"Inside."

"Thanks." Ruan Zhiqiang hurriedly pushed through the crowd and went up to the second floor of the purchasing point.

He saw Old Coconut chatting and drinking tea with a few employees. The man’s face was a crisscross of deep wrinkles and his head was topped with sparse, thinning hair, making him look just like his namesake.

"Old Coconut, what’s the situation?"

Seeing Ruan Zhiqiang, Old Coconut seemed to already know why he was there and shook his head. "Ah Qiang, you have fish, don’t you?"

"I do! Do me a favor and take these ten-plus tons of sardines! I’ll treat you to a meal later," Ruan Zhiqiang said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering it to him.

"If I could help you, I would have already. The problem is, the company’s fishmeal plant has shut down. How am I supposed to buy them?" Old Coconut spread his hands with a helpless expression.

Ruan Zhiqiang didn’t give up. "Old Coconut, why would your boss pass up a chance to make money? Even if fishmeal prices have dropped, it just means you earn a little less."

Old Coconut took his cigarettes, then asked with a look of resignation, "Heh, do you have any idea how much fishmeal is going for per ton right now?"

"How much?"

"1,020 US dollars."

"That price is still okay, right? Don’t try to fool me, Old Coconut. My cousin used to work in your factory. One ton of sardines can make two hundred fifty kilograms of fishmeal, and you buy sardines at the docks for only seven thousand An Nan Shields (2 Hua Yuan) per kilogram."

*Note: 1 US Dollar = 7 Hua Yuan, 1 Hua Yuan = 3,500 An Nan Shields.*

"Ah Qiang, do you even know how to do the math?" Old Coconut shot back mockingly.

Ruan Zhiqiang grabbed a nearby calculator and pressed a few buttons. "Of course I do! Seven thousand Shields is only 0.285 US dollars. That’s 285 US dollars a ton. Four tons of sardines to produce one ton of fishmeal..."

"Go on! Why’d you stop? Cat got your tongue?" Old Coconut said, looking utterly speechless.

"Uh..." Ruan Zhiqiang had figured it out, but the thought of the ten-plus tons of sardines in his boat’s hold made him swallow his pride. "Old Coconut, how about a lower price? Just enough to cover my fuel costs."

Old Coconut shook his head in exasperation. "Heh, that cheap? You might as well give them to me for free. Even our company’s own fishing boats have stopped catching cheap sea fish, let alone buying yours."

This was the predicament facing An Nan’s fishmeal companies.

Marine fishing costs in Southeast Asia were much higher than in the Peruvian Fishery. The Peruvian Fishery had massive, regular fish runs, allowing them to use large trawlers for harvesting. The comprehensive cost to catch one ton of sardines there was around 120 to 150 US dollars.

However, the waters of Southeast Asia lacked large-scale, regular fish runs. The fuel cost for a single trip was higher than in the Peruvian Fishery, and the catch volume was highly unpredictable.

This resulted in the cost of catching sea fish in Southeast Asia being generally over 200 US dollars per ton, and that was for the relatively abundant cheap sea fish.

For high-value seafood with smaller populations, like lobster or grouper, the comprehensive fishing cost per ton could even reach thousands of US dollars.

This was especially true for small fishing boats like Ruan Zhiqiang’s, which had a capacity of a few dozen tons and inherently higher operating costs than large trawlers.

Originally, the average factory cost for Yonghuan Company to produce fishmeal with a 60% crude protein content from sardines was about 800 to 1,000 US dollars per ton.

Now, the landed price in the East Asia Region for Peruvian sardine fishmeal with 67% crude protein content was 1,020 US dollars per ton.

An Nan’s fishmeal was already of lower quality and typically had to be priced two to three hundred US dollars cheaper than Peruvian fishmeal to compete.