As the largest hemp textile center in France, Lyon, which had always been known as the "European Silk Center," had now developed into a metropolis second only to Paris.
At this moment, this dazzling pearl was no longer dazzling. Affected by the Anglo-Austrian dumping, the French business industry ushered in the most brutal challenges.
Most companies had announced layoffs and production cuts. The army of job seekers on the street was increasing day by day, and there were few new jobs.
Almost every time there was a recruitment, there would be a commotion. Even if only three to five people were recruited, there would be dozens of people signing up.
It could be said that this was the easiest time for French companies to recruit people, and they could choose as many excellent employees as they wanted.
The companies that could go against the market to recruit people were the most powerful. What was a crisis for ordinary companies was a rare opportunity for these giant crocodiles.
Lyon Moore Textile Group was one of the most dazzling ones. It had more than 170 large and small factories, with a total of more than 130,000 employees.
The industrial chain covered the upstream and downstream of the textile industry, including cotton mills, hemp mills, wool mills, silk mills, printing and dyeing factories, clothing factories … and even its own raw material plantations.
In addition to a complete industrial chain, Moore Textile Group also had the most advanced textile technology in contemporary times, with more than 200 patents.
Such a giant, even if it was hit, its ability to resist risks was the strongest.
Other companies had lost money, but Moore Textile Group was still profitable. Although the profit was minimal, it was also an important difference.
In the eyes of the outside world, this big group with infinite glory was not having an easy time now.
Profitable companies would also be short of money. The stock crash broke out, and foreign capital was hitting the financial market. The run on the market became more and more intense.
In order to cope with the crisis, domestic banks had tightened their lending, and corporate financing had become particularly difficult.
Moore Textile Group Office Building
CEO Moore Sardas looked at the latest financial statement and sighed deeply. "When will the loan from the bank come?"
Moore Textile Group was also supported by a consortium, but this local consortium in Lyon was rooted in the industry, and the group of financiers in Paris was not in the same place.
This local consortium was an unexpected product of Napoleon Iii's industrial support. If there were no accidents, with the support of the Government of France, this local consortium based on industry would slowly develop into a world-class consortium in the future.
The secretary replied to Hank, "Mr. Moore, the situation has changed. Recently, the Bank of Lyon had suffered a serious run on the bank because of their competitors.
The bank is raising funds to protect itself. We have already communicated with the consortium. The bank said that as long as we survive the bank run crisis, they will release the funds in the shortest time possible. "
Hearing this news, Moore Sardas' head hurt even more. The domestic banks had tightened their monetary policy. Unless they had a very close relationship, it was impossible for them to lend money.
In the same consortium, Moore Textile Group and Bank of Lyon were the pillars of the consortium. The shareholders behind the scenes were all cross-shareholdings, and they had already formed a community of interests.
Before this, Moore Textile Group could get the biggest discount every time they took a loan, and they had never been blocked by the bank.
Now that they had been rejected, it was clear that the bank was really in a crisis and couldn't care less about their ally.
Since the competitors of the Bank of Lyon had already made their move, they would not do it without a reason. This meant that the Bank of Lyon couldn't be counted on in a short time.
The stock market was still raging, and it was unrealistic to raise funds from the stock market. Bank loans could not come in a short time, and the only financing channel left for companies was to issue bonds.
After pondering for a while, Moore Sardas decisively gave up this unrealistic fantasy. In the current economic situation, issuing bonds was asking to be humiliated.
"Inform them to suspend the construction of all new factories and cancel the African plantation plan. Let all departments take a careful inventory. As long as it is not an urgent project, stop it if it can be stopped first. "
In recent years, Moore Textile Group had expanded very fast. The company's profits were all spent on expansion, and it was burdened with huge debts.
Now the economic situation was not good, and there were problems with the capital chain. In order to save the group's expenses, Moore Sardas terminated the group's expansion plan.
The secretary, Hank, reminded, "Mr. Moore, these plans have been approved by the colleagues and have been announced to the public. If you cancel it now, I'm afraid …"
Moore Sardas waved his hand, "Now is a special time. I will explain the situation to all the sensible people.
Inform the directors that I will hold a board meeting in three days.
By the way, make an appointment with the mayor for me. Now we need the help of the government. "
As a large group with more than 100,000 people working with it, the impact on the surrounding economy was very serious. If Moore Textile Group was finished, the economy of the Lyon region would not escape the fate of collapse.
Without waiting for Moore Sardas to save himself, Keith Anderson, the head of the Ministry of Commerce, broke in.
"President, it's not good. We just received news that many of the group's international orders have been rejected by the buyers.
We may be targeted. The Ministry of Commerce has sent people to communicate with them. It is estimated that the hope is slim. Now the goods are still piled on the ship and cannot be unloaded.
The Ministry of Commerce has informed to suspend the overseas orders and wait for further verification before making plans.
But it is still a step late. At present, another seven ships have left the port. "
This was the worst news that Moore Saldas had ever heard. It was definitely not one of the worst.
Moore Group had occasionally encountered a breach of an order. Anyway, after receiving the deposit, it could be resold to others at a low price. The loss was not much, and the group could still bear it.
This sudden breach of multiple orders at the same time was different. It was obvious that someone was specifically targeting them.
In normal times, it was fine. Moore Textile Group was a big business, and a little disturbance was nothing.
But now it was different. It was the most competitive time in the market. It was not easy to find a new buyer.
If it was not good, all these goods would be ruined in their hands. Moore Textile Group, which was already short of cash flow, would be in danger if they had a large backlog of goods.
Moore Sardas forced himself to calm down. "How much is the value of the breached orders? If all these goods are ruined in our hands, how much money will we lose?"
Keith Anderson replied with a sad face, "The contract value of the breached orders is as high as 120 million francs. If we can't find a buyer for these goods, we will lose up to 105 million francs.
If we only calculate the cost, our direct economic loss will be more than 75 million francs.
This is just the beginning. It is not certain whether the following orders can be fulfilled normally.
If all the international orders are breached, then the final loss may reach 100 million francs. "
Moore Sardas's face suddenly turned gloomy. Not to mention this critical moment, even losing 100 million francs in normal times would hurt the Moore Textile Group.
Recalling the group's internationalization process, Moore Sardas finally found that something was wrong. The last two years had been too smooth.
He originally thought that it was a dividend brought by the Prussian War, but now he realized that it was probably a trap dug by their competitors.
The ones who breached the contracts were the group's big customers. Both parties had cooperated more than once, but the previous orders were very small.
This year, it suddenly increased. Moore Sardas originally suspected whether there was a problem, but the orders were too tempting.
They knew the basic situation of the customers, and they were very powerful in the local area.
Although the quantity was a bit large, the customers paid the deposit quickly, and the economic situation at the beginning of the year was still good, so the contract was signed without any problems.
Moore Sardas slowly said, "Find a buyer for this batch of goods as soon as possible!
The group's capital chain is already very tight, and the financial crisis has broken out in the country. We must raise more cash to guard against any accidents.
Don't pursue profits. As long as we can sell it, even if the price is cut in half, we will accept it. "
This was a desperate situation. The Moore Textile Group was famous in France, but it was still a newcomer in the international market.
Even if they developed very fast and relied on the influence of France to grab a big market from the British, their foundation was still not enough.
The breach of contract this time was the most realistic portrayal. If the foundation was solid, there would be more than one distributor in a region, and such a passive situation would not occur.
Since the enemy had made a move, they would naturally think of the problem of finding a buyer. If they wanted to sell this batch of goods in a short time, it might be easier to ship it back to their country.
Of course, this could only be thought of. Not to mention the increased freight costs, it was not a big deal to bring back the goods that had already been exported. Anyway, the capitalists had thick skin.
The key was that the French market was also being hit by the dumping of British textile products.
The Moore Textile Group could only maintain a small profit. If they put more goods on the market, they would start to lose money.
If they could sell the unsalable goods in their hands with a small loss, the capitalists would have done it long ago.
These days, who didn't have a few warehouses of goods in their hands, they were embarrassed to call themselves entrepreneurs.
The trouble was that the sales price of goods went down, but the sales volume did not rise. It was one disaster after another. It was really killing people.
This was not a joke, it really happened. All industrial and commercial products were greatly reduced, and the products under the Moore Group also followed the trend of price reduction promotions, but the overall sales volume did not increase much.
… …
It was not only the Moore Textile Group that was affected. Compared with the light industry, the French heavy industry was covered with floating corpses.
Since entering the second half of the year, the export price of the international coal market has risen five times in a row, with a total increase of 26.4%. Especially the price of coke, which increased by as much as one-third.
The sharp rise in raw material prices made the French steel industry fall into a difficult situation.
Before everyone could recover, there was a big reduction in steel prices.
The United Kingdom and Austria maintained synchronized actions. The prices of raw steel and pig iron on the international market fell by 15.4% and 18.6% respectively. A large amount of cheap steel poured in, directly causing the French heavy industry to enter the era of negative interest rates.
Now the problem in front of the French heavy industry was that production was equal to loss. The more production, the more loss; not producing was also a loss. The only difference between the two was the problem of how much loss.
… …
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