My Italian Chapter 281

While Antonio was thinking about the Dutchman next door, a piece of good news in Rome also circulated in the government.

The news of the discovery of a large iron ore in Libya has been confirmed by professional prospectors to be true. Moreover, the iron ore in Sabha is more than 100 million tons, and it is a mineable reserve of 380 million tons. This is not a good news for Italy.

Of course, the discovery of this large iron ore is not only good news. It is located in the hinterland next to the desert and is nearly 500 kilometers away from the coast. In terms of transportation, it is not too difficult.

There is also disagreement within the government on whether to mine it. The main reason is cost, because according to experts from the Ministry of Communications, if you want to mine this iron ore, you must build a nearly 800-kilometer-long heavy-duty railway.

Such a long railway construction will be a huge investment for Italy. In particular, the high maintenance cost of desert railways will also push up the price of iron ore. Although there is also the advantage of lower cost of open-pit mining, according to professional estimates, the price of iron ore that finally arrives in the country will not be higher than that of buying from Germany. The iron ore is too low, at most 15% lower.

It is very normal for many people to have different opinions on this.

Because it is very simple, the cost of building a standard-gauge heavy-duty railway across the desert for 800 kilometers is between 90 million and 130 million liras. The reason why the gap is so big mainly includes the railway, including the sand forests on both sides. In addition, due to the desert terrain, the annual maintenance cost will be higher than other railways, requiring at least 6 million liras per year.

Taking into account the current load of the train, a heavy-duty train can pull up to 400 tons of goods at most, and only 14,000 tons a day if three trains depart every hour. Of course, this is an ideal state. It can send 10,000 tons of goods every day, even if it is very good, it can be regarded as a model of Italian railway operation. Due to maintenance and other reasons, heavy-duty railways cannot achieve such a large volume unless they are double-tracked, but this will further push up the cost of railway construction.

With the goal of transporting 3 million tons of iron ore each year on this railway, the railway transportation cost per ton of ore alone will cost 5.1-5.8 lire (locomotive maintenance, and other costs such as coal burning).

If shipping, loading and unloading and mining costs are added, it will directly push up to about 38 lire per ton. At present, the average price of iron ore purchased by Italy from abroad is 42 lire, and the same type of Luxembourg second-class iron ore in Sabha iron ore. Iron ore, for example, is priced at 42.8 lire per meal.

"This saves 4.8 lire per ton, three million tons per year, but only more than 14 million lire, and after deducting the investment in railway construction and iron ore mining, it basically takes 20 years to recover the investment."

In the palace, Carlo, who had just finished his honeymoon, listened to the Prime Minister's report on the costs and benefits of iron ore mining.

After the Prime Minister finished speaking, Carlo spoke. "It is true that the return on investment is too low, but the government cannot rely on the return on investment as the main basis. The mining of the iron ore in Sabha will greatly promote the development of Villa. And it can also provide local data. Thousands of jobs can at least benefit tens of thousands of people, which your government also needs to consider.”

Yes, in Carlo's view, the emergence of the Sabha iron ore is simply a natural fit for the development of southern Italy. Coal mines in Kosovo and iron ore in Libya, at least the industrial base of southern Italy is in place.

With heavy industry, the development of southern Italy cannot be said to catch up with the north, but it will not pull down too much. Capital is profit-seeking, and they will consciously invest around the steel industry. After all, every copper plate is worth their calculation.

And those who only know how to calculate returns are simply short-sighted and have no big-picture view at all. They have no idea what this means for Italy, at least Italy won't get stuck in the raw materials for the steel industry.

Although there is no embargo at all in this era, the influence of future thinking makes Carlo not want Italy to have any danger of being stuck in the neck.

"It is precisely because of this knowledge that the old minister pushed the government to develop iron ore in Libya. We can't always rely on foreign iron ore to develop the steel industry, even if it is an allied country."

Regarding Carlo's words, Prime Minister Depretis had already anticipated it. After years of getting along, he knew the king's mind. It can be said that compared with other countries, this is the monarch who pays the most attention to the development of the kingdom.

Of course, it is also a strong monarch, but at present it seems that a strong monarch is still very beneficial to the development of Italy and can speed up the processing of various affairs. And most of the decisions Carlo made later turned out to be correct. This is very important because if the monarch is wrong, the repercussions can be bad.

The Prime Minister's answer made Carlo very satisfied. The cost of purchasing raw materials in Italy is the largest every year. Since there are resources in the country, why not use it, at least it can promote employment and develop the domestic economy.

"Then where did your government choose the location of the steel plant?"

Now Carlo is concerned about another issue, that is, the location of the steel plant. This question is equally important, because it can directly provide thousands of jobs for the city where it is located, and it can also promote the development of the city. As for the biggest environmental problem in later generations, this era when national strength is measured by steel simply does not exist.

In the face of Carlo's inquiry, Prime Minister Depretis said immediately. "Our government intends to build three steel plants in Naples, Palermo and Taranto..."

Although the Prime Minister said to build three steel plants, Carlo knows that there must be a priority.

"Then how did you arrange it?"

"In the three places selected by our government, Naples has abundant water resources and is also the largest city in the south. Building a steel plant in this city can further accelerate the development of Naples. Therefore, we have prepared for Naples to produce 200,000 yuan in the near future. 100,000 tons of iron and steel smelter, with a long-term construction plan of 600,000 tons, which mainly produces pig iron and low-carbon steel. Since Palermo is located in Sicily, we have prepared 150,000 tons in the early stage and 300,000 tons in the future The steel construction plan of the company. Its production is mainly pig iron and low carbon steel, in addition to medium and high carbon steel. As for Tabuto, it plans to build a special steel smelting plant, mainly producing high-performance steel for military use, and its production capacity is also the lowest. The target is 30,000 tons, and the long-term plan is 50,000 to 80,000 tons.”

After listening to the Prime Minister's words, Carlo said after thinking for a while. "Change the steel development of Palermo and Naples, and focus on the development of the steel industry in Palermo."

There is also a reason for Carlo to say this. Sicily has a large population. If there are not enough jobs, then the birthplace of the mafia might really need to vigorously develop the mafia.

For Sicily, Carlo has always been concerned about it, because the relationship between man and land is very tense. Sicily has always been a big family of immigrants. With the development of Italy, Sicily has become a little more peaceful in recent years, but he will not think that it is enough.

The Prime Minister also took this into consideration after hearing Kahlo's prompt, so no objection was raised.

So the development of the Italian steel industry in the next five to eight years was decided by them.

Of course, in order to develop the steel industry, the Italian government needs to invest a lot of money.

It is expected that the Balkan Railway, as well as the Libyan Railway, which has just been decided, plus three steel production plants, the government will need to invest at least 340 million liras.

This is a huge burden for Italy.

For this reason, Carlo is also under a lot of pressure, but a long-term unresolved matter may be able to take this opportunity to do it together.

Thinking of this, Carlo picked up the phone.

"Head Guard, how's that going?"

Chapter end