On October 22, just eight days after the Chinese Ministry of Commerce began to counteract, the South Korean side was completely unstable. The presidential chamber no longer supported the "no matter" shelf, urgently opened the channels of China-Korea economic and trade communication, and clearly said to "discuss urgently, don't let the Korean enterprise lose too badly."No one thought that this sanctions appeared to be directed only to a company would panic South Korea from government to enterprise, and the source of all this must start from the Korean Korean company itself.
Hanwei's "fuzzy account": relying on China to eat, also help the United States to dismantle China's table
To say how outrageous Han Hua's matter is, it would not be too much to describe it as an "ungrateful wolf". Hanwha Ocean is one of South Korea's largest shipyards. It was just merged into Hanwha Group in 2023. It is able to gain a firm foothold in the global shipbuilding circle thanks to China's supply chain.
Let's talk about key materials. 20% of marine steel plates have to be bought from China. Rare earth permanent magnet materials used to produce marine permanent magnet motors are more than 70% dependent. Even small parts such as high-end anti-corrosion coatings and precision instruments for navigation are 30%. It also has to be supplied by China.
In other words, more than half of the Hanoi workshops are printed with "Made in China".
But Han Hua didn't cherish this bowl of rice. In March this year, it took the initiative to advise the United States-delivering a report specifically on China's shipbuilding industry.
Not only does it suggest that the U.S. charges Chinese shipping companies and Chinese-built ships for service fees, even companies with potential orders for Chinese ships, want to pull on the "black list".
In less than a month, the 301 investigation against Chinese shipbuilding subsidies was launched, and in October, the new port fee policy was directly implemented, making it clear that China's shipbuilding industry was suppressed.
What's even worse is that Han Hua also exposed all his "background" to the United States. Data on purchasing raw materials from China over the past five years, cost lists, and even quotations from Chinese cooperative companies were all submitted in one go, not even the PPT of internal discussions on "how to weaken the cost advantage of China's shipyards."
While relying on Chinese materials to reduce costs and steal orders, while helping the United States to block the way for Chinese enterprises, HUAWEI's calculation hit a blow.
At the end of last year, it purchased the US shipyard in Philadelphia for $100 million, invested another $5 billion in expansion in August, and the South Korean president also went to the stand, saying he wanted to "work together with the United States to create miracles."
But it has forgotten that the rare earths and steel plates, which are most critical to its shipbuilding, have to be shipped from China-isn't this taking China's "grain" to help others fight China?
8 days "choking the door of life": South Korea's shipbuilding industry suddenly panicked
On October 14, China's Ministry of Commerce's counter-announcement announcement came out, and Hanoi made a foolish eye. The announcement was not very complicated, about five lines: the five U.S. subsidiaries of the Hanoi Ocean were included in the list of companies that cannot cooperate, Chinese enterprises were prohibited from doing business with them, and Chinese ports were not allowed to provide repair and refueling to their ships.
On the day the sanctions entered into force, Huawei's module factory in Shandong received a notification from Chinese companies - the shipment was suspended.The warehouse had a shipyard of $3.4 billion, which was supposed to be shipped to the U.S. shipyard in Philadelphia at the end of the month, and now the whole card can not move there.
As soon as the shipping schedule is delayed, the liquidated damages snowballed. The ticket of the US Maritime Safety Administration has been issued to $110 million, and the money is being added every day.
Worse, Hanwei had a semi-submarine transport vessel floated in the bay for several days, wanted to find a port repair ship, add some oil, and the result was that the Chinese terminal directly said "must first communicate with Beijing", not even the door.
This is not the end. The chill of sanctions quickly spread to the entire South Korean shipbuilding industry. The share prices of Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries plunged, falling more than 5% in one day-it's not that they are panicked, but that they both know that, like Hanwha, they can't play without China's supply chain.
More than 90% of the world's graphene anode materials are produced in China, 50% of the South Korean shipbuilding industry steel and 70% of rare earth materials have to be imported from China, can not be avoided at all.
What's even worse is that on October 9th, China just introduced export controls on heavy rare earths and superhard materials, which is equivalent to blocking Hanwha's way to find alternative suppliers.
The executive of a South Korean shipbuilding company privately said: "I thought about the Hanoi family, now I discovered that our entire industry's life is in other people's hands."
From “hard mouth” to “forgiveness”: South Korea changed the face in 8 days
The Ministry of Industry and Trade Resources to the outside: “The impact of sanctions is limited, and Korean companies have a backup plan.”
But after just three days of saying this, he was severely slapped in the face by reality-Hanwha's liquidated damages bill is getting thicker day by day, workers at the Shandong module factory are taking turns to take leave, urgent emails from American customers are piled up, and heavy rare earth controls have cut off the road to finding alternatives. If we persist, Hanwha may go bankrupt.
This presidential chamber was completely panicked, no longer mentioning the "no matter" twist. on October 22, South Korea's industry and commerce exchanges minister Liu Huan Nihai quickly opened a video conference with the representatives of the trade negotiations of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and the whole word was begging: "Let's discuss the ways, don't let the Korean companies lose too badly."
The newly appointed South Korean ambassador to China, Lu Zaixian, is even more exaggerated. On the first day of landing in Beijing, he was not idle: he went to the Ministry of Commerce in the morning, went straight to Shandong to see Hanwha's module factory in the afternoon, and had to appease Korean businessmen in China in the evening.
Some accompanying personnel said that Lu had been on the plane on the material, the face is even white than the cabin lamp, afraid that a step later, Han Hua would not be able to withstand.
The corporate world is even more chaotic. LG New Energy quickly transferred 30% of China's cathode material orders to factories in Australia and Canada. As a result, costs rose by 11%, and profits were directly reduced by a large amount; Samsung SDI was more direct and added a warning that "the supply chain is risky" in the announcement of the shareholders 'meeting, which scared retail investors to sell stocks crazily.
Even the owners of the grocery store in Seoul were affected - China's non-smoking charcoal increased by 50 per day, baked beef had to raise the price, guests fell by half, and rents could not be paid at the end of the month.
A commentary in the Chosun Ilbo said it quite truthfully: South Korea is now in a "dilemma"-if it wants to beg for mercy from China, afraid that the United States will turn against it; if it wants to take on it hard, the three pillar industries of shipbuilding, batteries, and semiconductors will all be smashed.
Some Korean netizens said on the Internet that "I don't want to be a battlefield for the game between big powers, but I just want to do business in peace and stability." After praising it, it exceeded 200,000, which can be regarded as speaking out the voices of many people.
After all, South Korea's panic this time, it was all done by Hanwei himself - eating Chinese food, and also knocking on the Chinese bowl, thinking that it could be cheap, and as a result, the entire Korean manufacturing industry was dragged in.
Now wanting to ask for forgiveness, the Chinese side has long been clear: to solve the problem, first let Hanwei acknowledge the wrong compensation, and come up with the true trick to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
This eight-day reversal also raised awareness for all enterprises: playing "two sides" between the great powers, and sooner or later moving up the stone and knocking their feet.
Source of information:
Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China