As soon as Jasper walked into the company, he invited Sean and a bunch of executives that had rushed over from the construction site to gather for a meeting.
“Mr. Laine, we had originally agreed on the shipment of a batch of cement with Hero Company today morning. However, they didn’t send out the shipment. We tried to contact them by calling them, but they told us that the manager in charge of handling us had gone on a business trip and can’t be contacted for now.”
A person in charge stood up and announced. There was an unpleasant look on his face.
“Hero Company is one of the country’s top large-scale cement suppliers. How can a single manager be in charge of handling the entire shipment? What about the other people?” Jasper asked.
“We couldn’t get in contact with them. Meanwhile, the managers that that we did manage to contact after numerous tries told us that the company was facing a production shortage right now. Therefore, they have limited all of their distribution channels, and have no idea when they’ll be able to distribute the supplies to us”
Jasper rapped his fingers against the table. His expression was dark and overcast. “Are there any problems with our payment for the goods?” He asked.
The person in charge reported, “There was absolutely no problem with the payment. We adhered to the contract strictly. We pledged two batches of goods, and paid for the first batch of supplies after the third batch was sent to us. There has been no problem until now.”
Jasper nodded and said, “In that case, this isn’t about money. What about the steel supplies? Are there problems with that as well?”
Another executive let out an audible sigh. “The situation at Stellar Company is pretty similar. We can’t get in contact with the person handling our supplies. However, Stellar Company faxed us an official letter,” he said.
“The letter said that several of the boilers at Stellar Company are under maintenance, so they are currently shut down and cannot be used for production. They are unsure as to when they can continue distributing the supplies as well.
“That’s right. There are no problems with the payment on this either. We fulfilled all of the criteria mentioned in the contract that has been agreed to in accordance with the market conditions.”
Jasper fixed his gaze on the person in charge of the procurement of materials for the Southface River project.
The person in charge, who was in his forties, did not dare to meet Jasper’s gaze at all. His forehead was beaded with sweat. With a bitter expression on his face, he said, “Not only are there problems with the cement and steel supplies, but our supplies of paint, thermal insulation, waterproof concrete, brick, stone and most of the building materials have almost all been cut off.”
No matter the reason, the procurement manager would be the first to be held responsible if there was a problem with the supply of building materials.
The procurement manager felt like burying himself in the ground right now.
Following his words, the atmosphere in the meeting room fell into a state of heavy, sinister silence.
Everyone directed their gazes at Jasper, who was seated at the head of the table, as they waited for him to come up with an idea.
Right then, Sean decided to bite the bullet after pondering it for some time. “Mr. Laine, it’d be reasonable if there were problems with procuring one or two of the building materials. However, the supply of all our building materials, regardless of the shipment size, have been cut off at the same time. It’s obvious that someone from the upstream supply chain is messing with us,” he said.
Jasper did not reply.
Anyone could understand something simple like that.
This move was not really very smart. In fact, it was rather barbaric.
However, it was still effective.
It was a trick that utilized a predatory pricing strategy to buy up the supply.
If they did this to a weaker opponent, their opponent would have lost all resistance instantly. They would be at the mercy of everyone else.
Previously, Jasper had used a similar method to defeat the Zions back in Brac County.
“It’s Haddock. Ian Hull and Norman Gardner are behind this,” Jasper announced in an even tone.
They were the only ones who go to such lengths in order to disrupt the Southface River project.
Jasper knew that they were about to unleash all their moves on him one by one.
Sean let out a heavy sigh, “Mr. Laine, what should we do now?” He asked.
“How long will the remaining building supplies at the construction site last?” Jasper asked.
Being the competent vice president that he was, Sean answered almost immediately. “The other building materials should be able to last for some time since we still have quite a number of supplies in the inventory. We should have enough to continue for up to ten or fifteen days. However, we use a lot of cement and steel supplies on a daily basis. As of now, our inventory of those will only last another four days,” he said.
“If we don’t receive a new supply of building materials in four days, construction will have to be temporarily suspended.”
“Under no circumstances can construction be suspended. If construction is suspended, a series of harmful chain reactions will occur, alongside drastic financial losses. This is exactly what our opponent wishes to achieve,” Jasper said decisively.
