Chapter 568 Paper

Belgrade, the Royal First Paper Products Factory.

This is the most solid backing for Franz in his war of public opinion, and it is also a gift from the Austrian Empire to this city.

Due to the existence of the Royal Paper Mill, a large number of related industries have developed around it, creating a large number of jobs, and the locals have lived a prosperous life.

The most important reason why Franz chose this place is not convenient transportation, cheap raw materials, or local cheap labor, but that it is far enough from Vienna and is in the lower reaches of the Danube.

In fact, there are very few countries that export paper to foreign countries in this era, because the papermaking capacity of all countries is very low and can hardly meet their domestic needs.

But at the same time, a strange phenomenon is presented, that is, the market's desire to buy is also very low. Even the country with the highest paper production in the world at this time, Britain, rarely exports paper.

Historically, in 1844, Britain's paper production was 200,000 tons, and the export volume was only 10,000 tons, France's paper production was 110,000 tons, the United States was 11,000 tons, Prussia was 6,000 tons, and the huge Austrian Empire had only a pitiful 4,000 tons.

In fact, this historical phenomenon is caused by different processes. The traditional papermaking industry in Europe still uses round-net papermaking machines, while Britain and France have already adopted more advanced fourdrinier papermaking machines, and the United States is because the papermaking industry has just started.

Fourdrinier papermaking itself is more suitable for large-scale production than round-net papermaking, but it is the development of chemical pulping technology that really makes the papermaking industry develop on a large scale.

Franz did not know the specific process of this technology, but he knew that caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) was needed. In fact, the scientific name of this pulping method is caustic soda pulping.

The process is basically the same as the common sulfate method in modern times, but caustic soda solution is used for cooking, and sodium carbonate or caustic soda is used in the alkali recovery system to supplement the loss of alkali during the production process.

This method is often used to cook hardwood and non-wood plant fiber raw materials, and the quality of the resulting pulp is close to sulfate pulp, but it is still a very big improvement for the papermaking industry at this time.

Historically, this method was invented by the British in 1851, but with Franz's financial resources and "prophecy" support, a few unknown chemists came up with it.

After all, even caustic soda and digesters are ready. If these people can't make them, they will be worse than pigs.

Due to the application of long-web papermaking machines and caustic soda pulping, the paper production of the Austrian Empire has reached 130,000 tons, surpassing France to become the second in the world and the first in Europe.

Austrian paper can not only be self-sufficient at this time, but also be used to seize the international market. The most important trading partners are Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

Franz actually likes the feeling of importing wood from Russia and the Ottoman Empire at a low price, and then selling paper to them at a high price to make a profit.

After all, this not only recovers the cost, but also promotes the development of the country's economy.

In fact, they are not only given paper, but also a lot of wastewater. Although it is a bit bad, it is still a bit cool.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

In addition, Franz also did some market research and found that the demand for paper products in the market is single, and 70% of paper is used for newspaper and book printing.

Government office paper accounts for only 2% of the total demand, and the rest is account paper, educational paper, letter paper, and other uses (toilet paper, wrapping paper.).

Although Franz felt that he had done only a trivial thing, he shocked Kagura and Ajani.

Especially Kagura's mouth seemed to be able to fit an egg, so Franz peeled one and stuffed it in, which made the former dance with joy and roll his eyes.

"Don't show your emotions, that will become your weakness." Even in such a matter, Franz did not forget to teach the messenger who was about to set off.

Kagura immediately knelt down and leaned over to answer "Yes" neatly.

"You are obviously teasing others, but you are so serious." Ajani kept complaining in her heart.

She was confused by this oriental model, and rolled her eyes at Franz to show that she would never kneel down and do such a thing.

But she still felt that Franz's approach was incredible. After all, there was no concept of market research at that time, let alone proposing to change the market and product structure, which was simply incredible.

Franz is very clear that in the future, newsprint will far exceed the paper used for printing books, and cheap paper specifically used for printing newspapers will occupy half of the paper product market.

In fact, until the 1980s, newsprint occupied half of the paper product market in major European and American countries.

And the paper product market will continue to expand in the future, including packaging and daily life paper products.

So Franz is very clear that the 130,000 tons at this time is not a number to be proud of, on the contrary, it is too little.

Franz's plan is to double the growth in a year. If this kind of words were said by others, Ajani would definitely sneer.

But the boy in front of her dared not underestimate her. After all, in the previous three years, she witnessed how the Austrian Empire's paper production increased by 30 times.

Ajani teased: "Just one time? Don't you think it's too little? It doesn't sound like what you would say."

"If the market can't digest it, what's the use of having so much?" Franz asked back.

Although the demand for paper is increasing rapidly with the development of society, the inertia of thinking and consumption habits are not so easy to change.

And paper is also a commodity after all. Once the supply exceeds the demand, the price will fall, which will lead to a series of problems.

Franz still prefers to enjoy the market dividend for a while. At the same time, in order to ensure that Austrian paper has sufficient competitiveness, it must also maintain technological leadership.

The Royal Academy of Sciences has invested millions of florins in development funds for this purpose. Where does this money come from? Naturally, it is the market!

Only in this way can a virtuous circle be formed. Otherwise, even if Franz has dug out all the gold mines in the world, there will be a day when he can't fill the hole.

Of course, those millions of florins cannot be used to develop papermaking technology. After all, due to the limitations of the times, some things cannot be done. Instead of wasting resources on useless work, it is better to change to the development of new products.

Franz is interested in the packaging paper market, toilet paper market and corrugated paper market, as well as the most fiercely contested letter paper market.

In fact, in history, Austria's paper industry was mainly concentrated in the high-end paper market, after all, this is where the most money is made. However, with the development of the times, the amount of paper used has increased dramatically, and the traditional handcrafts cannot keep up with the development of the industrial age, which has led to the overall backwardness of the Austrian paper industry.

Franz does not intend to completely wipe out traditional crafts. He will acquire and cooperate with traditional technologies, try industrial transformation, or turn some of them into real luxury goods.

As for the "dregs", Franz will directly compile those technologies into books and throw them into the torrent of history.