46: Chapter 46 Overseas Shocks and Stock Market Crash

Less than half an hour after the live press conference by Tianxing Technology concluded, the news spread like wildfire, leaping over firewalls and crossing oceans to strike the materials and finance circles in Europe, America, and Japan.

The first place to erupt was Tokyo, Japan.

In the executive meeting room at the headquarters of Toray in Japan, several executives in suits stared at the computer screens, their expressions growing uglier by the second.

"Baka! Have the Chinese really mass-produced the T1000 and T1100?"

"And stable mass production at that, with parameters almost identical to our lab samples!"

"The price is less than half ours? Less than 40,000 yen per kilogram?!"

The department head slammed his mouse onto the desk, his chest heaving violently:

"It's over! Our high-end carbon fiber market is about to be completely crushed by Tianxing Technology!"

It must be known that in 2012, Toray monopolized the global high-end market with the T800 and T1000. The T1100 was only cautiously produced in small batches in the lab, with an external quote as high as $1200-$1800 per kilogram (7560-11340 RMB per kilogram), yielding frighteningly high profits.

Now, Tianxing was directly mass-producing the T1100, but only supplying the domestic market and absolutely refusing to export.

This was equivalent to completely shutting the largest and most demanding market in Asia out the door.

However, Chen Mo had already quietly completed his layout the day before the press conference.

Through overseas compliant trading channels, using 300 million yen (approximately 22.821 million RMB) as margin, he heavily shorted Toray (3402.T) when its stock price was at 480 yen. The leverage was precisely set within a controllable range, specifically waiting for the press conference to ignite market panic and capture the entire main downward wave.

The moment the news broke, before the Tokyo Stock Exchange even opened, over-the-counter trading had already descended into chaos.

During the period from late November to early December, Toray's (3402.T) stock price was stable between 470 and 490 yen, showing a steady trend. Institutions were generally optimistic about the high growth of the carbon fiber business.

But as the Tokyo market opened on the morning of December 3rd, Toray gaped down immediately, and sell orders surged like a tide.

The opening price was 458 yen, a direct gap down of nearly 3%.

In just ten minutes, the stock price plummeted all the way to 442 yen, with the decline expanding to over 7%.

Traders shouted wildly in the trading hall, and the screens were a sea of miserable green.

"Sell! Sell all Toray! The carbon fiber business is finished!"

"Chinese companies mass-producing the T1100 means Toray's growth logic for the next three years is completely gone!"

"Not just Toray, Hexcel and Zoltek in the US are also falling! The entire carbon fiber sector has crashed!"

At the midday recess, Toray's decline had reached 9.7%, with market capitalization evaporating by nearly 100 billion yen in a single day.

After the afternoon session opened, panic spread further. A large number of funds and foreign capital fled frantically. Toray briefly touched 431 yen, with the maximum single-day decline exceeding 12%, marking its largest single-day drop since the second half of 2012.

Chen Mo successfully closed his position smoothly before Toray closed at 436 yen, precisely capturing the entire main wave of the crash.

Shorting cost price was 480 yen, closing price was 436 yen. The single-day decline corresponded to a profit margin of 9.17%. The 300 million yen margin yielded a profit of 275 million yen, equivalent to about 20.92 million RMB.

One trade. Although the profit wasn't huge, making money off a Japanese company felt great.

After reaping his profits, Chen Mo tossed the earnings to the women to use as pocket money; he, Chen Mo, didn't care much for this small amount of money!

He was currently contemplating finding an opportunity to go to Wall Street to harvest another round, which is why he hadn't set up a position on Wall Street this time, lest he startled those capitalists!

At the close, Toray reported 436 yen, a single-day plunge of 11.3%, firmly sitting at the top of the decliners list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Major Japanese financial channels urgently broadcasted breaking news, the anchors looking solemn:

"Toray's stock price plummeted over 11% today. The market is panicking over the news that China's Tianxing Technology has broken through with mass production of T1100 carbon fiber, shattering the long-term technological monopoly held by Japan and the US, signaling an imminent price war in high-end carbon fiber..."

At the same time, on Wall Street in the United States.

The stock prices of carbon fiber giants like Hexcel and Zoltek fell simultaneously. After the us stocks opened, they all opened low and trended lower.

Traders, analysts, and fund managers crowded in front of the screens, their faces filled with disbelief.

"The Chinese went directly from T800 to mass-producing T1100 in just half a month? This defies scientific logic!"

"But it has the endorsement of more than a dozen academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and CCTV broadcast it live—it can't be fake!"

"Toray is finished, and we are finished too. The era of huge profits in high-end carbon fiber is over!"

The Pentagon quickly convened an emergency closed-door meeting, the attendees looking grim.

"Tianxing Technology's sudden breakthrough with the T1100 deals a fatal blow to our aerospace and military technology blockade!"

"We must immediately upgrade technological restrictions against China. We absolutely cannot let them obtain higher-end equipment and materials!"

"But they already built it themselves. Are restrictions still useful?"

The conference room fell silent. Everyone knew:

The blockade wall that had been maintained for decades in high-end carbon fiber had been smashed through by one punch from Chen Mo.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, there was widespread jubilation.

Chen Mo had just returned to the company from the industrial base when Zhang Kai rushed in holding his phone, his voice trembling with excitement.

"CEO Chen! It worked! Everything worked out!"

"Toray plummeted 11.3% in the Tokyo stock market today, closing at 436 yen, setting the largest single-day drop this year!"

"Those few carbon fiber companies in the US also dropped sharply. The entire overseas sector has collapsed!"

Chen Mo leaned back in his office chair and smiled faintly, his tone calm:

"Normal. We cut off their source of exorbitant profits; it would be strange if they didn't fall. By the way, I preemptively set up a short position on Toray. With a 300 million yen margin, I profited 275 million yen upon closing, equivalent to about 20.92 million RMB—a small sum."

Zhang Kai's eyes widened instantly, and he gasped in shock: "CEO Chen, you even calculated the stock market in advance? This is too foolproof!"

Chen Mo nodded faintly: "They rely on monopoly for huge profits; we use technology to break the deadlock, and then use the market to reclaim the revenue. It is reasonable and justifiable."

Zhang Kai became more and more excited as he spoke:

"And there's more! Overseas media have all exploded. BBC, Reuters, Nikkei—they are all reporting on us, and the headlines are more exaggerated than the last!"

He handed his phone to Chen Mo. The screen was filled with foreign headlines:

"China Breaks Japanese and US Monopoly, World's First T1100 Carbon Fiber Mass Producer Emerges"

"Toray Stock Price Collapses as High-End Carbon Fiber Market Faces Reshuffling"

"Blockade Fails, Chinese Materials Science Achieves Leapfrog Breakthrough"

Chen Mo glanced over them, unconcerned:

"Let them fall if they fall; let them curse if they curse."

He paused, his gaze sharpening:

"We just need to focus on our own work: expand production, stabilize supply, and keep prices steady so that China's aerospace, military industry, and large aircraft no longer have to look at others' faces."

Zhang Kai nodded vigorously:

"Understood! The production lines have been fully activated. The first batch of T1100 is already being sent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and aerospace research institutes for testing. Subsequent orders are booked three months out!"