African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 353: Chapter 32: Glass Industry

South Salzburg Province, Mbeya City.

”The kiln is open!” With a shout.

The worker who had long been waiting by the kiln used an iron fiber to open the kiln mouth, and then a surge of heat gushed out from it.

”Quick, check how it is?”

Under the manager’s urging, fully armed workers entered the kiln mouth and began to transport the newly fired ceramics. Currently, the temperature in Mbeya is around 17 degrees, so even if you wear cotton clothes outside it doesn’t feel too hot, but entering the kiln room instantly makes you feel the rush of heat.

After a moment of hesitation, the saggers were carefully removed by the workers. Under everyone’s anticipation, the master craftsman began to open the saggers.

”Alas! What a pity, this one is stuck to the bottom of the sagger, next one!”

Things started off badly, so the next sagger was opened.

”This glaze is not qualified, next one!”

Finally, all the saggers were opened, and the results were disappointing. The yield was only fifteen percent, with poor quality and rough craftsmanship, an unglazed ring on the interior bottom, and poor aesthetics. However, this result was already within everyone’s expectations.

”It’s the first time! It’s not bad to have this result, everyone don’t lose heart, continue to improve the craftsmanship. I believe our Mbeya Ceramics Factory will lead the kingdom’s ceramic manufacturing in the future,” the mayor of Mbeya said encouragingly.

The ceramics produced by the Mbeya Ceramics Factory are coarse porcelain, also known as civilian-use porcelain, while the porcelain in Constantine Palace is imported from the Far East.

Nearby Mbeya is rich in kaolin resources, currently roughly estimated by the East African government to be around three million tons, an additional find during coal mining. This is also why the first ceramics factory in East Africa was set up in Mbeya City.

Currently, in East Africa, civilian utensils mainly consist of wooden or earthenware items, and porcelain is a rare commodity.

Excluding the porcelain within the court, East African porcelain is mainly distributed along the East African coast, from Mogadishu to Mtwara, and even in the interior of Zimbabwe.

But these porcelains are almost all Far Eastern products, merely drifting along trade routes to East Africa, so the porcelain fired by Mbeya City’s ceramics factory is considered the first batch of African-made ceramics.

East African ceramic technology mainly comes from Yi County in Yan Province, Far East. Every batch of immigrants to East Africa has a basic profile, so there is special attention paid to professional talents.

In fact, ceramic firing is no longer a secret in Europe, with many ceramic factories present, but unfortunately, the initial immigrants to East Africa were mainly rural people from the German regions and the Far East areas.

And European porcelain was not meant for ordinary people, its popularity was far less than that of the Far East, so the technical workers at Mbeya Ceramics Factory were mainly from the Far East.

Among them, the majority are from Qi Village in Yi County, which has a long history of pottery making. The ceramic industry flourished in the Tang Dynasty, reaching its peak in the Yuan Dynasty, showcasing a thriving scene of kilns in every household, continuing to the present.

This means that many locals depend on it for their living, and taking advantage of the East African immigration boom, many from Qi Village have arrived in East Africa. Currently, about thirty percent of the workers in Mbeya Ceramics Factory are from Qi Village.

Although Qi Village has a long history of firing ceramics, it is not very famous, after all, it mainly produces civilian products.

If technical requirements are needed, East Africa can completely send people to Jingdezhen to learn, or acquire technology from Europe, but it is unnecessary.

Establishing the Mbeya Ceramics Factory was already authorized by Ernst, since the needs of East African residents can be met with wooden and earthenware utensils. Firing a little coarse porcelain to enrich the offerings in East African specialty stores is enough. As for mid-to-high-end porcelain products, direct imports are sufficient, and there is no need to vigorously develop the ceramics industry in East Africa for now.

Of course, the main question is, who would buy the ceramics produced? Not to mention competing with the Far East, it is unlikely even to compete with various European countries, making it unprofitable, which naturally means there’s no drive to push it forward.

Currently, East Africa is primarily promoting the glass industry because the influx of many Venetians into East Africa provides a convenience to develop the glass manufacturing industry here.

Venice’s glass manufacturing level is globally renowned. Imagine if East Africa had many immigrants from Jingdezhen, it would certainly also promote the development of the ceramics industry.

Of course, Jingdezhen is merely a representative porcelain-producing location in the Far East, and Ernst doesn’t necessarily need to focus solely on Jingdezhen. Glass prevailed because of an enormous need, and East Africa indeed has a significant demand.

First, glass can be used to make utensils, overlapping with the functions of porcelain, but windows in East African buildings must use glass. During the construction of Qivite Palace, a large amount of glass was imported from Europe for decoration.

Even the palace’s glass relies on imports, which seems unreasonable, let alone the substantial demand from various East African government agency buildings, as well as residential homes.

While East African residences have been unified to a German architectural style, there is basically no lighting, and windows are essentially whole wooden boards that are opened during the day to let sunlight in and closed at night to keep mosquitoes out. It might be extravagant to equip East African dwellings with glass windows, but small tiles of glazed porcelain can still be arranged.

In addition to the need for glass windows, East Africa is also considering future research needs. Although East Africa currently lacks research capabilities, it will sooner or later embark on this path, and laboratory equipment like test tubes and lenses will require glass.

East Africa’s glass industry is mainly laid out in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Songea. Besides the specialized workers from Venice, under Ernst’s instructions, Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company, a subsidiary of the Heixinggen Consortium, has specially established a technical group to research large-scale glass production.

The most important task is to overcome the flat glass production process, for which Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company has already reached cooperation agreements with several German universities.

This is also part of the future automotive industry layout. The earliest cars did not have windshields. To resist harsh weather, insects, and leaves and dust flying from the road, drivers and passengers usually used goggles.

Although once flat glass is developed, it may not be first applied to automobiles, as glass is a fragile, brittle item, making its rash use in cars dangerous, it will eventually be used.

As for when to install glass on cars, that will depend on market demand. When people are no longer satisfied with uncovered cars, the Heixinggen Consortium can be the first to introduce automotive glass. The technology, just like squeezing toothpaste, is to slowly extract money from others’ pockets.

Of course, now is a fantasy time. The Heixinggen Consortium has neither flat glass nor cars. Achieving these two things has to be further strived for.

And, currently, Benz is still improving the engine, striving for miniaturization and increasing power.

The car frame has a rough target under Ernst’s instruction, but how to operate it, and the design of mechanical structures are still far off, optimistically estimating that the Heixinggen Consortium may take several more years to launch the first practical car.

As for why it takes so long, it is to ensure that when the car is launched, it is quite perfect. More complex technology and lower production costs will make knocks-offs blow up, avoiding too simple a car structure that ordinary people can imitate by hand.

Additionally, there is another reason, which is to wait for a few years in East Africa. The automotive industry must start from East Africa. This flagship product, if first produced in East Africa, can greatly enhance East Africa’s international influence in the future while also establishing East Africa’s initial advantage in the automotive industry.