The Commercial Marine director was reporting, "Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines' part of the pie has been increasing while all of us remain the same. It means that whatever growth there is, Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines is able to capture it first!"

Guangxi spoke. "Can you identify at what segment the growth is? I mean, our business is vast. We cover the pa.s.sengers, loose cargo forwarding, isotainer forwarding, bulk cargo, cruise and recreational trips. At this point, before planning anything, I think we have to identify the changes first, and what causes it. Have you identified it yet?"

Xue Jinxu was only observing in the sidelines with a calm demeanor. Surprisingly, her brother is doing well. 'I may be overreacting a bit. The boy has grown more mature.'

The Commercial Marine director reported again and projected some pie charts on the screen, "Here's the division of market share per segment per s.h.i.+pping lines. The changes these past few days were significantly detected in the bulk distribution specifically in the oil tankers division."

The PR Head spoke up. "There is news that even in the oil industry there's some change in landscape. I don't know much about that industry but some intelligence from an insider friend told me that due to the rapid fall of prices, the smaller oil companies are trying out an optimized sourcing strategy. Most probably that's where the growth originated."

"So knowing this, how can we at least be able to capture some of the growth in that industry?" Xue Guangxi probed further while still remaining calm. Somehow, he had learned so much from his sister that he's able to keep his reserve. But if it's Xue Jinxu who's presiding, she would have lost her temper already since she's hotheaded usually.

Actually, the key in a flouris.h.i.+ng discussion is to ask questions that will put all the information on the table for everyone's a.s.sessment. In this aspect, Xue Guangxi was doing great. The flow of discussion was gearing towards a fruitful one, hopefully.

The Commercial Marine director spoke again. This area was his turf since it meant sales and building up relations.h.i.+p with potential and existing customers. He said, "For the whole week, we have been asking to schedule a meeting with our past clients in the oil industry. They were kind of elusive or vague. One or two oil companies who agreed to meet us only said that they had cut volumes for importation, etcetera… But the data of the consumption of the country had not changed at all!"

He added, "One company, though, had quite a slip of the tongue and said that they are not the ones who arranged their replenishment. It was in the lines of outsourcing it from another company or the likes that's why their need for an oil tanker diminished."

"It's weird that the oil companies said their volumes were cut and their need for vessels diminished while, for now, all of us s.h.i.+pping companies maintained our absolute share in the market, except Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines who has increasing net worth. If this continues, we won't be able to maintain our share anymore, but lose it eventually. It appears we are in transition. The decrease in the demand for s.h.i.+ps will be felt eventually." The COO a.n.a.lyzed critically.

Xue Guangxi sighed at last. It seemed that they were at a deadend. He took a quick glance at his sister who had not spoken a word ever since the meeting commenced. He sent a message to her 'Xu-jie don't you have inputs? I don't know what to say anymore.'

'None.' Was Xue Jinxu's reply.

'Why did she even join today's meeting?' Xue Guangxi thought helplessly while maintaining a stoic, respectable façade.

Then Xue Guangxi received another message from his sister who was just beside him. 'We need more data. It's insufficient as of this moment. Not enough to make decisions.'

Xue Guangxi sighed again. "Well, for now, let's focus on learning about the market more. We have to see the whole picture, not just fragments… and we need to act fast. If there are opportunities in the market we should be able to acquire it for Xue s.h.i.+pping. It's not that frequent that a gamechanger in that industry would stir the market's status quo. If the other s.h.i.+pping lines beat us to it, we're done for. Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines already beat us to it, let's not wait for the others to do the same."

"Anything else?"

This time, it was Butler Lee who spoke. "I heard that a third-party trading house does the consolidation for the majority of the smaller oil players. They couldn't possibly discuss among themselves since they're compet.i.tors. The name of the trading house is Shuilong Trading, originating from 'Water Dragon'. It's new but very aggressive. More and more oil companies seek them out to consolidate their demands since there really is significant savings for the oil companies if they tap them."

For the first time, Xue Jinxu opened her mouth and said, "Seems that trading house is our potential customer. Most of the demand of the oil companies will course through them. Most probably that's what Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines captured first. We should convince them to use our oil tankers, if not the main, then as an alternative to Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines. It's better than be obsolete in the market."

"I agree with my sister. Let's do that. Our Commercial Marine Team should reach out to Shuilong Trading. Please update us after one to two days of any developments, whether you're already able to meet with them, or you've set up a date – anything. Just keep the team updated. But… if possible, let's conclude it soonest." Xue Guangxi said as if there's an ultimatum on the line.

The Commercial Marine director gulped, and a drop of sweat traced down his temple. "Will do, Second Young Master."

The meeting adjourned afterwards, but Butler Lee further convened the siblings in the COO room.

"Is there anything else, Butler Lee?" Xue Jinxu asked when she was further deterred by Butler Lee from leaving.

"There's something that you two should know." Butler Lee sounded serious. "Shuilong Trading… Do you know who owns it?"

The siblings looked at each other first. "No idea, Butler Lee. Who?" Xue Jinxu inquired.

"It's your husband, Chen Linyun." Butler Lee said. "He's somewhat keeping it under the covers but since I know the man and some of the people he works with, it's somewhat easy for me to uncover it."