Interstellar Chamber of Commerce

[Xoria]

News Bulletin

Penetrating Machines, Inc. (PMI), a Liberty based company specializing in the manufacture of mining equipment used in high intensity, hostile environment extraction operations, released a press statement today acknowledging the defects in its current production run. The defects were first reported last week by mining operations at Planet Huron in the Ontario system, where PMI had an exclusive supply contract supporting the platinum mining operations conducted from Toronto Station in the planet's orbit. Platinum mining all but came to a halt as the thousands of PMI ore extractors began malfunctioning.

The Operations Executive aboard Toronto Station issued the following statement :

Due to the utter failure of PMI to supply effective equipment according to its contract, we have had no choice but to exercise the default clause in its contract and file claims for damages in Los Angeles District Court.
We are in the process of negotiating a new contract with a reputable supplier for replacement mining machinery, but until a contract comes into effect, Toronto Station will pay top prices to any merchant who delivers mining machinery to the station.

Executives at BMM and Samura Industries reportedly made frantic calls to Toronto Station, concerned about impending platinum deliveries scheduled to depart from Toronto and destined for their facilities at Thames Outpost and Osaka Storage. Platinum is heavily used by both Bretonia and Kusari in various industrial applications that are central to their economic well-being. Toronto Station has reported that its platinum stockpile is sufficient to meet all current delivery schedules for several weeks, after which mining operations are expected to resume normally.

The embargo against Rheinland has caused vast shipments of platinum that were formerly destined for Leipzig Station's industrial operation to instead remain in storage at Toronto, creating a surplus that may now be used to meet demand in Kusari and Bretonia.

James Browrimple, a noted economist at Denver's Eyrie University, and self-proclaimed cynic, mused in a published analysis of the situation released today that the Toronto mining operation had been suffering badly due to its inability to deliver platinum to Leipzig Station, despite Daumann's high priced incentives to violate the embargo.

He wrote, in part, "An 'equipment crisis' that forces them to shut down mining operations means they can sell off their surplus supply, and forgo paying the miners at the same time. This 'crisis' is actually a windfall for the operators of the facility. No doubt many of the transports bringing new mining machinery to Toronto will be quietly owned by relatives and friends of Toronto's executives and managers. I expect the Xenos to enjoy a boost in recruitment from among those furloughed miners."

Whatever the motivations and causes of these events, there is no doubt that transporting mining machinery to Toronto, and platinum from Toronto to Thames and Osaka just became the transaction of choice for many of Liberty's freelance cargo haulers.

In other news, we have received word from the Bounty Hunters Guild of an impending announcement from the Guild that an unnamed source speaking on condition of anonymity described as so important and awe-inspiring that he "lacked the words to adequately describe it", at which point the anonymous source terminated the transmission.

Stay tuned for further breaking news bulletins.

---

Check out my
Trade Development Blog
for all the latest news on Nerfs and Final Nails, or to request trade changes.

An Interactive Tour of OSC Routes  | POB Supplies