When does it become more efficient to use synthetic plants rather than trade?

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Mr_B0narpte

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Is it ever more efficient or should it be a last resort? I think it's something like 0.3 money for 0.8 rares, but how much IC is needed to make that money?
 
For me they're the last resort. I usually need rares more than oil and it costs a lot to go from energy to oil to rares. I dont build more than four to six of each plant from around late 43 to 44 if i start running too low. Dont forget to use your allies if you're axis as Italy and some of the other minors do have oil and rares to trade for energy and money.
 
Those factories are designed to be inefficient so that trading is more effective in almost every situation.

oil plants convert 1 energy to 1 oil at 100% efficiency. The real efficiency is much below.
1936: 100:11
1938: 100:12
1940: 100:14
1941: 100:15
1942: 100:16
1943: 100:17
1945: 100:19

Assuming you could export energy at trading ratio 1:1 and import oil at a higher trading ratio than you can calculate the here asked limit by using (1xenergy)/(3xoil).
3.03030, 2.77778, 2.3809, 2.22222, 2.08333, 1.96078 and 1.75438 are the ratios from where on trading is less efficient than converting in each year. You have to multiply those ratios with export trading efficency and import effiency. Assuming 75% trading effiency in both cases the ratios drop to 1.70455, 1.5625, 1.33929, 1.25, 1.17188, 1.10294 and 0.98684. If both trading effiencies are that low converting becomes the better alternative in 1941. But this depends strongly on the trading effiency. It might be useful to delay buildung and using plants till the last possible point in time in order to use the best available efficiency.

oil plants convert 3 oil and 1 metal into 4 rares at 100% efficiency. The real efficiency is much below.

1936: 100:10
1939: 100:15
1941: 100:17
1943: 100:19

Assuming you could export oil and metal and import rares at the same trading ratio than you can calculate the here asked limit by using (3x3oil+2xmetall)/(4x4rares).
6.875, 4.58333, 4.04412 and 3.61842 are the ratios from where on trading is less efficient than converting in each year. You have to multiply those ratios whith export trading efficency and import effiency. Assuming 75% trading effiency in both cases the ratios drop to 3.86719, 2.57813, 2.27482 and 2.03536. Importing rares is much more important than importing oil.

Once the world market is saturated things are different. This might happen due to atomic power.
 
Thanks for your replies and thanks Pang Bingxun for all the facts and figures, they'll be very handy! :)
 
For the record: there's a big difference in rares supply and demand between CORE and regular Vanilla. Within CORE even the USA has to import (or synthetically produce) rares, representing rubber and such. So rares are much more, well, 'rare', in CORE than they are in Vanilla. Plus, the construction and efficiency of synthetic plants is research driven for a player. To compensate, there are several event chains upping rare production, representing the historical building spree of synthetic rubber/fuel plants.
 
For the record: there's a big difference in rares supply and demand between CORE and regular Vanilla. Within CORE even the USA has to import (or synthetically produce) rares, representing rubber and such. So rares are much more, well, 'rare', in CORE than they are in Vanilla. Plus, the construction and efficiency of synthetic plants is research driven for a player. To compensate, there are several event chains upping rare production, representing the historical building spree of synthetic rubber/fuel plants.
Sounds good, I'll install CORE now I have my new computer :D