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I am now producing gravel at a steady rate which I am exporting for modest amounts of money. My next goal is to set up multi-step supply chain so that I can produce and sell concrete.
I'm aware my setup is probably inept for any number of reasons, please do not hesitate to tell me where I fucked up as I want to get better at the game
Thank you! Slightly disappointed that I won't be able to make money on concrete, but it's good knowledge to have.
You will save a ton of rubles by not importing gravel / concrete though (and by importing bitumen, you can make your own asphalt for a worthwile discount too). It is certainly a thing you want to establish before going hog wild on construction, and is practically essential as you start building your second city a few km away from customs. A lot of the stuff in the early game isn't about making money as much as it is about putting a tourniquet on the bleed.
Like Twongo suggested, clothes are a good start (food / booze as well, though not as profitable). This is mainly due to their density in value. The inputs and outputs for clothes can profitably be transported by truck 12 tons at a time. Bulk commodities like gravel, grain, and even coal ore are only marginally profitable when being moved 500+ tons at a time by rail. It is absolutely impossible to make a profit on these by truck.
I will have to try clothes next time. I always start with food/booze production with grain imports. I like being self sufficient on those items but it would be nice to have a higher value export commodity early on
Food is the route I took in my only profitable game (which ultimately only went profitable by coal ore). While it is not as profitable as clothes, you consume a lot more food than clothes, so it is a good thing to have. It probably makes sense to plan for food, booze, and clothing in a first city, because these all ultimately share grain as an input and scale up once you have a farm - but that's more balls to juggle and real estate my terrain didn't allow for.
When I find the time to play again, I need to be less afraid of taking out loans. I have always avoided doing it, but it is probably better to more core industries nailed down than it is to wait a decade to start raking in 20k rubles a month.
i can also highly recommend joining the official wr:sr discord, it is a safe space for hexbears and other members of the political fringe :D
people are generally helpful and it's very motivating