Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the ADM First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 ADM 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Megan Britt, Vice President, Investor Relations for ADM. Ms. Britt, you may begin.

現在我想介紹一下今天電話會議的主持人，ADM 投資者關係副總裁梅根·布里特 (Megan Britt)。布里特女士，您可以開始了。

Hello, and welcome to ADM's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Our prepared remarks today will be led by Juan Luciano, our Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer; and Ismael Roig, our Interim Chief Financial Officer. We have prepared presentation slides to supplement our remarks on the call today, which are posted on the Investor Relations section of the ADM website and through the link to our webcast.

您好，歡迎參加 ADM 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。我們今天準備好的演講將由我們的董事會主席兼執行長胡安·盧西亞諾 (Juan Luciano) 主持；以及我們的臨時財務長 Ismael Roig。我們準備了簡報幻燈片來補充我們今天在電話會議上的發言，這些幻燈片發佈在 ADM 網站的投資者關係部分以及我們的網路廣播連結上。

Some of our comments and materials may constitute forward-looking statements that reflect management's current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. These statements and materials are based on many assumptions and factors that are subject to risks and uncertainties. ADM has provided additional information in its reports on file with the SEC concerning assumptions and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in this presentation. To the extent permitted under applicable law, ADM assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

我們的一些評論和資料可能構成前瞻性陳述，反映管理層對未來經濟狀況、行業狀況、公司業績和財務表現的當前看法和估計。這些陳述和材料是基於許多存在風險和不確定性的假設和因素。 ADM 在向 SEC 提交的報告中提供了有關可能導致實際結果與本簡報中的結果有重大差異的假設和因素的更多資​​訊。在適用法律允許的範圍內，ADM 不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

I'll now turn the call over to Juan.

我現在將電話轉給胡安。

Thank you, Megan. Today, ADM reported first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.46, adjusted segment operating profit of $1.3 billion and a trailing 4-quarter average adjusted ROIC of 11.2%. Our first quarter operating cash flow before working capital was $900 million. In a year where the buildup of grain and oilseed supply is expected to create pressure on margins, our teams are proactively taking action to manage through the cycle, driving structural earnings, ROIC and cash flow generation. Our strong performance and disciplined management of our balance sheet continue to allow us to invest in our business and return cash to shareholders.

謝謝你，梅根。今天，ADM 報告第一季調整後每股收益為 1.46 美元，調整後部門營業利潤為 13 億美元，過去 4 季平均調整後投資報酬率為 11.2%。我們第一季不計營運資本的營運現金流為 9 億美元。在穀物和油籽供應的增加預計將對利潤率造成壓力的一年中，我們的團隊正在積極採取行動來管理整個週期，推動結構性盈利、投資回報率和現金流的產生。我們強勁的業績和嚴格的資產負債表管理使我們能夠繼續投資於我們的業務並向股東返還現金。

Next slide, please. Last month, we laid out three priorities for value creation in 2024: one, managing through the cycle; two, Nutrition recovery; and three, enhanced return of cash to shareholders. We made progress on each of these priorities in the first quarter. Our efforts to manage through the cycle highlight ADM's ability to mitigate challenging headwinds while building structurally on enduring global trends such as sustainability.

請下一張投影片。上個月，我們提出了2024年價值創造的三個重點：一是週期管理；二、營養恢復；第三是加強股東現金回報。第一季我們在每個優先事項上都取得了進展。我們在整個週期中進行管理的努力凸顯了 ADM 有能力緩解具有挑戰性的逆風，同時在結構上建立在永續發展等持久的全球趨勢之上。

To share a few examples of progress in the first quarter. We have been ramping up production at our Green Bison joint venture with Marathon with increased volumes and utilization in (inaudible), and we're expecting to be a sustained full run rate for harvest this fall. We are continuing to evolve the Carbohydrate Solutions business through decarbonization, driving nearly 10% volume growth in BioSolutions in Q1 while managing solid demand across the core business. Driven by increasing demand for sustainably sourced feedstocks and solutions, we are announcing today that we not only exceeded our 2023 goal of 2 million acres in our regenerative ag programs, we have also increased our 2025 acreage goal, from 4 million to 5 million acres. This growth highlights the leadership role ADM is playing across the regen ag landscape, which is built upon the long-standing relationships we have with our more than 200,000 farmers partners.

分享一些第一季進展的例子。我們一直在提高與 Marathon 的 Green Bison 合資企業的產量，增加產量和利用率（聽不清楚），我們預計今年秋季的收穫將保持持續滿載運作。我們將繼續透過脫碳發展碳水化合物解決方案業務，推動第一季生物解決方案銷售成長近 10%，同時管理整個核心業務的強勁需求。在對可持續來源的原料和解決方案的需求不斷增長的推動下，我們今天宣布，我們的再生農業項目不僅超出了2023 年200 萬英畝的目標，而且還提高了2025 年的種植面積目標，從400 萬英畝增加到500 萬英畝。這一成長凸顯了 ADM 在 Regen ag 領域發揮的領導作用，這是建立在我們與超過 20 萬名農民合作夥伴的長期關係基礎上的。

The drive for excellence program is focused on uncovering efficiency and effectiveness opportunities across ADM, taking action to improve outcomes and deliver cost savings. To date, we have generated a pipeline of nearly 1,200 validated proposals. Many of these are already delivering results. For example, colleagues in Thailand have developed chatbot to automate processing of thousands of logistic transactions previously done with the manual process, reducing errors and dramatically improving operating performance. Colleagues in Spain have released capacity in our Valencia extract facility by more than 35% by adjusting the extraction timing. These projects or more like these will support us in achieving our aggressive cost savings objective of $500 million over the next 2 years.

追求卓越計劃的重點是發現整個 ADM 的效率和有效性機會，採取行動改善成果並節省成本。到目前為止，我們已經產生了近 1,200 個經過驗證的提案。其中許多已經取得成果。例如，泰國的同事開發了聊天機器人，可以自動處理先前透過手動流程完成的數千筆物流交易，減少錯誤並顯著提高營運績效。西班牙的同事透過調整提取時間，將我們巴倫西亞提取設施的產能釋放了 35% 以上。這些項目或更多類似項目將支持我們在未來 2 年內實現 5 億美元的雄心勃勃的成本節約目標。

Moving to Nutrition. The team is focused on actions across all areas of planned recovery, and we've seen expected sequential improvement coming out of the fourth quarter. The impact of these actions will accelerate in the back half of the year, consistent with what we mentioned in the last earnings call. Let me provide a few examples of progress we're making across the targeted areas. Our focus on operations and supply chain has helped us debottleneck some of our demand fulfillment challenges, particularly in EMEA Flavors, where the team has rallied to adjust our fulfillment processes following the go-live of One ADM and improved volumes delivered sequentially. We are leveraging our improved M&A playbook to support the integration of our most recent flavor acquisitions and now forecast better results than the initial deal model estimates. To increase speed, agility and responsiveness to customer needs while delivering more wins across each market segment, we have fine-tuned our go-to-market and CoE organizations to best align to the brand.

轉向營養。該團隊專注於計劃恢復的所有領域的行動，我們已經看到第四季度的預期連續改善。這些行動的影響將在今年下半年加速，這與我們在上次財報電話會議中提到的一致。讓我提供一些我們在目標領域取得的進展的例子。我們對營運和供應鏈的關注幫助我們解決了一些需求履行挑戰，特別是在 EMEA Flavors 領域，在 One ADM 上線並提高了順序交付量後，團隊團結起來調整我們的履行流程。我們正在利用改進的併購手冊來支持我們最近的風味收購的整合，現在預測的結果比最初的交易模型估計更好。為了提高速度、敏捷性和對客戶需求的反應能力，同時在每個細分市場中取得更多勝利，我們對市場進入和 CoE 組織進行了微調，以最好地與品牌保持一致。

Looking to our capital allocation efforts. We have maintained our balanced capital allocation approach while leveraging excess cash flow for enhanced returns to shareholders. We returned a significant amount of cash to shareholders to date, as we repurchased more than 20 million shares. As mentioned last month, our focus for excess capital deployment will remain centered on the shareholder. In summary, we are making measurable progress across each of our 3 major priority areas in 2024, which is setting us up well to navigate the market headwinds we are facing this year and deliver in line with our expectations.

期待我們的資本配置工作。我們保持平衡的資本配置方式，同時利用過剩現金流來提高股東回報。迄今為止，我們已向股東返還了大量現金，回購了超過 2,000 萬股股票。正如上個月所提到的，我們過剩資本配置的重點仍將集中在股東身上。總之，到 2024 年，我們將在 3 個主要優先領域中取得可衡量的進展，這使我們能夠很好地應對今年面臨的市場逆風，並實現符合我們預期的目標。

I would now like to turn the call over to Ismael for more detail on the first quarter financial results. Ismael?

我現在想將電話轉給伊斯梅爾，以了解有關第一季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。伊斯梅爾？

Thank you, Juan. Let's start on Slide 6, which provides overall segment operating profit and EPS for the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted segment operating profit was $1.3 billion for the first quarter, a 24% decrease versus the prior year. At a high level, operating profit was primarily down year-over-year in Ag Services and Oilseeds and Nutrition. In the Other segment, which includes ADMIS and captive insurance, we had a 25% increase in operating profit.

謝謝你，胡安。讓我們從幻燈片 6 開始，它提供了 2024 年第一季的整體部門營運利潤和每股收益。在較高水準上，營業利潤主要是農業服務以及油籽和營養品領域的年減。在包括 ADMIS 和自保保險在內的其他部門，我們的營業利潤成長了 25%。

Adjusted earnings per share were $1.46 for the quarter. Lower pricing and execution margins, primarily driven by margin normalization in the AS&O business led to a $1 per share decrease. This includes lower mark-to-market impact in AS&O of approximately $0.38 per share. Our enhanced focus on operational excellence and improving the reliability of our assets as well as the ramp-up of our Green Bison JV, led to volume improvement in the AS&O segment, resulting in a $0.20 per share increase in EPS versus the prior year. Lower manufacturing costs and input costs led to a $0.15 per share increase versus the prior year, partially offset by negative impacts associated with unplanned downtime at our Decatur East facility.

該季度調整後每股收益為 1.46 美元。主要由 AS&O 業務利潤率正常化推動的定價和執行利潤率下降導致每股下降 1 美元。這包括 AS&O 的按市值計價影響較低，約為每股 0.38 美元。我們更加重視卓越營運、提高資產的可靠性以及 Green Bison 合資企業的發展，導致 AS&O 部門的銷量有所改善，每股收益比上一年增加了 0.20 美元。製造成本和投入成本的降低導致每股收益比上年增加 0.15 美元，部分被迪凱特東工廠計劃外停機帶來的負面影響所抵消。

Higher equity earnings, primarily related to Wilmar, attributed a $0.07 per share increase versus the prior year. Increased corporate costs related to the One ADM implementation and legal fees drove a decrease of $0.11 per share versus the prior year. In Other, benefits from share repurchases more than offset negative impacts related to a higher adjusted income tax rate, leading to a $0.06 per share increase versus the prior year.

較高的股本收益（主要與豐益國際有關）導致每股收益比上年增加 0.07 美元。與 One ADM 實施和法律費用相關的企業成本增加導致每股比前一年減少 0.11 美元。在其他方面，股票回購帶來的好處超過了與調整後所得稅率提高相關的負面影響，導致每股收益比上年增加 0.06 美元。

Moving to Slide 7. Let's look at our segment performance for AS&O. For the first quarter, the AS&O team delivered $864 million in operating profit, reflecting increasing headwinds from lower commodity prices and ample supplies, partially offset by improvements in process volumes and manufacturing costs as we enhanced our focus on items within our control. The Ag Services subsegment operating profit was lower versus the prior year, primarily due to the stabilization of trade flows leading to lower global trade and risk management results. Slower farmer selling also negatively impacted export volumes and margins in South America. Crushing subsegment operating profit for the quarter of $232 million was lower versus the prior year. Increased imports of used cooking oil and the anticipation of large South American supplies negatively impacted North American soy crush margins, more than offsetting the benefits from improved process volumes and lower manufacturing costs. There were positive mark-to-market timing impacts during the quarter of approximately $40 million versus positive timing impacts of approximately $240 million in the first quarter of 2023. Refined Products and Other subsegment results were $157 million. Results were driven by weaker North American refining margins due to the increased imports of used cooking oil as well as negative mark-to-market timing impacts of approximately $30 million versus positive impacts of approximately $40 million in the prior year. Equity earnings from Wilmar were $149 million during the first quarter, higher than the prior year.

前往投影片 7。第一季度，AS&O 團隊實現了8.64 億美元的營業利潤，反映出大宗商品價格下跌和供應充足帶來的不利因素不斷增加，但隨著我們加強對可控項目的關注，工藝量和製造成本的改善部分抵銷了這一阻力。農業服務分部營業利潤較前一年下降，主要是貿易流量穩定導致全球貿易和風險管理績效下降。農民銷售放緩也對南美洲的出口量和利潤產生了負面影響。該季度壓榨分部營業利潤為 2.32 億美元，低於去年同期。廢食用油進口的增加和南美大量供應的預期對北美大豆壓榨利潤產生了負面影響，遠遠抵消了加工量提高和製造成本降低的好處。本季以市值計價的正面時間影響約為 4,000 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季的正面時間影響約為 2.4 億美元。業績的推動因素是廢食用油進口增加導致北美煉油利潤下降，以及按市值計價的時間安排產生的負面影響約為 3,000 萬美元，而上一年的正面影響約為 4,000 萬美元。第一季豐益國際的股本收益為 1.49 億美元，高於去年同期。

Moving to Slide 8. Let's look at Carbohydrate Solutions. For the first quarter of 2024, Carbohydrate Solutions segment operating profit was $248 million. The team executed well in a solid demand environment as well as advanced our BioSolutions platform with strong volume growth.

轉到幻燈片 8。 2024 年第一季度，碳水化合物解決方案部門的營業利潤為 2.48 億美元。團隊在穩定的需求環境中表現良好，並以強勁的銷售成長推進了我們的 BioSolutions 平台。

Turning to the subsegments. In the Starches and Sweeteners subsegment, strong Starches and Sweeteners margins in North America were offset by pressured domestic ethanol margins due to strong industry production and elevated stocks as well as moderating margins in the EMEA region. In the Vantage Corn Processing subsegment, strong export demand for sustainably certified ethanol supported both volumes and improved margins, leading to an improvement in year-over-year results.

轉向子細分。在澱粉和甜味劑細分市場中，北美澱粉和甜味劑的強勁利潤被國內乙醇利潤壓力所抵消，原因是工業生產強勁、庫存增加以及歐洲、中東和非洲地區利潤率下降。在 Vantage 玉米加工細分市場中，對永續認證乙醇的強勁出口需求支撐了產量和利潤率的提高，從而導致同比業績有所改善。

Please turn to Slide 9. Nutrition revenues were $1.8 billion for the quarter. In the Human Nutrition subsegment, strong M&A revenue contributions from our recent acquisitions as well as price and mix benefits in Flavors, were partially offset by lower volumes in plant-based proteins and normalizing pricing in the texturants markets. Our Animal Nutrition subsegment had lower revenues versus the prior year driven by lower pricing and mix. Demand creation has remained strong and provided significant revenue pipeline opportunities. We anticipate steady improvement in demand fulfillment throughout the course of the year, recovering a significant portion of volumes in the second half of the year.

請參閱幻燈片 9。在人類營養細分市場中，我們最近的收購以及風味劑的價格和組合優勢帶來了強勁的併購收入貢獻，但部分被植物蛋白銷售下降和質地化劑市場定價正常化所抵消。由於定價和產品組合下降，我們的動物營養細分市場的收入較上年下降。需求創造依然強勁，並提供了重要的收入管道機會。我們預計全年需求滿足情況將穩定改善，下半年將恢復很大一部分銷售。

Please turn to Slide 10. While we have room to grow on our commitment to restore the growth trajectory of the Nutrition business, we believe Q1 was an important first step, showing sequential improvement from a challenged fourth quarter, evidencing progress in our operations. For the first quarter, Nutrition segment operating profit was $84 million. Human Nutrition subsegment results of $76 million were lower than the prior year, driven primarily from headwinds in the Specialty Ingredients business due to higher fixed cost absorption at Decatur East and normalizing texturants pricing. Animal Nutrition subsegment results of $8 million were higher compared to the prior year, primarily driven by cost optimization efforts and lower commodity prices supporting margins.

請參閱投影片10。證明了我們營運的進展。第一季度，營養部門營業利潤為 8,400 萬美元。人類營養分部表現低於去年 7,600 萬美元，主要是由於迪凱特東部固定成本吸收率較高以及紋理劑定價正常化導致特種配料業務面臨不利影響。動物營養分部業績比前一年增加了 800 萬美元，這主要是由於成本優化工作和較低的商品價格支撐了利潤率。

Please turn to Slide 11. For the first quarter, Other segment operating profit was $121 million, up 25% compared to the prior year. The improvement was largely driven by improved captive insurance results on higher program premiums and lower claim losses. In Corporate, unallocated corporate costs increased versus the prior year on higher global technology investments to support digital transformation efforts as well as increased legal fees. Other Corporate was unfavorable compared to the prior year due to an investment valuation loss of approximately $18 million.

請參閱投影片 11。這一改善主要是由於自保保險業績的改善、計劃保費的提高和索賠損失的降低。在企業方面，未分配的企業成本較前一年增加，原因是支持數位轉型工作的全球技術投資增加以及法律費用增加。由於投資估值損失約 1800 萬美元，其他企業業務與前一年相比表現不佳。

Please turn to Slide 12. With healthy cash flows and a strong balance sheet, we have maintained our balanced capital allocation approach, while leveraging excess cash flow for enhanced returns to shareholders. We entered 2024 with momentum, which has allowed us to return $1.3 billion to shareholders via repurchases during the quarter, with $1 billion being executed through an accelerated share repurchase program. We intend to actualize the additional $1 billion of share repurchases approved last quarter throughout the remainder of the year. We still anticipate capital expenditures will be held at a level aligned with depreciation and amortization, focused largely on investments to secure reliability of asset performance through modernization and digitization efforts.

請參閱投影片 12。我們充滿動力地進入 2024 年，這使我們能夠在本季度透過回購向股東返還 13 億美元，其中 10 億美元是透過加速股票回購計畫執行的。我們打算在今年剩餘時間內實施上季批准的額外 10 億美元股票回購。我們仍然預計資本支出將保持在與折舊和攤銷一致的水平，主要專注於透過現代化和數位化努力確保資產績效可靠性的投資。

Now let's transition to a discussion on our full year guidance on Slide 13. Our first quarter results were largely in line with expectations, and in turn, our 2024 planning assumptions and EPS guidance remain unchanged. We are raising our corporate net interest expense guidance from approximately $500 million to approximately $525 million, as the Federal Reserve has signaled that the probability of interest rate cuts in 2024 has decreased.

現在讓我們轉向討論投影片 13 上的全年指引。由於聯準會已表示 2024 年降息的可能性有所下降，因此我們將企業淨利息支出指引從約 5 億美元上調至約 5.25 億美元。

Last month, we mentioned that the global grain and oilseed supply is expected to increase, as anticipated improvements in weather would support larger production levels in key South American countries. With this, we anticipate that commodity prices will continue to ease from the recent highs of the past 2 years and the trade flows will adjust at these locations. As a result, we anticipate the global soybean crush margins would moderate in 2024, likely moving into a range of $35 per metric ton to $60 per metric ton. During the first quarter, the team executed well on a strong forward book supported by meal demand, leading to executed soy crush margins of approximately $55 per metric ton. As we look today, we see that the forward curves reflect the assumption of ample South American supplies and the return of Argentinian production, specifically in Q2 and Q3.

上個月，我們提到全球穀物和油籽供應預計將增加，因為預期天氣改善將支持南美國家主要國家提高產量。因此，我們預計大宗商品價格將繼續從過去兩年的高點回落，這些地區的貿易流量將進行調整。因此，我們預計 2024 年全球大豆壓榨利潤率將放緩，可能進入每噸 35 美元至 60 美元的範圍。第一季度，在豆粕需求的支持下，該團隊在強勁的遠期預訂上表現良好，導致執行的大豆壓榨利潤約為每噸 55 美元。正如我們今天所看到的，我們看到遠期曲線反映了南美供應充足和阿根廷生產恢復的假設，特別是在第二季和第三季。

While the supply side certainly has pushed forward curves to the lower end of that range in the near term, we remain constructive from the demand side. We continue to expect vegetable oil demand growth from renewable diesel, as large facilities ramp up in Q2 and Q3, despite the increase in imports of used cooking oil. From the soybean meal side, lower soybean meal prices are incentivizing demand, supporting producer profitability, and in turn, leading to higher inclusion rates.

雖然供應方肯定已在短期內將前向曲線推至該範圍的下限，但我們對需求方仍持建設性態度。儘管廢食用油進口量增加，但隨著第二季和第三季大型設施的增加，我們仍預期再生柴油對植物油的需求將會成長。從豆粕方面來看，較低的豆粕價格刺激了需求，支撐了生產商的獲利能力，進而導致了更高的納入率。

Now moving to the breakdown of expectations by segment for Q2 2024 on Slide 14. In AS&O, we anticipate the second quarter to be significantly lower versus elevated prior year levels. We anticipate our average global soy crush margin to be towards the lower end of the guided range during the second quarter, as the market balances strong soybean availability against increased crush capacity. We still remain confident in our full year planning assumptions as we move through the seasonally lower middle of the year, as the world pivots to South American production.

現在轉向投影片 14 上對 2024 年第二季按細分市場的預期細分。我們預計第二季全球平均大豆壓榨利潤率將接近指導範圍的下限，因為市場在強勁的大豆供應與壓榨能力增加之間取得平衡。隨著全球生產重點轉向南美，我們仍然對全年計畫假設充滿信心。

In Carbohydrate Solutions, we anticipate the second quarter to be higher versus the prior year, driven by solid demand and margins in North American Starches and Sweeteners, partially offset by moderating margins in wheat milling and international corn milling after elevated results in the prior year period. We anticipate solid demand for ethanol, both domestically and in the export markets, similar to the prior year. For Nutrition, the second quarter is expected to be lower versus the prior year as we faced headwinds in Specialty Ingredients. We anticipate to see another quarter of sequential improvement as we continue to make progress in demand fulfillment.

在碳水化合物解決方案方面，我們預計第二季度的業績將高於去年同期，這是由北美澱粉和甜味劑的強勁需求和利潤推動的，但部分被小麥加工和國際玉米加工的利潤率在去年同期業績提高後的放緩所抵銷。我們預期國內和出口市場對乙醇的需求強勁，與去年相似。對於營養品而言，由於我們在特殊配料方面面臨阻力，預計第二季的產量將低於去年同期。隨著我們在需求滿足方面繼續取得進展，我們預計將看到另一個季度的環比改善。

Back to you, Juan.

回到你身邊，胡安。

Thank you, Ismael. Please turn to Slide 15. As you can see, our team is continuing to improve execution excellence across our strategic and operational priorities, which requires a level of agility that is a hallmark of ADM's workforce. We are focusing the organization in a combination of productivity and innovation to help offset increasingly challenging market conditions based on growing commodity supply. Our teams are looking for every opportunity to manage what we can control, remaining nimble to adjust quickly to external circumstances while advancing our strategy.

謝謝你，伊斯梅爾。請參閱投影片 15。我們將組織的重點放在生產力和創新的結合上，以幫助應對因商品供應不斷增長而日益嚴峻的市場條件。我們的團隊正在尋找一切機會來管理我們可以控制的事情，在推進我們的策略的同時保持靈活，快速適應外部環境。

While we look ahead to the rest of the year, our business priorities in 2024 put us in a position to manage through this cycle. Through the differentiation and evolution of our business models in Ag Services and Oilseeds and carb solutions, our drive for excellence program, the recovery of our Nutrition business and continued focus on shareholder returns, we have confidence in our outlook for the full year.

在我們展望今年剩餘時間的同時，我們 2024 年的業務優先事項使我們能夠順利度過這一周期。透過我們在農業服務、油籽和碳水化合物解決方案方面的業務模式的差異化和演變、我們追求卓越計劃、營養業務的復甦以及對股東回報的持續關注，我們對全年的前景充滿信心。

Thanks for your time today. We look forward to taking your questions. Operator, please open the line for questions.

感謝您今天抽出時間。我們期待回答您的問題。接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question for today comes from Andrew Strelzik of BMO.

（操作員說明）今天我們的第一個問題來自 BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

I guess I wanted to ask about the interplay between U.S. and South America crops and timing and farmer selling in terms of the implications for crush margins and how you're thinking about that. It's just it seems like you've got some delayed farmer selling out of South America that could push out the timing to which that crop comes to market. And so I guess I'm just curious how you're thinking about the balance there and ultimately, kind of the confidence that you have as we get into the back part of the year, that you see crush margins consistent with your expectations.

我想我想問美國和南美作物之間的相互作用以及時機和農民銷售對壓榨利潤的影響以及您如何看待這一點。只是看起來有些農民推遲了從南美洲出售農作物的時間，這可能會推遲農作物上市的時間。所以我想我只是好奇你如何考慮那裡的平衡，最終，當我們進入今年下半年時，你有信心看到壓榨利潤與你的預期一致。

Yes. Thank you, Andrew. So what we're seeing in South America at the moment, Brazil has had a little bit of a better selling last couple of weeks from the farmer perspective, given that with the harvest and also some of the devaluation of the real. So we've seen the crush margins there for Q2 improving a little bit around our portfolio of products.

是的。謝謝你，安德魯。因此，我們目前在南美洲看到，從農民的角度來看，巴西過去幾週的銷售情況有所好轉，因為隨著收成的增加以及雷亞爾的一些貶值。因此，我們看到第二季我們的產品組合的壓榨利潤率略有改善。

In Argentina, a little bit more difficult to read. You know Argentina with the economic plans and the uncertainty about how the government navigates through the difficult times. There are also a lot of -- even when the farmer may agree to sell, there are some strikes like right now. There are some strikes in Argentina that are popping through every sector of the economy. So a little bit more difficult to predict. But the reality is all that crop will come to the market, and we're starting to see that in crush margins, and you can see that.

在阿根廷，閱讀起來有點困難。您了解阿根廷的經濟計畫以及政府如何度過困難時期的不確定性。還有很多——即使農民可能同意出售，也會發生像現在這樣的罷工。阿根廷經濟的各個部門都發生了一些罷工。所以預測起來有點困難。但現實是所有農作物都會進入市場，我們開始在壓榨利潤中看到這一點，你可以看到這一點。

So what Ismael was reading in his remarks is that we highlighted a range of crush for the year. We operated in the first quarter, mostly in the higher part of that range. We will move in the second and third quarter, as traditionally happen when South America has a big drop towards the low end of that range. And then we see at the end of the year, September onwards, when we have a crop here in the U.S. where our margins will recover. So that's the way we see the year.

因此，伊斯梅爾在他的演講中讀到的是，我們強調了今年的一系列暗戀。我們在第一季運營，大部分處於該範圍的較高部分。我們將在第二季和第三季採取行動，就像傳統上南美股市大幅下跌至該範圍低端時發生的情況一樣。然後我們會看到，到今年年底，即 9 月開始，當我們在美國收穫作物時，我們的利潤率將會恢復。這就是我們看待這一年的方式。

We continue to see a strong mill demand as soybean mill becomes cheaper and it gets more favor in the inclusions, especially when we see some maybe bottom out of profitability from the poultry sector. So that bodes well for our demand. And we have new RGD plants coming on stream in the U.S., whether it's Q2 or Q4, that will bring like another 0.5 million ton more of soybean oil demand for the U.S. And don't forget that Brazil increased their mandate to B14, which represents another 0.5 million tons of soybean oil. So all in all, I think that all that oil demand and mill demand will be important to bring back crush margins to the higher part of the range at the end of the year.

我們繼續看到強勁的工廠需求，因為大豆磨坊變得更便宜，而且它在夾雜物中受到更多青睞，特別是當我們看到一些家禽行業的盈利能力可能觸底時。所以這對我們的需求來說是個好兆頭。我們在美國有新的 RGD 工廠投產，無論是第二季度還是第四季度，這將為美國帶來大約 50 萬噸的豆油需求。噸豆油。總而言之，我認為所有石油需求和工廠需求對於在年底將壓榨利潤率恢復到較高水準至關重要。

Our next question comes from Ben Bienvenu of Stephens Inc.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stephens Inc. 的 Ben Bienvenu。

So I want to ask, in the Carbohydrate Solutions segment, you point to a pretty robust outlook for the remainder of the year for Starches and Sweeteners. In particular, you call out strong volumes. That's a bit of a recovery from what we saw last year. Can you talk about some of the dynamics that you're seeing around volume and the pace of recovery that you're seeing in volume that makes you call out (inaudible) this year?

所以我想問，在碳水化合物解決方案領域，您指出澱粉和甜味劑今年剩餘時間的前景相當強勁。特別是，您的成交量強勁。與我們去年看到的情況相比，略有復甦。您能否談談您在成交量方面看到的一些動態以及您在成交量方面看到的復甦速度，這讓您今年大聲疾呼（聽不清楚）？

Yes. I would say we've seen strong demand, I would say, I don't know, strong or solid demand across all our segments. Margins have been good. We continue to get a lift on margins by the reduction in chemicals, the reduction in energy prices, a little bit better operations of our facilities.

是的。我想說，我們已經看到了強勁的需求，我想說，我不知道，我們所有細分市場的需求都強勁或穩定。利潤率一直不錯。透過化學品的減少、能源價格的下降以及我們設施營運的改善，我們的利潤率持續得到提升。

And I would say the main difference may be versus last year was last year, we have exceptional margins in international milling and also in the corn business in Europe. Those have moderated a little bit. But still, the business remained very strong. So I would say all the Sweeteners and Starches contract for the year, we're pleased with it. And we expect strong exports to Mexico, other countries pulling well. So I would say we feel strongly about having a Q2 that's going to be better than last year.

我想說，與去年相比，主要的區別可能是去年，我們在國際製粉和歐洲玉米業務方面擁有非凡的利潤。這些已經緩和了一點。但儘管如此，業務仍然非常強勁。所以我想說今年所有的甜味劑和澱粉合同，我們對此感到滿意。我們預計對墨西哥的出口強勁，其他國家也將表現良好。所以我想說，我們強烈認為第二季會比去年更好。

So all in all, the uncertainty continues to stay on the ethanol side, in which we are cautiously optimistic that the maintenance seasons will balance inventories, if you will, and lift a little bit of margins there. But for the rest of the business, the rest of the business is operating very solidly.

總而言之，不確定性仍然存在於乙醇方面，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，維護季節將平衡庫存（如果願意的話），並提高一點利潤。但對於其他業務來說，其他業務的運作非常穩健。

Our next question comes from Tom Palmer of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的湯姆·帕爾默。

I wanted to maybe dive in a little more on refined products. You noted lower biodiesel margin expectation for the year and then in prepared remarks, some pressure from imported used cooking oil. I guess what are you seeing on more of a regional basis when we think about those refined spreads? Is this more pressured in U.S. than other places? And then you did have some timing gains a year ago. We saw a bit of an unwind in 1Q. Just any help on the expected progression of those as we move through 2024.

我可能想更深入地研究精緻產品。您注意到今年生質柴油利潤率預期較低，然後在準備好的評論中指出了來自進口廢食用油的一些壓力。我想當我們考慮這些精細化的利差時，您在更多的區域基礎上看到了什麼？美國的壓力比其他地方大嗎？一年前你確實取得了一些時機優勢。我們在第一季看到了一些放鬆。希望對 2024 年這些工作的預期進展有任何幫助。

Yes. So let me deconstruct a little bit the RPO part. The difference in Q1, so results were lower significantly than last year, where we had a record year. Main reason for that is North America, as you described, the imports of used cooking oil negatively impacted North America refining margins.

是的。那麼讓我稍微解構一下 RPO 部分。第一季的差異，因此結果顯著低於去年，去年我們創下了紀錄。主要原因是北美，正如您所描述的，進口廢食用油對北美煉油利潤產生了負面影響。

Actually, in EMEA, our results were higher. We executed on the strong biodiesel margins. And I would say refining there is in line with the prior year, as I would say we had additional volumes that offset a little bit lower refining premiums. South American results in biodiesel and packages, margins are stronger in the current year, supported by the, as I said, the increase in biodiesel mandate. That's 0.5 million tons per year of new demand that really impacted that.

事實上，在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們的結果更高。我們依靠生物柴油的強勁利潤來執行。我想說的是，煉油量與前一年持平，因為我想說的是，我們的產量增加抵消了煉油溢價的下降。正如我所說，受到生質柴油授權增加的支持，今年南美洲生質柴油和包裝的利潤率更高。每年 50 萬噸的新需求確實對此產生了影響。

So overall, I think the dynamic will be similar for second quarter, in which you will see refining margins lower in North America and crush margins and refining margins a little bit better in South America.

因此，總體而言，我認為第二季的動態將相似，北美的煉油利潤率較低，南美的壓榨利潤率和煉油利潤率稍微好一些。

And just any help on the timing unwind?

對時間放鬆有什麼幫助嗎？

Yes. Year-over-year, there was $72 million negative of net timing impacts in Q1. So we had a negative mark-to-market this quarter of $30 million versus the previous year, where we had a positive of $42 million. So that's the arithmetic, if you will, of that.

是的。與去年同期相比，第一季的淨時間影響產生了 7,200 萬美元的負面影響。因此，本季我們的市價為負 3,000 萬美元，而去年我們的市價為正 4,200 萬美元。如果你願意的話，這就是算術。

Our next question comes from Manav Gupta of UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的馬納夫·古普塔。

My only question is, can you provide the path to the full restart of the Decatur East plant? Like where are we in the restart regulatory or construction, if you could help us out with that?

我唯一的問題是，您能否提供全面重啟迪凱特東工廠的途徑？就像我們在重新啟動監管或建設方面處於什麼位置，您是否可以幫助我們解決這個問題？

Yes, Manav. Listen, there is a lot of activity going on there. But as we have said, I think this is something we -- Nutrition is going to carry as a headwind during the whole year. We expect that, that plant reasonably to be operating in Q4. I cannot provide any more details or granularity on that as we're going through all the projects.

是的，馬納夫。聽著，那裡正在進行許多活動。但正如我們所說，我認為營養將成為全年的逆風。我們預計該工廠將在第四季合理運作。由於我們正在處理所有項目，因此我無法提供更多細節或粒度。

But I would say, as soon as we have more specifics, we will be updating all you guys on that. But at this point in time, I think you need to think that the headwinds for Nutrition in Specialty Ingredients, and a lot of that driven by this will carry through the year.

但我想說，一旦我們有更多細節，我們將向大家通報最新情況。但在這個時候，我認為你需要考慮到特種配料營養方面的逆風，以及由此帶來的許多逆風將持續一整年。

Our next question comes from Heather Jones of Heather Jones Research.

我們的下一個問題來自希瑟瓊斯研究中心的希瑟瓊斯。

Just hoping you could help me. I just want to discuss the crush margin outlook a little more, specifically on the soy side. So thank you for the cadence information you provided earlier, but I just wanted to dig in a little bit more.

只是希望你能幫助我。我只是想多討論一下壓榨利潤前景，特別是大豆方面。感謝您之前提供的節奏訊息，但我只是想深入了解一下。

So at present, the curve for the U.S. has margins below the range. And then on a cash basis, in certain regions, they're materially below that 35. So when I think about the rest of the year, are you all assuming that regions like Brazil and Europe are going to provide a material uplift to offset the U.S.? Or is it you think the increased soybean oil demand, et cetera, will make U.S. margins materially better than the curve is indicating at present? So just was trying to think about how you all are thinking about that.

因此，目前美國的曲線仍低於該範圍。然後在現金基礎上，在某些地區，它們大大低於 35。或者您認為豆油需求的增加等將使美國的利潤率明顯優於目前曲線所示的水平？所以我只是想想想大家是如何看待這個問題的。

Yes. Heather, good to hear from you. Listen, the way we're seeing it at the moment, so North America, as we said, Q2 and probably Q3 will move to the lower part of the range. Then as we come through the year and we get more beans here in the U.S. and we get more renewable green diesel volume coming from probably 1 billion gallon more of capacity that's coming, we think that, that and inclusion rates will drive Q4 higher.

是的。希瑟，很高興收到你的來信。聽著，我們目前的看法是，正如我們所說，北美第二季甚至可能第三季將移至該範圍的較低部分。然後，隨著這一年的到來，我們在美國獲得了更多的大豆，並且我們將獲得更多的可再生綠色柴油量，這些量可能來自即將增加的10 億加侖產能，我們認為，這和包含率將推動第四季走高。

In the Q2, Q3 area, if you will, we see right now, crush margins in Brazil have gotten better across all our plants, not only the domestic ones, but also the export ones. So as the farmer has been selling a little bit more, as you get more through the harvest there in Latin America, farmers start to move a little bit more volume. In Brazil, it was helped by the devaluation. So we saw that easing the pressure that we have in getting beans and helping crush margins.

在第二季、第三季度，如果你願意的話，我們現在看到，我們所有工廠在巴西的壓榨利潤率都有所提高，不僅是國內工廠，還有出口工廠。因此，隨著農民的銷售量增加一點，隨著拉丁美洲收穫的收穫增加，農民開始增加一點。在巴西，貨幣貶值也起到了幫助作用。因此，我們看到這緩解了我們獲取大豆的壓力並有助於壓低利潤。

Europe, we expect it to be around $40 per ton, so it's a little bit in the middle of the pack. China, we don't have a lot of visibility in China, but it seems to be very spot in China at the moment. So it's a little bit hand to mouth over there.

歐洲，我們預計價格約為每噸 40 美元，因此處於中間位置。中國，我們在中國的知名度不是很高，但目前在中國似乎很受歡迎。所以那邊有點手足無措。

So in general, as I said, we see for ADM, at least, a big correction going into the second quarter, also a soft third quarter, and then we start to see coming back up in the Q4. But mostly, the curve of the U.S., if you will, with a little bit moderation provided by the other areas.

因此，總的來說，正如我所說，我們至少看到 ADM 在第二季度出現大幅調整，第三季也出現疲軟，然後我們開始看到第四季出現回升。但主要是美國的曲線，如果你願意的話，其他地區提供了一點緩和。

Our next question comes from Salvator Tiano from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的薩爾瓦托·蒂亞諾。

I wanted to ask a little bit about ethanol. And specifically, it seems like your commentary on ethanol was a little bit different between Starches and Sweeteners and VCP. It seems like you talked about lower ethanol margins in the former and better ethanol demand margins, et cetera, in VCP. So can you clarify why this, I guess, ethanol margins from the 2 different types of mills diverged? And also specifically, what are you seeing on the ethanol export front? And why is that benefiting VCP more than Starches and Sweeteners?

我想問一些關於乙醇的問題。具體來說，您對澱粉和甜味劑與 VCP 之間的乙醇的評論似乎有點不同。您似乎談到了前者的乙醇利潤率較低，而 VCP 的乙醇需求利潤率更高，等等。那麼您能解釋為什麼這兩種不同類型工廠的乙醇利潤有差異嗎？具體來說，您對乙醇出口有何看法？為什麼 VCP 比澱粉和甜味劑更有利？

Yes. Yes, the reference we made to that is because VCP results were helped by stronger export demand for sustainably certified ethanol, and we get a premium for sustainably certified ethanol. So that supported volumes and margins.

是的。是的，我們提到這一點是因為 VCP 的結果得益於對可持續認證乙醇的更強勁的出口需求，並且我們對可持續認證的乙醇獲得了溢價。這支撐了銷量和利潤。

In general, ethanol -- in general, Salvator, ethanol is a very cheap oxygenate, so it's getting a lot of demand from the rest of the world. So exports are expected to be north of 1.5 billion gallons. So -- and blending demand inside the U.S. domestically has been good. It's just that this is the time of the year in which the plants have produced a lot.

總的來說，乙醇——薩爾瓦托，乙醇是一種非常便宜的含氧化合物，因此世界其他地區對它的需求很大。因此出口量預計將超過 15 億加侖。因此，美國國內的混合需求一直很好。只是此時正是一年中植物豐收的時節。

I always said the plants are exothermic. So in a time of cold temperature, they produce a lot, and that's a time where we drive the least. So now we're going into more the maintenance period of those plants. And I think that inventories for the industry will come a little -- we hope will come a little bit more into balance, and we expect that to higher driving miles during the summer to balance margins a little bit better. But we expect for the whole year to -- for exports to remain very healthy.

我總是說植物是放熱的。所以在寒冷的時候，他們生產很多，而那是我們開車最少的時候。所以現在我們將進入這些工廠的更多維護期。我認為該行業的庫存將會增加，我們希望能夠更加平衡，並且我們預計夏季行駛里程會增加，從而更好地平衡利潤。但我們預計全年出口將保持非常健康。

Our next question comes from Ben Theurer of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

Just wanted to follow up on some of the initiatives you're doing within the Nutrition business. And Juan, you talked about it at the beginning as it relates to like just simplification, portfolio optimization. So as you've looked through the assets and obviously, it's been volatile here and somewhat soft, obviously impacted by some of the onetime items.

只是想跟進您在營養業務中所做的一些舉措。胡安，您一開始就談到了它，因為它與簡化、投資組合優化有關。因此，當您查看資產時，顯然，這裡的資產一直不穩定，而且有些疲軟，顯然受到了一些一次性項目的影響。

But as you think about Nutrition going forward and past some of the issues with the plant downtime, et cetera, how do you want to structure this business? Where do you want to take it to? What do you think is going to be the Nutrition, call it, maybe 2.0 version in 2 to 3 years' time? What's the contribution, animal, human? How should we think about this?

但是，當您考慮營養的未來發展並克服工廠停機等一些問題時，您希望如何建立這項業務？你想把它帶到哪裡？您認為「營養」會在 2 到 3 年內推出什麼，或稱之為 2.0 版本？動物、人類的貢獻是什麼？我們該如何思考這個問題？

Yes. Good question. Listen, if you see the sequential improvement that we have had right now, is we're taking a lot of the one-offs we received last year or even in Q4 out of the picture, if you will. Some of them completely. Some of them, they're going to continue to improve as the business improve the reliability of our supply, if you will.

是的。好問題。聽著，如果你看到我們現在所取得的連續改進，我們是否正在消除去年甚至第四季度收到的許多一次性問題，如果你願意的話。其中一些完全是這樣。如果您願意的話，隨著業務提高我們供應的可靠性，其中一些將繼續改進。

I would say, in the short term, you need to be able to see through some of the headwinds that we will get in revenue because of the correction of raw materials. So there are some parts of the Nutrition business, what we call Specialty Ingredients, if you will, that were either related to proteins or emulsifiers. Those things tend to correct revenue because they are related to soy or corn at the end of the day, so they moderate.

我想說，在短期內，你需要能夠看到由於原材料調整而給我們帶來的一些收入阻力。因此，營養業務的某些部分，如果您願意的話，我們稱之為特種成分，它們要么與蛋白質或乳化劑有關。這些因素往往會糾正收入，因為它們歸根結底與大豆或玉米有關，因此它們會起到調節作用。

And that business is a business that from a volume perspective, there is a reshuffle of the demand in terms of plant-based proteins. And there's a lot of exciting stuff that the industry is doing. Listen, there is a lot of emerging technologies, novel ingredients and new culinary techniques that will come to revitalize that demand over time, but that's a shift that we're going through and you're not going to see that in 2024.

而該業務是一項從數量角度來看，對植物蛋白的需求進行重新洗牌的業務。該行業正在做很多令人興奮的事情。聽著，隨著時間的推移，許多新興技術、新穎的食材和新的烹飪技術將會重振這一需求，但這是我們正在經歷的轉變，到 2024 年你不會看到這種情況。

But that's something that, long term, we still believe in that piece. Right now, in the present time, flavor, we continue to see strong demand for flavor, whether it's in North America or whether it's in Europe. To the extent that we can release our supply constraints, we will be able to capitalize more on that. And U.S. has been doing better, faster than maybe Europe, and we're correcting those things in Europe. But we feel strongly about that.

但從長遠來看，我們仍然相信這一點。目前，在風味方面，我們繼續看到對風味的強勁需求，無論是在北美還是在歐洲。只要我們能夠釋放供應限制，我們就能充分利用這一點。美國可能比歐洲做得更好、更快，我們正在歐洲糾正這些問題。但我們對此有強烈的感受。

On the Health & Wellness perspective, biotics continue to excel. Biotics have increased OP by like 100% in the first quarter. So we're doing very well. We're getting some headwinds from the fibers perspective, but I think that's a matter of competitive materials. But over time, fibers is a very -- has a very positive prognosis as all of us are trying to incorporate more protein and fibers in our diet and reduce fats and sugar. That's where the world nutrition trends are moving.

從健康與保健的角度來看，生物製品持續表現出色。第一季度，Biotics 使 OP 增加了 100%。所以我們做得很好。從纖維的角度來看，我們遇到了一些阻力，但我認為這是競爭材料的問題。但隨著時間的推移，纖維的預後非常積極，因為我們所有人都在努力在飲食中加入更多的蛋白質和纖維，並減少脂肪和糖的攝取。這就是世界營養趨勢的發展方向。

And then when you think about the Animal Nutrition side, Animal Nutrition is probably the most undervalued, if you will, story given their potential. Because we are doing a lot of self-help, and that self-help continue to be seen in the P&L. But some of the protein sector issues have impacted the demand there. I would say there in Nutrition -- in the Animal Nutrition area is where we're probably going to see more of the refinement of the portfolio, if you will, just because there are unevenness across sectors in terms of our ability to achieve the right returns on the long term. So in some part of the sectors, it's more like self-help. In other parts, it's more innovation driven.

然後，當您考慮動物營養方面時，如果您願意的話，考慮到動物營養的潛力，它可能是最被低估的故事。因為我們做了很多自助，自助繼續反映在損益表中。但蛋白質產業的一些問題影響了那裡的需求。我想說的是，在營養方面——在動物營養領域，如果你願意的話，我們可能會看到更多的產品組合細化，只是因為各個部門在實現正確目標的能力方面存在不平衡。回報。所以在某些領域，這更像是自助。在其他方面，它更多是由創新驅動的。

And even if you go to things like pet, where the demand is very strong, there are pieces of the world that are doing exceptionally well for us like Mexico. There are pieces where demand is very strong, like in North America, so maybe we need to fix some supply issues. And there are parts of the world, like maybe like South America, where structurally it becomes a little bit more difficult to make money. So we are applying different recipes to the different parts of the world.

即使你去寵物等需求非常強勁的領域，世界上也有一些地方對我們來說表現得非常好，例如墨西哥。有些地區的需求非常強勁，例如北美，所以也許我們需要解決一些供應問題。世界上有些地方，像是南美，從結構上來說，賺錢變得有點困難。因此，我們正在對世界不同地區應用不同的食譜。

But I still see a very complete Nutrition business, if you will, going forward, more focus on the maybe fewer platforms, fewer customers to be able to execute our pipeline faster. Maybe in the past, we have a big pipeline with a percentage of conversion that we expect it to be higher on a maybe a more focused, concentrated pipeline. That's the way I tend to think about it.

但我仍然看到一個非常完整的營養業務，如果你願意的話，展望未來，更專注於可能更少的平台、更少的客戶，以便能夠更快地執行我們的管道。也許在過去，我們有一個大的管道，其轉換百分比可能會更高，而在一個更集中、更集中的管道上，我們預計它會更高。這就是我傾向於思考的方式。

Can I offer a complementary view on -- I just wanted to offer you a complementary view on Juan's comments with regard to Animal Nutrition, but I think it also applies to the broader portfolio, which is I fully agree with Juan in the sense that the base business in Animal Nutrition is now experiencing the benefits of the cost improvement programs that we put in place, and we've seen that evolution quarter-on-quarter.

我可以提供一個補充觀點嗎——我只是想向您提供對胡安關於動物營養的評論的補充觀點，但我認為它也適用於更廣泛的投資組合，我完全同意胡安的觀點，因為動物營養的基礎業務現在正在體驗我們實施的成本改善計劃的好處，並且我們已經看到了季度環比的演變。

But to Juan's observations on a going-forward basis, you will see a business that is looking to become more focused on the specialty side of its portfolio. As Juan alluded to at the beginning, part of the revenue calculation for the platform is partly impacted by the fact that there is a soy mill commodity component to some of the products that are produced. Over time, it's a business that will evolve to become more specialty focused, more higher margin focused. So we -- I think it bodes well for the growth and margin structure of that business as we look forward into 2025.

但根據胡安對未來的觀察，你會看到一家企業希望更專注於其投資組合的專業方面。正如胡安一開始提到的，該平台的部分收入計算部分受到以下事實的影響：某些生產的產品含有大豆廠商品成分。隨著時間的推移，它的業務將變得更加專注於專業、更加重視更高的利潤。因此，我認為，展望 2025 年，這對該業務的成長和利潤結構來說是個好兆頭。

Our next question comes from Steven Haynes of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的史蒂文·海恩斯。

Maybe just two quick follow-ups on Nutrition. So I think your revenue was down slightly. And based on your kind of prior comments about there being some price component, were your volumes, I guess, organic volumes, positive in the quarter? That would be the first one.

也許只是關於營養的兩個快速跟進。所以我認為你們的收入略有下降。根據您之前關於存在某些價格因素的評論，我猜您的銷量（有機銷量）在本季度是否為正值？那將是第一個。

And then the second question is on the full year, you mentioned that the recent M&A is kind of coming in ahead of your kind of deal model expectations. How much operating profit contribution are you baking into the full year guide from M&A?

第二個問題是關於全年的，您提到最近的併購有點超出了您對交易模式的預期。您將透過併購將多少營業利潤貢獻納入全年指南？

Yes. Thank you, Steven. So let me say that we are very pleased with the 2 M&As. The 2 M&As contributed to revenue in the first quarter and not yet to OP because of start-up costs and all that. But we still expect revenue, even despite the headwinds that I mentioned before relative to commodity prices, moderating in some of our less specialty categories.

是的。謝謝你，史蒂文。所以我想說，我們對兩筆併購感到非常滿意。由於啟動成本等原因，這兩筆併購貢獻了第一季的收入，但尚未貢獻給營運商。但我們仍然預計，儘管我之前提到的相對於大宗商品價格的不利因素，我們的一些不太專業的類別的收入將會放緩。

We expect revenue growth to be in the range of high -- mid-single digit for full year. We expect probably OP to do -- operating profit to be a little bit better than that given that our cost should be down year-over-year. So what was the other question there?

我們預計全年營收成長將在高至中個位數範圍內。我們預計 OP 可能會這樣做——考慮到我們的成本應該會同比下降，營業利潤會比我們的預期好一點。那麼還有一個問題是什麼呢？

Yes. So in terms of overall volume, volume was a complementary question. Overall, we've seen volume hold up well. The exception to that would be, obviously, the Specialty Ingredients business and specifically, the impacts of the Decatur East plant. But all of the other elements of our business have generally performed well volume-wise. So you've seen a bit of a deterioration of the volume on a revenue basis, but you have seen a general improvement except for the SI business when it came to volume.

是的。因此，就總體數量而言，數量是一個補充問題。總體而言，我們看到成交量保持良好。顯然，特種配料業務是個例外，特別是迪凱特東工廠的影響。但我們業務的所有其他要素總體上在銷量方面表現良好。因此，您已經看到以收入為基礎的銷量有所下降，但在銷量方面，除了 SI 業務之外，您還看到了整體改善。

Our next question comes from Adam Samuelson of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的亞當·薩繆爾森。

So I guess I got two questions. Maybe first, as we think about the outlook for the year where you talked about improvement in soy meal demand and inclusion ratios later in the year, can you maybe help us be a bit more specific? Just that doesn't seem to you as implied by the curves. Most forecasts on poultry supply in different parts of the world don't really project a sizable uptick in production. So could you just help us a little bit on the areas where you're actually seeing that or getting that signal from your feed customers?

所以我想我有兩個問題。也許首先，當我們思考今年的前景時，您談到了今年晚些時候豆粕需求和包含率的改善，您能否幫助我們說得更具體一些？只是在您看來，這並不像曲線所暗示的那樣。大多數對世界不同地區家禽供應的預測並沒有真正預測產量會大幅增加。那麼，您能否在您實際看到或從您的 Feed 客戶那裡獲得該訊號的領域為我們提供一些幫助？

And then an unrelated question, as I think about some of the cost actions and productivity savings that you've targeted for this year and next. Would love if you could maybe a bit more specificity to the areas where the $500 million are really coming from, both in terms of the category of spend, but also whether they're in the operating segments or in corporate unallocated as we think about the outlook for the next couple of years.

然後是一個不相關的問題，當我想到你們今年和明年的一些成本行動和生產力節省目標時。如果您能更具體地說明 5 億美元的真正來源領域，無論是在支出類別方面，還是在我們考慮的營運部門或未分配的公司方面，我們都會很高興。

Yes, sure. Adam, listen, I think what you need to realize, so first of all, we are early in the year, of course, and we are making predictions on Q4. So this is a transition period for the industry, if you will. We're going from a couple of years of tight supplies to ample supplies. So we're seeing here a customer base that is very uncovered, if you will, farmer selling that is a little slow. And we're going to go through that transition.

是的，當然。亞當，聽著，我認為你需要意識到什麼，所以首先，當然，我們還處於今年年初，我們正在對第四季進行預測。所以如果你願意的話，現在是這個產業的一個過渡期。我們將從幾年的供應緊張轉向供應充足。所以我們在這裡看到的是一個非常未被覆蓋的客戶群，如果你願意的話，農民的銷售有點慢。我們將經歷這個轉變。

On top of that, you have a proteins industry that was in the unprofitable territory, if you will, and still is for certain for, if you will, beef or some parts of pork. But now it seemed to have bottomed and seeing growth trends in poultry. So we see that in different parts of the world, whether it's in Thailand, in Turkey, in other parts of the world.

最重要的是，如果你願意的話，你的蛋白質產業處於無利可圖的領域，而且如果你願意的話，牛肉或豬肉的某些部位仍然處於無利可圖的狀態。但現在似乎已經觸底，並看到家禽的成長趨勢。所以我們在世界不同地區看到了這一點，無論是在泰國、土耳其或世界其他地區。

But I think the main issue is that pricing is doing its effect. So you see some trade flows changing. We see some soybean oil being exported out of the U.S., as we see used cooking oil coming into the U.S. We're starting to see more -- maybe Brazil becoming less of an exporter of soybean oil, maybe more competition in mills, but the U.S. is still very competitive in mill.

但我認為主要問題是定價正在發揮作用。所以你會看到一些貿易流發生變化。我們看到一些豆油從美國出口，就像我們看到用過的食用油進入美國一樣。工廠方面仍然非常有競爭力。

So I think that we will have to see all that shift during the year. What we are seeing is we're looking at our customers, we're looking at our book. And we just think that, again, with 1 billion gallon more of RGD capacity in the U.S. with 500,000 tons more soybean oil coming from the biodiesel mandate in Brazil, that will be a very big determinant of crush margins for the year. With that, I think Ismael will cover the drive for excellence profitability.

所以我認為我們必須在這一年中看到所有這些轉變。我們看到的是我們正在關注我們的客戶，我們正在關注我們的書。我們只是認為，美國的 RGD 產能增加了 10 億加侖，巴西的生物柴油授權增加了 50 萬噸豆油，這將成為今年壓榨利潤的一個非常大的決定因素。這樣，我認為伊斯梅爾將致力於實現卓越的獲利能力。

Yes. But on the -- Adam, on the drive for excellence, we're actually quite encouraged by the progress. As Juan mentioned during the remarks, we have more than 1,200 initiatives, but they can be grouped into substantial areas or themes of effort and focus, working on plant process optimization, working on business process optimization, also very important on supply chain and demand fulfillment, which is part of the challenges that we've had in Nutrition. So these would be the large buckets that we're working on.

是的。但是，亞當，在追求卓越的過程中，我們實際上對所取得的進展感到非常鼓舞。正如胡安在演講中提到的，我們有1,200 多項舉措，但它們可以分為實質性領域或主題的努力和重點，致力於工廠流程優化，致力於業務流程優化，對於供應鏈和需求滿足也非常重要，這是我們在營養方面面臨的挑戰的一部分。所以這些就是我們正在研究的大桶子。

And we've seen the platform progress very well. And we have at least about 1/3 line of sight of the $500 million already for 2024. So we're very encouraged about the ability of this drive for excellence impacting 2024 already in the measures that I've just outlined.

我們已經看到該平台進展非常順利。我們對 2024 年 5 億美元的預期至少有大約 1/3。

Our next question comes from Ben Kallo of Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的本卡洛 (Ben Kallo)。

Just how do we think about or you think about the dynamic of the blenders tax credit changing over to a producers tax credit and the carbon intensity being a factor for overall soy oil demand in the U.S. next year?

我們如何看待或您如何看待攪拌機稅收抵免轉變為生產商稅收抵免的動態以及碳強度成為明年美國整體豆油需求的一個因素？

Yes. Thank you, Ben, for the question. So as you know, the $1 blenders tax credit will expire at the end of '24 and transition to a production tax credit. And this will be administered by the U.S. Treasury. They issued guidance on, I think, at the end of last year that will allow the use of grid CA modeling in addition to CORSIA. Of course, we favor including grid. We're successful in grid being officially included. We're still delayed in the EPA ruling on that.

是的。謝謝你，本，提出這個問題。如您所知，1 美元的攪拌機稅收抵免將於 24 年底到期，並過渡到生產稅收抵免。這將由美國財政部管理。我認為他們在去年年底發布了指導意見，允許除 CORSIA 之外還使用網格 CA 建模。當然，我們贊成包括網格。我們成功地將網格正式納入其中。美國環保署對此的裁決仍然延遲。

So I think that we have been doing a lot of advocacy in encouraging government officials to make sure that we remove this uncertainty out of the equation here. I think that a transition without guidance of whether the crop-based biofuels will generate credits will create a very difficult price discovery mechanism in the coming months, as participants are trying to look -- to begin locking 2025 volume.

因此，我認為我們一直在進行大量宣傳，鼓勵政府官員確保我們消除這種不確定性。我認為，在沒有關於農作物生物燃料是否會產生信用的指導的情況下，過渡將在未來幾個月內創造一個非常困難的價格發現機制，正如參與者試圖開始鎖定 2025 年的產量一樣。

So I think that's an important clarification that needs to happen. These are industries that are investing in the U.S., and I think that providing regulatory certainty are very important for those investments to come to fruition on time and as expected.

所以我認為這是一個需要進行的重要澄清。這些產業正在美國投資，我認為提供監管確定性對於這些投資按時、如預期取得成果非常重要。

Just a follow-up there. What are you seeing with the renewable diesel refiners, producers in terms of them transitioning to using waste fats or other materials?

只是後續行動。您對再生柴油精煉廠、生產商轉向使用廢油脂或其他材料有何看法？

Yes. I think that -- listen, there is a reality in the world that palm oil production is flat and not being able to cope with demand. So we know that the U.S. and renewable green diesel was going to meet -- to have to be met with a lot of feedstocks, of which soybean oil is an important component. But of course, the industry is trying to gather every kind of feedstock that they can find. And there was inventory of used cook oil.

是的。我認為——聽著，世界上存在著這樣一個現實：棕櫚油產量持平，無法滿足需求。因此我們知道，美國和再生綠色柴油將需要大量原料，而大豆油是其中的重要組成部分。當然，該行業正在努力收集他們能找到的各種原料。還有廢食用油的庫存。

The U.S. has imported a lot of that, but still is not going to be enough because how much are you going to grow the used cook oil inventory around the world to supply, as I said, an industry is going to have 1 billion gallon more capacity this year. So we still expect that we are adjusting to these temporary imports of used cook oil. But we still expect that soybean oil will recover their percentage of the used from maybe 30% to again, the 40% we used to be.

美國進口了很多，但仍然不夠，因為世界各地的廢食用油庫存要增加多少才能供應，正如我所說，一個行業將多出 10 億加侖今年的產能。因此，我們仍然預計我們正在調整這些臨時進口的廢食用油。但我們仍然預期豆油的使用比例將從 30% 恢復到以前的 40%。

Our next question comes from Salvator Tiano of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的薩爾瓦托·蒂亞諾。

I just had a follow-up. So as we look a little bit into a couple of items, can you help us understand the Green Bison contribution now? So for example, the process volume growth that you showed, roughly how much came from that? And also, I believe you had the $10 million noncontrolling interest loss. Well, I guess, the JV, among others, are the loss. So how much, I guess, of that was the Green Bison JV? And at which point do you expect it to return -- to turn into a profitable JV on a net income basis, so for that NCI line?

我剛剛進行了後續行動。當我們稍微研究幾個項目時，您現在可以幫助我們了解 Green Bison 的貢獻嗎？例如，您所展示的流程量成長，大約有多少來自於此？而且，我相信您還損失了 1000 萬美元的非控制權益。嗯，我想，合資企業等都是損失。那麼，我猜，其中有多少是 Green Bison JV 的資金？您預計它會在什麼時候回歸——以淨利潤為基礎轉變為一家盈利的合資企業，對於 NCI 生產線？

Yes. Salvator, maybe I give you what I have at top of my mind. But we were very pleased with the increase in volumes in oilseeds or in crush during the first quarter. It was 9% increase. Part of that was Spiritwood coming online, part of that were our plants improvements in general across the footprint. Part of that was Paraguay and Ukraine also coming to crush. So that all happened at different points in the quarter. So I don't have a full recollection of what happened to what volume at any part of the quarter.

是的。薩爾瓦托，也許我會把我最想知道的告訴你。但我們對第一季油籽或壓榨量的增加感到非常滿意。增長了 9%。其中一部分是 Spiritwood 上線，一部分是我們工廠在整個足跡上的整體改進。其中一部分原因是巴拉圭和烏克蘭也來了。所以這一切都發生在本季的不同時間點。因此，我不完全記得本季任何時候的交易量發生了什麼情況。

The Green Bison joint venture will be a contributor to profit during 2024. So it's ramping up. It's going to get to full capacity very soon. So it will be a meaningful contributor. I don't have top of my head what was the contribution on first quarter, to be honest.

Green Bison 合資企業將在 2024 年為利潤做出貢獻。它很快就會達到滿載。因此，它將是一個有意義的貢獻者。老實說，我不知道第一季的貢獻是什麼。

Our next question comes from Heather Jones of Heather Jones Research.

我們的下一個問題來自希瑟瓊斯研究中心的希瑟瓊斯。

Just wanted to ask really quickly what exactly you're doing for the dry mills as far as sustainability sourcing? And the doubling of your region acreage, is that related to like proactively getting ahead of this EU deforestation regime or more stringent carb requirements? Just wondering what's driving that.

只是想快速詢問一下，就永續採購而言，您到底在為乾磨廠做什麼？您的地區面積翻倍，這是否與主動超越歐盟森林砍伐制度或更嚴格的碳水化合物要求有關？只是想知道是什麼推動了這一點。

Yes. So Heather, in carb solutions, we have a whole decarbonization strategy. Actually, across ADM, we have a decarbonization strategy, driven partly by our Strive 35 goals that we need to decarbonize ourselves, part driven by our customers and the need for either awaiting Scope 3 emissions from the side of our customers, but also by providing some low carbon intensity characteristics of some of our products that has also commanding a premium out there.

是的。因此，希瑟，在碳水化合物解決方案中，我們有一個完整的脫碳策略。實際上，在整個ADM 中，我們有一個脫碳策略，部分是由我們自己脫碳所需的Strive 35 目標驅動的，部分是由我們的客戶驅動的，需要等待客戶方面的範圍3 排放，但也透過提供我們的一些產品的一些低碳強度特徵也具有溢價。

So what are we doing? We are working on increasing our carbon capture sequestration. We're going to go from 2 wells, 1 well and 1 experimental well, but let's say 2 wells to 7 wells, so we're going to be able to increase significantly our capacity.

那我們在做什麼呢？我們正在努力增加碳捕獲封存。我們將從 2 口井、1 口井和 1 口實驗井開始，但假設從 2 口井增加到 7 口井，因此我們將能夠顯著增加我們的產能。

And let me remind you, we have already captured 4.5 million tons of CO2 in the last 10 years that we've been operating. So that has been successful.

讓我提醒您，在過去 10 年的營運中，我們已經捕獲了 450 萬噸二氧化碳。這樣就成功了。

For the dry mills specifically, what we're doing is we are building pipelines to bring that to our carbon capture and sequestration units indicator. We have 1 pipeline that has been ongoing, the project, and we are looking for solutions for the other dry mills. So that's what is happening.

特別是對於乾磨機，我們正在做的是建造管道，以將其納入我們的碳捕獲和封存單位指標。我們有 1 個項目正在進行中，我們正在為其他乾磨機尋找解決方案。這就是正在發生的事情。

The second part of the question, Heather, I'm not remembering exactly what...

問題的第二部分，希瑟，我不記得具體是什麼了...

I was just wondering on the region.

我只是想知道該地區。

Oh, yes.

哦是的。

Yes, on the region acreage, just wondering, is that doubling in anticipation of like the EU deforestation regime or more stringent carb standards? Just wondering what's driving that. Or is it all voluntary market-driven growth?

是的，就該地區的面積而言，只是想知道，由於歐盟森林砍伐制度或更嚴格的碳水化合物標準的預期，該面積是否會翻倍？只是想知道是什麼推動了這一點。或者這一切都是自願的市場驅動的成長？

Yes. I would say there is excitement on both sides. There is excitement on the farmer side to adhere to all these practices, but there's also a lot of demand pull from the customer side in terms of we continue to sign contracts for more of these as people need to, again, have an answer to their Scope 3.

是的。我想說雙方都很興奮。農民方面對遵守所有這些做法感到興奮，但客戶方面也有很大的需求拉動，我們繼續簽署更多這些做法的合同，因為人們需要再次回答他們的問題範圍 3.

So this has been -- we have been setting goals, and we have been beating those goals and increasing those goals. Now we have expanded that to Europe and Latin America, and we continue to see demand for these activities around the world. And to be honest, the team has been doing an excellent job. So I think that this program is perceived as the leading program in the world there.

所以我們一直在設定目標，我們一直在超越這些目標並增加這些目標。現在我們已將其擴展到歐洲和拉丁美洲，並且我們繼續看到世界各地對這些活動的需求。老實說，團隊做得非常好。所以我認為這個項目被認為是世界上領先的項目。

At this time, we currently have no further questions. So I'll hand back to Juan Luciano for any further remarks.

目前，我們沒有進一步的問題。因此，我將把進一步的意見交還給胡安·盧西亞諾。

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, everybody, for joining us today and for your interest in ADM, and have a great day.

好的。謝謝。感謝大家今天加入我們以及對 ADM 的興趣，祝您有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you for joining today's call. You may now disconnect your lines.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。現在您可以斷開線路。