雅保公司 (ALB) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Albemarle Corporation's Q3 2025 earnings call.

大家好，歡迎參加 Albemarle 公司 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。

I will now hand it over to Meredith Bandy, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability.

現在我將把發言權交給投資者關係和永續發展副總裁梅雷迪思·班迪。

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to Albemarle's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Our earnings were released after market closed yesterday, and you'll find the press release and earnings presentation posted to our website under the Investors section at albemarle.com.

謝謝大家，歡迎各位參加 Albemarle 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。我們的收益報告已於昨日股市收盤後發布，您可以在 albemarle.com 網站的「投資者關係」欄位下找到新聞稿和收益報告簡報。

Joining me on the call today are Kent Masters, Chief Executive Officer; Neal Sheorey, Chief Financial Officer; Mark Mummert, Chief Operations Officer; and Eric Norris, Chief Commercial Officer, are also available for Q&A.

今天與我一起參加電話會議的有：執行長 Kent Masters；財務長 Neal Sheorey；營運長 Mark Mummert；以及商務長 Eric Norris，他們也都可以回答問題。

As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call, including our outlook, guidance, expected company performance and strategic initiatives may constitute forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our press release and earnings presentation that same language also applies to this call.

再次提醒，本次電話會議中所做的一些陳述，包括我們的展望、指導、預期公司績效和策略性舉措，可能構成前瞻性陳述。請注意我們在新聞稿和盈利報告中對前瞻性陳述所作的警示性措辭，這些措辭同樣適用於本次電話會議。

Please also note that some of our comments today refer to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations can be found in our earnings materials, and now I'll turn the call over to Kent.

另請注意，我們今天的一些評論涉及非GAAP財務指標。相關核對資訊可在我們的收益資料中找到，現在我將把電話交給肯特。

Thank you, Meredith. In the third quarter, we reported net sales of $1.3 billion, including another record production period from our integrated lithium conversion network. Adjusted EBITDA reached $226 million, representing a 7% increase as cost and efficiency improvements more than compensated for lower year-over-year lithium pricing. We generated $356 million in cash from operations during the third quarter, marking a 57% year-over-year increase, driven by higher EBITDA and disciplined cash management.

謝謝你，梅雷迪思。第三季度，我們實現了 13 億美元的淨銷售額，其中包括我們一體化鋰轉化網絡的另一個創紀錄的生產週期。經過調整後的 EBITDA 達到 2.26 億美元，成長 7%，成本和效率的提高彌補了鋰價格年減的影響。第三季度，我們透過經營活動產生了 3.56 億美元的現金，年增 57%，這主要得益於更高的 EBITDA 和嚴格的現金管理。

We are enhancing our 2025 outlook considerations. Based on our year-to-date financial performance, prevailing lithium market pricing and stronger-than-expected energy storage sales volumes, we now anticipate full year 2025 corporate results to be toward the upper end of the previously published $9 per kilogram scenario ranges.

我們正在完善對2025年展望的考量。根據我們今年迄今的財務業績、目前的鋰市場價格以及強於預期的儲能銷售量，我們現在預計 2025 年全年公司業績將接近之前公佈的每公斤 9 美元情景範圍的上限。

Overall demand for lithium remains robust, up more than 30% year-to-date, supported by the energy transition and rising global demand for electric vehicles and grid storage. Notably, global EV sales have increased 30% year-to-date, led by China and EU battery electric vehicles. Grid storage growth was even more pronounced, climbing 105% year-to-date with strong growth across all major markets globally.

受能源轉型以及全球對電動車和電網儲能需求不斷增長的推動，鋰的整體需求仍然強勁，今年迄今成長超過 30%。值得注意的是，全球電動車銷量今年迄今已成長 30%，其中中國和歐盟的純電動車銷量成長最為顯著。電網儲能的成長更為顯著，今年迄今成長了 105%，在全球所有主要市場均實現了強勁成長。

Additionally, we have made significant progress implementing cost and productivity improvements while reducing capital expenditures. Capital expenditures for the year are now projected to be approximately $600 million. We expect to achieve full year cost and productivity improvements of around $450 million, surpassing the upper limit of our initial targets. Considering these factors, we now project positive free cash flow of $300 million to $400 million in 2025.

此外，我們在降低資本支出的同時，透過提高成本和生產力，取得了顯著進展。今年的資本支出預計約為 6 億美元。我們預計全年成本和生產力將提高約 4.5 億美元，超過我們最初目標的上限。考慮到這些因素，我們現在預計 2025 年的自由現金流為 3 億至 4 億美元。

Turning to slide 5. Recent portfolio actions further demonstrate our commitment to long-term value creation and enhanced financial flexibility. We recently announced two transactions. First, a definitive agreement with KPS Capital Partners to sell a controlling 51% stake in Ketjen's refining catalysts business. Second, an agreement to sell Ketjen's interest in the Eurecat joint venture to Axens. Both transactions are expected to close during the first half of 2026.

翻到第5張投影片。近期投資組合調整進一步反映了我們對創造長期價值和增強財務靈活性的承諾。我們近期宣布了兩項交易。首先，與 KPS Capital Partners 達成最終協議，出售 Ketjen 煉油催化劑業務 51% 的控股權。其次，達成協議將 Ketjen 在 Eurecat 合資企業中的權益出售給 Axens。預計這兩筆交易都將在 2026 年上半年完成。

Together, these transactions are expected to generate approximately $660 million in pretax cash proceeds, giving us greater ability to delever while also retaining exposure to future potential gains in the refining catalyst business. This new structure positions the Refining Catalysts business to leverage KPS' manufacturing expertise and access to capital to accelerate its growth opportunities.

預計這些交易將產生約 6.6 億美元的稅前現金收益，使我們更有能力降低槓桿率，同時也能繼續獲得煉油催化劑業務的未來潛在收益。這種新架構使煉油催化劑業務能夠利用 KPS 的製造專長和資金管道來加速其成長機會。

At the same time, we will be able to shift our attention to our core businesses, Energy Storage and Specialties to set Albemarle up for long-term success. This transaction reinforces our commitment to boosting shareholder value, improving financial flexibility and maintaining Albemarle's strong competitive position. Neal will now provide additional details regarding financial performance and outlook.

同時，我們將能夠把注意力轉移到我們的核心業務——儲能和特種產品領域，從而為雅寶的長期成功奠定基礎。此交易鞏固了我們提升股東價值、增強財務靈活性和維持雅寶公司強大競爭地位的承諾。Neal接下來將提供有關財務業績和前景的更多細節。

Thank you, Kent, and good morning, everyone. I will begin with our financial results for the third quarter as presented on slide 6. Net sales for the quarter totaled $1.3 billion, a decrease from the prior year, primarily driven by lower lithium market prices. This decline was partially offset by higher volumes in both Ketjen and energy storage.

謝謝你，肯特，大家早安。我將先介紹投影片 6 中所展示的第三季財務表現。本季淨銷售額總計 13 億美元，較上年同期下降，主要原因是鋰市場價格走低。Ketjen 和儲能業務量的增加部分抵消了這一下滑。

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $226 million, representing a 7% increase year-over-year. This improvement was driven by disciplined cost management and productivity actions, which more than offset lower lithium market pricing. Our adjusted EBITDA margin improved by approximately 150 basis points compared to last year. We reported a net loss of $1.72 per diluted share. Excluding charges, the largest of which was the noncash goodwill impairment related to Ketjen, our adjusted diluted loss per share was $0.19.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.26 億美元，年增 7%。這項改善得益於嚴格的成本管理和生產力提升措施，這些措施足以抵消鋰市場價格的下跌。與去年相比，我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率提高了約 150 個基點。我們公佈的每股攤薄淨虧損為 1.72 美元。扣除各項費用（其中最大的一項是與 Ketjen 相關的非現金商譽減損）後，我們調整後的稀釋每股虧損為 0.19 美元。

Turning to slide 7. I'll cover the drivers of our adjusted EBITDA performance year-over-year. We saw solid growth in sales volumes in both our energy storage and Ketjen businesses, and our consistent focus on cost discipline and productivity yielded positive results. By focusing on the actions in our control, we were able to offset lower pricing for lithium and spodumene.

翻到第7張投影片。我將介紹我們調整後 EBITDA 績效年變動的驅動因素。我們的儲能業務和 Ketjen 業務的銷售均實現了穩健成長，我們持續專注於成本控制和生產力提升，並取得了積極的成果。透過專注於我們可控的行動，我們能夠抵消鋰和鋰輝石價格下跌的影響。

Turning to other segments. The Specialties team delivered an impressive 35% increase in adjusted EBITDA, largely due to cost improvements across the board in raw materials, manufacturing and freight. On the corporate side, we benefited from cost savings and favorable year-over-year foreign exchange movements.

接下來進入其他部分。特種產品團隊實現了調整後 EBITDA 35% 的顯著成長，這主要歸功於原材料、製造和運輸等各個環節的成本改善。在公司方面，我們受益於成本節約和有利的同比外匯匯率變動。

Turning to slide 8. As usual, we're sharing outlook scenarios based on recently observed lithium market prices. This slide shows a full company summary for each price scenario. Our outlook ranges remain the same as last quarter, but we've updated a few key points.

翻到第8張幻燈片。像往常一樣，我們將根據近期觀察到的鋰市場價格分享展望情景。此投影片展示了每種價格方案下的完整公司概況。我們的展望範圍與上季相同，但我們更新了一些關鍵點。

Specifically, we now anticipate our full year 2025 results will approach the upper end of the $9 per kilogram lithium price scenario for total company sales and EBITDA. This reflects our strong performance so far this year, including cost controls, productivity gains and slightly better market pricing. We expect lithium market pricing to average about $9.50 per kilogram this year based on year-to-date actuals and assuming current pricing persists for the remainder of November and December.

具體而言，我們現在預計，2025 年全年業績將接近每公斤 9 美元鋰價情境下的公司總銷售額和 EBITDA 的上限。這反映了我們今年迄今為止的強勁業績，包括成本控制、生產力提高和略微改善的市場定價。根據今年迄今的實際價格，並假設當前價格在 11 月和 12 月剩餘時間內持續，我們預計今年鋰市場價格平均約為每公斤 9.50 美元。

Turning to slide 9 for additional commentary by segment. First, in Energy Storage, sales volume growth is expected to be up 10% or more year-over-year, thanks to record integrated production, higher spodumene sales and reduced inventories.

請翻到第 9 張投影片，查看各部分的更多說明。首先，在儲能領域，由於綜合產量創歷史新高、鋰輝石銷量增加以及庫存減少，預計銷量將年增 10% 或更多。

We are seeing most of that volume upside coming from a strong demand environment in China, where sales are at local market prices and not on long-term agreements. As a result, we now expect approximately 45% of our 2025 lithium salt volumes to be sold on long-term agreements with floors, primarily due to the mix impact of stronger-than-expected volumes in China.

我們看到，銷售成長的大部分來自中國強勁的需求環境，那裡的銷售是以當地市場價格進行的，而不是以長期協議進行的。因此，我們現在預計，2025 年鋰鹽銷量的約 45% 將透過與供應商簽訂長期協議並設定最低價格來銷售，這主要是由於中國銷量強於預期所帶來的組合影響。

Our long-term contracts continue to perform in line with our forecast. Q4 EBITDA for energy storage is expected to be slightly higher sequentially. First, in terms of product mix, Q4 will have a greater proportion of higher-margin lithium salt sales versus spodumene sales. Second, Q4 is expected to benefit from current higher spodumene prices in JV equity earnings.

我們的長期合約繼續按照我們的預測執行。預計第四季儲能業務的 EBITDA 將較上季略有成長。首先，就產品組合而言，第四季高利潤率的鋰鹽銷售額將高於鋰輝石銷售額。其次，預計第四季合資企業股權收益將受惠於目前鋰輝石價格上漲。

In Specialties, we continue to expect modest volume growth year-over-year. Q4 net sales are expected to be similar to Q3, but EBITDA is expected to be lower, primarily due to weaker demand in oil and gas applications. Finally, at Ketjen, we continue to expect a stronger Q4 due to higher CFT and FCC volumes. Please refer to our appendix slides for additional modeling considerations across the enterprise.

在特藥業務方面，我們預期銷量將與去年同期保持溫和成長。預計第四季淨銷售額與第三季相近，但 EBITDA 預計會下降，主要原因是石油和天然氣應用領域的需求疲軟。最後，Ketjen 預計第四季度業績將更加強勁，因為 CFT 和 FCC 的產量增加。有關企業範圍內的其他建模注意事項，請參閱我們的附錄投影片。

Slide 10 highlights our focus on running the business efficiently and converting earnings into cash. Year-to-date through Q3, our EBITDA to operating cash flow conversion has been over 100%. In Q3, conversion was strong due mainly to inventory reductions, along with a modest sequential uptick in dividends from the Talison joint venture.

第 10 張投影片重點介紹了我們對高效營運業務和將收益轉化為現金的關注。今年迄今（截至第三季），我們的 EBITDA 到經營現金流的轉換率已超過 100%。第三季轉換率強勁，主要得益於庫存減少，以及泰利森合資股利季比小幅成長。

We continue to expect our full year cash conversion to average over 80%. The implication of that is that we expect Q4 conversion will be lower, mainly due to the timing of interest payments and higher working capital needs from increased revenues. Our strong cash conversion performance and reduced capital expenditures forecast mean that we now expect to be well into positive free cash flow territory this year between $300 million and $400 million.

我們仍然預計全年現金轉換率平均將超過 80%。這意味著我們預期第四季的轉換率會降低，主要原因是利息支付的時間以及收入增加所帶來的營運資金需求增加。我們強勁的現金轉換率和降低的資本支出預測意味著，我們現在預計今年將實現3億至4億美元的正自由現金流。

Slide 11 provides a comprehensive overview of our cash position and capital allocation plans in the near term. We closed the quarter with $1.9 billion in cash. Moving forward, we intend to repay with cash on hand, our Eurobond debt that matures later this month. Based on our free cash flow outlook, we expect modestly negative free cash flow in Q4.

第 11 頁全面概述了我們近期的現金狀況和資本配置計劃。本季末，我們持有現金19億美元。接下來，我們計劃用手頭現金償還本月稍後到期的歐洲債券債務。根據我們對自由現金流的預測，我們預計第四季度自由現金流將略微為負。

Moving into 2026, we expect to receive approximately $660 million of gross proceeds from the two transactions related to our Ketjen business. Considering these major cash items, we expect to have approximately $1.4 billion available for deployment across a set of disciplined and focused priorities as shown on the slide.

展望 2026 年，我們預計將從與 Ketjen 業務相關的兩項交易中獲得約 6.6 億美元的總收益。考慮到這些主要現金項目，我們預計將有大約 14 億美元可用於一系列有條不紊、重點突出的優先事項，如幻燈片所示。

With that, I'll turn it back to Kent to discuss the market outlook and provide updates on our operational execution.

接下來，我將把發言權交還給肯特，讓他討論市場前景並報告我們的營運執行情況。

Thanks, Neal. The 2025 global lithium supply-demand balance had started to tighten with global lithium consumption growth up over 30% year-to-date, driven by robust demand from both EVs and grid storage, while supply growth has slowed in part due to recent lepidolite curtailments in China.

謝謝你，尼爾。2025 年全球鋰供需平衡開始收緊，今年迄今全球鋰消費量成長超過 30%，主要得益於電動車和電網儲能的強勁需求，而供應成長放緩的部分原因是近期中國鋰雲母減產。

On slide 12, EV demand growth for 2025 continues, led by China and Europe. China EV sales are up 31% year-over-year even after reaching over 50% market penetration, driven by strong growth in BEVs due to incentives supporting low-cost options. Europe is also up over 30%, supported by EU emissions targets. North America posted 11% growth, supported by prebuying ahead of the 30D tax credit expiration.

第 12 張幻燈片顯示，2025 年電動車需求將持續成長，中國和歐洲將引領這一成長。儘管中國電動車的市場滲透率已超過 50%，但其銷量仍年增 31%，這主要得益於政府對低成本電動車的激勵措施，從而推動了純電動車的強勁成長。在歐盟減排目標的支持下，歐洲的增幅也超過30%。北美地區成長了 11%，這得益於在 30D 稅收抵免到期前進行的預購。

Turning to slide 13. Global battery demand for stationary storage is up 105% year-to-date. China remains the largest market for stationary storage installations with 60% growth year-to-date and further policy support announced in the 15th five-year plan.

翻到第13張幻燈片。今年迄今為止，全球固定式儲能電池需求增加了105%。中國仍然是固定式儲能裝置的最大市場，今年迄今成長了 60%，並在「十五」規劃中宣布了進一步的政策支持。

Europe has shown similar policy support as the commitment to decarbonization drives demand for renewables paired with storage. North America is the fastest-growing region for stationary storage, up almost 150% year-to-date as rising data center and AI investment in the United States increases the demand for electricity and grid stability.

歐洲也展現了類似的政策支持，因為對脫碳的承諾推動了對再生能源及儲能技術的需求。北美是固定式儲能成長最快的地區，今年迄今成長了近 150%，因為美國資料中心和人工智慧投資的增加提高了對電力和電網穩定性的需求。

Globally, data center electricity use is expected to more than double by 2030. With the increasing need for grid resiliency, LFP batteries are well positioned to continue meeting ESS demand, thanks to their low-cost energy density and established manufacturing base. As a result, we expect lithium demand for stationary storage application to increase more than 2.5 times by 2030.

預計到 2030 年，全球資料中心用電量將成長一倍以上。隨著對電網彈性需求的不斷增長，磷酸鐵鋰電池憑藉其低成本的能量密度和成熟的製造基礎，完全有能力繼續滿足儲能係統的需求。因此，我們預計到 2030 年，固定式儲能應用對鋰的需求將增加 2.5 倍以上。

Advancing to slide 14. I want to provide an update on our initiatives to sustain our competitive advantages through market cycles. First, on optimizing our conversion network. We set an energy storage sales volume growth target of 0% to 10% at the start of the year. We now expect to finish at or above the high end of that range with record production across our integrated conversion network, increased spodumene sales and inventory reductions.

跳轉至第14張投影片。我想向大家報告我們在市場週期中保持競爭優勢所採取的各項措施。首先，我們要優化轉換網路。年初時，我們設定了儲能產品銷售成長目標為0%至10%。我們現在預計，憑藉我們一體化加工網絡創紀錄的產量、鋰輝石銷售的成長和庫存的減少，最終業績將達到或超過該範圍的高端。

Second, our cost and productivity programs continue to deliver. We began the year with a goal of $300 million to $400 million in improvements. Today, we've achieved a $450 million run rate, exceeding the high end of our initial target. Recent projects have further reduced manufacturing costs and improved supply chain efficiency.

其次，我們的成本和生產力提升計畫持續成效。年初我們定下的目標是投入 3 億至 4 億美元進行改善工作。今天，我們的年化收入達到了 4.5 億美元，超過了我們最初目標的上限。近期項目進一步降低了製造成本，並提高了供應鏈效率。

Third, at the start of the year, we target a 50% year-over-year reduction in 2025 capital expenditures. By focusing on high-return, quick payback projects and optimizing existing scope, we now expect 2025 CapEx of about $600 million, reflecting a 65% reduction year-over-year.

第三，年初時，我們的目標是到 2025 年資本支出年減 50%。透過專注於高回報、快速收回成本的項目並優化現有範圍，我們現在預計 2025 年資本支出約為 6 億美元，比上年減少 65%。

Finally, our announced asset sales are expected to generate approximately $660 million in cash, providing significant additional financial flexibility. We continue to adapt in a dynamic environment, adding new measures as needed. We're building a culture of continuous improvement and the mindset to identify opportunities to achieve savings and efficiencies. These actions are contributing to positive financial results as shown on slide 15.

最後，我們宣布的資產出售預計將產生約 6.6 億美元的現金，從而提供更大的財務靈活性。我們不斷適應不斷變化的環境，並根據需要增加新的措施。我們正在建立一種持續改進的文化和思維模式，即發現實現節約和提高效率的機會。如投影片 15 所示，這些措施正在帶來正面的財務表現。

Our commitment to cost discipline is clearly reflected in our financials. Sales, administrative and R&D expenses are down $166 million or 22% since last year. Cash flow has strengthened, driven by targeted cost and capital reductions and strong cash management. As of Q3 2025, we're generating positive free cash flow year-to-date, and we expect $300 million to $400 million for the full year.

我們對成本控制的承諾在我們的財務報表中得到了充分體現。銷售、行政和研發費用較去年減少了 1.66 億美元，降幅達 22%。現金流得到加強，這得益於有針對性的成本和資本削減以及強有力的現金管理。截至 2025 年第三季度，我們今年迄今已產生正的自由現金流，預計全年將達到 3 億至 4 億美元。

Our efforts have allowed us to shore up and maintain healthy corporate EBITDA margins in the 20% range even as lithium prices declined. Thanks to these focused actions, we are well positioned to expand margins further as the market recovers with potential for adjusted EBITDA margins reaching 30% or more at $15 per kilogram lithium pricing.

即使鋰價下跌，我們的努力也使我們能夠鞏固並維持約20%的健康企業EBITDA利潤率。由於採取了這些有針對性的措施，隨著市場復甦，我們有能力進一步擴大利潤率，在鋰價為每公斤 15 美元的情況下，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率有可能達到 30% 或更高。

In summary, on slide 16, Albemarle delivered strong third quarter performance while continuing to act decisively to maintain the company's industry-leading position through the cycle and capture upside as markets stabilize or improve. We are maintaining our full year 2025 company outlook considerations with notable enhancements to energy storage volume growth, improved cost and capital savings and strong free cash flow generation.

總而言之，如第 16 頁所示，Albemarle 在第三季度取得了強勁的業績，同時繼續採取果斷行動，以維持公司在周期中的行業領先地位，並在市場穩定或改善時抓住上漲機會。我們維持對 2025 年全年公司展望的預期，預計儲能容量成長將顯著提升，成本和資本節約將得到改善，自由現金流將強勁成長。

With our world-class resources, process chemistry expertise and a strong balance sheet, we're well positioned to generate shareholder value through the cycle. I'm confident we're making the right moves to stay ahead and capitalize on long-term growth opportunities.

憑藉我們世界一流的資源、工藝化學專業知識和強大的資產負債表，我們有能力在整個週期中為股東創造價值。我相信我們正在採取正確的措施，以保持領先地位並抓住長期成長機會。

With that, I'll turn it over to the operator to take your questions.

接下來，我將把發言權交給接線員，由他來回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Aleksey Yefremov, KeyBanc.

Aleksey Yefremov，KeyBanc。

Strong results. I wanted to ask you about dynamics at Atlas. You mentioned you'll have better profitability because of higher spodumene prices. But how do you think this would evolve in maybe first half of '26? Would you see higher spodumene costs? Would that be again offset by higher equity income or not? If you could walk us through that dynamic for your lithium margins.

效果顯著。我想問你關於Atlas公司的發展動態。您提到由於鋰輝石價格上漲，您的獲利能力會更強。但你認為這種情況在 2026 年上半年會如何發展呢？您認為鋰輝石的價格會上漲嗎？這是否會被更高的股權收益所抵消？如果您能為我們詳細解釋一下鋰利潤率的動態變化就太好了。

Yeah. So maybe I'll start, Neal, you can add a little bit of color to that. But -- so we're not going to -- we won't predict the price for lithium, for salt or spodumene. But I mean the market is tightening. It is tight. It has moved up a little bit. So we're optimistic about that, but we don't plan on that. And I don't -- from a spodumene standpoint, I mean, it all depends whether if prices move up, the margin will either stay with salt or it moves over to spodumene.

是的。那或許我先來，尼爾，你可以為它增添一些色彩。但是——所以我們不會——我們不會預測鋰、鹽或鋰輝石的價格。但我的意思是，市場正在收緊。很緊。它向上移動了一點。所以我們對此持樂觀態度，但我們並沒有這樣的計劃。我不這麼認為──從鋰輝石的角度來看，我的意思是，這完全取決於價格上漲後，利潤空間會繼續留在鹽上，還是會轉移到鋰輝石上。

And we're a bit indifferent because of the integrated network that we operate. So I don't know that there's a big difference between the two. Recently -- in the recent past, when prices move, most of the margin moves to the resource of spodumene. And then I think the other part is a little bit about the Talison and inventories and the way that, that gets costed, Neal?

我們對此有點漠不關心，因為我們經營的是一體化網路。所以我覺得這兩者之間沒有太大差別。最近—在不久的過去，當價格波動時，大部分利潤都流向了鋰輝石資源。然後我覺得另一部分是關於Talison和庫存以及成本計算方式的，Neal？

Yes. Aleksey, I think you're thinking about it right that in a rising spodumene price environment, we get one immediate benefit, which is obviously any sales that Talison makes to our partner, we get some of that benefit immediately through our equity earnings. But then, of course, our portion of the profit does go into inventory and it comes out over time as we consume the spodumene. So you're right, there will be some lag. It's usually six to nine months that some of that comes through in our cost of sales.

是的。阿列克謝，我認為你的想法是對的，在鋰輝石價格上漲的環境下，我們能立即獲得一個好處，那就是泰利森公司向我們的合作夥伴銷售的任何產品，我們都能立即透過我們的股權收益獲得一部分收益。當然，我們所得的利潤會進入庫存，隨著鋰輝石的消耗，這部分利潤會逐漸釋放出來。你說得對，會有一些延遲。通常需要六到九個月的時間，其中一部分才會反映在我們的銷售成本中。

But whether it leads to margin compression or margin improvement really depends on what happens with salt prices six months from now. But I think you're thinking about it right. There is one component that we realize right away, and then there's another component that has to flow through our inventory.

但最終是導致利潤率下降還是提高，實際上取決於六個月後鹽價的走勢。但我認為你的想法是對的。我們立刻就能意識到其中一個組成部分，然後還有另一個組成部分需要經過我們的庫存。

Jeffrey Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

Jeffrey Zekauskas，摩根大通。

You used the $9 price as a reference point. In China today, are we closer to $10 or $11.

你以 9 美元的價格作為參考點。如今在中國，我們更接近10美元還是11美元？

So yeah, you're probably closer to $10 today. But as we look at it on a full year basis, it's kind of $9, $9.50, something like that.

所以，你今天可能離10美元更近了。但從全年來看，大概是 9 美元、9.50 美元左右。

Okay. Are you giving any consideration to starting up any of your plants where you've paused production or lost all the plants?

好的。您是否考慮重啟那些已經暫停生產或全部損失的工廠？

So no, I don't -- no, I wouldn't say so. So we haven't brought that back. So we're just forecasting to the end of the year. So that's a couple of months. So -- and it would take us longer to bring those back on. So it's not in that -- they're not in that scenario, and it would depend on the market and how that works, but that's not really the plan as we think about it for next year either.

所以，不，我不——不，我不會這麼說。所以我們沒有恢復那個功能。所以我們只是預測到年底的情況。所以就過了幾個月。所以——我們需要更長的時間才能恢復這些功能。所以，他們不屬於那種情況——他們不屬於那種情況，這取決於市場及其運作方式，但就我們考慮的明年計劃而言，那也不是真正的計劃。

Colin Rusch, Oppenheimer.

科林魯什，奧本海默。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

Just a quick question. When you talk about the full year adjusted EBITDA margin potential of 30% or greater at $15 a kg, are you speaking of the energy storage segment or the company overall?

問個小問題。當您談到全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率在每公斤 15 美元的情況下達到 30% 或更高時，您指的是儲能業務部門還是整個公司？

The overall company.

公司整體情況。

Okay. And then if I could ask in the capital allocation slide, you talked about with the $1.4 billion paying down or deleveraging, but then there's also another language about liability management opportunity. What does that refer to?

好的。然後，如果可以的話，我想問一下，在資本配置幻燈片中，您談到了用 14 億美元償還債務或去槓桿化，但其中還有關於負債管理機會的另一種說法。那指的是什麼？

Yeah, Vincent, I can cover that. I don't have specifics to share today, but we are obviously looking at a combination of things, not just gross delevering, but also anything else that we can do with our debt towers just across our entire debt stack. So that's what is meant by liability management. It might not always be gross debt deleveraging, but it might be actually just thinking about our debt towers and being responsible with that.

是的，文森特，我可以負責這件事。今天我沒有具體細節可以分享，但我們顯然正在考慮多種因素的組合，不僅是整體去槓桿化，還包括我們可以對整個債務結構中的債務塔進行的任何操作。這就是負債管理的涵義。這可能並不總是意味著大幅降低債務槓桿，而可能只是思考我們龐大的債務規模並為此負責。

John Roberts, Mizuho.

約翰·羅伯茨，瑞穗銀行。

Actually, this is Edlain Rodriguez for John. So when you look at EV domain, do you have a good sense of how much is energy storage versus EV? And how do you see those percentages moving over the medium term?

實際上，這是艾德萊恩·羅德里格斯為約翰所做的發言。那麼，當你審視電動車領域時，你是否清楚了解儲能與電動車各自所佔的比重？您認為這些百分比在中期內會如何改變？

So yes, we do. We have a pretty good view and those are reported independently. So we're -- and the numbers that we're showing are independent of those. So we think that -- I mean, look, there is some mix because it is kind of the base -- it's the same base technology that goes into both, but we feel like we understand where it's going and what the markets are doing.

是的，我們有。我們掌握的資訊相當全面，而且這些資訊都是獨立報道的。所以，我們——而且我們展示的數字與這些無關。所以我們認為——我的意思是，你看，這其中有一些混合，因為它是基礎——兩者都採用了相同的基礎技術，但我們感覺我們了解它的發展方向和市場正在做什麼。

So it's -- I think energy -- the fixed storage is about a quarter of the market today, and it's growing at a couple of times the rate, but it's -- we still see it probably being -- long term, the market is more EV-oriented than fixed storage, but that's the dynamic and you just look at the math, right?

所以——我認為能源——固定儲能目前約佔市場份額的四分之一，而且其增長速度是其他儲能的幾倍，但我們仍然認為——從長遠來看，市場更傾向於電動車而不是固定儲能，但這就是市場動態，你只要看看數學計算就知道了，對吧？

If it's a quarter of the market, maybe it gets to half, I'm not sure. And over time, it will depend a little bit on substitute technologies. I think fixed storage is more exposed to substitutes than BEVs. So I think that has to play out over the next decade to see where that really ends up.

如果能占到四分之一的市場份額，也許能達到一半，我不太確定。隨著時間的推移，這將在一定程度上取決於替代技術。我認為固定儲能比電動車更容易受到替代品的影響。所以我認為這需要在接下來的十年中逐步揭曉，才能真正看出最終結果如何。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

大衛‧貝格萊特，德意志銀行。

Ken, for you and Eric, on Chinese lepidolite, how much supply do you think is being currently curtailed? And versus the high of lepidolite production, how much is production down today versus that high?

Ken，你和Eric，就中國鋰雲母而言，你們認為目前有多少供應受到限制？與鋰雲母產量高峰期相比，目前的產量下降了多少？

Yes. So Eric can give us some details on it. So look overall, it's not been a huge impact. There has been some impact. They've come out of the market and come back in. That's probably been the bigger piece. There are a number of plants that are looking for permits and -- but they are operating through that.

是的。所以埃里克可以給我們一些細節。所以總的來說，影響並不大。已經產生了一些影響。他們退出市場，然後又重新進入市場。那可能是更重要的部分。有很多工廠正在申請許可證，但它們仍在繼續運作。

That's our understanding of that they need to get new permits. They've applied for those, and they're allowed to operate through that. So Eric, maybe you can give some numbers or some of the scope of what has come out and not come back on.

據我們了解，他們需要獲得新的許可證。他們已經申請了這些許可，並且獲準透過這些許可來開展業務。所以艾瑞克，或許你可以提供一些數據，或是說已經播出但未播出的節目的範圍。

Yes. I think since the middle of the year, David, about a third of the production was impacted through a repermitting exercise and/or as to idle for a period of time, some of that is -- we don't know all the cause for that. I mean there's a lot of discussion about what's happening in China on policy. But nonetheless, that's what we've observed.

是的。大衛，我認為從年中開始，大約三分之一的生產受到了重新許可程序和/或停產一段時間的影響，其中一些原因是——我們不知道全部原因。我的意思是，關於中國政策走向有很多討論。但無論如何，這就是我們觀察到的現象。

That's about 8 different lepidolite operations, including the largest, which is CATL. It's a reduction of about 30,000 tons annually. But I think the question is how long they remain down as they go through permitting. It's -- in the scheme of the market, if they -- should they come back, you're only talking about a couple of percent of supply over the course of a year. So it's a minor blip, and we'll continue to watch it carefully.

那大約有 8 個不同的鋰雲母開採作業，其中包括最大的 CATL。每年可減少約3萬噸。但我認為問題在於，在辦理許可證期間，這些設施需要停駛多久。從市場角度來看，如果他們——如果他們回來的話——一年下來，你談論的只是供應量的百分之幾。所以這只是一個小插曲，我們會繼續密切注意。

Very good. And just on lithium demand, you didn't include -- you did not include your slide from last time lithium demand forecast. So for 2030, has there been any change to your lithium demand outlook? If it hasn't been, has the bias moved to the upper end of that range, i.e., 3 million tons or above given what you've seen in the last maybe six to nine months here?

非常好。還有一點關於鋰需求，你沒有──你沒有把上次鋰需求預測的幻燈片放出來。那麼，對於2030年，您對鋰需求的預期是否有任何變化？如果不是，那麼根據你在過去六到九個月裡看到的情況，這種偏差是否已經轉移到該範圍的上限，即 300 萬噸或以上？

Yes. So we didn't show that. I would say it hasn't really changed, but it has probably moved up a little bit within that range. If you recall, we had a pretty big range because of some of the uncertainties. And then I think the both -- on both the EV and on fixed storage, it's probably more demand. I think it is a demand story, and that's higher than we were thinking about at the beginning of the year. So it's been a positive surprise. The range stays the same. It's well within that range, but I would say it has moved up a little bit.

是的。所以我們沒有播出那部分內容。我認為它並沒有真正改變，但可能在這個範圍內略微上升了一些。如果你還記得的話，由於一些不確定因素，我們的估計範圍相當大。我認為無論是電動車還是固定儲能，需求可能都會增加。我認為這是一個需求驅動的故事，而且需求比我們年初預想的要高。所以這算是個驚喜。範圍不變。它完全在這個範圍內，但我認為它已經略微上調了一些。

Josh Spector, UBS.

瑞銀集團的 Josh Spector。

It's Chris Perrella on for Josh. As I think about the ramp of the extra train and Greenbushes and your production in La Negra, how much could your resource production be up in 2026 with just the scheduling of those ramps?

克里斯·佩雷拉代替喬許上場。當我考慮額外列車的坡道、格林布什以及你們在拉內格拉的生產時，僅僅通過安排這些坡道，你們的資源產量在 2026 年能提高多少？

And then also, do you have a first right of refusal on Wodgina? And are you guys discussing the future of that asset and the ownership with your partner down there?

另外，您對 Wodgina 有優先購買權嗎？你們是否正在與那邊的合作夥伴討論該資產的未來以及所有權問題？

Okay. So first, I guess, on the asset. So La Negra is pretty much ramped at capacity today. We have some marginal improvement. We can do that as a result of Salar Yield and as that works its way through the process in the Salar. So we'll see better feedstock at La Negra, and that will give us a little more capacity, but it's incremental compared to the overall ramp that we've been through the last couple of years.

好的。首先，我想，我們先來談談資產方面。所以，La Negra 目前幾乎已經滿載運轉了。我們取得了一些微小的進步。我們可以透過鹽湖收益來實現這一點，隨著鹽湖的運作，收益會逐漸顯現。因此，拉內格拉工廠的原料會更好，這將為我們帶來更多的產能，但與我們過去幾年經歷的整體產能提升相比，這只是漸進式的。

And then CGP 3 at Talison will start up at the end of this year, and then we've got a kind of plan to ramp through next year. So it's kind of a ramp through the year. It will depend on how well we execute on that and that's how fast it comes up, but we kind of -- we tend to straight line it through the year to kind of more or less full capacity by the end of the year. And then you can do the math to see what that gets you throughout the year.

然後，位於塔利森的 CGP 3 將於今年年底啟動，之後我們制定了一個計劃，以便在明年逐步擴大規模。所以這有點像是循序漸進的過程。這取決於我們執行得如何，以及它上升的速度，但我們通常會——我們傾向於全年穩步推進，到年底基本上達到滿載運轉。然後你可以計算一下，看看這樣一年下來能為你帶來什麼。

And Wodgina. So you're asking about Wodgina. So look, I'm not going to comment on the process that's happening down there. You probably -- you can read about it in the Australian press that's doing that or what's happening there. So we talk to our partner. We're aware of what they're doing. So we'll see. We'll let -- that has to play out.

還有沃吉納。所以你是在問沃吉納（Wodgina）的事。所以，我不會對那裡正在發生的事情發表評論。你可能會——你可以在澳洲的媒體上讀到相關報道，了解那裡正在發生的事情。所以我們和伴侶談了談。我們知道他們在做什麼。我們拭目以待。我們拭目以待——事情必須順其自然。

Think another feature to bear in mind as we look to next year, Chris, is that a good part of our growth this year, as referenced in the prepared remarks, has been that we've taken a lot of inventory out of our supply chain this year, and that would largely be spot inventory in the case of energy storage that has fed growth that is onetime in nature. And so we don't get the benefit of the inventory reduction next year. So the factors that have been described are going to help to offset that. It's important to keep in mind as you think about next year.

克里斯，展望明年，我們需要考慮的另一個特點是，正如我們在準備好的發言稿中提到的，我們今年的增長很大程度上是因為我們今年從供應鏈中減少了大量庫存，就儲能而言，這主要是現貨庫存，而儲能的增長是一次性的。因此，我們明年就無法享受到庫存減少的好處了。因此，前面提到的這些因素將有助於抵消這種影響。在考慮明年的事情時，這一點很重要。

Christopher Parkinson, Wolfe Research.

克里斯托弗·帕金森，沃爾夫研究公司。

This is Harris Fein on for Chris. Just curious maybe if we could talk about the stronger volumes this quarter. How much of that was just you being opportunistic on spot sales because of price volatility? And I guess dovetailing off of the last question, how should we be thinking about the impact on volume growth next year versus the higher baseline?

這裡是哈里斯費恩替克里斯發言。我只是好奇，我們能不能聊聊本季銷售強勁的原因？其中有多少是你因為價格波動而趁機現貨銷售的機會？我想接著上一個問題，我們應該如何看待明年銷售成長受到的影響（與更高的基準線相比）？

Yes. So look, it's -- I mean there is some us being opportunistic. Eric just described that inventory reduction. So that's part of our cash management initiatives we were doing to drive that, but it did give us a little extra growth this year, and we won't have that opportunity next year because we've driven inventories down. But the market has been -- the market is strong, right? Both demand and pricing is a little stronger than it has been. So we're optimistic about that.

是的。所以你看，我的意思是，我們當中有些人是在投機取巧。艾瑞克剛才描述了庫存減少的情況。所以這是我們為推動這一目標而採取的現金管理措施的一部分，但它確實為我們今年帶來了一些額外的增長，而明年我們將沒有這樣的機會，因為我們已經降低了庫存。但是市場一直很強勁，對吧？需求和價格都比之前略有走強。所以我們對此持樂觀態度。

We're not counting on it, but we're optimistic about that. And it's been a bit of a demand story, I think, over the last quarter or maybe even a little bit longer, that it's stronger and both -- and that's both EVs as well as fixed storage. Fixed storage has been the big upside surprise this year, and it's been very strong, and we see that continuing.

我們並沒有指望它會發生，但我們對此持樂觀態度。我認為，在過去一個季度甚至更長的時間裡，需求方面一直比較強勁，電動車和固定儲能的需求都在成長。今年固定儲存市場表現最為亮眼，而且非常強勁，我們預計這種趨勢還會持續下去。

Great. And also just wanted to touch on -- there's been a lot of news flow about critical minerals support. We saw what happened with Lithium Americas. Just curious to hear what the latest you're hearing is. And in the event we start to see maybe the government engage a little bit more concretely on the localized energy storage infrastructure. Maybe just some thoughts on the scenario planning you're doing in terms of how that might shift your strategy either way.

偉大的。另外，我還想提一下──最近有很多關於關鍵礦產資源支持的新聞。我們看到了 Lithium Americas 的遭遇。只是好奇想知道你最近聽到的消息是什麼。如果政府開始更具體地參與在地化儲能基礎建設，那麼情況就不同了。或許可以就你正在進行的情境規劃提出一些想法，看看這可能會如何改變你的策略。

Right. So I would say -- look, we're very happy to see the government focused on critical minerals, the US government, but other governments around the world, we think that's important. We've been saying that for years that it's important to build out a globally diverse competitive lithium supply chain and to see governments focused on that is fantastic, not going to speculate on what could happen with the governments.

正確的。所以我想說——你看，我們非常高興地看到美國政府以及世界其他國家的政府關注關鍵礦產，我們認為這很重要。多年來我們一直強調，建立全球多元化、具競爭力的鋰供應鏈非常重要，看到各國政府關注這一點真是太好了，我不會對各國政府可能採取的行動妄加猜測。

We're talking to governments all over the world all the time, everywhere that we operate. But there won't be one solution. So it will be a mix of things that will help the market in the West get to reinvestment levels. So tax incentives, trade policy, direct investment maybe. I mean I think it will be a mix, and there'll have to be a combination of some public-private partnerships to drive this because it's a big problem, but we've been talking about it for a couple of years now, and we're happy to see governments focused on it.

我們一直都在與我們開展業務的每個地區的各國政府進行溝通。但不會只有一個解決方法。因此，多種因素共同作用將有助於西方市場達到再投資水準。所以，或許可以考慮稅收優惠、貿易政策和直接投資。我的意思是，我認為這將是一個綜合過程，需要一些公私合作來推動這項工作，因為這是一個大問題，但我們已經討論這個問題好幾年了，我們很高興看到各國政府都關注這個問題。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

勞倫斯‧亞歷山大，傑富瑞集團。

So as you look at the way policy is shifting both in Latin America and in the US. What do you see as kind of the appropriate return hurdles for you to engage in new projects as opposed to just focus on your existing assets and/or opening up Kings Mountain?

所以，當你觀察拉丁美洲和美國的政策轉變方式時，你會發現…您認為開展新專案（而不是僅僅專注於現有資產和/或開發 Kings Mountain）的合適回報門檻是什麼？

Yes. I don't think our return criteria has changed, right? We've been pretty consistent about that. The issue has been with the pricing that we see in the market, we can't get those returns, which is why you don't see us investing. So we -- and we've been focused on kind of balance sheet cash, driving cost out of the business so we can compete at that lower level. And look, our view is -- and we've said this, we don't -- we're not able to predict the lithium price, and we're not going to depend on that.

是的。我認為我們的退貨標準沒有改變，對嗎？我們在這方面一直都很堅持。問題在於市場上的價格，我們無法獲得相應的回報，這就是為什麼你看不到我們投資的原因。因此，我們一直專注於資產負債表上的現金流，降低業務成本，以便我們能夠在更低的水平上參與競爭。而且，我們的觀點是──我們也說過，我們無法預測鋰的價格，我們也不會依賴鋰的價格。

So we have to be able to compete through the bottom of the cycle, which is why you've seen us so focused on cost and cash and getting our business in a position to do that. We're getting there. We still have room to go. And if the market -- but our view is we plan for the bottom of the cycle, but stay agile so we can pivot when the market gives us that opportunity to invest.

所以我們必須能夠在經濟週期的低谷時期保持競爭力，這就是為什麼你們看到我們如此專注於成本和現金流，並使我們的業務處於能夠做到這一點的狀態。我們正在接近目標。我們還有前進的空間。如果市場——但我們的觀點是，我們為週期底部做好計劃，但保持靈活，以便在市場給我們投資機會時能夠及時調整策略。

We still have good investment opportunities. We mentioned Kings Mountain. We have very good resources that we can still leverage as we go forward. And conversion is still a possibility, but the economics aren't -- they're still not there today for Western economics or conversion -- Western conversion economics.

我們仍然有很多良好的投資機會。我們提到了國王山。我們擁有非常好的資源，在未來的發展過程中仍然可以加以利用。皈依仍然是一種可能，但經濟上卻不是——就目前而言，西方經濟或皈依的經濟模式仍然不具備條件——西方皈依的經濟模式。

And is your cost structure at the point where if prices do not improve next year, your cash flow -- you are free cash flow positive?

如果明年價格沒有改善，你的成本結構是否能保證你的現金流──也就是你的自由現金流為正？

So we're not forecasting next year yet. So we'll do that next quarter. But we're in a -- look, we've driven cost out. We -- I feel pretty good that we've built a cost-out mentality around productivity, particularly in our operations. I think we could be better at it from an overhead and back office, but we're working on that.

所以我們目前還不做明年的預測。所以我們會在下個季度做這件事。但是我們現在的情況是──你看，我們已經降低成本了。我感覺我們圍繞著生產力建立了一種降低成本的思維模式，尤其是在我們的營運方面，這感覺相當不錯。我認為我們在管理層面和後台營運方面還可以做得更好，但我們正在努力改進。

We've made good strides around that, and we'll continue to drive that. So we'll continue to drive cost and work on our cost position. Look, it's still a new market, and it's going to be volatile and dynamic, and we have to be able to ride that on to capture the upside, but work our way through the downside.

我們在這方面已經取得了長足的進步，我們將繼續推進這項工作。因此，我們將繼續控製成本，並努力改善我們的成本狀況。你看，這仍然是一個新興市場，它將充滿波動和變化，我們必須能夠順應這種變化來獲取上漲空間，同時也要努力克服下跌風險。

So I don't want to forecast -- we're not going to forecast next year today, but we're continuing to stay focused on that cost out, and that will drive the result for next year and years going forward. But I think you should think of our business as that we make sure that we can ride through the down cycles and then take advantage of the up cycles.

所以我不想做預測——我們今天不會預測明年，但我們會繼續專注於降低成本，這將影響明年以及未來幾年的表現。但我認為你應該這樣理解我們的業務：確保我們能夠度過經濟下行週期，然後抓住經濟上行週期的機會。

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

派崔克‧坎寧安，花旗集團。

Just a couple of related follow-ups to your last comments. I guess, anything else you're looking at in terms of productivity savings program into next year? And what would be the size of sort of the incremental carryover? I know you reached run rate sometime in the middle of the year.

關於您上次的評論，我還有幾點相關的後續問題。我想問一下，明年您在提高生產力、節省成本方面還有其他什麼計劃嗎？那麼，這種增量結轉的規模會有多大呢？我知道你在年中某個時候達到了平均水平。

Yeah. So Neal can talk about the run rate carryover, but we're going to -- we continue to have productivity programs, and they go across the breadth of our business. We are -- our programs around operations are the most mature, and it's not surprising given our legacy as a specialty chemical company, but we are -- that's pretty mature and we go down the range.

是的。所以尼爾可以談談運行率的延續，但我們會繼續推行生產力提升計劃，這些計劃涵蓋我們業務的各個方面。我們的營運項目是最成熟的，考慮到我們作為一家特種化學品公司的歷史，這並不奇怪，但我們的營運項目確實非常成熟，而且我們涵蓋了各個方面。

Our supply chain is a little less mature. Our back office is even less mature than that, but we're building the capability and leveraging off of the program we have in manufacturing. So you'll always see us have productivity programs and goals. Even if the market is hot and on fire, we're still going to be pushing to take cost and productivity out of the business. I think that's just going to be a feature of our business, and that should be a feature of a healthy business.

我們的供應鏈還不夠成熟。我們的後台部門甚至還不夠成熟，但我們正在建立能力，並利用我們在製造領域已有的專案。所以你總是會看到我們有各種提高生產力的計畫和目標。即使市場火爆，我們仍將努力降低業務成本並提高生產效率。我認為這將是我們業務的一個特點，而這應該是一個健康企業的一個特點。

Yeah. And Patrick, maybe the other thing I can add is just to reiterate, so we see line of sight to a $450 million run rate in cost and productivity savings this year. So obviously, we'll have to see how we finish up the year in terms of the actual savings, but you're already seeing those savings come through in our S&A line and our R&D line and so on. But obviously, some of those will continue to roll into 2026, and we'll give you an update on that with the next quarter once we finish the year.

是的。派崔克，我還可以補充一點，重申一下，我們預計今年在成本和生產力方面將節省 4.5 億美元。所以很顯然，我們得看看今年最終的實際節省金額是多少，但你已經可以在我們的銷售和管理費用、研發費用等方面看到這些節省了。但很顯然，其中一些項目將持續到 2026 年，我們將在今年結束後的下一季為您帶來最新進展。

But let me give you an example of what you can expect to hear as you get into 2026. Just a small example, though, is that we continue to ramp our facilities to full rates. That's a perfect example of the productivity measures that we're really working on.

但讓我舉個例子，說到了 2026 年你可能會聽到什麼。舉個小例子，我們一直在逐步提高設施的利用率，使其達到滿載運轉。這正是我們正在努力改進的生產力指標的完美例證。

Kent kind of highlighted that in Chile, we're almost to the kind of top end of what we could do with La Negra. Our Meishan facility in China is, I think, about a year ahead of schedule in terms of its ramp, and it's getting almost up to full rates as well. So you can expect that kind of continuing to sweat the assets as kind of a key theme in our productivity on top of any other additional cost actions that we can take as well.

肯特強調，在智利，我們幾乎已經達到了 La Negra 所能達到的最高水準。我認為，我們位於中國的眉山工廠的產能爬坡進度比原計劃提前了大約一年，也幾乎達到了滿載運轉。因此，您可以預期，除了我們可能採取的任何其他降低成本的措施之外，持續優化資產利用率仍將是我們提高生產力的關鍵主題。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe just a quick one on bromine. It seems like there's some strong demand there in areas like electronics, but maybe some offsets that have pulled performance down and have seen some normalization in prices. How have sort of the bromine supply and demand trended throughout the balance of the year? And what sort of outlook are you seeing for the fourth quarter?

知道了。那很有幫助。然後或許可以簡單來講一下溴。似乎電子產品等領域的需求很強勁，但可能有一些因素抵消了這種強勁需求，導致性能下降，價格也傾向於正常化。今年剩餘時間內溴的供需趨勢如何？那麼，您對第四季的前景有何看法？

Yes. So -- this is Eric. First, on the demand side, you're right. It's still a mixed market, reflecting probably the many of the GDP-oriented markets, growth markets that we serve. So for instance, you mentioned electronics, pharmaceutical, those have been stronger markets.

是的。這位是埃里克。首先，從需求方面來說，你是對的。市場仍然是混合型的，這可能反映了我們所服務的許多以GDP為導向的成長型市場的情況。例如，你提到了電子產品、製藥業，這些都是比較強勁的市場。

Weaker markets have been building construction and oil and gas of late, stronger earlier in the year, but with drop in the price of oil, a little weaker in the second half of the year. If you look at the supply side and the tightness or balance of supply and demand, middle of the year, we saw some tightness. You may have seen if you follow bromine -- elemental bromine prices, particularly out of China, there's an index you can follow. You've seen that price rise. It's now started to come down again as the market has become more balanced on the one hand.

近期疲軟的市場表現為建築業和石油天然氣產業，年初表現強勁，但隨著油價下跌，下半年略有疲軟。如果你觀察一下供應方面以及供需的緊張程度或平衡情況，年中時，我們看到了一些緊張的情況。如果你關注溴——特別是來自中國的元素溴價格，你可能會發現有一個指數可以追蹤。你已經看到價格上漲了。現在，隨著市場趨於平衡，價格又開始回落了。

On the other hand, we're headed in a time of year where seasonally production -- some seasonal production in India and in China that comes offline due to the winter months, and as that happens, I don't think we're going to get to a tight situation, but we'll remain fairly balanced. So we're not looking at this as being supremely oversupplied or undersupplied, therefore, dynamic from a price standpoint on elemental bromine at the moment, fairly balanced as we go into the end of the year.

另一方面，我們即將進入一年中的季節性生產時期——印度和中國的一些季節性生產會因為冬季而停產，在這種情況下，我認為我們不會面臨供應緊張的局面，而是會保持相對平衡。因此，我們並不認為目前元素溴的供應嚴重過剩或供應不足，因此，從價格角度來看，目前元素溴的價格走勢較為動態，到年底將保持相當平衡。

Rock Hoffman, Bank of America Securities.

Rock Hoffman，美國銀行證券。

I guess does the energy storage volume beat contain any pull forward? And just given the stronger near-term volume assumptions, where would you expect the contract spot mix to shift in 4Q and thereafter?

我想問，儲能體積的波動是否包含任何向前拉動的趨勢？鑑於近期交易量預期較為樂觀，您認為第四季及以後合約現貨組合會發生怎樣的變化？

Yes. So the pull forward, as you described, that's mostly inventory, right? So we had inventory that we were able to use that. The market is strong. So we're selling into a strong market. But it's not we're pulling next quarter's volume forward, but we are bringing to some degree, capacity forward by selling inventories that we had.

是的。所以，如你所描述的，提前交付主要是庫存，對嗎？所以我們有一些庫存可以利用。市場行情強勁。所以，我們是在強勁的市場環境下銷售。但我們並不是提前釋放下一季的產量，而是透過出售庫存，在某種程度上提前釋放產能。

It's also just us being leaner on cash and inventory, so us being leaner and operating around that. That's the piece. The other piece, I guess, we saw from a pull forward would be the expiration of the 30D tax credits in the US. So there was a bit of a rush for people to buy EVs in the US. It's 10% of the market. So it's not going to be dramatic overall, but that is one where demand did get pulled forward a little bit.

這也是因為我們減少了現金和庫存，所以我們精簡了運營，並圍繞這些因素進行運作。這就是那件東西。我想，我們從提前公佈的數據中看到的是，美國 30D 稅收抵免政策的到期。因此，美國出現了一股搶購電動車的熱潮。它佔市場份額的10%。所以整體上不會出現劇烈的變化，但這方面的需求確實被稍微提早了一些。

Understood. And just as a follow-up --

明白了。作為後續補充—

I'm sorry, Rock, I think you had asked about contract spot mix going forward. I just wanted to add one point, which is, look, I think Kent had mentioned in the prepared remarks that our contracts continue to perform. We don't have any major contracts that are rolling off until you get towards the end of 2026. But look, the demand has been so strong in China, in particular, where we don't sell volume on long-term contracts.

抱歉，Rock，我想你問的是未來合約廣告組合的問題。我只想補充一點，那就是，我認為肯特在準備好的發言稿中提到過，我們的合約繼續有效。直到 2026 年底之前，我們沒有任何重大合約即將到期。但你看，尤其是在中國，需求非常強勁，而我們在中國並沒有簽訂長期合約來銷售大量產品。

So if that trend continues into 2026, just based on mix alone, you can probably expect that our 45% that we're at this year will tick down just because of where the product is going and the fact that it's not going on these long-term contracts. But it's not a shift in our long-term contracts. It's really more about geographic mix of sales.

因此，如果這種趨勢持續到 2026 年，僅從產品組合來看，我們今年的 45% 的份額可能會下降，這僅僅是因為產品的發展方向以及它沒有簽訂長期合約。但這並不意味著我們的長期合約發生了改變。實際上，這更與銷售的地域組合有關。

Makes sense. Just as a quick follow-up. Any preliminary thoughts on 2026 CapEx? And I guess, more broadly, when you would need to turn on CapEx in order to incentivize any meaningful volume growth after 2026?

有道理。簡單補充一下。對2026年的資本支出有什麼初步想法嗎？更廣泛地說，我想問的是，為了在 2026 年後實現任何有意義的銷售成長，何時需要啟動資本支出？

Yes. So I think -- I mean, look, we've been -- we've worked our CapEx down, and we try to be very thoughtful about that. So we would anticipate -- unless we pivot to do some investments, I'm not thinking of right now, we will continue at that run rate or maybe a little bit lower. We'll continue to work on that to get it down.

是的。所以我覺得——我的意思是，你看，我們一直在努力降低資本支出，而且我們在這方面也盡量深思熟慮。因此，我們預計——除非我們轉向進行一些投資（我現在還沒考慮過），否則我們將繼續保持目前的營運速度，或者可能會略微降低一些。我們會繼續努力，爭取把它降下來。

We don't think we're shorting our assets with the cuts that we've made. We're just -- we're getting more efficient at it, but we're being thoughtful and careful. That's why we legged down slowly, I would say, particularly on maintenance capital.

我們認為，我們採取的這些削減措施並沒有導致我們的資產縮水。我們只是──我們在這方面效率越來越高，但我們做事也很謹慎周全。這就是為什麼我們逐步縮減開支的原因，尤其是在維護資金方面。

And so without forecasting -- not forecasting some investment that we might make as a result of the market taking off, you see us in a range where we are maybe another leg down. But the legs are incremental now, not -- we're not going to make 50% reductions within -- that's not in the cards, there maybe 10%, something like that.

因此，如果不進行預測——不預測市場上漲後我們可能會進行的一些投資——你會看到我們處於一個區間，我們可能會再下跌一波。但現在這些措施是逐步進行的，而不是——我們不會一次減少 50%——這不可能，也許會減少 10%，差不多是這樣。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

Arun Viswanathan，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

I guess I'm just curious to get your thoughts on spodumene and the impact on pricing. So it looks like prices are for both carbonate and hydroxide are kind of settling out at marginal cost levels. Would you agree with that? And would it take spodumene maybe to go up to $1,200 or $1,500 to see some more robust activity in lithium salt pricing?

我只是好奇想聽聽您對鋰輝石及其對價格影響的看法。所以看來碳酸鹽和氫氧化物的價格都逐漸穩定在了邊際成本水準。你同意嗎？鋰輝石價格或許要漲到 1,200 美元或 1,500 美元，才能促使鋰鹽價格出現更強的波動？

And if so, what would drive that? Spodumene, do you feel that supply/demand is balanced or tight or loose? Or maybe you can just comment on that relationship.

如果真是如此，是什麼原因導致這種情況發生？鋰輝石，您認為其供需是平衡、緊張還是寬鬆？或者你也可以對這段關係發表一些評論。

Right. So we commented on it just a little bit earlier, but I think you're probably right. So conversion right now is at basically marginal cost of conversion and in China. And then when you see price move, most of the value and the price movement, the conversion stays at that cost, that marginal cost and it moves to the resource, the margin moves to the resource. So that's kind of what we've seen, I guess, for at least a year now.

正確的。我們之前稍微討論過這個問題，但我認為你說的可能是對的。所以，目前中國的轉換成本基本上就是邊際轉換成本。然後，當你看到價格變動時，大部分價值和價格變動，轉換率保持在那個成本，那個邊際成本，並且轉移到資源，利潤轉移到資源。所以，我想，至少在過去一年裡，我們看到的基本上就是這種情況。

Most of the value moves to the resource because you have overcapacity for conversion in China primarily. It's a little bit different when you start talking outside of China, but the majority of the market is in China. And -- but the market is getting a little tight. And I think that's why you see prices move up.

大部分價值都轉移到了資源上，因為你們在中國的轉化能力過剩。如果談到中國以外的市場，情況會略有不同，但大部分市場仍在中國。但是——市場供應有點緊張。我認為這就是價格上漲的原因。

It's probably a bit more as a demand story, but supply has not kept up. Demand is stronger than we thought and supply growth is less than we thought, and that's tightening it. Inventories are coming down in both salts and in spodumene in the system throughout the system. So I think it's a demand story. I guess maybe it's both because supply has not been as strong as we were originally thinking and demand has been stronger. So the market is tightening. So it's a supply-demand piece, but all the value at the moment does move to spodumene.

這可能更多是需求方面的問題，但供應卻沒有跟上。需求比我們預想的要強勁，而供應成長卻低於預期，這導致供應趨緊。整個系統中鹽和鋰輝石的庫存都在下降。所以我認為這是需求驅動的故事。我想可能是兩者兼而有之，因為供應沒有我們最初預想的那麼強勁，而需求卻更強勁。所以市場正在收緊。所以這是一個供需問題，但目前所有的價值都流向了鋰輝石。

Great. And then could you also comment on your potential commercialization in the energy storage market? What are you seeing there? And what do you kind of expect over the next few years from a demand standpoint?

偉大的。那麼，您能否也談談貴公司在儲能市場的商業化潛力？你在那裡看到了什麼？那麼從需求角度來看，您對未來幾年的市場前景有何預期？

Well, it's the same supply chain and value chain as it is for batteries for EVs for the most part. I mean there are people specializing in that and the core technology, it's pretty much the same thing. And from our standpoint, it's about the same. We sell the same material and just which value chain it goes to. Many cases -- most cases, it's the same customer that's playing in both energy storage and the electric vehicle market.

嗯，它的供應鏈和價值鏈在很大程度上與電動車電池的供應鏈和價值鏈相同。我的意思是，有人專門研究這個，而核心技術其實差不多。從我們的角度來看，情況也差不多。我們銷售的是同樣的材料，差別只在於它流向了不同的價值鏈。很多情況下－大多數情況下，都是同一個客戶同時參與儲能市場和電動車市場。

But the growth has been very strong. A lot of that is grid stability. Well, it's about renewables and storage to go with it in Europe and China to some degree. But it's also about grid stability and data centers, you could say, artificial intelligence, but that system is what's driving it, particularly in North America. So it's a pretty dynamic market.

但成長勢頭非常強勁。這很大程度與電網穩定性有關。嗯，這主要關乎歐洲和中國（在某種程度上）的再生能源和儲能技術。但這同時也關乎電網穩定性、資料中心、人工智慧，但正是這個系統在推動這一切，尤其是在北美。所以這是一個相當活躍的市場。

You always get the question or you think about it, is lithium-ion technology the right technology for that? I mean it's what's available today at scale. Supply chain has been built out, and it still has a significant cost advantage over other technology like sodium ion. So they don't have scale at sodium-ion yet, and the cost is still significantly higher. So I think in the near term, it's going to be mostly LFP technology. Long term, you probably see sodium coming into the mix. But I think we're kind of forecasting about 80% of that stays with lithium-ion technology.

你總是會被問到或思考這個問題：鋰離子技術是否是解決此問題的合適技術？我的意思是，這是目前能夠大規模應用的技術。供應鏈已經建成，而且與鈉離子等其他技術相比，它仍然具有顯著的成本優勢。所以他們在鈉離子電池領域還沒有達到規模化生產，而且成本仍然高得多。所以我認為在短期內，主要還是會採用磷酸鋰電池技術。從長遠來看，你可能會發現鈉也參與其中。但我認為我們預測其中約 80% 的市佔率仍將由鋰離子技術佔據。

Joel Jackson, BMO Capital Markets.

Joel Jackson，BMO資本市場。

Kent, you talked about for a while and today about really being able to ride out the cycle here. What do you think Albemarle is going forward? If you're not really doing any growth beyond CGP3 and some conversion in China and you're looking at taking CapEx maybe down a level, economics don't justify new builds or new capacity. What is in this growing, rising sector, EV and ESS, what will Albemarle be? Are you worried about not growing proportionately with the industry?

肯特，你之前談過一段時間，今天也談到要真正撐過這個週期。你認為阿爾伯馬爾未來會如何發展？如果你除了 CGP3 和在中國進行一些轉換之外，沒有其他任何成長，而且你正在考慮降低資本支出，那麼從經濟角度來看，新建或新增產能是不合理的。在電動車和儲能係統這個蓬勃發展的行業中，Albemarle 將扮演怎樣的角色？你是否擔心自身發展速度無法與產業發展速度同步？

Yes. So look, a lot of the work that we're doing is to preserve that growth optionality as we go forward, but we need to see good business cases in order to do it. So my view is we're being disciplined. Look, we probably are risking some of the upside by being -- taking the approach that we have, but we are making sure we can go through the bottom of the cycle and then take advantage of that uptick.

是的。所以你看，我們所做的工作很多都是為了在未來保持這種成長選擇權，但我們需要看到良好的商業案例才能做到這一點。所以我認為我們受到了紀律處分。你看，我們採取這種做法可能會讓我們失去一些上漲的機會，但我們正在確保能夠度過週期的底部，然後利用隨後的上漲行情。

So we will capture growth. We have opportunities. We think resource is the key to that, and we have some of the best resources on the planet. So it is about optionality, and we're having -- and we have to manage our balance sheet and the market opportunity out there, and we don't want to get caught flat-footed. But I think we're -- what we're trying to build is a business that is agile, and we'll be able to pivot to do those investment projects when we see the right economics.

因此我們將抓住成長機會。我們擁有機會。我們認為資源是關鍵，而我們擁有地球上最好的資源。所以關鍵在於選擇權，我們必須管理好資產負債表和市場機會，我們不想措手不及。但我認為我們正在努力打造的是一家靈活的企業，當經濟效益合適時，我們將能夠快速調整方向，進行這些投資項目。

Okay. And then my second question is maybe a little strange. But I mean, we've seen a lot of good data out from a lot of different industry sources about the acceleration in growth rates in ESS. Can you talk about on the ground what you're actually seeing? Is the hype real? Is it being exaggerated? How much tangible evidence do you have of accelerating growth rates in ESS you can share?

好的。我的第二個問題可能有點奇怪。但我的意思是，我們已經從許多不同的行業來源看到了許多關於 ESS 成長率加速的良好數據。你能談談你在現場實際看到的情況嗎？炒作是真的嗎？是否言過其實？您能分享多少關於ESS成長率加速的實質證據？

Well, Eric can comment on that, but I think the most tangible is the volumes that we see going into it. I mean that is not -- I mean they are shipping and going into battery. So that's not forecast. That's legitimate. That's real. And so I think that -- I mean that market is there. Eric, you can comment on more specifics.

嗯，艾瑞克可以對此發表評論，但我認為最切實可見的是我們看到的投入量。我的意思是，那不是——我的意思是，他們正在發貨，並且正在生產電池。所以這不是預測。這是合理的。這是真的。所以我認為——我的意思是，這個市場是存在的。艾瑞克，你可以補充一些細節。

Yes. It's akin Joel to the last question that came up around where -- what's going on in this market? Is it a different channel? It's not. It's the same big battery names that are in the EV space. And I guess there are a couple of things we see, certainly in China, which is the largest market and where -- and really the home of LFP technology, we're seeing a lot of -- in all of our discussions with both cathode, particularly LFP cathode and battery producers in China, those cell lines are at full utilization now to meet the demand, both domestically in China and abroad.

是的。這與喬爾上次提出的問題類似──這個市場到底發生了什麼事？這是另一個頻道嗎？它不是。這些都是電動車領域的大型電池公司。我想我們看到了一些現象，尤其是在中國，中國是最大的市場，也是磷酸鐵鋰電池技術的發源地。在我們與中國正極材料（特別是磷酸鐵鋰電池正極材料）和電池生產商的所有討論中，我們看到這些電池生產線目前都在滿載運轉，以滿足中國國內和國外的需求。

The interesting thing about the grid storage market is it looks a little different from a global perspective than the EV market, meaning it's not all just about Europe, China and the US, it's the rest of the world and the grid demand, grid stability, renewable power are important, whereas in North America, of course, the big driver is more about AI data centers.

電網儲能市場的有趣之處在於，從全球視角來看，它與電動車市場略有不同，這意味著它不僅僅關乎歐洲、中國和美國，還關乎世界其他地區，電網需求、電網穩定性、再生能源都很重要，而北美地區的主要驅動力當然是人工智慧資料中心。

And even now pivoting to the US, we have a great number of battery partners -- partner with OEMs here in the US who are taking those same facilities and looking to retrofit them to make ESS technology, whether that's moving to a lower nickel technology or to an LFP technology.

即使現在轉向美國市場，我們也有很多電池合作夥伴——與美國的原始設備製造商合作，他們正在利用同樣的設施進行改造，以生產儲能係統技術，無論是轉向低鎳技術還是磷酸鐵鋰電池技術。

And then finally, we're seeing a big uptick, and this is both an EV driver and an ESS driver amongst all cathode produced, certainly in China, I referenced, but now outside of China, the Koreans, the Japanese, they're all aggressively pursuing their own LFP in-house technology programs. And it's both EVs, but probably more importantly of late, that's ticked up because of ESS. So those are -- that's a little bit of an on-the-ground commentary of what's driving this enthusiasm for the space.

最後，我們看到了大幅成長，這既是電動車的驅動因素，也是儲能係統的驅動因素，在所有陰極材料的生產中都是如此，當然，正如我所提到的，在中國，但現在在中國以外，韓國人、日本人，他們都在積極推進自己的磷酸鐵鋰電池自主技術計畫。而且兩者都是電動車，但最近更重要的是，由於ESS（歐洲電動車聯盟）的推動，電動車的銷量有所上升。所以，這些——這算是對推動人們對這個領域充滿熱情的原因的一種實地評論。

Abigail Eberts, Wells Fargo.

阿比蓋爾·埃伯茨，富國銀行。

I understand you're not guiding to 2026, obviously, but I was just wondering about your expectations for underlying EV demand as we look to next year.

我知道您顯然不是在預測 2026 年的情況，但我只是想了解一下您對明年電動車潛在需求的預期。

Eric, do you want to --

艾瑞克，你想…--

You said -- we were curious about underlying EV demand for next year. I think --

您說—我們很想了解明年電動車的潛在需求。我認為--

Yes.

是的。

We continue to have -- go ahead, sorry. Okay. This is part and parcel of the long-term forecast. We did not put in the slide deck we have in prior decks. It's a growth in the market we see of 2.5 times between now and 2030 of the total market consumption for lithium. And while we spent in the last question, a lot of time talking about AI data centers and grid storage demand, that's about 25% of demand. The well over close to 70% of demand in the space or more is for lithium is driven by EVs.

我們仍然有——請繼續，抱歉。好的。這是長期預測不可或缺的一部分。我們沒有把之前投影片裡用的那套幻燈片放進去。我們預計，到 2030 年，鋰市場總消費量將成長 2.5 倍。雖然我們在上一個問題中花了很多時間討論人工智慧資料中心和電網儲能需求，但這只佔總需求的 25% 左右。該領域超過 70% 甚至更多的鋰需求是由電動車驅動的。

We -- China continues to be strong. The interest thing about China is that it is now over 50%. It is well below the tipping point from a cost standpoint. So the pack costs are well below $100, in some cases, half that level. And so that's producing a car that's now more competitive than an internal combustion engine with an incredible amount of vehicle choice to consumers there and healthy demand for both battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

我們——中國依然強大。有趣的是，中國現在佔比超過 50%。從成本角度來看，它遠低於臨界點。因此，這些套裝的價格遠低於 100 美元，在某些情況下，甚至只有 100 美元的一半。因此，現在生產的汽車比內燃機汽車更具競爭力，為消費者提供了大量的汽車選擇，並且對純電動車和插電式混合動力汽車都有良好的需求。

Now as that market gets bigger, the percent growth rate obviously gets smaller because it's just the law of large numbers, if you will. The growth is still -- the penetration we still expect to continue. We're encouraged most recently and expect a continuance into next year in Europe. Europe has -- there's a lot of discussion about the long-range emission targets, and we have to just remain vigilant as to what the policy decision there is.

現在，隨著市場規模的擴大，成長率自然會降低，因為這就是大數定律。成長動能依然強勁——我們預期滲透率仍將持續維持成長。我們最近受到了鼓舞，並預計明年歐洲的這種勢頭將持續下去。歐洲有很多關於長期排放目標的討論，我們必須密切注意那裡的政策決定。

In the short term, there's been a commitment to the next step in that CO2 reduction across the fleet on average. And while some benefit was given to go slower this year, they still have to hit an average three-year target, which means they're going to have to go faster from a supply side to produce such vehicles in the coming years.

短期內，公司已承諾在船隊平均二氧化碳減排方面邁出下一步。雖然今年放慢速度帶來了一些好處，但他們仍然需要達到三年平均目標，這意味著在未來幾年，他們必須從供應方面加快速度來生產此類車輛。

Probably our most -- not questionable, but difficult to predict market for EVs would be the US. All of those technology trends that I described should be favorable to cost and adoption. Even here in the US., we're at that tipping point on pack costs.

或許我們最——毋庸置疑，但難以預測——的電動車市場是美國。我所描述的所有這些技術趨勢都應該有利於降低成本並促進普及。即使在美國，我們也正處於背包價格的臨界點。

However, policy and other things are -- may not be supportive of that. So we just have to wait and see. However, that is the smallest of the three major markets. It's only about 10% of the lithium or lithium demand or not saying that rate of EVs are in the US. So that outlook we see flowing into next year as well.

然而，政策和其他因素可能並不支持這一點。所以我們只能拭目以待了。然而，它是三大主要市場中最小的。這僅佔鋰或鋰需求的10%左右，或者說，這只是美國電動車普及率的10%。因此，我們預期這種趨勢也將延續到明年。

David Deckelbaum, TD Cowen.

David Deckelbaum，TD Cowen。

I did want to follow up and maybe with Neal, just post Eurecat and Ketjen partial monetization, obviously, a significant amount of capital coming in. One, I'm trying to think about how much capital you'd be saving on the CapEx side, '26 just from divesting those assets. But more importantly, once the proceeds come in, in the first half of '26, I think you've talked about it increasing your ability to delever. What do you see doing with those proceeds near term? Or has this just become a cash hoard to opportunistically look at the balance sheet?

我確實想跟進一下，也許可以和 Neal 聊聊，就在 Eurecat 和 Ketjen 部分變現之後，顯然會有大量的資金流入。第一，我正在思考，僅僅透過剝離這些資產，您在 2026 年的資本支出方面可以節省多少資金。但更重要的是，一旦收益在 2026 年上半年到賬，我想您已經說過這​​將提高您降低槓桿的能力。您打算近期如何使用這些收益？或者，這只是一筆現金儲備，目的是為了伺機查看資產負債表？

David. So let me -- if I hit all your questions here. I think in terms of -- I think you were asking what is the CapEx from Ketjen. I think on a going-forward basis, you should think about roughly 10% of our CapEx is related to Ketjen, and that will be what would potentially come off as we get into next year. Now we obviously have to see when the transaction will close. So there might be a little bit of Ketjen CapEx in our numbers next year, but maybe just for the first half of the year.

大衛。那麼，就讓我來解答一下你們所有的問題吧。我認為就此而言——我想你是在問Ketjen的資本支出是多少。我認為，從長遠來看，你應該考慮到我們大約 10% 的資本支出與 Ketjen 有關，而這部分支出可能會在明年減少。現在我們顯然需要看看這筆交易何時完成。因此，明年我們的財務數據中可能會出現一些 Ketjen 資本支出，但可能僅限於上半年。

This year, Ketjen's CapEx admittedly was a little bit higher than that. That was mainly because Ketjen was finishing its own growth investment called ZSM-5. That project is done, but we did have a little bit higher CapEx through the year related to Ketjen.

今年，Ketjen 的資本支出確實比這略高一些。這主要是因為 Ketjen 正在完成其名為 ZSM-5 的自身成長投資項目。那個專案已經完成了，但是我們今年與 Ketjen 相關的資本支出略高一些。

In terms of -- I think the second part of your question is sort of what are we going to do with that cash? Look, I think we have always said that delevering is one of our top priorities as a company, and we're at that point now. We obviously have enough cash on hand to take out or repay the debt that's coming due here in a few weeks. That will happen in the normal course.

至於──我認為你問題的第二部分是，我們打算如何處理這筆錢？你看，我認為我們一直都說，去槓桿化是我們公司的首要任務之一，而我們現在已經達到了這個目標。我們顯然手頭上有足夠的現金來償還幾週後到期的債務。這將會按正常程序發生。

And I think what you can expect is that once we have line of sight to getting to the proceeds around Ketjen, look, I think that's when we'll get a lot more serious about acting with that cash. We're not going to necessarily let it sit on the balance sheet for too long. And we have some thoughts around how we want to do that with regards to delevering as well as the other capital priorities that we have on our slide in the deck.

我認為你可以期待的是，一旦我們能夠獲得 Ketjen 的收益，我認為那時我們就會更加認真地對待這筆錢的使用。我們未必會讓這筆款項在資產負債表上停留太久。對於如何實現去槓桿化以及我們在簡報幻燈片中列出的其他資本優先事項，我們有一些想法。

So I can't give you any more specifics around timing, but obviously, we're developing our plans now.

所以我無法提供更多關於時間安排的具體細節，但很顯然，我們現在正在製定計劃。

Appreciate that. And maybe just a second one for Neal or Kent. Obviously, super commendable job this year, just getting the free cash neutrality. I know part of the benefit was -- or you did have some help from a customer prepayment, but albeit at the bottom of a pricing cycle here.

謝謝。或許還可以再買一個給尼爾或肯特。顯然，今年的工作非常值得稱讚，光是實現了自由現金流中性就足以證明這一點。我知道部分好處是——或者說你確實從客戶預付款中得到了一些幫助，但即便如此，這也是當前定價週期中的最低點。

As we go into '26, I know a lot of people have asked about the free cash outlook. But I guess in isolation, one tailwind that I am curious on is just the outlook for dividends from Talison, which I guess, as I think about CGP 3 completing and coming online, should that be a credible tailwind going into '26 in your view?

進入 2026 年，我知道很多人都在問自由現金流前景。但就我個人而言，我比較感興趣的一個利好因素是 Talison 的股利前景。考慮到 CGP 3 專案即將完工並投入運營，您認為這是否會成為 2026 年一個可靠的利好因素？

Yes, David, I can start on that. So we kind of covered that a little bit earlier in the Q&A, just to go back to that is that CGP 3 is basically in the tail end of the investment part of things, and it will start to ramp as we go through 2026. But you should think about kind of the majority of 2026 really being the ramp period for that facility.

是的，大衛，我可以開始著手做了。我們在先前的問答環節中已經稍微提到過這一點，再回顧一下，CGP 3 基本上處於投資部分的尾聲，並將於 2026 年開始加速成長。但你應該考慮到 2026 年的大部分時間實際上是該設施的產能爬坡期。

So two big things, I think, that the Talison dividends will be dependent on is, obviously, number one, how well or quickly that unit ramps up, and we're working with the JV right now to understand what that's going to look like as they tip over into start-up. But then the other part, of course, is pricing.

所以我認為，Talison 的分紅將取決於兩件大事，顯然，第一，該部門的產能提升速度和效果如何，我們目前正在與合資企業合作，了解他們進入初創階段後的情況。當然，另一部分就是定價了。

And so it's a little early for me. We never do try to call pricing. It's early for me to call pricing for spodumene across the balance of 2026. We're also working with the JV also through their budgeting to understand the levers that the JV has as well. All the partners are very interested in dividends out of the JV, especially as we get through this investment phase.

對我來說現在還有點早。我們從不打電話詢問價格。現在預測 2026 年剩餘時間內鋰輝石的價格還為時過早。我們也透過合資企業的預算來了解合資企業可以利用的各種手段。所有合夥人都非常希望從合資企業中獲得分紅，尤其是在我們度過這個投資階段之後。

Thank you. That is all the time we have for questions. I will now pass it back to Kent Masters for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們提問時間到此結束。現在我將把發言權交還給肯特·馬斯特斯，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, operator. In closing, I want to thank you all for your continued support and trust in Albemarle. Our strong results this quarter, enhanced outlook for 2025, and ongoing focus on operational excellence position us well for the future.

謝謝接線生。最後，我要感謝大家一直以來對阿爾伯馬爾的支持與信任。本季強勁的業績、對 2025 年更樂觀的展望以及對卓越營運的持續關注，使我們為未來做好了充分準備。

With our world-class resources, leading process chemistry, and commitment to customer success, we're confident in our ability to create lasting value for our shareholders and seize opportunities ahead. We appreciate your partnership and look forward to connecting at our upcoming events. Stay safe, and thank you.

憑藉世界一流的資源、領先的工藝化學技術以及對客戶成功的承諾，我們有信心為股東創造持久價值，並抓住未來的機會。我們感謝您的合作，並期待在即將舉行的活動中與您再次相聚。注意安全，謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。