Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO) 2017 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Pacific Ethanol First Quarter 2017 Financial Results Conference Call.

女士們，先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加太平洋乙醇公司 2017 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

（操作員說明）作為提醒，此通話正在錄音中。

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Becky Herrick, LHA.

我現在想介紹一下今天會議的主持人 Becky Herrick，LHA。

Please go ahead, ma'am.

請繼續，女士。

Thank you, Christy.

謝謝你，克里斯蒂。

And thank you all for joining us today for the Pacific Ethanol First Quarter 2017 Results Conference Call.

感謝大家今天參加太平洋乙醇公司 2017 年第一季度業績電話會議。

On the call today are Neil Koehler, President and CEO; and Bryon McGregor, CFO.

今天的電話會議是總裁兼首席執行官 Neil Koehler；和首席財務官布賴恩·麥格雷戈。

Neil will begin with a review of business highlights.

尼爾將首先回顧業務亮點。

Bryon will provide a summary of the financial and operating results, and then Neil will return to discuss Pacific Ethanol's outlook and open the call for questions.

Bryon 將提供財務和運營結果摘要，然後 Neil 將返回討論 Pacific Ethanol 的前景並開始提問。

Pacific Ethanol issued a press release yesterday providing details of the company's quarterly results.

Pacific Ethanol 昨天發布了一份新聞稿，提供了公司季度業績的詳細信息。

The company also prepared a presentation for today's call that's available on the company's website at pacificethanol.com.

該公司還為今天的電話會議準備了一份演示文稿，該演示文稿可在公司網站 pacificethanol.com 上找到。

If you have any questions, please call LHA at (415) 433-3777.

如果您有任何問題，請致電 (415) 433-3777 聯繫 LHA。

A telephone replay of today's call will be available through May 17, the details of which are included in yesterday's press release.

今天電話的重播將持續到 5 月 17 日，詳細信息包含在昨天的新聞稿中。

A webcast replay will also be available at Pacific Ethanol's website.

Pacific Ethanol 的網站也將提供網絡重播。

Please note that information in this call speaks only as of today, May 10, and therefore, you're advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay.

請注意，本次電話會議中的信息僅在今天 5 月 10 日發布，因此，請注意，在任何重播時，時間敏感信息可能不再準確。

Please refer to the company's safe harbor statement on Slide 2 of the presentation available online, which states that some of the comments in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements and considerations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.

請參閱公司在網上提供的演示文稿幻燈片 2 上的安全港聲明，其中指出本演示文稿中的一些評論構成涉及許多風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述和考慮因素。

The actual future results of Pacific Ethanol could differ materially from those statements.

Pacific Ethanol 的實際未來結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。

Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, events, risks and other factors previously and from time to time disclosed in Pacific Ethanol's filings with the SEC.

可能導致或促成此類差異的因素包括但不限於以前和不時在 Pacific Ethanol 向 SEC 提交的文件中披露的事件、風險和其他因素。

Except as required by applicable laws, the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

除適用法律要求外，公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

In management's prepared remarks, non-GAAP measures will be referenced.

在管理層準備好的評論中，將引用非公認會計原則措施。

Management uses these non-GAAP measures to monitor the financial performance of operations and believes these measures will assist investors in assessing the company's performance for the period being reported.

管理層使用這些非公認會計原則措施來監控運營的財務業績，並相信這些措施將幫助投資者評估公司在報告期間的業績。

The company defines adjusted EBITDA as unaudited net income or loss attributed to Pacific Ethanol before interest expense, benefit for taxes -- excuse me, benefit for income taxes, asset impairments, purchase accounting adjustments, fair value adjustments and depreciation and amortization expense.

該公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為在利息費用、稅項收益、所得稅收益、資產減值、採購會計調整、公允價值調整以及折舊和攤銷費用之前歸屬於太平洋乙醇的未經審計的淨收入或損失。

To support the company's review of non-GAAP information later in this call, a reconciling table was included in yesterday's press release.

為了支持公司稍後在本次電話會議中對非公認會計原則信息的審查，昨天的新聞稿中包含了一個核對錶。

And it's now my pleasure to introduce Neil Koehler, President and CEO.

現在我很高興介紹總裁兼首席執行官 Neil Koehler。

Neil?

尼爾？

Thank you, Becky.

謝謝你，貝基。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。

For the first quarter of 2017, we reported net sales of $386 million, up 13% from the same period in the previous year, and 226 million total ethanol gallons sold, up 9% from the same period last year.

2017 年第一季度，我們報告淨銷售額為 3.86 億美元，同比增長 13%，乙醇總銷量為 2.26 億加侖，同比增長 9%。

We also reported a GAAP net loss of $12.9 million and an adjusted EBITDA of a negative $1.9 million.

我們還報告了 GAAP 淨虧損 1290 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為負 190 萬美元。

The first quarter was negatively impacted by several factors.

一季度受到多種因素的負面影響。

The first quarter results reflect seasonally weaker production margins due to lower transportation fuel demand and high industry-wide ethanol inventories.

第一季度業績反映了由於運輸燃料需求下降和全行業乙醇庫存高企導致的季節性生產利潤率下降。

In addition, while ethanol production margins improved slightly year-over-year, falling ethanol prices in the first quarter this year significantly reduced gross profit in our ethanol marketing business by approximately $3.8 million.

此外，雖然乙醇生產利潤率同比略有改善，但今年第一季度乙醇價格下跌使我們乙醇營銷業務的毛利潤大幅減少約 380 萬美元。

It is worth noting, while we can see some volatility in our marketing business on a quarterly basis, the business consistently delivers strong results on an annual basis.

值得注意的是，雖然我們可以看到我們的營銷業務每季度出現一些波動，但該業務每年都取得了強勁的業績。

More specific to our plants, local weather conditions affected transportation costs and production at some of our facilities, and we took our Pekin, Illinois wet mill facility off-line for 1 week for scheduled maintenance and repairs.

具體到我們的工廠，當地天氣條件影響了我們一些設施的運輸成本和生產，我們讓位於伊利諾伊州北京的濕磨設施離線 1 週以進行定期維護和維修。

While this reduced production and significantly increased maintenance costs during the quarter, to the tune of approximately $4 million, we intentionally scheduled the shutdown to position the plant for maximum production during higher-margin periods.

雖然這在本季度減少了產量並顯著增加了維護成本，約為 400 萬美元，但我們有意安排停工，以使工廠在利潤率較高的時期實現最大產量。

As projected, it is translating into the wet mill's improved operating performance to date in the second quarter.

正如預期的那樣，這將轉化為濕磨機在第二季度迄今為止的運營業績改善。

So far in the second quarter, we have seen an improvement in margins with stronger seasonal demand and a record pace of exports, although with continued volatility and daily margin movement.

到目前為止，在第二季度，我們看到利潤率有所改善，季節性需求增強，出口速度創歷史新高，儘管持續波動和每日利潤率變動。

Regardless of the changing margin environment, we continue to focus on leveraging our unique and differentiated position in the industry.

無論利潤率環境如何變化，我們都將繼續專注於利用我們在行業中的獨特和差異化地位。

With production in both the West and Midwest and sales of products both domestically and internationally, we spread commodity and basis risks across diverse markets.

隨著西部和中西部的生產以及國內和國際的產品銷售，我們將商品和基礎風險分散到不同的市場。

In addition, our portfolio of high-value coproducts continues to provide strong returns for the company.

此外，我們的高價值副產品組合繼續為公司提供強勁的回報。

We benefit both from our corn oil production and our Pekin wet mill coproducts, which include corn, gluten meal, germ and gluten feed.

我們受益於我們的玉米油生產和我們的北京濕磨副產品，其中包括玉米、麵筋粉、胚芽和麵筋飼料。

Our yeast plant in Pekin is producing at strong rates with a solid book of forward business.

我們在北京的酵母工廠正在以強勁的速度生產，並擁有可靠的遠期業務。

Distillers grain markets are generally soft due to high supply and reduced exports.

由於供應量大和出口減少，酒糟市場普遍疲軟。

However, some of our wet distillers grain markets are benefiting from local demand, which improves pricing and demonstrates the value of our regionally diverse assets.

然而，我們的一些濕酒糟市場正受益於當地需求，這提高了定價並展示了我們區域多元化資產的價值。

We are continuing our long-term strategy of implementing initiatives, projects and programs to increase operating efficiencies, enhance yields, improve our carbon scores and reduce operating costs.

我們正在繼續我們實施倡議、項目和計劃的長期戰略，以提高運營效率、提高產量、提高我們的碳得分並降低運營成本。

Our cogeneration installation at our Stockton facility is in the late stages of interconnection and synchronization setup with our local utility provider, and we are in start-up mode of the system.

我們在斯托克頓工廠的熱電聯產裝置處於與當地公用事業供應商互連和同步設置的後期階段，我們正處於系統啟動模式。

The cogeneration system will deliver steam and electricity into the plant while lowering emissions.

熱電聯產系統將向工廠輸送蒸汽和電力，同時降低排放。

And we anticipate that it will reduce our annual energy costs by up to $4 million.

我們預計它將使我們的年度能源成本降低多達 400 萬美元。

The synchronization and start-up have been slower than expected, and we currently expect to be at 50% capacity by the end of the second quarter and at full capacity by the end of the third quarter.

同步和啟動速度慢於預期，我們目前預計到第二季度末將達到 50% 的產能，到第三季度末達到滿負荷。

At our Madera facility, we have been operating the Whitefox industrial scale membrane system at commercial levels since the start of the year.

在我們的馬德拉工廠，自今年年初以來，我們一直在商業水平上運行 Whitefox 工業規模的膜系統。

The system has been performing well and meeting our expectations.

該系統一直運行良好，符合我們的期望。

By separating water from ethanol in the plant's dehydration process, the membrane system is lowering our energy consumption, increasing our production efficiencies and reducing the carbon intensity of our ethanol production.

通過在工廠的脫水過程中將水與乙醇分離，膜系統降低了我們的能源消耗，提高了我們的生產效率並降低了我們乙醇生產的碳強度。

Also at Madera, work continues toward the installation of a 5-megawatt solar power system, which is expected to reduce our utility costs by approximately $1 million annually and lower our carbon score.

同樣在馬德拉，安裝 5 兆瓦太陽能發電系統的工作仍在繼續，預計這將使我們的公用事業成本每年減少約 100 萬美元，並降低我們的碳分數。

We're working through local utility interconnections, and our goal remains to start full-scale operation in early 2018.

我們正在通過本地公用事業互連工作，我們的目標仍然是在 2018 年初開始全面運營。

We are on track to be in commercial production of cellulosic ethanol at Madera in the second half of this year.

我們有望在今年下半年在馬德拉進行纖維素乙醇的商業化生產。

Utilizing Edeniq's Pathway and Cellunator Technologies, we expect to produce up to 1 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually at this facility with a contribution of over $2 million per year to our bottom line.

利用 Edeniq 的 Pathway 和 Cellunator 技術，我們預計該設施每年可生產多達 100 萬加侖的纖維素乙醇，每年為我們的底線貢獻超過 200 萬美元。

We expect EPA approval on this production around the time commercial operations commence.

我們預計 EPA 將在商業運營開始時批准該生產。

At our Stockton facility, we are producing cellulosic ethanol and generating high-value D3 RINS, the financial benefits of which we expect beginning this quarter.

在我們的斯托克頓工廠，我們正在生產纖維素乙醇並生產高價值的 D3 RINS，我們預計將從本季度開始獲得財務收益。

We remain on track to produce over 1 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually.

我們仍有望每年生產超過 100 萬加侖的纖維素乙醇。

We continue to focus on fine-tuning this technology to maximize yields and production efficiencies.

我們將繼續專注於微調這項技術，以最大限度地提高產量和生產效率。

We're also working with the California Air Resources Board to qualify our cellulosic production at both our Stockton and Madera facilities for additional carbon credits under California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

我們還與加州空氣資源委員會合作，使我們在斯托克頓和馬德拉工廠的纖維素生產符合加州低碳燃料標準下的額外碳信用額。

Exports remain a valuable contributor to supporting a better supply and demand balance.

出口仍然是支持更好的供需平衡的重要貢獻者。

The U.S. exported over 1 billion gallons of ethanol in 2016, which was up 26% from 2015.

美國在 2016 年出口了超過 10 億加侖的乙醇，比 2015 年增長了 26%。

We expect 2017 ethanol exports to grow by approximately 20% over year-earlier levels and could end up as the highest annual ethanol export total on record.

我們預計 2017 年乙醇出口將比去年同期增長約 20%，最終可能成為有記錄以來最高的年度乙醇出口總量。

We continue to see growth in existing export markets and the development of new markets where ethanol is being chosen for its environmental and economic benefits.

我們繼續看到現有出口市場的增長和新市場的發展，在這些市場中，乙醇因其環境和經濟效益而被選中。

National and local regulations continue to provide a solid support for long-term ethanol demand.

國家和地方法規繼續為乙醇的長期需求提供堅實的支持。

For the first time ever, U.S. gasoline consumption in 2016 contained more than 10% ethanol blends on average, exceeding the so-called blend wall and moving us toward the reality of higher ethanol blends.

有史以來第一次，2016 年美國汽油消費量平均含有超過 10% 的乙醇混合物，超過了所謂的混合壁，使我們朝著更高乙醇混合物的現實邁進。

Last year, we saw E15 gain traction as sales increased and additional infrastructure was developed.

去年，隨著銷售額的增加和額外基礎設施的開發，我們看到 E15 獲得了牽引力。

At the end of 2016, there were approximately 650 stations offering E15 for sale, and that number is expected to double by the end of 2017.

到 2016 年底，大約有 650 個車站出售 E15，預計到 2017 年底這一數字將翻一番。

All indications from the Trump administration are that it will continue to be supportive of policies such as the Renewable Fuel Standard, which also enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress.

特朗普政府的所有跡象表明，它將繼續支持可再生燃料標準等政策，該標准在國會也得到了兩黨的大力支持。

In March, many of my Pacific Ethanol colleagues who are U.S. military veterans joined other ethanol industry veterans around the country in sending a letter to President Trump in support of the industry.

3 月，我的許多太平洋乙醇公司的美國退伍軍人同事與全國其他乙醇行業的資深人士一起致信特朗普總統以支持該行業。

In this letter, our servicemen and women share their unique perspective on the dangers posed by the nation's reliance on oil imports.

在這封信中，我們的軍人和女性分享了他們對國家依賴石油進口所帶來的危險的獨特看法。

Furthermore, the letter underscores ethanol's important role in our national security, job creation and economic vitality, and encourages the federal government to do more to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to the introduction of higher blends of ethanol.

此外，這封信強調了乙醇在我們的國家安全、創造就業機會和經濟活力方面的重要作用，並鼓勵聯邦政府採取更多措施消除引入更高混合乙醇的不必要的監管障礙。

Of the 120 veterans who signed the letter, I'm proud to say that veterans who are Pacific Ethanol personnel represented 1/3 of those signatures.

在這封信上簽名的 120 名退伍軍人中，我很自豪地說，太平洋乙醇公司的退伍軍人代表了其中 1/3 的簽名。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Bryon for a review of the financials.

有了這個，我會把電話交給布賴恩審查財務狀況。

Thank you, Neil.

謝謝你，尼爾。

Good morning, everyone.

大家，早安。

For the first quarter of 2017 compared to the first quarter of 2016, net sales were $386 million, up 13% compared to $342 million.

與 2016 年第一季度相比，2017 年第一季度的淨銷售額為 3.86 億美元，比 3.42 億美元增長 13%。

Cost of goods sold were $392 million compared to $341 million.

商品銷售成本為 3.92 億美元，而 3.41 億美元。

Gross loss was $5.8 million compared to a gross profit of $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2016.

毛虧損為 580 萬美元，而 2016 年第一季度的毛利潤為 110 萬美元。

As Neil summarized previously, the decrease in gross profit is attributable to 2 primary factors: $3.8 million was due to lower gross profit from our third-party marketing business, which was primarily attributable to sharply falling ethanol prices in the first quarter of 2017; and $4 million was primarily associated with the scheduled shutdown of the Pekin wet mill facility for routine maintenance, and $1.6 million resulted from unanticipated repair and maintenance expenses at the wet mill incurred over the quarter.

正如 Neil 之前總結的，毛利潤下降主要歸因於兩個因素：380 萬美元是由於我們的第三方營銷業務的毛利潤下降，這主要是由於 2017 年第一季度乙醇價格大幅下跌； 400 萬美元主要與 Pekin 濕法工廠的日常維護計劃停工有關，160 萬美元來自本季度濕法工廠發生的意外維修和維護費用。

SG&A expenses were $5.5 million compared to $8.3 million.

SG&A 費用為 550 萬美元，而 830 萬美元。

This significant reduction year-over-year is largely due to a net gain of $3.6 million related to litigation matters that were settled in the first quarter of 2017.

這一同比大幅減少主要是由於與 2017 年第一季度解決的訴訟事項相關的淨收益 360 萬美元。

This was partially offset by higher cash and stock compensation expenses.

這部分被較高的現金和股票補償費用所抵消。

We anticipate quarterly SG&A expenses to average $7.5 million through the remainder of this year.

我們預計到今年剩餘時間，季度 SG&A 費用平均為 750 萬美元。

Loss from operations was $11.2 million compared to $7.2 million in the prior year period.

運營損失為 1120 萬美元，而去年同期為 720 萬美元。

Interest expense was $2.6 million compared to $6.2 million.

與 620 萬美元相比，利息支出為 260 萬美元。

The decline in interest expense is primarily due to the lower interest rates resulting from the refinancing of debt in December 2016.

利息支出下降主要是由於 2016 年 12 月債務再融資導致利率下降。

Net loss available to common stockholders was $12.9 million or $0.31 per share.

普通股股東可獲得的淨虧損為 1290 萬美元或每股 0.31 美元。

This compares to a net loss of $13.5 million or $0.32 per share in the year-ago period.

相比之下，去年同期淨虧損 1350 萬美元或每股 0.32 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.9 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of positive $1.6 million in the year-ago period.

調整後 EBITDA 為負 190 萬美元，而去年同期調整後 EBITDA 為正 160 萬美元。

Now turning to our balance sheet.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。

Cash and cash equivalents were $73.7 million at March 31, 2017, compared to $68.6 million at December 31, 2016.

截至 2017 年 3 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物為 7370 萬美元，而 2016 年 12 月 31 日為 6860 萬美元。

For the first quarter of 2017, our capital expenditures totaled $4 million, primarily related to plant improvement initiatives.

2017 年第一季度，我們的資本支出總計 400 萬美元，主要與工廠改進計劃有關。

We continue to expect our 2017 total CapEx to approximate $46 million, $16 million of which represents previously announced projects, including our Stockton cogeneration and Madera Cellunator and solar projects.

我們繼續預計 2017 年的總資本支出約為 4600 萬美元，其中 1600 萬美元代表先前宣布的項目，包括我們的 Stockton 熱電聯產和 Madera Cellunator 和太陽能項目。

The remaining $30 million represents projects that increase yield, capacity or revenues, improve operations through the upgrade and replacement of equipment, extend reliability, reduce costs or lower our carbon score.

剩餘的 3000 萬美元用於提高產量、產能或收入、通過升級和更換設備來改善運營、提高可靠性、降低成本或降低我們的碳分數的項目。

Of this amount, we have allocated approximately $6 million to cover the remaining repairs required at our Pekin facility over the coming months.

其中，我們已撥出約 600 萬美元，用於支付我們北京工廠未來幾個月所需的剩余維修費用。

The balance of the $24 million is earmarked for projects that are under development and review but have -- but not yet been committed.

2400 萬美元的餘額專門用於正在開發和審查但已經——但尚未承諾的項目。

As a result, the amounts may be adjusted depending on market dynamics and company strategy.

因此，金額可能會根據市場動態和公司戰略進行調整。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Neil.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回給尼爾。

Thanks, Bryon.

謝謝，布賴恩。

While we faced a challenging environment in the first quarter, we are encouraged by improving market fundamentals as we approach the summer driving season as well as the continued demand from exports.

雖然我們在第一季度面臨充滿挑戰的環境，但隨著夏季駕駛季節的臨近以及出口需求的持續改善，我們對市場基本面的改善感到鼓舞。

We will further advance initiatives to reduce our operating costs, improve our efficiencies and overall improve the company's position as a leading producer and marketer of low-carbon fuel and valuable coproducts.

我們將進一步推進降低運營成本、提高效率並全面提升公司作為低碳燃料和有價值副產品領先生產商和營銷商的地位的舉措。

In summary, we remain confident in the long-term demand for ethanol, driven by its underlying economic fundamentals as a high-octane, low-carbon and job-creating fuel.

總之，我們對乙醇作為高辛烷值、低碳和創造就業燃料的潛在經濟基本面的長期需求仍然充滿信心。

We believe we are well positioned to improve our financial performance and grow our share of the low-carbon fuel market.

我們相信我們有能力改善我們的財務業績並擴大我們在低碳燃料市場的份額。

Christy, we are now ready to begin the Q&A session.

克里斯蒂，我們現在準備開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from the line of Eric Stine of Craig-Hallum.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum 的 Eric Stine。

It's Aaron Spychalla on for Eric.

是埃里克的亞倫·斯皮查拉。

You mentioned improving industry conditions to date in the second quarter.

您提到了第二季度迄今為止改善的行業狀況。

Can you just kind of maybe frame that against the pullback we've seen in the last couple of weeks and kind of talk about your outlook for the remainder of the quarter, and maybe touching on corn, given some of the recent weather we've seen there and harvest expectations?

考慮到我們最近的一些天氣情況，您能否針對我們在過去幾週看到的回調進行構架，並談談您對本季度剩餘時間的展望，並可能涉及玉米看到那里和收穫期望？

Yes.

是的。

First, on the ethanol, and I did mention that we continue to see volatility.

首先，關於乙醇，我確實提到我們繼續看到波動。

So through the month of April, we saw very good improvement in industry margins.

因此，整個 4 月份，我們看到行業利潤率有了非常好的改善。

And as you mentioned, in the first part of May here, we have seen a pullback.

正如你所提到的，在 5 月上旬，我們看到了回調。

We are generally constructive on the balance of the year.

我們對今年的餘額總體上是建設性的。

We look at the numbers.

我們看數字。

We're finally seeing the gasoline demand come back to levels that are at and, actually, this week -- the number is out this morning -- slightly above last year's levels.

我們終於看到汽油需求回到了本週的水平，實際上，本週 - 這個數字今天早上已經出來了 - 略高於去年的水平。

We saw production up but still below the levels that we'd seen earlier in the year.

我們看到產量增加，但仍低於今年早些時候的水平。

And the inventory is down slightly for the second week in a row.

庫存連續第二周小幅下降。

I think the short term, there's been some nervousness around the demand side as well as the inventories not coming down as quickly as we typically start to see as we move into the higher demand.

我認為短期內，需求方面存在一些緊張情緒，並且隨著我們進入更高的需求，庫存不會像我們通常開始看到的那樣迅速下降。

But when we run the numbers and look at 144 billion, even 145 billion gallons of gasoline and 1.2 billion, 1.3 billion gallons of exports and production, that is, certainly in the summer months, we'll be struggling to keep up with those levels, we see a balanced market, and the making for a reasonable margin environment.

但是，當我們計算數字並查看 1440 億、甚至 1450 億加侖汽油和 12 億、13 億加侖的出口和產量時，也就是說，肯定在夏季的幾個月裡，我們將努力跟上這些水平，我們看到一個平衡的市場，以及一個合理的利潤環境。

As it relates to corn, there's certainly -- this is the time of year when everybody loves to overexaggerate what's going on in the weather markets.

因為它與玉米有關，當然 - 這是一年中每個人都喜歡過度誇大天氣市場正在發生的事情的時候。

And yes, we saw a lot of moisture, but we're seeing more normal weather conditions.

是的，我們看到了很多水分，但我們看到了更正常的天氣條件。

Planting is slightly behind historical levels, but it's catching up.

種植面積略低於歷史水平，但正在迎頭趕上。

And given the technology today, farmers can catch up very quickly.

鑑於今天的技術，農民可以很快趕上。

So from everything we hear from the country, corn crop should be fine.

因此，從我們從該國聽到的所有消息來看，玉米收成應該沒問題。

In fact, just in the last day or 2, with some of the rain conditions in the Kansas areas and even Texas, we're hearing that some of the wheat crop is being torn out because it got destroyed by the rains, and that is representing some potentially new acres for corn.

事實上，就在最後一兩天，由於堪薩斯州甚至德克薩斯州的一些降雨情況，我們聽說一些小麥作物因為被雨水摧毀而被撕毀，那就是代表一些潛在的新玉米種植面積。

So we fully expect to see the 90 million acres and good trend line yields and another bumper crop.

因此，我們完全期待看到 9000 萬英畝的土地和良好的趨勢線產量以及另一個豐收。

So we actually are pretty constructive on that as well and see a very stable pricing environment, if not some really good basis, weakness this summer with the amount of corn that's in storage.

所以我們實際上在這方面也很有建設性，並且看到一個非常穩定的定價環境，如果不是一個非常好的基礎，今年夏天的玉米庫存量就會疲軟。

Maybe second on exports.

也許在出口上排名第二。

Obviously, those have been strong and are expected to continue.

顯然，這些情況一直很強勁，預計將繼續下去。

Can you just maybe give your latest thoughts on Mexico and when we can maybe see a decision there?

您能否提供您對墨西哥的最新想法以及我們何時可以在那裡看到決定？

And then any update on China on your end?

然後你有關於中國的最新消息嗎？

On Mexico, we do see that as a very good growth market and probably starting -- it's a market today, but with some growth beginning in 2018 when they do have their deregulation of the fuels business.

在墨西哥，我們確實認為這是一個非常好的增長市場，並且可能開始——它是今天的一個市場，但在 2018 年開始有一些增長，當時他們確實放鬆了對燃料業務的管制。

It is a bit of an arm wrestle right now between MTB interests and ethanol.

現在，在 MTB 利益和乙醇之間有點激烈的角力。

We obviously think MTB should be not used anywhere in the world given its very toxic nature and contamination of groundwater.

我們顯然認為 MTB 不應該在世界任何地方使用，因為它具有劇毒性質和對地下水的污染。

And that would represent, if you took all the MTB out, probably 1 billion gallon or more market for ethanol to fill in the octane and oxygenate needs there.

如果你把所有的山地車都拿出來，這將代表可能有 10 億加侖或更多的乙醇市場來滿足那裡的辛烷值和含氧量需求。

The -- we do expect MTB to continue to be in that market, but over time, more of a transition to ethanol.

我們確實預計 MTB 將繼續進入該市場，但隨著時間的推移，更多的是向乙醇的過渡。

So hard to judge accurately on how the government is going to play with that and move those regulations, but rest assured that our industry is doing everything we can to advocate for the advantages of ethanol from an octane and economic and environmental perspective in Mexico.

很難準確判斷政府將如何處理這些問題並推動這些法規，但請放心，我們的行業正在盡我們所能從辛烷值以及墨西哥的經濟和環境角度倡導乙醇的優勢。

China is also a hard market to call.

中國也是一個很難打電話的市場。

We have discounted it to close to 0 as an industry and coming up with these various third-party views on a strong export market in that 1.2 billion range.

我們將其作為一個行業打折到接近於 0，並就 12 億範圍內的強勁出口市場提出了這些第三方的各種觀點。

My own personal perspective is that when the price is right and they've drawn down their own cornstalks, that we will see China back in the market for U.S. ethanol this year.

我個人的觀點是，當價格合適並且他們已經收割了自己的玉米桿時，我們將看到中國今年重返美國乙醇市場。

Okay.

好的。

And then maybe final one for me.

然後對我來說可能是最後一個。

Can you just touch on the prospects for a year-round waiver for E15?

你能談談 E15 全年豁免的前景嗎？

We think the prospects of that are quite possible.

我們認為這樣的前景是很有可能的。

Some form of -- if not waiver, an RVP parity where all fuels are treated alike, whether it's 10%, 15% ethanol or even higher.

某種形式的——如果不是放棄的話，一種 RVP 平價，其中所有燃料都被同等對待，無論是 10%、15% 乙醇還是更高。

We do think it's very consistent with the new administration's both support of the Renewable Fuel Standard and increasing opportunities for higher blends of ethanol, overlaid with their commitment to take away burdensome regulations that are hindering growth in our economy.

我們確實認為這與新政府對可再生燃料標準的支持和增加更高混合乙醇的機會非常一致，同時還承諾取消阻礙我們經濟增長的繁重法規。

And certainly, we see the opportunity to blend 15% and higher blends of ethanol, a really great opportunity to bring more jobs to rural America, build more incremental ethanol capacity and increase the market.

當然，我們看到了混合 15% 或更高混合乙醇的機會，這是為美國農村帶來更多就業機會、建立更多乙醇產能並擴大市場的絕佳機會。

And the RVP issue is -- certainly, outside of the RFG areas is a significant and we would consider very unnecessary regulatory burden today.

RVP 問題是 - 當然，在 RFG 領域之外是一個重要的問題，我們今天會考慮非常不必要的監管負擔。

So we're cautiously optimistic.

所以我們謹慎樂觀。

There's both a regulatory path and there's been legislation introduced in Congress, and we are being very supportive of that and doing our part to advocate.

既有監管途徑，也有國會提出的立法，我們非常支持這一點，並儘我們所能倡導。

Our next question is from Jeff Osborne of Cowen and Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen and Company 的 Jeff Osborne。

A couple of questions on my end.

我有幾個問題。

Can you -- first of all, I might have missed this, but how long was Pekin down?

你能——首先，我可能錯過了這個，但是北京倒閉了多久？

I'm just trying to get a sense of the issues that you had there.

我只是想了解你在那裡遇到的問題。

Pekin down -- was down for 1 week.

Pekin down——下降了1週。

And that was the wet mill, and it's more complex in nature rather than the 24-, 40-hour rolling shutdowns that we do on the dry mills.

那就是濕法軋機，它在性質上比我們在干法軋機上進行的 24 小時、40 小時軋製停機更複雜。

We take that facility down for a full week.

我們將該設施關閉整整一周。

The prior year it was in the fourth quarter, so that's why -- and it does have certainly an impact by loss of production and significant maintenance costs.

上一年是在第四季度，所以這就是為什麼 - 它確實會受到生產損失和大量維護成本的影響。

So that was a cost that we did not have in the first quarter of last year and did have in the first quarter of this year.

所以這是我們在去年第一季度沒有的成本，而在今年第一季度確實有。

Got it.

知道了。

And Neil, in the prepared remarks, I think you made reference to weather impacting some of the plants that -- in particular, California.

尼爾，在準備好的評論中，我認為你提到了影響某些植物的天氣 - 特別是加利福尼亞。

I was just curious, was there any issues in getting corn to the sites in Madera and Stockton?

我只是好奇，把玉米送到馬德拉和斯托克頓的地方有什麼問題嗎？

Or any other uptime or utilization issues at the 4 plants on the West Coast?

或者西海岸 4 家工廠的任何其他正常運行時間或利用率問題？

There was a minor amount of difficulty.

有一點困難。

We actually, at our Stockton plant -- and this was typical of the other plants in California as well.

實際上，我們在斯托克頓工廠——這也是加利福尼亞其他工廠的典型情況。

Madera was the 1 plant of the 4, 2 that we own, 2 that are others operate, that didn't have any issues, but we had a couple of days where we were out of corn.

Madera 是我們擁有的 4 家、2 家工廠中的 1 家，2 家是其他人經營的，沒有任何問題，但我們有幾天沒有玉米。

And there was really a serious situation for California in lots of industries when the tracks were washed out as they were.

當軌道被沖毀時，加利福尼亞在許多行業中的情況確實很嚴重。

There was also some higher transportation cost, basis cost around that.

還有一些更高的運輸成本，基礎成本。

And then in the Pacific Northwest, where the weather was so extreme that it really shut down not only railroads but major highways, we had to slow the plant down there for over a period of about 2 weeks because of the inability to move all the ethanol from the plant.

然後在太平洋西北部，那裡的天氣非常極端，不僅關閉了鐵路，還關閉了主要高速公路，由於無法移動所有的乙醇，我們不得不將工廠放慢大約 2 週的時間。從植物。

We had no issue getting the corn there, but did have some issue getting the ethanol out.

我們把玉米送到那裡沒有問題，但把乙醇拿出來確實有一些問題。

That was the most extraordinary weather that, that region has seen in, I believe, 40 years, so we wouldn't anticipate that as a regular course.

我相信，那是該地區 40 年來最不尋常的天氣，因此我們不會將其視為常規課程。

And it also coincided with the river being shut down for barge maintenance.

它還恰逢河流因駁船維護而被關閉。

So we did not have our main mode of transportation, which is typically barges down the river to the Portland market.

所以我們沒有我們的主要運輸方式，通常是駁船順流而下到達波特蘭市場。

We were having to truck everything, and so when I-84 was shut down with all of the ice and snow, that put us in a difficult position.

我們不得不用卡車運送所有東西，因此當 I-84 因冰雪覆蓋而關閉時，我們陷入了困境。

So there were definite impacts that we would consider somewhat extraordinary and nonrecurring due to weather.

因此，由於天氣原因，我們會認為肯定會產生一些非同尋常且不會再發生的影響。

Got it.

知道了。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Just a couple of other quick ones on my end.

我這邊還有其他幾個快速的。

One on the cogen challenges.

一個關於熱電挑戰。

It sounds like that's ramping up a little bit slower than expected.

聽起來這比預期的要慢一些。

I was just wondering, a 2-part question, a, if you can elaborate on what the issues there are; and then b, as it relates to that or just the broader market, I guess what the $24 million in unallocated CapEx for the year, what are the things that you needed to see in the market or other performance of some of these products like cogen and the Cellunator to get more comfortable with those technologies and move forward with deployment at some of the other clients?

我只是想知道，一個由兩部分組成的問題，a，如果您能詳細說明存在哪些問題；然後 b，因為它與那個或更廣泛的市場有關，我猜今年 2400 萬美元的未分配資本支出是多少，你需要在市場上看到什麼或其中一些產品（如 cogen）的其他表現和 Cellunator 以更適應這些技術並繼續在其他一些客戶上進行部署？

Yes.

是的。

On the cogen, it's a big piece of equipment, and there's some innovative technology that we've been using.

在熱電聯產方面，它是一個很大的設備，我們一直在使用一些創新技術。

So in that respect, it's 0-1, so it's still under the care and custody of Dresser-Rand, who's installing that system for us, and they want to make sure they get everything exactly right.

所以在這方面，它是 0-1，所以它仍然在為我們安裝該系統的 Dresser-Rand 的照顧和保管下，他們希望確保一切都正確無誤。

There are no problems, no fundamental flaws.

沒有問題，沒有根本缺陷。

It's just a matter of getting everything synced up.

這只是讓一切同步的問題。

It's also not a trivial matter to make sure that we meet all of the needs of the local utility in synchronizing that system because we would be both drawing electricity from the grid and delivering electricity over our fence to -- back to the grid.

確保我們在同步該系統時滿足當地公用事業公司的所有需求也不是一件小事，因為我們既要從電網取電，又要通過我們的圍欄將電力輸送回電網。

So there's just a host of issues.

所以只有一堆問題。

And as these things can be at start-up, can be a little more complicated than expected.

由於這些事情可以在啟動時進行，可能比預期的要復雜一些。

So have seen those delays, but very confident that this will be a great contributor to Stockton and will be fully online, as I said, by the end of the third quarter.

所以已經看到了這些延遲，但非常有信心這將成為斯托克頓的一個重要貢獻者，並且正如我所說，到第三季度末將完全在線。

On the other projects, it's really -- it's the strategy, it's carbon pricing signals because a lot of those -- and I think one notable example would be anaerobic digestion, which we're looking at in our California plants and potentially in Oregon and elsewhere as well, where we have the low-carbon markets, is to really continue to fine-tune the process, so again, a new application of a known technology, the anaerobic digestion, into our facilities and to be able to make sure that we are marshaling our capital resources efficiently, that we're responding to market signals, that there is regulatory certainty on the -- not only the existence of these standards but their extensions.

在其他項目中，它確實是——它是戰略，它是碳定價信號，因為其中很多——我認為一個值得注意的例子是厭氧消化，我們正在我們的加利福尼亞工廠以及可能在俄勒岡州和在我們擁有低碳市場的其他地方也是如此，要真正繼續微調流程，因此再次將一種已知技術，即厭氧消化，應用到我們的設施中，並能夠確保我們正在有效地整合我們的資本資源，我們正在對市場信號做出反應，並且監管確定性 - 不僅是這些標準的存在，而且它們的擴展。

So California, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard is -- expires in 2020 at -- or it freezes at that level.

因此，加利福尼亞州的低碳燃料標準 - 將於 2020 年到期 - 或凍結在該水平。

We are working with the state, as many stakeholders are, because the California government is intending to extend that for 10 years, and that will give us a strong signal on a number of projects that -- where we could invest substantial capital to lower our carbon scores.

我們和許多利益相關者一樣，正在與州政府合作，因為加州政府打算將這一期限延長 10 年，這將為我們在一些項目上發出強烈的信號——我們可以在這些項目中投入大量資金來降低碳分數。

We continue to incrementally invest in things that have a very quick payback so that we're comfortable even if there's not an extension of carbon standards by 2020.

我們將繼續增量投資於回報非常快的事物，這樣即使到 2020 年碳標準沒有延長，我們也會感到舒適。

But the more material investments do require an investment horizon that goes beyond 2020.

但更多的物質投資確實需要超過 2020 年的投資期限。

Got it.

知道了。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Just 2 real quick ones.

只有2個真正快速的。

One, Neil, for you, big picture-wise, just what are you seeing in the market in terms of M&A?

一，尼爾，對你來說，從大局來看，你在併購方面看到了什麼？

And how do you envision over the next 2 to 3 years Pacific Ethanol being a part of that?

您如何設想未來 2 到 3 年太平洋乙醇公司將成為其中的一部分？

And then for Bryon, I was wondering just if you could help us out on the byproducts line item.

然後對於布賴恩，我想知道您是否可以在副產品行項目上幫助我們。

How do we think about the mix between DDGs and corn oil for the quarter and the remainder of the year?

我們如何看待本季度和今年剩餘時間裡 DDG 和玉米油的混合情況？

On the M&A front, it's been relatively quiet, certainly continue to be conversations and have seen some transactions over the last year.

在併購方面，它相對平靜，肯定會繼續進行對話，並且在過去一年中已經看到了一些交易。

We've done a fair amount of consolidation of this industry, and we think more is ahead.

我們已經對這個行業進行了相當多的整合，我們認為未來還會有更多。

Right now you have 6 ethanol players that control about 50% of the production.

現在你有 6 家乙醇生產商控制了大約 50% 的生產。

In a more mature commodity market, you would typically see 6 players controlling closer to 70%.

在更成熟的商品市場中，您通常會看到 6 名玩家控制接近 70%。

So we think that is where this industry is headed.

所以我們認為這就是這個行業的發展方向。

We continue to be very optimistic about the growth in the market and the consolidation.

我們繼續對市場的增長和整合持非常樂觀的態度。

And as a company, we have been a consolidator, and we will continue to focus on opportunities both from organic growth and any acquisition opportunities that present themselves.

作為一家公司，我們一直是整合者，我們將繼續關注有機增長的機會和任何出現的收購機會。

Jeff, on the coproduct side, as Neil mentioned in the prepared remarks, we've seen good strength, particularly as it relates to some of the more refined products out of our wet mill.

Jeff，在副產品方面，正如 Neil 在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們已經看到了良好的強度，特別是因為它與我們濕磨機的一些更精煉的產品有關。

We have seen softened prices at times, but that's nothing unusual -- or nothing specific to Pacific Ethanol more than an industry-related softening for DDG prices.

我們有時會看到價格走軟，但這並不罕見——或者說太平洋乙醇公司特有的只是 DDG 價格與行業相關的走軟。

But we're also able to -- because of the locations and the opportunity to move between dry distillers grain and wet distillers grain, be able to take advantage of strengthening wet distillers grain prices at times.

但我們也能夠 - 由於地點和機會在乾酒糟和濕酒糟之間移動，能夠利用有時加強濕酒糟價格的優勢。

And if it strengthens again in dry distillers grain, just swap over to that.

如果它在乾酒糟中再次增強，就換成那個。

So I wouldn't expect a significant change in what we're seeing.

所以我不認為我們所看到的會發生重大變化。

We're certainly seeing good yields out of our corn oil production.

我們肯定看到我們的玉米油產量很高。

So some of the numbers that you're seeing, both now and on a historical basis, should be -- are good proxies for the next couple of quarters.

因此，您現在和歷史上看到的一些數字應該是未來幾個季度的良好代表。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question is from Amit Dayal of Rodman & Renshaw.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Rodman & Renshaw 的 Amit Dayal。

In terms of the outlook for margin improvements in your third-party marketing business, do you have any flexibility involving your exposure to this segment in periods of margin compression?

就您的第三方營銷業務的利潤率改善前景而言，您在利潤率壓縮期間是否有任何靈活性涉及您對該細分市場的敞口？

Or are you committed to certain volumes?

還是您致力於某些數量？

That's a fair question.

這是一個公平的問題。

Our whole franchise as a producer, marketer and having very strong market share in the markets that we focus on has required us -- or really part of that value proposition is for us to go in and tie up a tremendous amount of business that is beyond our own production capacity.

我們作為生產商、營銷商的整個特許經營權並在我們關注的市場中擁有非常強大的市場份額，這需要我們——或者說，價值主張的真正一部分是讓我們進入並捆綁大量超出範圍的業務我們自己的生產能力。

And that has served our production plants very well, has served the market very well, has given us a very differentiated and value-added service component in the market.

這很好地服務於我們的生產工廠，很好地服務於市場，為我們提供了市場上非常差異化和增值的服務組件。

So we consider it a very important part of the value proposition, as I mentioned.

因此，正如我所提到的，我們認為它是價值主張的一個非常重要的部分。

While we do have some exposure to rapidly moving prices, we saw a $0.40 drop in ethanol prices over the first quarter, really, in the pretty much first half of the first quarter.

雖然我們確實對快速波動的價格有一定的影響，但我們看到乙醇價格在第一季度下降了 0.40 美元，實際上，在第一季度的前半段。

And when we have a lot of inventory tied up, both in tanks and in transit, there is exposure.

當我們有大量庫存被佔用時，無論是在坦克中還是在運輸途中，都會有風險。

Conversely, when markets move the other way, we get that back.

相反，當市場向另一個方向發展時，我們就會得到回報。

And so on an annualized basis, it continues and will continue to be a very profitable component and a very important part of making sure that we have the highest value sales for both our marketing partners and our own plants.

因此，按年計算，它繼續並將繼續成為一個非常有利可圖的組成部分，也是確保我們為我們的營銷合作夥伴和我們自己的工廠提供最高價值銷售的一個非常重要的部分。

That being said, it is a very competitive market.

話雖如此，這是一個競爭非常激烈的市場。

Certain areas that are a little more tangential to our production plants, we've been evaluating some of the business, trying to connect as much as possible our purchase price with our sales price in time and tenure and been successful in moving some of that business and are also looking at some elements of the business to say, that's -- we don't really have as much of a competitive position as we used to, and we don't -- we can turn that piece of business down.

某些與我們的生產工廠有些相切的領域，我們一直在評估一些業務，試圖在時間和任期內盡可能地將我們的購買價格與我們的銷售價格聯繫起來，並成功地轉移了一些業務並且還在研究業務的一些要素，那就是——我們實際上沒有以前那樣的競爭地位，而且我們沒有——我們可以拒絕這項業務。

So we are reevaluating some areas.

所以我們正在重新評估一些領域。

There's opportunities for growth in others.

別人有成長的機會。

Understood.

明白了。

And maybe just one more for me.

也許對我來說只是一個。

Your utilizations were higher year-over-year.

您的利用率比去年同期更高。

Do you expect to sort of maintain 90%-plus utilization levels for the remainder of the year?

您是否希望在今年剩餘時間內保持 90% 以上的利用率水平？

I think that's a reasonable estimate.

我認為這是一個合理的估計。

And depending on supply/demand dynamics, it could even be higher than that.

並且根據供需動態，它甚至可能更高。

Our next question is from Carter Driscoll of FBR.

我們的下一個問題來自 FBR 的 Carter Driscoll。

First question is, what have you learned from the initial installation of the Edeniq technology at Stockton?

第一個問題是，您從斯托克頓最初安裝的 Edeniq 技術中學到了什麼？

And is any you can port over to Madera?

有什麼可以移植到馬德拉的嗎？

Have you been favorably pleased with the early results?

你對早期的結果感到滿意嗎？

Or is there an expectation you're going to increase the efficiency, and then potentially to what level?

或者有沒有期望你會提高效率，然後可能會提高到什麼水平？

And then I have a follow-up.

然後我有一個跟進。

We are happy with the Edeniq technology and the results.

我們對 Edeniq 技術和結果感到滿意。

We are generating D3 RINS, and we have forward sales now, as I have mentioned in the prepared remarks, that we will be monetizing that starting this month going forward, and the pricing is good.

我們正在生成 D3 RINS，並且我們現在有遠期銷售，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們將從本月開始將其貨幣化，而且定價很好。

The waiver credit for cellulose went up this year.

今年纖維素的豁免額度有所增加。

The spread between D5 and D6 RINS has been increasing, so that just adds more value.

D5 和 D6 RINS 之間的價差一直在增加，因此只會增加更多價值。

And we're very confident of that $2-plus, really, in today's market, incremental premium value.

我們非常有信心在今天的市場上增加 2 美元以上的溢價。

It is -- in our view, it's been the lowest hanging fruit to get the industry into the cellulose ethanol business from a capital and operational standpoint.

這是 - 在我們看來，從資本和運營的角度來看，讓該行業進入纖維素乙醇業務是最容易實現的目標。

And that is why we are looking to expand it in Madera and beyond.

這就是為什麼我們希望將其擴展到馬德拉及其他地區。

And we -- whether it's Edeniq's technology or some of the other vendors out there, we do feel that the conversion of corn fiber to ethanol in the ethanol industry could be much like the rapid adoption of corn oil that we saw over the last number of years.

而且我們——無論是 Edeniq 的技術還是其他一些供應商，我們確實認為在乙醇行業中將玉米纖維轉化為乙醇可能很像我們在過去幾年中看到的玉米油的快速採用。年。

Okay.

好的。

But you're comfortable with the yields you are getting today?

但是您對今天獲得的收益感到滿意嗎？

And is there any specific improvement you can see, either at Stockton or anything that you've learned with the implementation you can port over to Madera?

您是否可以看到任何具體的改進，無論是在斯托克頓還是您從可以移植到馬德拉的實施中學到的任何東西？

Just like any of these technologies, there's always room for improvement.

就像任何這些技術一樣，總是有改進的空間。

The Edeniq technology -- so the advantage is that you get the -- in a relatively low-capital, low-cost way, you get the conversion of fiber, but we're only getting up to 2% of that fiber, and there's closer to 8% in the corn kernel.

Edeniq 技術——所以優勢是你得到了——以相對低資本、低成本的方式，你得到了纖維的轉換，但我們只得到了 2% 的纖維，而且還有玉米粒中的含量接近 8%。

So what can we do to tweak the system to do better?

那麼我們可以做些什麼來調整系統以做得更好呢？

We are focused on that every day, and we are optimistic that there's some room for improvement.

我們每天都在關注這一點，我們樂觀地認為還有一些改進的空間。

We are also looking at the opportunity to install other technologies [at other] process to capture more of that fiber as well.

我們也在尋找機會在 [其他] 工藝中安裝其他技術，以捕獲更多的光纖。

So it's very much a focus of the company.

因此，這是公司非常關注的焦點。

When you consider not only the value of the D3 RINS but the ability to also get additional carbon credit in these low-carbon fuel markets, it gives us real competitive advantage and opportunity to do more of this.

當您不僅考慮 D3 RINS 的價值，還考慮在這些低碳燃料市場中獲得額外碳信用的能力時，它為我們提供了真正的競爭優勢和更多機會。

And the approval process for the EPA versus CARB, you compare and contrast those 2 processes and the time lines and, obviously, additional value you could get if you get qualification under the LCFS?

EPA 與 CARB 的批准過程，你比較和對比這兩個過程和時間線，顯然，如果你獲得 LCFS 的資格，你可以獲得額外的價值？

The EPA process, since we were the first adopter of that technology, it took close to 2 years.

EPA 流程，因為我們是該技術的第一個採用者，它花了將近 2 年的時間。

But then subsequent to that, it's been a number of months for other applicants, and that's what we're expecting for Madera.

但在那之後，其他申請人已經過了幾個月，這就是我們對馬德拉的期望。

And CARB is on a similar trajectory.

CARB 也處於類似的軌道上。

It was really a matter of getting the EPA protocol established and to leverage that with carbon.

這實際上是建立 EPA 協議並利用碳來利用它的問題。

That's what we're doing now, and we expect that to be a process of months.

這就是我們現在正在做的事情，我們預計這將是一個幾個月的過程。

And then maybe just a big-picture question.

然後也許只是一個大問題。

Certainly, a lot of uncertainty with the administration, though President Trump seemingly has been very positively supportive of the ethanol industry in the past.

當然，政府存在很多不確定性，儘管特朗普總統過去似乎一直非常積極地支持乙醇行業。

But in terms of the point of obligation, there's a lot of noise right after he was elected, in particular, from one of his high-profile consultants, (inaudible).

但就義務而言，在他當選後立即出現了很多噪音，特別是來自他的一位知名顧問（聽不清）。

Do you anticipate any more noise on changing the point of obligation, how that could or could not be disruptive to the business ultimately?

您是否預計在更改義務點時會出現更多噪音，這最終會如何或不會對業務造成破壞？

And then just as kind of an adjunct, you've exceeded -- we've exceeded the 10% blend wall.

然後就像一種附屬物，你已經超過了——我們已經超過了 10% 的混合牆。

Maybe your perspective on the aging of the fleet and the swap-out in terms of new vehicles and that being less of a barrier towards progress towards E15.

也許您對車隊老化和新車換出的看法以及這對 E15 進展的障礙較少。

The -- there's always noise around all aspects of ethanol regulatory and political issues.

- 乙醇監管和政治問題的各個方面總是存在噪音。

I don't expect that, the noise to necessarily go away, but it has obviously subsided quite a bit.

我不認為，噪音一定會消失，但它顯然已經消退了很多。

The industry, all the trade groups remain united in opposing changing the point of obligation.

業界、所有行業團體仍然團結一致反對改變義務。

There are obviously a number of obligated parties that very much want to see a change and a number of obligated parties that very much don't want to see a change.

顯然，有許多義務方非常希望看到變化，也有許多義務方非常不希望看到變化。

So you have ethanol industry that's united saying don't move it.

所以你有乙醇行業團結一致說不要移動它。

You have an oil industry and refining industry that's actually pretty divided on whether to move it or not.

你有一個石油工業和煉油工業，實際上在是否移動它上存在很大分歧。

Given that dynamic and given this administration's support for ethanol and seeing the growth in our industry and given what would be a fairly long administrative process to change the point of obligation, we do not expect that to happen.

鑑於這種動態以及本屆政府對乙醇的支持以及我們行業的增長以及改變義務點的相當長的行政流程，我們預計不會發生這種情況。

We do believe that the rules of the road have been known for years, that the point of obligation where it is.

我們確實相信道路規則已為人所知多年，即義務點在哪裡。

You can make good arguments on why it should change.

你可以就為什麼它應該改變提出很好的論據。

But right now, today, it is helping to move the higher blends into the marketplace.

但是現在，今天，它正在幫助將更高的混合物推向市場。

You have retailers that are not obligated parties but can take advantage of the value of the RINS to justify their investments once they make those investments and sell E15, given the underlying economic benefits of ethanol.

考慮到乙醇的潛在經濟利益，您的零售商不是義務方，但可以利用 RINS 的價值來證明他們的投資是合理的，一旦他們進行這些投資並出售 E15。

It is a cheaper product.

這是一種更便宜的產品。

That's why we're very confident that it -- when you reach critical mass in a market, if you're not selling E15, you're not going to be competitive with the gasoline retailer across the street.

這就是為什麼我們非常有信心——當你在市場上達到臨界質量時，如果你不銷售 E15，你就不會與街對面的汽油零售商競爭。

So we're optimistic that we'll start hitting that critical mass this year and next, and then you will see a more rapid growth.

因此，我們樂觀地認為，我們將在今年和明年開始達到這個臨界點，然後你會看到更快的增長。

To your second question, which is also a part of it, is that we now have virtually all of the new cars being sold that are fully warrantied by the manufacturers to run on the higher blends.

對於您的第二個問題，這也是其中的一部分，我們現在幾乎所有正在銷售的新車都得到了製造商的充分保證，可以在更高的混合動力上運行。

And even more exciting to us when you look sort of midterm is the CARB companies are also really focused on a new family of engines to meet higher fuel economy standards that are much more efficient and require direct injected high-compression turbocharged engines that from the car companies' perspective are going to need a much higher octane fuel.

當你看起來有點中期時，更讓我們興奮的是 CARB 公司也真正專注於一個新的發動機系列，以滿足更高的燃油經濟性標準，這些標準效率更高，並且需要來自汽車的直接噴射高壓縮渦輪增壓發動機公司的觀點將需要更高辛烷值的燃料。

And there's really no way to bring that higher level of octane to the gasoline pool in the United States, and globally for that matter, without significant higher blends of ethanol.

如果沒有明顯更高的乙醇混合物，真的沒有辦法將更高水平的辛烷值帶到美國乃至全球的汽油池中。

So E15 is great.

所以E15很棒。

We really see the ultimate future as a 20% or 30% ethanol blend.

我們真的認為最終的未來是 20% 或 30% 的乙醇混合物。

And we are spending a fair amount of time with our colleagues, with the car companies and the refiners to talk about how do we collectively move towards a future to support new technology, engine technology that's going to require higher octane fuels.

我們花大量時間與我們的同事、汽車公司和煉油廠討論我們如何共同邁向未來，以支持需要更高辛烷值燃料的新技術、發動機技術。

So to us, the octane and carbon benefits of ethanol are major drivers for significant growth in the years ahead.

因此，對我們而言，乙醇的辛烷值和碳效益是未來幾年顯著增長的主要驅動力。

(Operator Instructions) I'm not showing any further questions at this time.

（操作員說明）我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。

I'd like to turn the call back over to Neil Koehler for any further remarks.

我想將電話轉回給 Neil Koehler 以獲取任何進一步的評論。

Well, thank you all for joining us.

嗯，謝謝大家加入我們。

We are focused on improving our performance in this quarter and the quarters ahead, and we appreciate all of your interest and support.

我們專注於改善本季度和未來幾個季度的業績，感謝您的關注和支持。

And we'll talk to you next quarter.

我們將在下個季度與您交談。

Have a great day.

祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。

This does conclude today's program, and you may all disconnect.

今天的節目到此結束，你們可能都斷線了。

Everyone, have a great day.

大家，有一個美好的一天。