Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to Alto Ingredients, Inc.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持，歡迎來到 Alto Ingredients, Inc.

Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results.

2021 年第三季度財務業績。

(Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

（操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Moriah Shilton.

我現在想將會議交給今天的主持人 Moriah Shilton。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you, Justin, and thank you all for joining us today for the Alto Ingredients' Third Quarter 2021 Results Conference Call.

謝謝賈斯汀，感謝大家今天加入我們參加 Alto Ingredients 的 2021 年第三季度業績電話會議。

On the call today are Mike Kandris, CEO; and Bryon McGregor, CFO.

今天的電話會議是首席執行官 Mike Kandris；和首席財務官布賴恩·麥格雷戈。

Mike will begin with a review of business highlights.

Mike 將從回顧業務亮點開始。

Bryon will provide a summary of the financial and operating results, and then Mike will return to discuss Alto Ingredients' outlook and open the call for questions.

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

Alto Ingredients issued a press release after the market closed today, providing details of the company's quarterly results.

Alto Ingredients 在今天收盤後發布了一份新聞稿，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 is available on the company's website at altoingredients.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 altoingredients.com 上找到。

A telephone replay of today's call will be available through November 16, the details of which are included in today's earnings press release.

今天電話會議的電話重播將在 11 月 16 日之前提供，詳細信息包含在今天的收益新聞稿中。

A webcast replay will also be available at Alto Ingredients' website.

Alto Ingredients 的網站也將提供網絡直播重播。

Please note that the information on this call speaks only as of today, November 9. You are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay.

請注意，本次電話會議的信息僅在今天（11 月 9 日）發表。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幻燈片 2 上的安全港聲明，該聲明指出，本演示文稿中的一些評論構成前瞻性陳述和考慮因素，涉及許多風險和不確定性。

The actual future results of Alto Ingredients could differ materially from those statements.

Alto Ingredients 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 Alto Ingredients' filings with the SEC.

可能導致或促成此類差異的因素包括但不限於先前和不時在 Alto Ingredients 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 law, 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 periods 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 Alto Ingredients before interest expense, interest income, provision or benefit for income taxes, asset impairments, loss and extinguishment of debt, purchase accounting adjustments, fair value adjustments and depreciation and amortization expense.

公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為在利息支出、利息收入、所得稅準備金或福利、資產減值、債務損失和清償、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 Alto Ingredients 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 today'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，今天的新聞稿中包含了一個核對錶。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Mike Kandris, CEO.

現在我很高興介紹首席執行官 Mike Kandris。

Mike?

麥克風？

Thank you, Moriah.

謝謝你，莫里亞。

And thank you, everyone, for joining us today.

感謝大家今天加入我們。

In the third quarter, we made progress advancing our strategic initiatives by expanding our essential ingredients business, investing in improvements to our infrastructure and subsequent to the quarter end, completing the realignment of our operations.

在第三季度，我們通過擴大我們的基本成分業務、投資於改善我們的基礎設施以及在季度末完成我們的業務重組，在推進我們的戰略計劃方面取得了進展。

In September, we launched our first dry mill enhanced protein project with the installation of Harvesting Technologies, patented CoPromax system at our Magic Valley, Idaho facility.

9 月，我們在愛達荷州魔法谷的工廠安裝了 Harvesting Technologies 專利 CoPromax 系統，啟動了我們的第一個乾磨增強蛋白質項目。

We decided to install the technology at this plant because it's advantaged and proximate location to serve the growing demand for high protein feed and nearby cattle, poultry, pork and aquaculture markets.

我們決定在這家工廠安裝該技術，因為它地理位置優越，可以滿足對高蛋白飼料和附近牛、家禽、豬肉和水產養殖市場不斷增長的需求。

Adding high-protein production will enhance the profitability and sustainability of this operation.

增加高蛋白生產將提高該業務的盈利能力和可持續性。

We plan to restart production by year-end and to commission the new protein system in the first half of 2022.

我們計劃在年底前重新開始生產，並在 2022 年上半年啟用新的蛋白質系統。

Upon completion, the system will produce over 33,000 tons of feed annually with the protein content greater than 50%.

建成後，該系統年產飼料3.3萬噸以上，蛋白質含量大於50%。

It will also provide the added benefit of increasing corn oil yields by 50% or almost 9 million pounds annually.

它還將提供額外的好處，即每年將玉米油產量提高 50% 或近 900 萬磅。

We expect the combination of additional corn oil sales and the sale of high-value proteins at premium prices to generate over $9 million annually in EBITDA based on current market prices.

根據當前市場價格，我們預計額外的玉米油銷售和高價值蛋白質的高價銷售相結合，每年將產生超過 900 萬美元的 EBITDA。

After the successful completion of the installation at Magic Valley, we expect to roll out the system at our other 3 dry mills.

在 Magic Valley 成功完成安裝後，我們希望在我們的其他 3 個乾磨機上推廣該系統。

Conservatively, assuming similar economics of the technology across all 4 mills, we expect $40 million in additional EBITDA on an annual basis.

保守地說，假設所有 4 家工廠的技術經濟性相似，我們預計每年會增加 4000 萬美元的 EBITDA。

This is one example of how we are enhancing protein production at our dry mills to grow and diversify our revenue sources and bolster the quality and quantity of our earnings.

這是我們如何提高乾磨坊的蛋白質生產以增加和多樣化我們的收入來源並提高我們收入的質量和數量的一個例子。

We completed our yeast expansion project in the third quarter and the additional yeast production is now fully contracted through 2022.

我們在第三季度完成了酵母擴產項目，額外的酵母生產現已全面簽約到 2022 年。

Further, we will complete our feed dryer upgrades and achieve full operation before year-end.

此外，我們將在年底前完成飼料乾燥機升級並實現全面運行。

Starting in 2022, we expect both projects will contribute approximately $5 million annually in EBITDA.

從 2022 年開始，我們預計這兩個項目每年將貢獻約 500 萬美元的 EBITDA。

We also finished the expansion of our annual corn oil production capacity at our Pekin site by approximately 4,000 tons contributing an additional estimated $4.5 million in EBITDA annually starting in 2022.

我們還完成了將我們在北京工廠的玉米油年產能擴大約 4,000 噸，從 2022 年開始每年額外貢獻 450 萬美元的 EBITDA。

As discussed in our second quarter earnings call and anticipating challenging market conditions in the third quarter, we scheduled a major repair and maintenance shutdown and infrastructure upgrade at our Pekin wet mill.

正如我們在第二季度財報電話會議中所討論的那樣，並預計第三季度具有挑戰性的市場條件，我們計劃在我們的北京濕法工廠進行重大維修和維護停工以及基礎設施升級。

While the facility was idle, we upgraded electrical infrastructure, improved redundancy and plant cooling supply and replaced condensers and various pumps.

在設施閒置期間，我們升級了電氣基礎設施，改進了冗餘和工廠冷卻供應，並更換了冷凝器和各種泵。

In doing so, we significantly improved the efficiency and reliability of production capabilities to further support customer demand long term and extend our planned outage schedule to now be at 24-month intervals.

在這樣做的過程中，我們顯著提高了生產能力的效率和可靠性，以進一步長期支持客戶需求，並將我們計劃的停電時間表延長到現在的 24 個月間隔。

While the decision to schedule the shutdown in Q3 proved correct, the shutdown combined with volatile market conditions negatively impacted revenues and increased operating expenses, resulting in a net loss for the quarter.

雖然在第三季度安排停工的決定被證明是正確的，但停工加上動蕩的市場狀況對收入和運營費用產生了負面影響，導致該季度出現淨虧損。

Still, we generated approximately $3 million of positive EBITDA for the quarter.

儘管如此，我們本季度仍產生了約 300 萬美元的正 EBITDA。

And I'm pleased to further report that the wet mill returned to profitable operations in September.

我很高興地進一步報告，濕磨機在 9 月恢復了盈利運營。

This places us in an improved position to operate more reliably and efficiently, which is integral to meeting the needs of our specialty alcohol and essential ingredient customers.

這使我們處於更可靠和更高效的運營狀態，這對於滿足我們的特種酒精和基本成分客戶的需求是不可或缺的。

We continue to work with existing and new customers to be their certified producer of a growing variety of specialty alcohols that are used in common everyday consumer goods, including vinegars, spirits, mouthwash, cosmetics and cleaning supplies, to name a few.

我們繼續與現有客戶和新客戶合作，成為他們的認證生產商，生產越來越多的特種酒精，這些特種酒精用於常見的日常消費品，包括醋、烈酒、漱口水、化妝品和清潔用品等。

To proactively address our growing customer needs, we've been extending the certifications we obtained at the end of 2020 from our ICP distillery to our Pekin wet mill.

為了主動滿足我們不斷增長的客戶需求，我們一直在將我們在 2020 年底獲得的認證從 ICP 酒廠擴展到我們的北京濕法磨坊。

We expect to complete this effort by the end of the year.

我們希望在今年年底前完成這項工作。

And by doing so, provide unique redundancy across the entire Pekin campus and further surety of quality supply to our customers.

通過這樣做，為整個北京園區提供獨特的冗餘，並進一步保證為我們的客戶提供優質供應。

With regards to specialty alcohol sales in 2022 due to volatile commodity price activity, customers have taken a more measured approach to contracting annual volumes in comparison to prior years, which are normally completed by now.

關於 2022 年由於商品價格波動而導致的特種酒精銷售，與往年相比，客戶採取了更加謹慎的方法來收縮年度銷量，而前幾年通常已經完成。

As a result, we expect negotiations to extend through the remainder of Q4.

因此，我們預計談判將延續到第四季度的剩餘時間。

So while we cannot provide details at this time, we fully expect to contract for more gallons in 2022 than in 2021.

因此，雖然我們目前無法提供詳細信息，但我們完全預計 2022 年的合同量將超過 2021 年。

Turning to our balance sheet.

轉向我們的資產負債表。

As announced on November 8, we completed the sale of our fuel-grade ethanol production facility in Stockton, California to Pelican Acquisition LLC, for $24 million in cash while retaining the economic benefits of servicing regional customer needs using the plant's terminal capabilities and longer term as the exclusive marketer of gallons produced when the facility resumes operations.

正如 11 月 8 日宣布的那樣，我們以 2400 萬美元現金完成了將位於加利福尼亞州斯托克頓的燃料級乙醇生產設施出售給 Pelican Acquisition LLC，同時保留了利用該工廠的終端能力和長期服務滿足區域客戶需求的經濟效益作為設施恢復運營時生產的加侖的獨家營銷商。

This sale removed $600,000 per quarter in negative EBITDA carrying costs, adding to the $400,000 per quarter from our Madera facility sold in the second quarter.

此次出售消除了每季度 600,000 美元的負 EBITDA 持有成本，增加了我們第二季度出售的馬德拉工廠每季度 400,000 美元的成本。

As previously noted, this sale completes the realignment of our fuel-grade ethanol production we began over 21 months ago.

如前所述，此次出售完成了我們在 21 個月前開始的燃料級乙醇生產的重新調整。

The proceeds from our asset sales were integral to our strategy and contributed to the retirement of approximately $150 million in term debt over the same period.

我們的資產出售所得收益是我們戰略不可或缺的一部分，並有助於在同一時期償還約 1.5 億美元的定期債務。

Thus, achieving our stated goal to prepay this expensive and restricted term debt by year-end 2021.

因此，實現我們的既定目標，即在 2021 年底之前預付這筆昂貴且受限制的定期債務。

In doing so, we not only eliminated over $16 million in annual interest expense, but also as importantly, we remove structural and financial impediments that contributed to our past financial challenges.

通過這樣做，我們不僅消除了超過 1600 萬美元的年度利息支出，而且同樣重要的是，我們消除了導致我們過去財務挑戰的結構性和財務障礙。

Today, we will be reinvesting in sustainable and profitable business segments strengthening core operations and further diversifying our product offerings in specialty alcohols and essential ingredients.

今天，我們將重新投資於可持續和盈利的業務領域，以加強核心業務，並進一步豐富我們在特種酒精和基本成分方面的產品供應。

We remain actively engaged with discussions with various parties to develop a carbon capture and sequestration program at our Pekin campus.

我們仍然積極參與與各方的討論，以在我們的北京校區製定碳捕獲和封存計劃。

We look forward to sharing our plans in the coming months as we review, and this is really important to all of our options.

我們期待在未來幾個月內分享我們的計劃，這對我們所有的選擇都非常重要。

This is even more important considering the recent enhancements made to the 45Q tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration in the federal infrastructure bill.

考慮到最近在聯邦基礎設施法案中對碳捕獲和封存的 45Q 稅收抵免進行了增強，這一點更為重要。

In addition to improvements we made to our yeast production, we are pursuing opportunities that expand our yeast product offerings to include higher quality, more versatile products marketable to the food industry.

除了改進我們的酵母生產外，我們還在尋求機會擴大我們的酵母產品供應，以包括適用於食品行業的更高質量、更通用的產品。

Finally, we are actively pursuing opportunities to extend our specialty alcohol business through accretive vertical integration.

最後，我們正在積極尋求機會，通過增值的垂直整合來擴展我們的特種酒精業務。

We look forward to providing additional information as appropriate.

我們期待酌情提供更多信息。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Bryon for a discussion of our financials.

我現在想把電話轉給布賴恩討論我們的財務狀況。

Bryon?

布賴恩？

Thank you, Mike.

謝謝你，邁克。

I'll provide some additional color around our results and metrics for the quarter and provide an update on our expectations on gross profit for the year.

我將圍繞我們本季度的結果和指標提供一些額外的顏色，並提供我們對本年度毛利潤的預期的更新。

For the third quarter of 2021, net sales were $306 million, up from $298 million in the second quarter due to an increase in third-party gallons sold as well as an increase in our average price per gallon sold.

2021 年第三季度的淨銷售額為 3.06 億美元，高於第二季度的 2.98 億美元，原因是第三方加侖銷售量的增加以及我們每加侖銷售的平均價格的增加。

The sequential increase in quarterly sales of third-party gallons was driven by our ability to service customers using our Stockton facility as a terminal at a time when there is a shortage of available storage in the region.

在該地區可用存儲短缺的情況下，我們能夠使用我們的斯托克頓設施作為碼頭為客戶提供服務，這推動了第三方加侖季度銷售額的連續增長。

The average price per gallon of fuel-grade ethanol largely reflects the current high correlation between ethanol and elevated corn prices.

每加侖燃料級乙醇的平均價格很大程度上反映了當前乙醇與玉米價格上漲之間的高度相關性。

We had alcohol sales of $253 million and $53 million in revenue from sales of our essential ingredients.

我們的酒類銷售額為 2.53 億美元，基本成分的銷售收入為 5300 萬美元。

Of the 58 million production gallons sold in the third quarter, 20 million gallons consisted of specialty alcohols, down 4 million gallons sequentially over last year.

在第三季度售出的 5800 萬加侖生產中，有 2000 萬加侖由特種酒精組成，比去年同期減少了 400 萬加侖。

This sequential decline in the production and sale of our specialty alcohol, fuel-grade ethanol gallons and essential ingredients are primarily attributable to the shutdown of our wet mill.

我們的特種酒精、燃料級乙醇加侖和基本成分的生產和銷售連續下降主要是由於我們的濕磨機關閉。

Most of the specialty alcohols sold during the quarter was under fixed price contracts established last fall.

本季度銷售的大部分特種酒精都是根據去年秋天建立的固定價格合同進行的。

While the average price of this contracted volume was lower than current prices, so as the price of corn, which we hedged concurrently locking in positive margins.

雖然該合同量的平均價格低於當前價格，但玉米價格也是如此，我們同時對沖鎖定正利潤率。

Spot sales specialty alcohol during Q3 were at higher prices, but at tighter margins to corn.

第三季度的現貨銷售特種酒精價格較高，但相對於玉米的利潤率較低。

The Q3 year-over-year decline in total specialty alcoholic gallons sold reflects more of the uniqueness of last year's transitory spike in sanitizer and disinfectant demand, obscuring our growth in other specialty alcohol products sold.

第三季度銷售的特種酒精加侖總量同比下降更多地反映了去年消毒劑和消毒劑需求短暫飆升的獨特性，這掩蓋了我們銷售的其他特種酒精產品的增長。

To this point, the comparative Q3 year-over-year decline in sanitizer and disinfectant consumption was partially offset by our increased fixed price contracted specialty alcohol sales last fall and growing specialty alcohol exports.

到目前為止，第三季度消毒劑和消毒劑消費量的同比下降部分被我們去年秋天固定價格合同特種酒精銷售的增加和特種酒精出口的增長所抵消。

While we anticipate continued volatility in sanitizer and disinfected demand over the foreseeable future, we expect a more stable new demand/supply equilibrium will ultimately be achieved as COVID-19 impacts dissipate.

儘管我們預計在可預見的未來，消毒劑和消毒劑的需求將持續波動，但隨著 COVID-19 影響的消散，我們預計最終將實現更穩定的新供需平衡。

We should also note that while demand and prices for a certain essential ingredient products have risen, industry-wide co-product prices, on average, have lagged rising corn prices, resulting in declining co-product returns both sequentially and year-over-year.

我們還應該注意到，雖然某些基本成分產品的需求和價格有所上漲，但整個行業的副產品價格平均滯後於玉米價格的上漲，導致副產品回報率環比下降和同比下降.

We expect Q4 co-product returns to increase with the improvements made at our Pekin campus.

我們預計第四季度聯產品回報將隨著我們北京園區的改進而增加。

Gross loss was $3.4 million, down from $15.2 million of gross profit last quarter due to the wet mill outage and high corn prices and basis.

毛虧損為 340 萬美元，低於上一季度的毛利潤 1520 萬美元，原因是濕磨機停產以及玉米價格和基差高企。

Expanding on this, the onetime EBITDA impact of the wet mill outage, considering both lost revenue and additional repair and maintenance expenses totaled over $7 million.

在此基礎上，考慮到收入損失和額外的維修和維護費用，濕磨機停運對 EBITDA 的一次性影響總計超過 700 萬美元。

Regarding the high cost of procuring corn in Q3 with the solid harvest largely complete, we've seen a decline in both corn prices and basis still at higher prices than historical average.

關於第三季度玉米的高昂採購成本以及基本收割完成的情況，我們看到玉米價格和基差均下跌，價格仍高於歷史平均水平。

SG&A expenses in the quarter was $5.5 million, down significantly from the prior quarter, tracking within our SG&A range of between $27 million and $30 million for the full year of 2021.

本季度的 SG&A 費用為 550 萬美元，比上一季度顯著下降，在我們 2021 年全年 2700 萬美元至 3000 萬美元的 SG&A 範圍內。

Our interest expense in the third quarter was $429,000, 60% lower than the $1 million we paid in Q2 and only approximately 1/10 of what we paid in the same quarter last year as we continue to pay down high interest rate debt.

我們第三季度的利息支出為 429,000 美元，比我們在第二季度支付的 100 萬美元低 60%，僅是我們去年同一季度支付的約 1/10，因為我們繼續償還高利率債務。

And with the proceeds from the sale of our Stockton facility, we have now paid off the outstanding balance of our term debt.

憑藉出售我們斯托克頓設施的收益，我們現在已經償還了我們的定期債務的未償餘額。

During the third quarter, we reported income from loan forgiveness of $6 million which is related to our second and last payroll protection program loan from last year.

在第三季度，我們報告了 600 萬美元的貸款減免收入，這與我們去年的第二次也是最後一次工資保護計劃貸款有關。

Net loss available to common shareholders was $3.5 million or $0.05 per share compared to income of $8.1 million or $0.11 per share -- per diluted share in the second quarter.

普通股股東可獲得的淨虧損為 350 萬美元或每股 0.05 美元，而第二季度每股攤薄收益為 810 萬美元或每股 0.11 美元。

Turning to our balance sheet.

轉向我們的資產負債表。

On September 30, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents were $36 million compared to $50.8 million on June 30, 2021.

2021 年 9 月 30 日，我們的現金和現金等價物為 3600 萬美元，而 2021 年 6 月 30 日為 5080 萬美元。

This $15 million decline in cash reflects our previously announced CapEx projects on which we spent $8 million in the third quarter, and our previously mentioned Pekin repair outage totaled $7 million.

這 1500 萬美元的現金減少反映了我們之前宣布的資本支出項目，我們在第三季度花費了 800 萬美元，而我們之前提到的北京維修中斷總計 700 萬美元。

We expect CapEx to range between $7 million and $10 million in the fourth quarter.

我們預計第四季度的資本支出將在 700 萬美元至 1000 萬美元之間。

With future opportunities and CapEx projects anticipated, we expect to secure some rational level of debt to finance these projects.

隨著對未來機會和資本支出項目的預期，我們預計將獲得一定程度的合理債務來為這些項目融資。

In addition, we plan to further optimize our asset base line of credit to eliminate restrictions from future enterprise-level cash allocations.

此外，我們計劃進一步優化我們的資產信貸額度，以消除未來企業級現金分配的限制。

Having deleveraged our balance sheet of high-cost debt, implemented operational improvements at our facilities and expanded our addressable markets with a diversified product portfolio.

我們對高成本債務的資產負債表進行了去槓桿化，在我們的設施中實施了運營改進，並通過多樣化的產品組合擴大了我們的目標市場。

Today, we have access to the most attractive debt finance options to support our liquidity needs than any time in our history.

今天，我們比歷史上任何時候都可以獲得最有吸引力的債務融資方案來支持我們的流動性需求。

Before I turn the call back to Mike, I'd like to provide an update on our financial guidance for the full year 2021.

在我將電話轉回邁克之前，我想提供有關我們 2021 年全年財務指導的最新信息。

Now that we have sufficient visibility around our financial performance and expectations, we are comfortable providing full year 2021 gross profit guidance on a consolidated company basis.

既然我們對財務業績和預期有足夠的了解，我們很樂意在合併公司的基礎上提供 2021 年全年毛利潤指導。

We conservatively expect Alto's gross profit to be a minimum, $40 million, excluding any impact from derivatives in the fourth quarter.

我們保守地預計奧拓的毛利潤至少為 4000 萬美元，不包括第四季度衍生品的任何影響。

This increase from 9-month consolidated gross profit of $25 million considers many variables and their impact on gross profit from our contracted specialty alcohols, including high volatile -- excuse me, highly volatile commodity prices, abnormally high logistical costs, including corn basis, the shutdown of the wet mill and the recent improvements in ethanol margins.

9 個月合併毛利潤 2500 萬美元的增長考慮了許多變量及其對我們簽約的特種酒精毛利潤的影響，包括高波動性——對不起，商品價格高波動性，物流成本異常高，包括玉米基，濕磨機的關閉以及乙醇利潤率的近期改善。

Given the unusually positive short-term spreads in ethanol and corn we begun to -- we began locking in the margin on our fuel-grade production through year-end.

鑑於乙醇和玉米的短期利差異常積極，我們開始在年底之前鎖定燃料級生產的利潤率。

And given the volatility we've experienced this year in commodity markets and our expectations that this will continue, if not increase.

鑑於我們今年在大宗商品市場經歷的波動，以及我們預計這種情況將繼續下去，如果不是增加的話。

We've secured our utility costs for the next 12 months and other variable input costs, including corn through at least Q1 next year to mitigate these risks.

我們已經確保了未來 12 個月的公用事業成本和其他可變投入成本，包括至少到明年第一季度的玉米，以減輕這些風險。

Mike, back to you.

邁克，回到你身邊。

Thank you, Bryon.

謝謝你，布賴恩。

To close out my prepared remarks, I'd like to summarize the projects we are on track to complete this year that will increase our EBITDA starting in 2022.

為了結束我準備好的評論，我想總結一下我們今年有望完成的項目，這些項目將從 2022 年開始增加我們的 EBITDA。

First, our yeast facility and Pekin dryer upgrade should both contribute approximately $5 million in EBITDA annually.

首先，我們的酵母設施和北京烘乾機升級每年都應貢獻約 500 萬美元的 EBITDA。

Second, our expanded annual corn oil production capacity at the Pekin site will contribute an estimated $4.5 million.

其次，我們在北京工廠擴大的玉米油年產能估計將貢獻 450 萬美元。

Third, we removed over $4 million in negative EBITDA carrying costs from our sold facilities.

第三，我們從已售設施中消除了超過 400 萬美元的負 EBITDA 持有成本。

And fourth, our CoPromax project should contribute approximately $9 million of EBITDA annually.

第四，我們的 CoPromax 項目每年應貢獻約 900 萬美元的 EBITDA。

As we are bringing the project online, we would expect $5 million of EBITDA in 2022 and $9 million annually in 2023 and beyond.

隨著我們將該項目上線，我們預計 2022 年 EBITDA 為 500 萬美元，2023 年及以後每年為 900 萬美元。

In aggregate, these improvements alone in 2022 totaled $18.5 million in additional EBITDA compared to 2021.

總的來說，與 2021 年相比，僅 2022 年的這些改進就增加了 1850 萬美元的 EBITDA。

Building on completion of the CoPromax system in Idaho and an accelerated rollout to the remaining 3 mills, we could see an additional $34 million in EBITDA growth in 2023, 2024.

在愛達荷州完成 CoPromax 系統並加速向其餘 3 家工廠推出的基礎上，我們可以看到 2023 年和 2024 年的 EBITDA 額外增長 3400 萬美元。

Add to this, the other opportunities, such as vertical integration, carbon sequestration and other high-value projects under development.

除此之外，還有其他機會，例如垂直整合、碳封存和其他正在開發的高價值項目。

You can see why we're excited and energized about the transformation we've made to date and the future for the company.

您可以看到為什麼我們對我們迄今為止所做的轉型以及公司的未來感到興奮和充滿活力。

Operator, we are now ready for Q&A.

接線員，我們現在準備好進行問答了。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Eric Stine from 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。

Maybe first on our end.

也許首先在我們這邊。

Can you just -- you talked a little bit about it, but can you elaborate on just how you're seeing the supply/demand imbalance at the current time and how you see that normalizing over the next few quarters?

你能不能 - 你談了一點，但你能詳細說明你如何看待當前的供需失衡以及你如何看待未來幾個季度的正常化嗎？

Sure.

當然。

I think it's largely driven, Aaron, at this point, first and foremost, by the export markets and the export demand.

亞倫，我認為這在很大程度上是由出口市場和出口需求驅動的。

And then logistical constraints are certainly having an impact on the ability to distribute a product, you're talking particularly about fuel ethanol margins?

然後物流限制肯定會對產品分銷能力產生影響，您是在談論燃料乙醇的利潤嗎？

No.

不。

Actually, I'm sorry, Bryon.

事實上，我很抱歉，布賴恩。

I was talking about more on the high-grade alcohols.

我在談論更多關於高級酒精的內容。

I mean you talked a little bit about exports there, too, but just coming out of COVID, we've seen demand spike, supply increase, but is that starting to abate?

我的意思是你也談到了那裡的出口，但剛剛走出 COVID，我們看到需求激增，供應增加，但這種情況是否開始減弱？

It seems like the industry is still an oversupply.

看來這個行業仍然供過於求。

So just -- you talked about that normalizing but can you just elaborate a little further on that, please?

所以只是 - 你談到了正常化，但你能詳細說明一下嗎？

Sure.

當然。

So as Mike pointed out, we're still in deep in negotiations and contractual volume, and we expect that to carry through to year-end, given the people, the late harvest and a lot of the volatility around commodities.

因此，正如邁克所指出的，我們仍在深入談判和合同量，我們預計這將持續到年底，考慮到人們、晚收和商品周圍的大量波動。

So it's still difficult to provide any additional color at this point.

所以在這一點上仍然很難提供任何額外的顏色。

But what we would say generally is, again, we expect to be able to place more of our product.

但我們通常會說的是，我們希望能夠放置更多我們的產品。

That's our goal.

這就是我們的目標。

But we also view this as a long ball or a long strategy in the sense of being able to place more product and being able to place it at higher values and into higher-value products.

但我們也將其視為一個長期戰略或長期戰略，即能夠放置更多產品並能夠將其置於更高價值和更高價值的產品中。

That being said, we do expect to see, there is additional supply.

話雖如此，我們確實希望看到有額外的供應。

I mean we're certainly contributing to that.

我的意思是我們肯定會為此做出貢獻。

We went from effectively 1.5 years ago, something like 60 million, 70 million gallons and now 140 million gallons in potential production capacity.

我們實際上從 1.5 年前開始，大約有 6000 萬、7000 萬加侖，現在有 1.4 億加侖的潛在生產能力。

So the market has got to be able to absorb that.

所以市場必須能夠吸收這一點。

And I think it's the goal of not only ourselves but everyone else to make sure that we're not cannibalizing our existing services and products.

而且我認為這不僅是我們自己的目標，也是其他所有人的目標，以確保我們不會蠶食我們現有的服務和產品。

All right.

好的。

And then you mentioned a little bit on carbon capture.

然後你提到了一點關於碳捕獲的內容。

Can you just provide an update on the opportunity there, obviously, seeing increasing activity what are the next steps?

您能否提供有關那裡機會的最新信息，顯然，看到越來越多的活動，下一步是什麼？

And can you kind of frame at a high level, just the opportunity and potential contribution there?

你能在高水平上建立一個框架，只是那裡的機會和潛在貢獻嗎？

And then maybe just discuss a little bit of the impact from the recent and proposed legislation?

然後也許只是討論一下最近和擬議立法的影響？

Yes, let me -- I'll give you a little bit of color and then Mike fill in if I miss anything.

是的，讓我——我會給你一點顏色，然後如果我錯過了什麼，邁克會補充。

Sure.

當然。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

So as you think about for -- a couple of things.

因此，當您考慮 - 幾件事時。

One is that with the latest infrastructure bill, we're seeing a lot of -- we've seen some significant benefits -- or expect to see significant benefits from that.

一是通過最新的基礎設施法案，我們看到了很多——我們已經看到了一些顯著的好處——或者期望從中看到顯著的好處。

Really, it manifests itself in a couple of forms.

實際上，它以幾種形式表現出來。

One is the 45Q program is -- would boost or the increase per -- paying the tax credit available on a per metric ton basis of CO2 would increase from $50 per gallon -- or $50 per metric ton to $85 per metric ton.

一個是 45Q 計劃 - 將增加或增加 - 支付每公噸二氧化碳可用的稅收抵免將從每加侖 50 美元 - 或每公噸 50 美元增加到每公噸 85 美元。

That will be eligible and available beginning at the time of completion for 12 years from the time that begin to claim the credit.

從開始申請抵免額之日起的 12 年內，這將在完成時開始符合條件且可用。

And also, they've introduced direct pay, so rather than having to go through and find and potentially have to pay for a significant -- pay a significant fee to parties that would be able to monetize that tax credit.

而且，他們引入了直接支付，因此不必通過尋找並可能不得不支付大量費用 - 向能夠通過稅收抵免貨幣化的各方支付大量費用。

That means more of the economic share is retained within the structure.

這意味著更多的經濟份額保留在結構中。

The positive thing for us is that we're in development -- or we're in discussion with multiple parties and really just exploring kind of the full array of options, everything from handling it and doing it on our own and internalizing all -- as much of that value as possible to effectively selling it at the fence line.

對我們來說，積極的事情是我們正在開發中——或者我們正在與多方討論，實際上只是在探索各種選擇，從處理它到自己做，再到內化——盡可能多的價值，以便在圍欄線上有效地出售它。

And really, it's just about being efficient and allocating risk amongst those parties who can best absorb those risks efficiently and effectively at a low cost.

實際上，這只是提高效率並在能夠以低成本有效吸收這些風險的各方之間分配風險。

So more to come on that.

所以還有更多的事情要做。

Mike, anything you want to add?

邁克，你想補充什麼嗎？

Yes.

是的。

The only thing I would add, Aaron, is we've said before that we sit right on top of some great geology for carbon sequestration.

亞倫，我唯一要補充的是，我們之前已經說過，我們正處於碳封存的一些偉大地質之上。

And because of that, we do have a lot of options, a lot of folks we've talked to.

正因為如此，我們確實有很多選擇，我們已經和很多人交談過。

Understanding what the infrastructure bill, how things have changed, as Bryon described, we want to be very thoughtful in the way we approach this.

正如布賴恩所描述的，了解基礎設施法案的內容，事情發生了怎樣的變化，我們希望在處理這個問題的方式上非常周到。

And we want to be able to maximize value for the shareholders and profitability for the company when we do this.

當我們這樣做時，我們希望能夠為股東和公司的盈利能力最大化。

And again, it runs the gamut.

再一次，它運行的範圍很廣。

It runs a gamut from contracting with somebody to do it on your own or to hand it off the defense line.

從與某人簽約以自己完成或將其移交給防線，它的範圍很廣。

And Again, good news is we are talking to folks.

同樣，好消息是我們正在與人們交談。

And as soon as we have reached a conclusion on what is the best opportunity for us, we'll certainly inform everyone.

一旦我們就什麼是對我們來說最好的機會得出結論，我們一定會通知所有人。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from Amit Dayal from H.C. Wainwright.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 H.C. 的 Amit Dayal。溫賴特。

Bryon, you mentioned the revised gross profit guidance for the year, $40 million as a minimum.

布賴恩，你提到了修訂後的年度毛利潤指引，至少 4000 萬美元。

How much high could this be if things move favorably for you in the quarter?

如果本季度情況對您有利，這可能會高多少？

Yes, it's a great question.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。

It's a bit difficult to peg because there's -- clearly, this is a -- you're seeing some of the best fuel margins at the moment that we've seen in a very long time, probably since 2014 as an industry, and those are significant, and we remain optimistic.

這有點難以確定，因為有——很明顯，這是一個——你現在看到了一些我們在很長一段時間內看到的最好的燃料利潤率，可能自 2014 年作為一個行業以來，以及那些意義重大，我們保持樂觀。

At the same time, there are things that -- to some degree, those margins have a long way to go to make up for what has been largely a pretty abysmal margin structure in the fuel ethanol business for the last 6 to 8 months, particularly as bad as they were in the beginning of the first quarter.

同時，在某種程度上，這些利潤率還有很長的路要走，以彌補過去 6 到 8 個月燃料乙醇業務中相當糟糕的利潤率結構，尤其是就像他們在第一季度開始時一樣糟糕。

The other challenges that clearly, you saw and you can see in our results for Q3 was not only do we have the wet mill, the costs associated with that, that impacted both revenue and additional cost of goods sold.

您清楚地看到並且您可以在我們的第三季度業績中看到的其他挑戰不僅是我們擁有濕磨機，與此相關的成本影響了收入和銷售商品的額外成本。

And -- but additionally, just the corn basis alone, I mean, normally, we would see in a normalized market, the basis that we pay in Pekin is basically at par and sometimes negative in relation to Chicago.

而且 - 但此外，僅玉米基差，我的意思是，通常，我們會在正常化市場中看到，我們在北京支付的基差基本上與芝加哥相同，有時甚至為負。

So minus $0.03, minus $0.05, and you were looking at it well over $1, $1.5 at some point in that market.

所以減去 0.03 美元，減去 0.05 美元，你在那個市場的某個時候看到它遠遠超過 1 美元，1.5 美元。

So you can see that kind of impact.

所以你可以看到這種影響。

So while you saw some moderation in corn prices and they kind of came off a little bit in the Q3, what you weren't seeing was that the basis was really all the work, and you couldn't lock it in.

因此，儘管您看到玉米價格有所放緩，並且在第三季度略有回落，但您沒有看到的是基礎確實是所有工作，您無法鎖定它。

It just wasn't available, so you're really paying, having to pay spot prices on the basis.

它只是不可用，所以你真的付出了，不得不支付現貨價格的基礎。

So not to beat around the bush too much, but we are optimistic about the number, the $40 million, the minimum.

所以不要過分拐彎抹角，但我們對這個數字持樂觀態度，至少 4000 萬美元。

But I'm allowed to peg the upside on this, but it's a significant step-up even to the $40 million from what was -- what we've been able to generate today is $25 million.

但是我被允許將其看好，但這甚至比以前的 4000 萬美元——我們今天能夠產生的 2500 萬美元——有了很大的進步。

Understood.

明白了。

And Mike, you mentioned potential of $40 million EBITDA improvements from protein production in the 4 dry mills.

邁克，你提到了 4 家乾磨機的蛋白質生產可能帶來 4000 萬美元的 EBITDA 改善。

Is this on top of the $18.5 million that you might see from the improvements you've already made?

這是在您已經做出的改進中可能看到的 1850 萬美元之上嗎？

Yes, it would be in addition to what we reported and the $18.5 million was just $5 million in 2022 because we will be installing the system during the first half of 2022.

是的，這將是我們報告的內容的補充，而 2022 年的 1850 萬美元僅為 500 萬美元，因為我們將在 2022 年上半年安裝該系統。

So the $9 million benefit at Magic Valley, we -- in the $18.5 million, we counted $5 million in there.

所以魔術谷的 900 萬美元收益，我們 - 在 1850 萬美元中，我們計算了 500 萬美元。

We think that's what the EBITDA contribution will be in 2022.

我們認為這就是 2022 年 EBITDA 的貢獻。

When all 4 dry mills are up and running, it will be a total of $40 million.

當所有 4 個乾磨機都啟動並運行時，總價值將達到 4000 萬美元。

So incremental $35 million from the 2022 number and what's included in the $18.5 million.

因此，從 2022 年的數字和 1850 萬美元的數字中增加了 3500 萬美元。

Okay.

好的。

Understood.

明白了。

And now with sort of the balance sheet in a much stronger position, no debt.

現在資產負債表處於更強勁的位置，沒有債務。

You've indicated potential acquisitions or interest in acquisitions previously.

您之前曾表示潛在的收購或收購的興趣。

Is that something that could come into play for you as you look to continue to diversify your end markets and create a more wider product portfolio?

當您希望繼續使您的終端市場多樣化並創建更廣泛的產品組合時，這是否會對您產生影響？

Yes, absolutely.

是的，一點沒錯。

And I think we indicated even in prior calls that vertical integration, we ship primarily in bulk and the ability to go to smaller packaging, containerization, totes, drums could be -- is something that we're looking at.

而且我認為我們甚至在之前的電話中也表示，垂直整合，我們主要是散裝發貨，並且能夠進行更小的包裝、集裝箱化、手提袋、桶裝可能是我們正在考慮的事情。

We think that's a value-added part of what we need to be doing longer term.

我們認為這是我們需要做的長期工作的增值部分。

So you can either do that through acquisition or you can do that through building it yourself.

因此，您可以通過收購來做到這一點，也可以通過自己構建來做到這一點。

And so we're looking at all those possibilities, but there are other things to enhance the specialty alcohol space that we're looking at.

因此，我們正在研究所有這些可能性，但還有其他事情可以增強我們正在研究的特種酒精空間。

I mentioned the -- having the redundancy at our location because we have multiple plants on the same site that can produce high-quality alcohol.

我提到了——在我們的地點有冗餘，因為我們在同一個地點有多個工廠可以生產高質量的酒精。

It was important that we had certifications across the entire spectrum of the Pekin campus, and we'll have that complete by year-end.

重要的是，我們在北京校區的整個範圍內都獲得了認證，我們將在年底前完成。

That's another way to enhance our specialty alcohol portfolio.

這是增強我們的特種酒精產品組合的另一種方式。

And I am showing no further questions.

我沒有再提出任何問題。

I would now like to turn the call back to Mike Kandris for closing remarks.

我現在想把電話轉回給 Mike Kandris 做結束語。

Thank you, Justin.

謝謝你，賈斯汀。

Thank you again for joining us today and for your ongoing support.

再次感謝您今天加入我們以及您一直以來的支持。

As you can tell, we are excited about the progress we have made and the bright future we have ahead of us.

如您所知，我們對我們取得的進展和我們面前的光明未來感到興奮。

We will be attending virtually the upcoming Craig-Hallum Alpha Select Conference on November 16 and look forward to continuing our dialogue with you as we make further progress.

我們將在 11 月 16 日幾乎參加即將舉行的 Craig-Hallum Alpha Select 會議，並期待在我們取得進一步進展的同時繼續與您對話。

Thank you, and have a good afternoon.

謝謝，祝您下午愉快。

This concludes today's conference call.

今天的電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。