Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Alto Ingredients Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Alto Ingredients 2023 年第三季財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Kirsten Chapman, LHA Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給 LHA 投資者關係部門的 Kirsten Chapman。請繼續。

Thank you, Betsy, and thank you all for joining us today for the Alto Ingredients Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. On the call today are President and CEO, Bryon McGregor; and CFO, Rob Olander.

謝謝 Betsy，也謝謝大家今天參加我們的 Alto Ingredients 2023 年第三季業績電話會議。今天參加電話會議的是總裁兼執行長布萊恩·麥格雷戈 (Bryon McGregor)；財務長羅布‧奧蘭德 (Rob Olander)。

Alto Ingredients issued a press release after the market closed today, providing the details of the company's financial results. The company has also prepared a presentation for today's call that is available on the company's website at altoingredients.com. A telephone replay of today's call will be available through November 13, the details of which are included in today's press release. A webcast will also be available at Alto Ingredients website.

Alto Ingredients 在今天收盤後發布了一份新聞稿，提供了公司財務表現的詳細資訊。該公司還為今天的電話會議準備了演示文稿，可在公司網站 altoingredients.com 上查看。今天的電話會議的電話重播將持續到 11 月 13 日，詳細資訊包含在今天的新聞稿中。 Alto Ingredients 網站也將提供網路廣播。

Please note that the information on this call speaks only as of today, November 6. You are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay. 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 and conference call constitute forward-looking statements and considerations that involve risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Alto Ingredients could differ materially from those statements.

請注意，本次電話會議中的資訊僅截至今天（11 月 6 日）。請注意，時間敏感的資訊在重播時可能不再準確。請參閱線上簡報投影片 2 上該公司的安全港聲明，該聲明指出，本簡報和電話會議中的一些評論構成涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性聲明和考慮因素。 Alto Ingredients 未來的實際結果可能與這些聲明有重大差異。

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

可能導致或促成此類差異的因素包括但不限於 Alto Ingredients 先前向 SEC 提交的文件中不時揭露的事件、風險和其他因素。除適用法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

In management's prepared remarks, non-GAAP measures will be referenced. 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 reported. The company defines adjusted EBITDA as unaudited net income or loss before interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, asset impairment, loss on extinguishment of debt, acquisition-related expense, fair value adjustments and depreciation and amortization expense. To support the company's review of non-GAAP information, a reconciling table is included in today's press release.

在管理階層準備好的評論中，將引用非公認會計原則措施。管理層使用這些非公認會計準則衡量標準來監控營運的財務業績，並相信這些衡量標準將有助於投資者評估公司在報告期間的業績。該公司將調整後的EBITDA 定義為未審計的扣除利息費用、利息收入、所得稅撥備、資產減值、債務清償損失、收購相關費用、公允價值調整以及折舊和攤銷費用之前的淨收入或損失。為了支持公司對非公認會計準則資訊的審查，今天的新聞稿中包含了一個調節表。

On today's call, Bryon will provide a strategic plan and activities review, and Rob will comment on our financial results. Then Bryon will wrap up and open the call for Q&A.

在今天的電話會議上，布萊恩將提供策略計劃和活動審查，羅布將評論我們的財務表現。然後布萊恩將結束並開始問答環節。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Bryon McGregor. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我很高興向大家介紹布萊恩·麥格雷戈。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Kirsten. Thank you all for joining us today. As the new CEO, I've spent the last 90 days on the road meeting with customers, investors and the dedicated teams of our facilities. I've been listening, learning and collaborating to reinforce our continued mission: to profitably provide ingredients that make everyday life better.

謝謝你，克爾斯滕。感謝大家今天加入我們。作為新任首席執行官，我在過去 90 天裡一直在與客戶、投資者和我們工廠的專業團隊會面。我一直在傾聽、學習和合作，以強化我們持續的使命：以有利可圖的方式提供讓日常生活變得更美好的原料。

I'm proud of our talented team and our overall accomplishments to date. We continue to successfully transform our company from a supplier of low-margin commodities to a provider of high-margin differentiated specialty alcohols and essential ingredients in consumer, pharmaceutical, food, beverage and industrial products. This strategic realignment has greatly improved our financial profile over the past 3 years. We continue to make good progress, although we are subject to intermittent operational and commodity market challenges.

我為我們才華橫溢的團隊和迄今為止的整體成就感到自豪。我們繼續成功地將公司從低利潤商品供應商轉變為高利潤差異化特種酒精以及消費品、藥品、食品、飲料和工業產品必需成分的供應商。過去三年來，這項策略調整大大改善了我們的財務狀況。儘管我們面臨間歇性的營運和商品市場挑戰，但我們繼續取得良好進展。

Q3 2023 results reflected positive contribution from improved ethanol crush margins, particularly in September, as corn basis declined as the harvest commenced. However, unusually high unscheduled downtime lowered our anticipated production volumes and shifted our mix towards lower-margin products. Combined with higher repair and maintenance costs, we did not generate the results we anticipated.

2023 年第三季的業績反映了乙醇壓榨利潤率改善的積極貢獻，特別是在 9 月份，因為玉米基差隨著收穫開始而下降。然而，異常高的非計劃性停機降低了我們的預期產量，並將我們的產品組合轉向利潤率較低的產品。再加上更高的維修和維護成本，我們沒有達到預期的結果。

Despite these operational challenges, we delivered positive adjusted EBITDA in Q3 2023 and a significant improvement over Q3 2022. We expect the extensive repairs and maintenance work completed during the quarter to benefit future periods' uptime and reliability going forward. Rob will provide greater detail in a few minutes.

儘管存在這些營運挑戰，我們在2023 年第三季實現了正調整後的EBITDA，並且比2022 年第三季有了顯著改善。我們預計本季完成的大量維修和維護工作將有利於未來時期的正常運作時間和可靠性。羅布將在幾分鐘內提供更多詳細資訊。

First, I'll review our various initiatives. In early 2023, we outlined our revenue-enhancing and cost-reducing capital initiatives. Each project has a different time line, return on investment and risk profile. As such, we've intentionally evaluated and prioritized funding needs and options for each project separately with the overarching goal of remaining fiscally responsible.

首先，我將回顧我們的各種措施。 2023 年初，我們概述了增加收入和降低成本的資本計劃。每個項目都有不同的時間表、投資回報和風險狀況。因此，我們有意識地分別評估每個項目的資金需求和選項並確定其優先順序，其總體目標是保持財務責任。

We have already completed several of our short-term projects. These include expanding our high-quality alcohol products, installing additional corn storage capacity and replacing boiler equipment at our Pekin site along with other various upgrades in our plant systems.

我們已經完成了幾個短期專案。其中包括擴大我們的高品質酒精產品、安裝額外的玉米儲存容量、更換北京工廠的鍋爐設備以及我們工廠系統的其他各種升級。

For our more capital-intensive projects, we have engaged experts, third-party front-end engineering and design firms, or FEED firms, to conduct deeper analyses on scope, timing and cost. These projects include primary yeast; carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS; natural gas pipeline; cogeneration and biogas conversion capabilities.

對於資本密集項目，我們聘請了專家、第三方前端工程和設計公司或FEED公司，對範圍、時間表和成本進行更深入的分析。這些項目包括初級酵母；碳捕獲和封存，或 CCS；天然氣管道；熱電聯產和沼氣轉化能力。

Here are a few material updates. Beginning with our specialty alcohol sales, our 2024 contracting season is going well. We are on pace to exceed 2023 delivered gallons at premiums to fuel-grade ethanol. As mentioned previously, our goal is to move up the value chain and capture a larger share of the beverage-grade market, where our high quality, low moisture and location differentiations create competitive advantages.

以下是一些材料更新。從我們的特種酒精銷售開始，我們 2024 年的合約季節進展順利。我們預計在 2023 年以高於燃料級乙醇的價格交付加侖數。如前所述，我們的目標是向價值鏈上游邁進並佔領飲料級市場的更大份額，我們的高品質、低水分和位置差異化在該市場創造了競爭優勢。

Regarding Magic Valley, we continue to line out this facility to achieve the performance guarantees of the installed high-protein and corn oil technology. While this process has taken longer than we anticipated, we remain resolute in our efforts to improve the consistency of the facility's product output and optimize the plant's production.

關於魔谷，我們繼續對該設施進行規劃，以實現已安裝的高蛋白和玉米油技術的性能保證。儘管這個過程花費的時間比我們預期的要長，但我們仍然堅定地努力提高工廠產品輸出的一致性並優化工廠的生產。

We continue to evaluate the rollout of the high-protein and corn oil technology at our other locations. In the interim, we have achieved comparable improvements in corn oil yield at our Pekin dry mill through process optimization unique to its ICM design.

我們繼續評估在其他地點推廣高蛋白和玉米油技術的情況。在此期間，我們透過 ICM 設計獨特的製程優化，在北京乾磨機上實現了玉米油產量的可比提高。

Regarding primary yeast, we have just received preliminary results from our FEED study. While the findings are promising, inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints have materially impacted the installation cost with increases of over 70% from our original estimate and extended our construction period from 18 to 27 months.

關於初級酵母，我們剛收到 FEED 研究的初步結果。雖然研究結果令人鼓舞，但通膨壓力和供應鏈限制對安裝成本產生了重大影響，比我們最初的估計增加了 70% 以上，並將我們的施工週期從 18 個月延長到 27 個月。

As a partial offset to this change, the anticipated operational costs have declined and the market price for primary yeast has improved. In short, we are evaluating this project and exploring funding alternatives to make this unique opportunity a reality.

作為這項變化的部分抵消，預期營運成本有所下降，初級酵母的市場價格有所提高。簡而言之，我們正在評估該項目並探索融資替代方案，以使這一獨特的機會成為現實。

Considering these results, we are critically reviewing all our projects to better ensure that the construction costs reflect current market conditions. We remain fiscally vigilant given the current challenging capital market environment and are giving priority to those projects with sustainable long-term profitability.

考慮到這些結果，我們正在嚴格審查所有項目，以更好地確保建築成本反映當前的市場狀況。鑑於當前充滿挑戰的資本市場環境，我們在財務上保持警惕，並優先考慮那些具有可持續長期盈利能力的項目。

As previously reported, we completed the installation of our new grain silo in the second quarter of 2023. We have seen the benefit of this expanded capacity and reduced costs for delivered corn and lower operating costs through more timely silo clean-outs. We expect the added capacity to further benefit operations this winter.

如同先前報導的，我們在 2023 年第二季完成了新穀物筒倉的安裝。我們已經看到了容量擴大、玉米交付成本降低以及透過更及時的筒倉清理降低營運成本的好處。我們預計新增產能將進一步有利於今年冬季的營運。

Regarding the natural gas pipeline and cogeneration capabilities, we are now negotiating engineering, procurement and construction contracts. We continue to make progress on our carbon capture and sequestration project. With our development partner, we are designing an Alto-dedicated pipeline and sequestration system located within a relatively short distance of our facility, materially reducing installation costs and decreasing external risks.

關於天然氣管道和熱電聯產能力，我們現在正在談判工程、採購和施工合約。我們的碳捕獲和封存專案持續取得進展。我們正在與我們的開發合作夥伴一起設計一個 Alto 專用管道和封存系統，該系統位於距我們設施相對較短的距離內，從而大大降低了安裝成本並降低了外部風險。

Based on the current economic environment, the preliminary FEED study findings and changing capital requirements, we have extended our EBITDA expansion goals by 6 to 12 months. We are now targeting to increase annual adjusted EBITDA incrementally by over $65 million by the middle of 2026 with the completion of our near-term projects and by approximately $125 million by year-end 2027 when our yeast, CCS and other long-term initiatives are fully realized.

根據當前的經濟環境、初步 FEED 研究結果和不斷變化的資本需求，我們將 EBITDA 擴張目標延長了 6 至 12 個月。我們現在的目標是，隨著近期專案的完成，到2026 年年中，將年度調整後EBITDA 增加超過6,500 萬美元；到2027 年底，當我們的酵母、CCS 和其他長期計劃完成時，將年度調整後EBITDA 增加約1.25 億美元。完全實現了。

Before I turn the call to Rob, I'll mention that we remain steadfast in our sustainability efforts to be a good community steward while addressing our customers' current and future needs. This quarter, our Pekin facility earned Safe Food/Safe Feed, another third-party product safety certification, for our corn meal and germ products, further differentiating our products and services. We plan to publish our sustainability report publicly by year-end and look forward to providing key disclosures in this format on an annual basis.

在打電話給 Rob 之前，我要提到的是，我們將堅定不移地致力於永續發展，成為優秀的社群管理者，同時滿足客戶當前和未來的需求。本季度，我們的北京工廠的玉米粉和胚芽產品獲得了安全食品/安全飼料，這是另一項第三方產品安全認證，進一步使我們的產品和服務脫穎而出。我們計劃在年底前公開發布永續發展報告，並期待每年以這種格式提供關鍵揭露資訊。

Now I'll turn the call to our CFO, Rob Olander.

現在我將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Rob Olander。

Thanks, Bryon. Due to strong crush margins, our third quarter gross profit improved over the same period in 2022. However, there were several factors that substantially tempered results in the current period. Corn basis levels increased by $0.31 compared to Q2 2023, illustrating a sharp increase sequentially and by $0.03 compared to Q3 2022, demonstrating a similar supply and demand profile as last year.

謝謝，布萊恩。由於壓榨利潤強勁，我們第三季的毛利較 2022 年同期有所改善。然而，有幾個因素嚴重影響了本期業績。與 2023 年第二季度相比，玉米基差水平增加了 0.31 美元，表明環比大幅增加；與 2022 年第三季度相比，玉米基差水平增加了 0.03 美元，表明供需狀況與去年相似。

In addition, as Bryon noted, we incurred significant increases in unexpected repair and maintenance costs. The associated downtime reduced anticipated production volumes. This adversely impacted our hedging strategy to lock in favorable market crush spreads, which resulted in derivative losses of $3.7 million and shifted our product mix to more wet ingredients that carry lower margins.

此外，正如布萊恩所指出的，我們的意外維修和維護成本大幅增加。相關的停機時間減少了預期產量。這對我們鎖定有利的市場壓榨價差的對沖策略產生了不利影響，導致衍生性商品損失 370 萬美元，並將我們的產品組合轉向利潤率較低的濕原料。

Year-to-date, our specialty alcohol sales were impacted by lower consumer demand. We are working with our customers to roll a portion of the 2023 contracted volume commitments into 2024. As such, sales and profitability were lower than expected for the third quarter. Additionally, we incurred higher feasibility and legal costs associated with our strategic capital projects.

今年迄今為止，我們的特種酒精銷售受到消費者需求下降的影響。我們正在與客戶合作，將 2023 年合約銷售承諾的一部分推遲到 2024 年。因此，第三季的銷售額和獲利能力低於預期。此外，我們也因策略資本項目而產生了更高的可行性和法律成本。

On the positive side, during the third quarter, we received an additional $2.8 million cash grant as the USDA closed out the Biofuel Producer Program. Adjusted EBITDA was positive $4.7 million for the third quarter compared to negative $20.6 million for the same period in 2022.

從積極的一面來看，第三季度，隨著美國農業部結束生物燃料生產商計劃，我們額外獲得了 280 萬美元的現金補助。第三季調整後 EBITDA 為正 470 萬美元，而 2022 年同期為負 2,060 萬美元。

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter. Although crush margins remain positive currently, we will refrain from providing projections for several reasons. First, during Q4, customer commitments are not solely based on market demand, rather they are reflective of buyers managing their fuel-grade inventory balances with the goal of minimizing inventory levels by year-end.

展望第四季。儘管目前壓榨利潤仍然為正，但出於多種原因，我們將不提供預測。首先，在第四季度，客戶承諾不僅僅基於市場需求，而是反映了買家管理其燃料級庫存餘額的目標，目標是到年底最大限度地降低庫存水準。

Second, winter buying patterns tend to start the day after Thanksgiving and typically demonstrate a deep decline in volumes from Q3. Third, with an intention to take advantage of higher crush margins in Q3, we postponed our planned winter facility outages until October.

其次，冬季購買模式往往在感恩節後的第二天開始，通常表現出銷量較第三季大幅下降。第三，為了利用第三季更高的壓榨利潤，我們將計畫的冬季設施停駛延後到十月。

Fourth, as we fill our fixed priced specialty alcohol sales booked for the entirety of 2024, we are also building our hedge portfolio. The derivatives we used to preserve the margin on these sales don't qualify for hedge accounting treatment, and the quarterly results can be materially impacted by mark-to-market unrealized gains and/or losses depending on commodity price lengths.

第四，當我們完成 2024 年全年的固定價格特種酒精銷售時，我們也在建立我們的對沖投資組合。我們用來保留這些銷售利潤的衍生品不符合對沖會計處理的條件，並且季度業績可能會受到按市值計價的未實現收益和/或損失的重大影響，具體取決於商品價格的長短。

In summary, we faced unique factors in Q4 that cannot be forecasted with confidence. Therefore, it would be improperly speculative to guide investors towards a particular expectation in this regard.

總而言之，我們在第四季面臨著無法自信預測的獨特因素。因此，引導投資者在這方面做出特定預期是不恰當的投機行為。

With the goal of improving our facilities for the long haul, in the second half of 2023, we have undertaken numerous repair and maintenance projects, which have bettered our position heading into 2024.

為了長期改善我們的設施，我們在 2023 年下半年開展了許多維修和保養項目，這提高了我們在 2024 年的地位。

Regarding liquidity. During the third quarter, cash flow from operations was $23 million. Our quarterly capital spend was $7 million, bringing our year-to-date investment in our plants to $25 million. As of September 30, 2023, our cash balance was $26 million, and our total loan borrowing availability was $118 million to support business operations and growth initiatives. Our borrowing availability includes $53 million under our operating line of credit, $40 million under our term loan facility and an option to request up to an additional $25 million under the facility.

關於流動性。第三季度，營運現金流為 2,300 萬美元。我們的季度資本支出為 700 萬美元，使我們今年迄今對工廠的投資達到 2500 萬美元。截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們的現金餘額為 2,600 萬美元，可用貸款總額為 1.18 億美元，用於支援業務營運和成長計畫。我們的借款包括營運信貸額度下的 5,300 萬美元、定期貸款安排下的 4,000 萬美元以及根據該安排申請最多 2,500 萬美元的選擇權。

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

說完，我會把電話轉回給布萊恩。

Thank you, Rob. Throughout our strategic realignment, we have been committed to creating and pursuing opportunities that target long-term profitability and maximize shareholder value. While the path has been and will continue to be dynamic, we remain agile and financially prudent while continuing to capitalize on the most promising and profitable opportunities. We remain enthusiastic about our prospects and confident in our long-term growth strategy.

謝謝你，羅布。在整個策略調整過程中，我們一直致力於創造和尋求以長期獲利和股東價值最大化為目標的機會。雖然這條道路一直並將繼續充滿活力，但我們保持敏捷和財務審慎，同時繼續利用最有前途和最有利可圖的機會。我們對我們的前景仍然充滿熱情，並對我們的長期成長策略充滿信心。

Now I'd like to open the call to questions from our sell-side analysts. Operator?

現在我想開始接受賣方分析師的提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) The first question today comes from Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Eric Stine 和 Craig-Hallum。

Aaron on for Eric. So maybe first for me, just on the 6 to 12 months kind of time line, you called out yeast. I mean, are there other certain areas you can point to that are kind of driving that? And then just maybe speak to some of the confidence you have that we don't see extensions further than that. And then just on high pro at Magic Valley, did that reach full capacity in the quarter? And just kind of some updated thoughts on the rollout to other plants there, too, please.

亞倫替補埃里克。所以也許首先對我來說，就在 6 到 12 個月的時間線上，你提到了酵母。我的意思是，您是否可以指出其他某些領域可以推動這一趨勢？然後也許可以談談您的一些信心，即我們不會看到比這更進一步的擴展。然後就在魔谷的高專業水準上，本季是否達到了滿載？請提供一些關於向其他工廠推廣的最新想法。

Sure. So that extension from 6 to 12 months, that's reflecting clearly the yeast project, but it also does include extending out of the implementation of the high pro installations. We want to make sure that we see that through to a successful completion before we roll it out. There's lots of things that we're learning in the process.

當然。因此，從 6 個月延長到 12 個月，這清楚地反映了酵母項目，但它也確實包括延長高級專業安裝的實施。我們希望確保在推出之前能夠成功完成這項任務。過程中我們學到了很多。

It has taken longer than we anticipated, but as we mentioned in the prepared remarks that we have seen success. The challenges is lining up that success across at full capacity. So we see good protein levels, we see good corn oil levels, but being able to have those aligned with the full capacity all at the same time on a sustainable basis has been a bit of a challenge. But we continue to chip away at it and make good progress. And so we remain optimistic about that. That said, we want to make sure that it's fully achieved what it needs to achieve before we roll that out to our other facilities. Did I cover your questions, Aaron?

它花費的時間比我們預期的要長，但正如我們在準備好的發言中提到的，我們已經看到了成功。挑戰在於全力以赴地取得成功。因此，我們看到了良好的蛋白質水平，我們看到了良好的玉米油水平，但能夠在可持續的基礎上同時使這些水平與全部產能保持一致一直是一個挑戰。但我們繼續努力並取得了良好進展。因此我們對此保持樂觀。也就是說，在我們將其推廣到其他設施之前，我們希望確保它完全實現了所需實現的目標。我回答你的問題了嗎，亞倫？

Yes, yes. No, that was helpful. And then maybe just on carbon capture, can you just provide a little more detail there on -- kind of just give us an update. Are you still thinking kind of similar contribution? And any changes to how you're kind of thinking about going to market? And just any changes given legislation or kind of anything on the regulatory front?

是的是的。不，那很有幫助。然後也許只是關於碳捕獲，您能否提供更多詳細資訊 - 給我們最新資訊。您還在考慮類似的貢獻嗎？您對進入市場的想法有什麼改變嗎？以及立法或監管方面的任何變化？

Well, clearly, it's dynamic, right? We're seeing lots of activity in the space or changes in activity. We feel excited about the options that's still ahead of us. And we're still in the -- we are working through and in negotiations for finalized documentation on the sequestration front, continuing to line out the funding for the installation of the compression.

嗯，很明顯，它是動態的，對吧？我們看到該空間中有很多活動或活動發生變化。我們對擺在我們面前的選擇感到興奮。我們仍在努力並正在談判有關封存方面的最終文件，繼續為安裝壓縮提供資金。

But all of the -- our analysis so far continues to drive us towards this project. We think it's incredibly transformative for us. It aligns with all the things that we do, and the site is just a natural. So we're excited about that. We continue to move significantly forward. There is some work we're -- we look forward to sharing more information on this, but there -- it would be prudent -- or imprudent at this time to share too much. But as we make significant progress that would be -- of the public nature, we'll gladly share that.

但到目前為止，我們所有的分析都繼續推動我們走向這個計畫。我們認為這對我們來說具有難以置信的變革性。它與我們所做的所有事情保持一致，而且該網站是很自然的。所以我們對此感到興奮。我們繼續取得重大進展。我們正在做一些工作——我們期待分享更多這方面的信息，但是——目前分享太多信息是謹慎的——或者是不謹慎的。但當我們取得具有公共性質的重大進展時，我們將很樂意分享。

Understood. And then maybe last for me just on specialty alcohols. You kind of talked a little bit about some of the success you've had for contracting to date. You also kind of talked about some maybe rolling over into 2024. How much -- as we look at kind of spot versus contracted, any ideas on what that rough split kind of looks like as we move forward for next year?

明白了。然後也許我只能喝特種酒精。您談到了迄今為止您在簽約方面取得的一些成功。您還談到了一些可能會延續到 2024 年。當我們考慮現貨與合約的情況時，對於我們明年前進時的粗略分割是什麼樣子，有什麼想法嗎？

So I think for -- through Q3 of this year, I think we're running at -- we've shown about 58 million or 70 million. What's the number?

因此，我認為，到今年第三季度，我們已經展示了大約 5800 萬或 7000 萬。號碼是多少？

We're tracking closer to 85 million for 2023 with the falloff in demand, but we're a good portion of the way of contracting for 2024. And we are on track to achieve the 90 million gallons for 2024. And some of the volume and consumer demand that's fallen off for 2023, we are in the process of working with several customers to roll a portion of that volume forward into 2024.

隨著需求下降，我們預計 2023 年的產量將接近 8500 萬加侖，但我們已經完成了 2024 年合約的很大一部分。而且我們預計在 2024 年實現 9000 萬加侖的產量。由於2023 年消費者需求下降，我們正在與多家客戶合作，將部分銷售延遲到2024 年。

The next question comes from Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright.

下一個問題來自 Amit Dayal 和 H.C.溫賴特。

Bryon, any additional color on what caused some of the extended downtime? Was it work that was going on at the Pekin facility or some other locations?

Bryon，對於停機時間延長的原因還有什麼補充嗎？是在北京工廠還是其他地方正在進行的工作？

So you may recall that we normally schedule the wet mill outage somewhere between 18 and 24 months and -- because it is such a significant shutdown. It's not a shut it down for 2 days, do the well clean-outs, things like that. It's significant. It constitutes somewhere between a week and 2 weeks. And so while we're down, we will usually spend a significant amount of capital to make repairs and improvements to the facility while it's locked down.

因此，您可能還記得，我們​​通常將濕磨機停駛時間安排在 18 至 24 個月之間，因為這是一次意義重大的停工。這不是關閉兩天，進行井清理之類的事情。這很重要。它大約在一周到兩週之間。因此，當我們陷入困境時，我們通常會花費大量資金來維修和改進設施。

We chose as we started -- when we had our last earnings call, we talked about our expectations. We were seeing -- we normally scheduled it in August because we have seen in -- over the last couple of years that corn supply has dwindled and we've seen such high basis and overall corn prices in relation to ethanol prices that it makes sense to bring it down during that time to minimize losses and to take advantage of that opportunity.

我們一開始就選擇了——當我們召開最後一次財報電話會議時，我們討論了我們的期望。我們通常將其安排在八月，因為我們在過去幾年中看到玉米供應量減少，並且我們看到相對於乙醇價格的基差和總體玉米價格如此之高，這是有道理的在此期間將其降低，以盡量減少損失並利用這個機會。

With margins where they were this year, particularly on crush and some additional supply of corn that was available in the local markets, we chose to instead postpone the wet mill into Q2 -- Q1 of next year or April of next year.

鑑於今年的利潤率，特別是壓榨和當地市場上的一些額外玉米供應，我們選擇將濕磨推遲到明年第二季或明年四月。

That being said, there was still some work that needed to be done, and there was some capital -- or capital expenditures for equipment and materials that needed to be spent prior to the shutdown that will carry into -- that was incurred and expensed in Q3 that carry into the maybe next year that will be used in that with -- during that shutdown.

話雖這麼說，仍然有一些工作需要完成，並且有一些資本（或在關閉之前需要花費的設備和材料的資本支出），這些資本支出是在第三季度可能會延續到明年，在停工期間將被使用。

So you take that plus -- then we ended up experiencing some water balance issues, some dryer issues. And as Rob said, the combination of those 3 things, the -- we expect increased repair and maintenance, reduced production and reduced sales and then the quality of sales were significantly impacted, resulting in a significant impact to what would otherwise have been a much better quarter.

所以你把這個加上——然後我們最終遇到了一些水平衡問題，一些乾燥問題。正如羅布所說，這三件事結合在一起，我們預期維修和保養會增加，產量會減少，銷量也會減少，然後銷售品質就會受到顯著影響，從而對原本會產生很大影響的產品產生重大影響。更好的季度。

That said, as I mentioned, these repairs were timely. And we would expect that to significantly benefit the plants going forward for the wet mill, particularly going forward. But we saw impacts elsewhere in other plants probably not as notable. But -- I wouldn't call it a perfect storm, but we seem to have experienced a number of operational challenges across all 3 plants during the quarter with temperatures and other types of normal events that occur in the summer period.

也就是說，正如我所提到的，這些修復是及時的。我們預計這將大大有利於濕磨廠的未來發展，尤其是未來的發展。但我們在其他工廠的其他地方看到的影響可能不那麼顯著。但是，我不會稱其為完美風暴，但本季度我們所有 3 個工廠似乎都經歷了許多營運挑戰，包括夏季發生的氣溫和其他類型的正常事件。

Got it. Understood. And then in the press release and in your commentary, you highlighted potential funding needs. Just to clarify, are these for projects that you walked us through in your commentary? Or do we potentially also have working capital-type funding needs that need to be addressed?

知道了。明白了。然後在新聞稿和評論中，您強調了潛在的資金需求。只是為了澄清一下，這些是您在評論中向我們介紹的項目嗎？或者我們是否還可能存在需要解決的營運資金類型的融資需求？

Yes. I'll comment generally and then, Rob, fill in. But the expectation is no. I mean we have more than sufficient working capital needs for the company and for its operations. It -- we will need additional capital to bring some of these projects to fruition, particularly as an example, the yeast project that is significantly more than what we had originally anticipated. But we also have a number of interested parties and vendors and the like that we're working with to be able to bring that to fruition.

是的。我會一般性地發表評論，然後羅布補充。但期望是不會。我的意思是，我們對公司及其營運有足夠的營運資金需求。我們將需要額外的資金來實現其中一些項目，特別是作為例子，酵母項目的規模遠遠超過我們最初的預期。但我們也有許多感興趣的團體和供應商等，我們正在與他們合作，以便能夠實現這一目標。

I agree.

我同意。

Got it. And just one last one, I guess, for me. On the third-party renewable fuel gallons, it looks like year-over-year decline on that front. Is that just market situation? Or is that something a bit more, I guess, permanent in terms of how you are focused on bringing sort of other products and improvements to the overall business?

知道了。我想，對我來說，這只是最後一件事。就第三方可再生燃料加侖而言，這方面似乎比去年同期下降。這只是市場狀況嗎？或者，我想，就您如何專注於為整體業務帶來其他產品和改進而言，這是更持久的事情嗎？

Yes. I'll take that, Amit. Third-party volumes declined year-over-year. If you recall, we did sell our California plants. And we also no longer market -- provide marketing services for the 2 other non-owned ethanol plants. And I'll also comment that in Q3, we also had a bit of a timing issue on some of the third-party volumes. They were lower due to product in transit that did qualify to be recognized as sales in Q3, but will be recognized in Q4.

是的。我會接受的，阿米特。第三方銷量較去年同期下降。如果你還記得的話，我們確實賣掉了加州的工廠。我們也不再為另外兩家非自有乙醇工廠提供行銷服務。我還要評論說，在第三季度，我們在一些第三方卷上也遇到了一些時間問題。由於運輸中的產品確實有資格在第三季確認為銷售額，但將在第四季度確認，因此銷售額較低。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Bryon McGregor for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回由布萊恩·麥格雷戈發表閉幕詞。

Thank you, Betsy. Thank you all again for joining us today. We hope to see you in New York in November. Have a nice day.

謝謝你，貝特西。再次感謝大家今天加入我們。我們希望十一月在紐約見到您。祝你今天過得愉快。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。