Calumet Inc (CLMT) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. fourth-quarter 2023 results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. 2023 年第四季業績電話會議。（操作員說明）

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Brad McMurray, Investor Relations.

請注意此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給投資者關係部門的布拉德·麥克默里 (Brad McMurray)。

Good morning and thank you for joining us today for our fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call. With me on today's call are Todd Borgmann, CEO; David Lunin, CFO; Bruce Fleming, EVP, Montana Renewables and Corporate Development; and Scott Obermeier, EVP, Specialties. You may now download the slides that accompany the remarks made on today's conference call, which can be accessed in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.calumet.com. Also, a webcast replay of this call will be available on our site within a few hours.

早安，感謝您今天參加我們的 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。與我一起參加今天電話會議的是執行長 Todd Borgmann；大衛‧魯寧，財務長； Bruce Fleming，蒙大拿州再生能源與企業發展執行副總裁；和 Scott Obermeier，專業執行副總裁。您現在可以下載今天電話會議上發言所附的幻燈片，這些幻燈片可以在我們網站 www.calumet.com 的投資者關係部分存取。此外，幾個小時內我們的網站上將提供本次電話會議的網路廣播重播。

Turning to the presentation on slides 2 and 3, you can find our cautionary statements and tax disclosures. I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, we may provide various forward-looking statements. Please refer to the partnership's press release that was issued this morning as well as our latest filings with the SEC for a list of factors that may affect our actual results and cause them to differ from our expectations.

前往投影片 2 和 3 的簡報，您可以找到我們的警示聲明和稅務揭露。我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議中，我們可能會提供各種前瞻性陳述。請參閱今天早上發布的合作夥伴新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交的最新文件，以了解可能影響我們的實際結果並導致其與我們的預期不同的因素清單。

I will now pass the call to Todd. Todd?

我現在將把電話轉給托德。托德？

Thanks, Brad, and welcome to Calumet's year-end 2023 earnings call. To start, I'll provide an update on our conversion process. We'll then recap 2023, Dave will take us deeper into the quarter, and I'll wrap with a '24 outlook.

謝謝 Brad，歡迎參加 Calumet 的 2023 年底財報電話會議。首先，我將提供有關我們轉換流程的最新資訊。然後，我們將回顧 2023 年，戴夫將帶我們更深入地了解本季度，我將總結 24 年的展望。

Let's turn to slide 4. In November, we announced that our general partner and conflicts committee had agreed to terms that would convert Calumet to a C-Corp from an MLP. And since then, we've been at work putting that into effect. Over the past few years, Calumet has transformed itself into a new company, and it became clear that the typical institutional investors who would invest in a leading specialty products company and a top-tier renewable fuels business, largely down or even can't invest in MLPs. Further, almost no passive investment strategies, which make up nearly half of the capital being invested allocate to MLPs.

讓我們轉到投影片 4。11 月，我們宣布我們的普通合夥人和衝突委員會已同意將 Calumet 從 MLP 轉變為 C 型企業的條款。從那時起，我們就致力於將其付諸實施。在過去的幾年裡，Calumet 已經轉型為一家新公司，很明顯，那些願意投資領先的特種產品公司和頂級可再生燃料業務的典型機構投資者，在很大程度上下降了甚至無法投資在MLP中。此外，幾乎沒有被動投資策略（佔投資資本的近一半）分配給 MLP。

Thus, to increase our investor base and ultimately provide our shareholders the best opportunity to realize fair value for Calumet, we embarked on this change. Two weeks ago, we announced the signing of the official conversion agreement, which is a prerequisite to filing our S-4 with the SEC.

因此，為了擴大我們的投資者基礎並最終為我們的股東提供實現 Calumet 公允價值的最佳機會，我們開始了這項變革。兩週前，我們宣布簽署正式轉換協議，這是向 SEC 提交 S-4 的先決條件。

After we received comments back from the SEC, a final S-4 will be filed, a proxy vote held, and we hope to gain approval from our shareholders and complete this conversion midyear. Again, I thank everyone involved, especially our general partner and conflicts committee, for a fair and thorough negotiation, and we're looking forward to this vote and new opportunity.

在我們收到 SEC 的回饋意見後，將提交最終的 S-4，並舉行代理投票，我們希望獲得股東的批准並在年中完成此轉換。我再次感謝所有參與者，特別是我們的普通合夥人和衝突委員會，感謝他們進行了公平而徹底的談判，我們期待著這次投票和新的機會。

Turning to slide 5. We see the fourth quarter -- in the fourth quarter, Calumet generated $40 million of adjusted EBITDA. And for the year, we generated $261 million of adjusted EBITDA. Our 2023 financial results were driven by three things, all of which we've discussed previously. First in Montana, a steam drum crack essentially set our strategic plan back half a year and culminated with a month-long outage in November, where we successfully replaced the unit. At that time, given we were down anyways, we pulled forward turnaround work and replaced the catalyst change that was previously scheduled for 2024.

轉到投影片 5。我們看到第四季度——第四季度，Calumet 產生了 4000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。今年，我們實現了 2.61 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。我們 2023 年的財務表現是由三件事驅動的，我們之前已經討論過所有這些因素。首先是在蒙大拿州，蒸汽鼓破裂基本上使我們的戰略計劃推遲了半年，並最終在 11 月發生了長達一個月的停電，我們成功地更換了該裝置。當時，考慮到我們無論如何都在下滑，我們推遲了周轉工作並更換了先前計劃於 2024 年進行的催化劑更換。

Second, the combination of a winter freeze and summer tornadoes in Shreveport underpinned roughly $70 million of lost opportunity in our specialties business. Third and positively, we were able to offset some of the year's challenges with superb commercial execution throughout the business. Most notably, our specialties team increased margins for the fifth consecutive year.

其次，什里夫波特的冬季冰凍和夏季龍捲風共同導致我們的特色業務損失了約 7000 萬美元的機會。第三，積極的一點是，我們能夠透過整個業務卓越的商業執行來抵消今年的一些挑戰。最值得注意的是，我們的專業團隊連續第五年增加利潤。

Strategically, 2023 was a foundational year, which positions us well to achieve our ultimate strategic objectives. Our specialties business has solidified itself as a commercial leader in the space. Our unique integrated asset base, customer focus, and commercial and technical know-how are lasting advantages.

從策略上講，2023 年是基礎年，這使我們能夠很好地實現最終策略目標。我們的特色業務已經鞏固了自己作為該領域商業領導者的地位。我們獨特的綜合資產基礎、以客戶為中心以及商業和技術知識是持久的優勢。

Last year, we built on this by successfully integrating our performance brands and specialty products and solutions segments into a single specialties group, and we see additional opportunity here as we capture value from our agility, optionality, and breadth of offering throughout the entire specialty products value chain.

去年，我們在此基礎上成功地將我們的高性能品牌、特種產品和解決方案細分市場整合到一個特種產品組中，我們在這裡看到了更多機會，因為我們從整個特種產品的敏捷性、可選性和產品廣度中獲取了價值價值鏈。

Further, in a few months, we'll be entering year three of our operational improvement plan in Shreveport. The events of 2023 highlighted some of our infrastructure weaknesses, both within and outside the plant. And while we'll never be immune to everything, the improvements made thus far have been meaningful, and we're tackling reliability at Shreveport head on.

此外，幾個月後，我們將進入什里夫波特營運改善計畫的第三年。2023 年發生的事件凸顯了我們工廠內外的一些基礎設施弱點。雖然我們永遠無法免受一切影響，但迄今為止所做的改進是有意義的，我們正在什里夫波特正面解決可靠性問題。

Naturally, the most notable item of this past year was our Montana Renewables business came to fruition. The first year wasn't without setbacks as often is the case for projects as ambitious as this one. And ultimately, we stood up and derisked the key elements of the venture.

當然，去年最引人注目的事情是我們的蒙大拿州再生能源業務取得了成果。第一年並非一帆風順，就像今年這樣雄心勃勃的計畫經常遇到的情況一樣。最終，我們挺身而出，消除了該合資企業關鍵要素的風險。

We demonstrated our ability to source competitively advantaged feed, we derisked our technology, and we showed our commercial agility and ability to capitalize on our location as half of our product ended up in a rapidly growing Canadian market.

我們展示了我們採購具有競爭優勢的飼料的能力，我們降低了技術風險，我們展示了我們的商業靈活性和利用我們的地理位置的能力，因為我們的一半產品最終進入了快速增長的加拿大市場。

Last, in May, we launched North America's largest sustainable aviation fuel business, establishing Montana Renewables as a first mover in an area that is so promising that has since become a strategic focal point of many in our space.

去年五月，我們推出了北美最大的可持續航空燃料業務，將蒙大拿可再生能源公司確立為這一前景廣闊的領域的先行者，該領域自此成為我們領域許多人的戰略焦點。

The emergence of a rapidly growing SAF market is extremely exciting for industry, and we're thrilled to be positioned at the tip of the spear, along with our partners at Shell. We compare the sustainable aviation fuel transition today to the one we saw in renewable diesel nearly a decade ago.

快速成長的 SAF 市場的出現對整個產業來說是極其令人興奮的，我們很高興能夠與殼牌的合作夥伴一起處於領先地位。我們將今天的永續航空燃料轉型與近十年前的再生柴油轉型進行了比較。

Like renewable diesel, SAF is the only drop in fuel that's available today. Other alternatives are interesting, but they require decades of research and development and huge investment to completely overhaul the airline industry's infrastructure, which we view as unlikely anytime soon.

與再生柴油一樣，SAF 是當今唯一可用的燃料。其他替代方案很有趣，但它們需要數十年的研發和巨額投資才能徹底改造航空業的基礎設施，我們認為短期內不太可能實現。

It's now common knowledge that our industry is producing less than 1% of the SAF that would be required in six years to meet the government's 3 billion gallon milestone in the Grand SAF Challenge. And this 2030 milestone is only 9% of the ultimate 35 billion gallon plan laid out by federal agencies.

現在眾所周知，我們行業生產的 SAF 還不到六年後滿足政府在 Grand SAF Challenge 中 30 億加侖里程碑所需的 1%。而這 2030 年里程碑僅佔聯邦機構最終制定的 350 億加侖計畫的 9%。

Naturally, more capacity and additional technologies are going to be required. There are a few ways to make SAF, the most economic of which, by far, is the HEFA process, which Montana Renewables currently uses. That being said, the growth prospects for this industry are so large that all technologies are likely to be required, most of which are meaningfully more expensive than a HEFA process.

當然，將需要更多的容量和額外的技術。製造 SAF 的方法有很多種，到目前為止，最經濟的方法是蒙大拿州再生能源公司目前使用的 HEFA 製程。話雖如此，該行業的成長前景如此之大，以至於可能需要所有技術，其中大多數技術比 HEFA 工藝更昂貴。

Further, we're seeing demand for SAF change quickly. SAF mandates exist in the UK, individual airlines have announced targets, we see airports setting SAF requirements, and just this week, Singapore announced the requirement for all departing planes to use SAF. This rapidly growing demand is exactly why some of the largest players in the industry are investing heavily in this space. And it's why Montana Renewables made the change in our original project nearly two years ago to add SAF capability.

此外，我們看到對 SAF 的需求正在迅速變化。英國存在 SAF 指令，個別航空公司已宣布目標，我們看到機場設定了 SAF 要求，就在本週，新加坡宣布要求所有離港飛機使用 SAF。這種快速成長的需求正是業內一些最大的參與者在這一領域大力投資的原因。這就是為什麼蒙大拿州再生能源公司在近兩年前對我們的原始項目進行更改以添加 SAF 功能的原因。

Throughout 2023, we progressed plans to build on Montana Renewables first-mover advantage via our MaxSAF project. We've progressed engineering, interviewed construction partners, and we eagerly await feedback from the DOE on final funding to move forward. The DOE process continues to move well. In fact, accelerate, and we're hopeful to receive confirmatory feedback in the not-too-distant future that will allow us to officially launch the next phase of MaxSAF, which we expect will make us one of the largest SAF facilities in the world.

2023 年，我們透過 MaxSAF 計畫推進了利用蒙大拿州再生能源公司先發優勢的計畫。我們已經推進了工程設計，採訪了施工合作夥伴，並熱切等待能源部關於最終資金的回饋，以推進下一步工作。美國能源部的進程持續進展順利。事實上，加速，我們希望在不久的將來收到確認回饋，這將使我們能夠正式啟動 MaxSAF 的下一階段，我們預計這將使我們成為世界上最大的 SAF 設施之一。

A growth in SAF demand also should be expected to change the landscape of renewable diesel. As we evaluate MaxSAF, we ask, if these margins exist and the addressable market is so large, why wouldn't every renewable diesel player convert? Naturally, our industry is full of sharp competitors who are considering just that. What we quickly find is despite all of the growth we've seen in renewable diesel, the entire US RD capacity just reached 3 billion gallons this year. In other words, it would take all of the RD to meet the 2030 Grand SAF Challenge.

SAF 需求的成長也有望改變再生柴油的格局。當我們評估 MaxSAF 時，我們會問，如果存在這些利潤並且潛在市場如此之大，為什麼每個再生柴油生產商都不會轉換？當然，我們的行業充滿了正在考慮這一點的尖銳競爭對手。我們很快就發現，儘管再生柴油不斷成長，但今年美國整個 RD 產能僅達 30 億加侖。換句話說，需要所有的 RD 才能迎接 2030 年 SAF Grand Challenge。

Of course, we're also seeing demand grow in renewable diesel with Canada being early in their program and New Mexico reminding us that individual states will continue to implement new low carbon fuel standards. Further, all the renewable diesel that's being produced today is needed to remain in compliance with existing low carbon fuel requirements. And as RD has converted into SAF, the obligated RD volume demand will necessitate the need for market to incentivize the production of renewable diesel.

當然，我們也看到再生柴油的需求成長，加拿大已提前實施其計劃，新墨西哥州則提醒我們各州將繼續實施新的低碳燃料標準。此外，目前生產的所有再生柴油都需要符合現有的低碳燃料要求。隨著 RD 轉變為 SAF，強制性 RD 數量需求將需要市場來激勵再生柴油的生產。

As this dynamic plays out, we'll take our traditional approach at Montana Renewables of building an optionality, remaining nimble commercially and leveraging our relative location and cost advantage in any scenario. This includes the ability to produce either renewable diesel or SAF.

隨著這種動態的展開，我們將採用蒙大拿再生能源公司的傳統方法，建立選擇性，保持商業靈活性，並在任何情況下利用我們的相對位置和成本優勢。這包括生產再生柴油或 SAF 的能力。

It also includes utilizing our advantaged logistics cost structure to weather any industry volatility. Recently, we've seen market renewable diesel margins hit a trough. While short-term volatility exists in any business, we believe the historic structure of the market will continue to hold in time.

它還包括利用我們優勢的物流成本結構來應對任何行業波動。最近，我們看到市場再生柴油利潤率跌至谷底。儘管任何行業都存在短期波動，但我們相信市場的歷史結構將繼續保持下去。

When the price of RINs, diesel, and LCFS all independent variables are reduced at the same time, the needed equal and opposite impact of feed price is dramatic. Suppliers try to mitigate a sharp decline by all means available to them, including reducing crush rates and building inventory, which can delay the reaction in feed prices. We would expect the impact of price lag on industry margins to be larger than normal in this scenario, and we're seeing that today.

當 RIN、柴油和 LCFS 所有自變數的價格同時降低時，飼料價格所需的同等和相反的影響是巨大的。供應商試圖透過一切可用的手段來緩解急劇下降的影響，包括降低壓榨率和建立庫存，這可能會延遲飼料價格的反應。我們預計，在這種情況下，價格滯後對行業利潤率的影響將大於正常情況，而我們今天也看到了這一點。

Of course, over time, biodiesel would have a difficult time competing at low industry margins, inventories in the supply chain should build, and one of the variables in the profit equation has to react. And just in the past couple of weeks, we've seen the vegetable oil margin indicators start to turn. We've also seen tallow, a waste product, adjust rapidly, and strong tallow margins continue to exist.

當然，隨著時間的推移，生質柴油將很難在低產業利潤下競爭，供應鏈中的庫存應該會增加，利潤方程中的變數之一必須做出反應。就在過去幾週，我們看到植物油利潤率指標開始出現變化。我們也看到牛脂這種廢品迅速調整，並且牛脂的強勁利潤率持續存在。

In a normal environment, we'd expect a relatively short length of Montana Renewables supply chain to be a differentiated advantage in times like this. But during this current trough, we've been full of inventory that was originally contracted for the second half of 2023 before the facility was cut back. This impacts us as the feed is higher priced, but it also limits our flexibility to react to short-term changes in the relative feed dynamics, which otherwise would be a core advantage.

在正常環境下，我們預期蒙大拿州再生能源供應鏈相對較短的長度將在這樣的時期成為差異化優勢。但在目前的低谷期間，我們的庫存已裝滿，這些庫存最初是在工廠削減之前簽訂的 2023 年下半年合約。這對我們產生了影響，因為飼料價格較高，但它也限制了我們對相對飼料動態的短期變化做出反應的靈活性，否則這將是一個核心優勢。

We started processing our old feed when we restarted in December and expect to be through it in the first quarter. To put the impact of these items in perspective, the difference between Q3 average CBOT price levels in December was over $1.20 per gallon.

我們在 12 月重新啟動時開始處理舊的 feed，預計在第一季完成。為了正確看待這些項目的影響，12 月第三季 CBOT 平均價格水準之間的差異超過每加侖 1.20 美元。

Further, over the past couple of months, margins have remained over $1 a gallon higher for tallow than vegetable oils. With normal inventory levels, we'd be switching to tallow and capturing this advantage, which would deliver margins reasonably in line with previously stated expectations. With full inventory, we are processing what we have.

此外，在過去幾個月中，牛脂的利潤仍然比植物油高出每加侖 1 美元以上。在正常的庫存水準下，我們將改用牛脂並抓住這一優勢，這將帶來與先前所述預期相當的利潤率。庫存充足，我們正在處理現有的庫存。

As energy transition continues to evolve, we believe Calumet is positioned for success. As discussed today, we're well positioned in Montana for both renewable diesel and SAF growth. And our specialties business can flex fuel production up or down as the market dictates.

隨著能源轉型的不斷發展，我們相信 Calumet 已經做好了成功的準備。正如今天所討論的，我們在蒙大拿州的再生柴油和 SAF 成長方面處於有利地位。我們的特種業務可以根據市場的需要靈活調整燃料產量。

Further, our specialties business is positioned to benefit from many of the megatrends that we see in today's market as we produce high-performing products going into mining, power transmission, food and pharma, and clean water, including a growing list of environmentally friendly materials such as our biodegradable lubricant servicing the global shipping industry.

此外，我們的特殊業務將受益於當今市場的許多大趨勢，因為我們生產高性能產品，進入採礦、電力傳輸、食品和製藥以及清潔水領域，包括越來越多的環保材料例如我們為全球航運業提供服務的可生物降解潤滑劑。

We believe this breadth and flexibility positions us well as our industry continues to evolve. Our core belief continues to be that the energy transition will continue to occur but will take longer than most think. It's complex, it requires investment, and it will ebb and flow as businesses and society experiment and adapt. And at Calumet, we'll continue to focus on positioning ourselves to remain competitively advantaged in all scenarios.

我們相信，這種廣度和靈活性使我們在行業不斷發展的過程中處於有利地位。我們的核心信念仍然是能源轉型將繼續發生，但所需時間比大多數人想像的要長。它很複雜，需要投資，並且會隨著企業和社會的試驗和適應而潮起潮落。在 Calumet，我們將繼續專注於定位自己，以便在所有情況下保持競爭優勢。

With that, I'll hand the call to David to review our quarterly financials. David?

這樣，我就會打電話給大衛，讓他審查我們的季度財務狀況。大衛？

Thanks, Todd. I'll start with our announcement this morning that we entered into a note purchase agreement to issue $200 million aggregate principal amount of 9.25% senior secured first lien notes due 2029. The use of proceeds will be to call and retire our existing 2024 secured notes, and we will also call along with available cash $50 million of our 11% 2025 notes. This transaction allows us to remove the near-term maturity, reduce overall indebtedness, and reduce our annual interest expense.

謝謝，托德。首先，我今天早上宣布，我們簽訂了一項票據購買協議，發行本金總額為 2 億美元、利率為 9.25%、2029 年到期的高級有擔保第一留置權票據。所得款項的用途將用於贖回和註銷我們現有的 2024 年擔保票據，我們還將連同可用現金一起贖回 11% 2025 年票據中的 5000 萬美元。這項交易使我們能夠消除近期到期的債務，減少整體債務，並減少我們的年度利息支出。

Given the potential Montana Renewables, monetization was pushed back half a year due to last year's steam drum replacement and the need to demonstrate a few quarters of strong operations in order to capture proper value from a potential monetization, we want to ensure that we have ample flexibility and time to access the market properly.

鑑於蒙大拿州可再生能源的潛力，由於去年更換汽包，貨幣化被推遲了半年，並且需要展示幾個季度的強勁運營，以便從潛在的貨幣化中獲取適當的價值，我們希望確保我們有足夠的資金適當進入市場的彈性和時間。

This financing provides that flexibility by adding a small quantum of debt that wouldn't otherwise trade well, is cheaper than a new unsecured issuance, and will also be callable in a year, as well as leaving enough debt outstanding without call protection to provide an efficient path for further deleveraging later in the year.

這種融資透過增加少量債務來提供靈活性，否則這些債務不會很好地交易，比新的無擔保發行更便宜，並且還可以在一年內贖回，並且留下足夠的未償債務而無需贖回保護，以提供今年稍後進一步去槓桿化的有效途徑。

Before I review the segments, I'd also like to comment on the 8-K we released this morning and the associated restatement of 2022 and 2023 quarters. The restatement relates to our accounting for the preferred equity investment in MRL. We had been allocating net losses in the business in a proportion to the total ownership for the non-controlling interest.

在回顧這些部分之前，我還想對我們今天早上發布的 8-K 以及 2022 年和 2023 年季度的相關重述發表評論。此次重述涉及我們對 MRL 優先股權投資的會計處理。我們一直以非控股權益總所有權的比例分配業務淨虧損。

We've determined that these losses should not have been allocated to the preferred equity investment, thus, $6.7 million in 2022 and $18.5 million in 2023 of losses that were previously allocated to non-controlling interest will now be allocated to Calumet's limited partners. To be clear, this has no impact on the net income, adjusted EBITDA or cash flow of the business and only it relates to the allocation of net losses. This restatement is also -- it also has no impact on the timing of our conversion and more details can be found in the 8-K.

我們確定這些損失不應分配給優先股權投資，因此，先前分配給非控制權益的 2022 年 670 萬美元和 2023 年 1,850 萬美元損失現在將分配給 Calumet 的有限合夥人。需要明確的是，這對淨利潤、調整後的 EBITDA 或業務現金流沒有影響，只與淨虧損的分配有關。此重述也對我們的轉換時間沒有影響，更多詳細資訊可以在 8-K 中找到。

Turning to slide 8. Our SPS business generated $75.6 million of adjusted EBITDA during the quarter and $251.2 million for the full year 2023. This was a very strong quarter for our SPS business. The plants operated well, and we had one of the best quarters as our commercial team continued to execute our customer-focused strategy. We saw unit margins increase with specialties during the quarter, while fuel and asphalt margins decreased seasonally. We continue to see an above mid-cycle margin environment in this business.

轉到投影片 8。我們的 SPS 業務本季調整後 EBITDA 為 7,560 萬美元，2023 年全年為 2.512 億美元。對於我們的 SPS 業務來說，這是一個非常強勁的季度。這些工廠運作良好，隨著我們的商業團隊繼續執行以客戶為中心的策略，我們度過了最好的季度之一。我們看到本季特種產品的單位利潤率增加，而燃料和瀝青的利潤率則季節性下降。我們繼續看到該業務的利潤率環境高於週期中期。

Moving to slide 10. Our performance brands business generated $6.1 million of adjusted EBITDA, bringing our full-year adjusted EBITDA to $47.9 million for the performance brands segment. We typically see some seasonality in the business to some of our customers, especially the big box retailers manage year-end inventory levels, and that was no different this quarter.

轉到投影片 10。我們的運動品牌業務產生了 610 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，使運動品牌業務的全年調整後 EBITDA 達到 4790 萬美元。我們通常會看到一些客戶的業務存在季節性，特別是大型零售商管理年終庫存水平，本季也不例外。

Industrial demand outpaced consumer demand, which weakened, and we expect that trend likely to continue early in 2024. Our team continues to do a nice job capturing value from the optionality and integration of our various business across SPS and the PB segment.

工業需求超過了消費需求，而消費需求則減弱，我們預計這一趨勢可能會在 2024 年初持續下去。我們的團隊繼續出色地從 SPS 和 PB 細分市場的各種業務的選擇性和整合中獲取價值。

As you can see, turning to slide 11, we have delivered five consecutive years of growth in our specialties business. As a reminder, this is a combination of the specialty products within our SPS segment and our performance brands segment. The team has done a really good job these last several years, capitalizing on an improved margin environment while also making lasting step change improvements within the business.

正如您所看到的，翻到投影片 11，我們的特種業務已連續五年成長。提醒一下，這是我們的 SPS 細分市場和高性能品牌細分市場中的特色產品的組合。過去幾年，團隊做得非常好，利用了改善的利潤環境，同時也在業務內進行了持久的步驟變革改進。

You can see in the lower right-hand chart, a steadily increasing volume of intermediates between our SPS and PB business as the team continues to drive an integrated business model, which we believe provides a unique advantage across our platform.

您可以在右下圖表中看到，隨著團隊繼續推動整合業務模式，我們的 SPS 和 PB 業務之間的中間體數量穩步增加，我們相信這為我們的平台提供了獨特的優勢。

Moving to our Montana businesses. You can see on slide 13 that we recorded a loss of $25.8 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter and generated $30.2 million of adjusted EBITDA for the full year. While operations performed well in our legacy asphalt plant during the quarter, the winter is always difficult in this business as roads aren't being paved and local gasoline demand dries up.

轉向我們的蒙大拿州業務。您可以在投影片 13 中看到，本季調整後 EBITDA 虧損 2,580 萬美元，全年調整後 EBITDA 為 3,020 萬美元。雖然我們的傳統瀝青廠在本季運作表現良好，但由於道路尚未鋪設且當地汽油需求枯竭，因此該產業的冬季總是很困難。

For our conventional asphalt and niche fuels plant, its first year post MRL was a good one. Going in, we expected the 50% smaller footprint would deliver roughly 60% of the specialty asphalt operations post MRL and then we executed on that in 2023.

對於我們的傳統瀝青和利基燃料廠來說，其在 MRL 後的第一年表現良好。我們預計，減少 50% 的佔地面積將提供 MRL 後約 60% 的特殊瀝青業務，然後我們在 2023 年執行了這一目標。

At Montana Renewables, Todd spent time earlier on the previously disclosed steam drum outage and replacement, and I will briefly touch on that again as that was the story in Q4 and the second half of 2023. The repair work was completed during the fourth quarter, along with the turnaround and catalyst change that we pulled forward into the period.

在蒙大拿州再生能源公司，托德早些時候花了一些時間討論之前披露的蒸汽鼓停機和更換問題，我將再次簡要提及這一點，因為這是2023 年第四季度和下半年的故事。修復工作在第四季度完成，同時我們將週轉和催化劑更換提前到了這段時期。

The renewable diesel plant was completely shut down for the month of November and came back online at the beginning of December and has been operating well since. You can see in our renewables production volumes, the impact of the reduced rates and shutdown had on MRL's production. Now that the facility is back up and operating at close to full capacity, we are drawing the less of our excess inventory that we've built during the unplanned outage and shutdown.

該再生柴油廠於 11 月完全關閉，並於 12 月初重新上線，此後一直運作良好。您可以從我們的再生能源產量中看到，費率降低和停產對 MRL 生產的影響。現在該設施已恢復並接近滿載運行，我們正在減少在計劃外停運和關閉期間建立的過剩庫存。

We should be through that inventory in the next quarter, at which point, we will resume our normal feedstock purchase program. We are glad to have the replacement work on the steam drum behind us. And while last year, while that had the impact of pushing back about six months, our strategy is unchanged as we continue to pursue the DOE loan, finalize our expansion for MaxSAF, and prepare for potential monetization opportunities.

我們應該在下個季度處理完該庫存，屆時我們將恢復正常的原料採購計畫。我們很高興蒸氣鼓的更換工作已經完成。去年，雖然這造成了大約六個月的影響，但我們的策略沒有改變，我們繼續尋求能源部貸款，完成 MaxSAF 的擴張，並為潛在的貨幣化機會做好準備。

Lastly, before I turn it back to Todd to wrap up prepared remarks, I'll provide a few guidance items for this year. We expect the corporate segment to incur approximately $80 million of adjusted EBITDA cost in 2024, which is in line with previous years and our previously outlined annual expectations.

最後，在我將其返回給托德總結準備好的演講之前，我將為今年提供一些指導項目。我們預計企業部門到 2024 年將產生約 8,000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA 成本，這與前幾年和我們先前概述的年度預期一致。

And from a cash flow perspective, excluding MRL, we anticipate $100 million to $120 million of annual CapEx. Montana Renewables, we expect $15 million to $30 million of sustaining CapEx this year, which includes the planned purchase of a long lead time catalyst that will be later in the year or next year.

從現金流角度來看，不包括 MRL，我們預計年度資本支出為 1 億至 1.2 億美元。蒙大拿州再生能源公司，我們預計今年的維持資本支出為 1500 萬至 3000 萬美元，其中包括計劃在今年稍後或明年購買長交付週期催化劑。

I'll now hand it back to Todd for closing comments before we move to Q&A.

現在，我將把它交還給托德，以供其結束評論，然後再進行問答。

Thanks, David. Let's flip to the last slide and talk about the year ahead. 2024 is a pivotal year for the company and its investors. This is the first year that both our specialties business and renewables business are fully operating together, and we're committed to unlocking value through a number of near-term catalysts. The first of these is demonstrating the top decile profitability potential of Montana Renewables, which given the old feed and inventory overhang mentioned earlier, we expect to occur in the second quarter.

謝謝，大衛。讓我們翻到最後一張投影片，談談未來的一年。 2024年對於公司及其投資者來說是關鍵的一年。這是我們的特種業務和再生能源業務全面共同運作的第一年，我們致力於透過一系列近期催化劑釋放價值。第一個是蒙大拿州可再生能源公司展示了最高的十分之一的盈利潛力，考慮到前面提到的舊飼料和庫存過剩，我們預計這將在第二季度發生。

Next is the DOE process, which we mentioned earlier. This goes hand in hand with the launch of MaxSAF, and we look forward to providing a more complete outlook on this project soon. Not only is MaxSAF a huge opportunity, but we also expect it to be another catalyst in a potential Montana Renewables monetization, which continues to be an ultimate deleveraging step for the organization.

接下來是我們之前提到的 DOE 流程。這與 MaxSAF 的推出同時進行，我們期待盡快提供有關該專案的更完整的展望。MaxSAF 不僅是一個巨大的機會，而且我們期望它成為潛在的蒙大拿州可再生能源貨幣化的另一個催化劑，這仍然是該組織的最終去槓桿化步驟。

And last, we're on track for a midyear conversion to a C-Corp. Up to now, investors who are otherwise interested in Calumet have not been able to invest in our company due to common constraints that come with MLPs. Our institutional and passive investor base is tiny in size, which results in our units being very thinly traded, which also is a deterrent to new investors.

最後，我們預計在年中轉型為 C 型企業。到目前為止，由於 MLP 的常見限制，對 Calumet 有興趣的投資者還無法投資我們公司。我們的機構和被動投資者基礎規模很小，這導致我們的單位交易量非常少，這也對新投資者構成了威懾。

Since the conversion announcement late last year, we've spoken to many potential new shareholders about the Calumet opportunity. We believe our story is an interesting one for investors, and we're excited to provide the ability for them to partake in a new Calumet, one which has been transformed over the past few years, which has two competitively advantaged businesses and significant near-term catalysts that we believe present a meaningful value proposition.

自從去年年底宣布轉換以來，我們已經與許多潛在的新股東討論了 Calumet 的機會。我們相信我們的故事對投資者來說是一個有趣的故事，我們很高興為他們提供參與新Calumet 的能力，該公司在過去幾年中已經發生了轉變，擁有兩項具有競爭優勢的業務和重要的近期業務我們認為術語催化劑提出了有意義的價值主張。

Thank you. And with that, I'll turn the call back to the operator for questions. Operator?

謝謝。然後，我會將電話轉回給接線生詢問問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Roger Read, Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）Roger Read，富國銀行。

Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everybody. Yeah, it does look like it's going to be a pretty exciting and also a challenging 2024 for you. Coming to the MRL side, I'd like to just ask you, Todd, you mentioned product going into Canada, some of the other places. We recognize the issues with start-up of these facilities and feedstock costs. But if you look at the distribution side, give us an inkling of how that's turned out and maybe how those realizations are working so that as you fix the feedstock and the operational issues, we can get confidence on where margins ought to go?

是的，謝謝。大家早安。是的，看來 2024 年對你來說確實會是非常令人興奮，同時也是充滿挑戰的一年。談到 MRL 方面，我想問你，托德，你提到產品進入加拿大和其他一些地方。我們認識到這些設施的啟動和原料成本的問題。但如果你看看分銷方面，請讓我們了解結果如何，也許這些認識是如何發揮作用的，以便當你解決原料和運營問題時，我們可以對利潤應該去向有信心？

Yeah, you bet. And hi, Roger. Thanks for calling in. And I'll turn it over to Bruce here in a second. I'm sure he has more to add. But in general, I'd say our product distribution has been exceptional. We have a super flexible group of partners. They're contracted long term. Remember, we sell everything FOB. So we have insight into where the product is going, and we benefit when products are upgraded into Canada, for example. But ultimately, our sales are contracted formulaically. They align with the steady margin formula that we've talked about historically. And I'd say those are working very, very well, exactly as expected. I don't know, Bruce, what would you add?

是的，你打賭。你好，羅傑。感謝您的來電。我稍後會將其轉交給布魯斯。我確信他還有更多要補充的。但總的來說，我想說我們的產品分銷非常出色。我們擁有一群超靈活的合作夥伴。他們簽的是長期合約。請記住，我們所有產品均以離岸價格出售。因此，我們可以深入了解產品的發展方向，例如，當產品升級到加拿大時，我們就會受益。但最終，我們的銷售合約是公式化的。它們與我們歷史上討論過的穩定保證金公式一致。我想說，這些工作非常非常好，完全符合預期。我不知道，布魯斯，你會補充什麼？

Thanks, Roger. The fact that we have our pathways registered into all of the LCFS geographies as well as having the CORSIA certification for our SAF, means that our off-takers have a lot of flexibility to shift any of these materials to where they think is the best for their system operations. So we've had as much as 50% of physical production going to Canada on a monthly basis. And this is one of the hidden attributes of our geographic location. And we share a land border with British Columbia. A lot of people are trying to get there the hard way by water, and we literally drive the truck over. So there's a lot going on in the distribution optimization space.

謝謝，羅傑。事實上，我們的途徑已在所有 LCFS 地區註冊，並且我們的 SAF 已獲得 CORSIA 認證，這意味著我們的承購商可以非常靈活地將任何這些材料轉移到他們認為最適合的地方他們的系統操作。因此，我們每月有多達 50% 的實體生產流向加拿大。這是我們地理位置的隱藏屬性之一。我們與不列顛哥倫比亞省有陸地邊界。很多人試圖透過水路艱難地到達那裡，而我們真的把卡車開過去了。因此，分發優化領域正在發生很多事情。

All right. Get a geographic explanation as well as everything else, right? Shifting gears to the other two businesses. Just asking really for sort of a macro outlook. We've seen the chemical industry have a lot of challenges. I know you are not pure chemicals, but you kind of get put into that box. So I'm just curious, as you look at beyond the weather issues at Shreveport, but what's the underlying demand and pricing set up as we look at both specialty and performance?

好的。得到地理解釋以及其他一切，對吧？轉向其他兩項業務。只是真正要求某種宏觀前景。我們看到化學工業面臨許多挑戰。我知道你不是純粹的化學品，但你有點被放進那個盒子裡。所以我很好奇，當你除了考慮什里夫波特的天氣問題外，當我們考慮專業和性能時，潛在的需求和定價是什麼？

Hey, Roger. This is Scott. Thanks for the question. So as we sort of walk through, I'll call it, the timeline, Roger, in Q4, I think the real headline theme was seasonality, right? So we saw the fuel cracks take a major step down on that side of the business within the specialties, both SPS and performance brands, I would say we saw the typical seasonal slower demand at year-end. We also saw some customers looking to destock a little bit further and derisk their business where possible.

嘿，羅傑。這是斯科特。謝謝你的提問。因此，當我們回顧第四季度的時間線時，我會稱之為時間線，羅傑，我認為真正的標題主題是季節性，對嗎？因此，我們看到燃料裂縫在特種產品（SPS 和高性能品牌）的業務方面大幅下降，我想說我們在年底看到了典型的季節性需求放緩。我們也看到一些客戶希望進一步減少庫存，並盡可能降低業務風險。

Looking now into the early part of 2024. I would say it's a little bit mixed, Roger. Going back to the fuel side of the business, we have a constructive outlook within fuels. We've seen crack margins improve from three-year lows that we hit in mid-December. We've seen that improve back above mid-cycle, although remain highly volatile.

現在展望 2024 年初。我想說這有點複雜，羅傑。回到燃料業務方面，我們對燃料抱持建設性的前景。我們看到裂縫利潤率從 12 月中旬觸及的三年低點有所改善。我們已經看到，儘管仍處於高度波動狀態，但已回升至週期中期以上。

On the specialty side, Roger, overall, we say demand has slowed. As you alluded to, we've seen the demand slow. But with that said, and Todd and David touched on this during the script, we've delivered five years in a row of record results within that specialty side of the business.

羅傑，在特種產品方面，整體而言，我們認為需求已經放緩。正如您所提到的，我們看到需求放緩。但話雖如此，托德和大衛在劇本中也談到了這一點，我們已經在該業務的專業領域連續五年取得了創紀錄的成果。

We've implemented commercial best-in-class programs that have allowed us to perform and deliver results really in any type of environment that we've encountered in the past three, four, five years. So we remain confident in the business. But without question, there has been some market pull back from the customer demand.

我們實施了一流的商業計劃，使我們能夠在過去三、四年、五年遇到的任何類型的環境中真正執行並交付成果。所以我們對這個業務仍然充滿信心。但毫無疑問，客戶需求已經出現了一些市場回落。

Maybe I'd add a little bit, Roger. And Scott, see what you think about this, but the -- if I look at the normal slide that we present in SPS, we show the margin per barrel on specialties. And we saw that bounce back to a little bit above $70 a barrel in Q4, which I think we alluded to on the last earnings call. I think we'll continue to see margins in between that Q4 and Q3 number.

也許我要補充一點，羅傑。斯科特，看看你對此有何看法，但是 - 如果我看一下我們在 SPS 中呈現的正常幻燈片，我們會顯示特種油每桶的利潤。我們看到第四季反彈至每桶 70 美元以上，我認為我們在上次財報電話會議上提到了這一點。我認為我們將繼續看到第四季和第三季數字之間的利潤率。

So $60, $70 type range if -- as we look into 2024 and continue to expect that we'll be able to sell everything we make. So it's undoubtedly a little bit slower on -- particularly on the retail front. But more broadly continues to be well above mid-cycle and just very comfortable and confident in the sales team that Scott has built. They're doing an exceptional job and really able to go out and have a lot of confidence perform in any market.

因此，當我們展望 2024 年並繼續期望我們能夠出售我們生產的所有產品時，價格範圍為 60 美元、70 美元。因此，毫無疑問，它的速度要慢一些——尤其是在零售方面。但更廣泛地說，仍然遠高於週期中期，並且對斯科特建立的銷售團隊非常滿意和充滿信心。他們做得非常出色，並且確實能夠走出去，並且在任何市場上都有很大的信心表現。

Great. I appreciate that. I'll turn it back. Thanks.

偉大的。我很感激。我會把它轉回來。謝謝。

Neil Mehta, Goldman Sachs.

尼爾梅塔，高盛。

Yeah, good morning, Todd and team. Thanks for -- thanks for the time today. The first question I had was

是的，早上好，托德和團隊。謝謝——謝謝你今天抽出時間。我的第一個問題是

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning. It was really on Montana, in trying to get a sense of what the lost profit opportunity was because it was a tougher quarter, but you had turnaround and you had a period where you're working through some high-priced inventory. Now is there a way to strip back out and try to get a sense of what the profitability would have looked like? And that's -- any comments on when we can really see the run rate levels of profitability for that business?

早安.這實際上是在蒙大拿州，試圖了解損失的利潤機會是什麼，因為這是一個更加艱難的季度，但你已經扭虧為盈，並且有一段時間你正在處理一些高價庫存。現在有沒有一種方法可以剝離並嘗試了解盈利能力會是什麼樣子？那就是——我們什麼時候才能真正看到該業務的盈利運行率水平，有什麼評論嗎？

Hey, Neil, it's Todd. I'll kick again and then, like I said, Bruce will have plenty to add, I'm sure. I'd say lost profit opportunity in the second half was between $80 million and $100 million. So the steam drum crack, undoubtedly, pushed us back. If we look forward to what we're doing now, and I alluded to this a little bit in the script, I think if we look forward, we look at what margins have done right now, industry margins have softened a little bit. And we know we have some impact of old feed.

嘿，尼爾，我是托德。我會再踢球，然後，就像我說的，布魯斯會有很多東西要補充，我確信。我想說下半年損失的利潤機會在 8,000 萬至 1 億美元之間。因此，蒸汽鼓的破裂聲無疑地將我們推了回去。如果我們展望我們現在正在做的事情，我在劇本中提到了一點，我想如果我們展望未來，我們會看看現在的利潤率，行業利潤率已經有點軟化了。我們知道舊飼料會產生一些影響。

But remember, Montana Renewables core advantage is our ability to switch feedstocks and take advantage of whatever market is strong. And what we've really seen is tallow has remained super profitable. Unfortunately, right now, we're not able to take advantage of it, largely because our inventory is full. So LPO's kind of hard to pull back too much because there are so many elements.

但請記住，蒙大拿州再生能源公司的核心優勢是我們能夠轉換原料並利用任何強勁的市場。我們真正看到的是，牛脂仍然保持著超高的利潤。不幸的是，現在我們無法利用它，主要是因為我們的庫存已滿。所以 LPO 很難回檔太多，因為有太多因素。

But I'd say right now, if we were running in a normal steady-state environment, looking at industry tallow margins of $1.70-ish a gallon or so, we'd be generating somewhere probably between $0.80 and $1 a gallon. So it's a little bit softer out there.

但我現在想說的是，如果我們在正常的穩態環境中運行，考慮到每加侖 1.70 美元左右的行業利潤，我們的發電量可能在每加侖 0.80 美元到 1 美元之間。所以外面的氣氛稍微柔和一點。

But undoubtedly, this is a top decile plant. The impact of Q4 was fully on operations and in a turnaround and not being able to spread fixed costs and capture those economies of scale. So I don't know, Bruce, what would you add?

但毫無疑問，這是一株頂級的十分植物。第四季的影響完全在於營運和扭虧為盈，無法分攤固定成本並實現規模經濟。所以我不知道，布魯斯，你會補充什麼？

I think that's a good capture. And Neil, in addition, I would flag with tallow margins at $2, if you wave the magic wand, we should be running 100% tallow, and we have done that. We commissioned the unit on 100% tallow. So it's within our reach. The issue we ran into was with the downtime due to the steam drum, we underran production. All of our tanks are full. Our supply chain is full and our ability to shift gears and optimize feed classes is going to be delayed until we clear that inbound.

我認為這是一個很好的捕捉。尼爾，此外，我會標記動物脂利潤為 2 美元，如果你揮舞魔杖，我們應該運行 100% 動物脂，我們已經做到了。我們在 100% 牛脂上調試了該裝置。所以這是我們力所能及的。我們遇到的問題是由於蒸氣鼓造成的停機，導致我們的生產不足。我們所有的油箱都滿了。我們的供應鏈已滿，我們轉換檔位和優化飼料類別的能力將被推遲，直到我們清除入庫。

Thanks, Bruce. And then, team, when do you see that happening? When do you get that inflection where we can see the run rate profitability of the renewables business? Is that middle of this year?

謝謝，布魯斯。然後，團隊，你什麼時候會看到這種情況發生？什麼時候我們可以看到再生能源業務的運作率獲利能力？是今年年中嗎？

Probably sooner, Neil. We're actually already climbing out of the hole when we look at our internal short time frame metrics. The quarterly reporting will begin to show that at the end of this current quarter, and it's going to continue to improve as we resume normal feed optimization activity.

可能會更早，尼爾。當我們查看內部短期指標時，我們實際上已經從困境中爬出來了。季度報告將在本季末開始顯示這一點，並且隨著我們恢復正常的飼料優化活動，這一情況將繼續改善。

And I think if I'd add anything, it's -- expect Q2 for the first full kind of run rate quarter, right? So Bruce is highlighting that. We're getting through the end of our inventory challenges here. I think that we'll have that fully cleared in March. And Q2 is what we're looking at for kind of the first normal, I'll call it, where we're buying feed in months and selling product in the same month at full rate.

我想如果我要添加任何內容的話，那就是——預計第二季度將是第一個完整的運行率季度，對嗎？所以布魯斯強調了這一點。我們正在解決庫存挑戰。我認為我們將在三月完全解決這個問題。第二季是我們正在尋找的第一個常態，我稱之為，我們在幾個月內購買飼料，並在同一個月內全額銷售產品。

Thank you, Todd. Thanks, Bruce.

謝謝你，托德。謝謝，布魯斯。

Thanks, Neil.

謝謝，尼爾。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Manav Gupta, UBS.

馬納夫古普塔，瑞銀集團。

Guys, I just have a quick macro question. You provided very detailed opening comments. And one of the read-throughs for me was that you were indicating that your advantage, you have advantage feedstock, you're making renewable diesel with lower feedstock prices eventually. But one side of the industry, which you kind of hinted was at a disadvantage was biodiesel producers using vegetable oil.

夥計們，我有一個簡短的宏觀問題。您提供了非常詳細的開場評論。我的閱讀內容之一是，您表明您的優勢，您擁有優勢原料，您最終將以較低的原料價格生產再生柴油。但您暗示該行業處於劣勢的一方面是使用植物油的生物柴油生產商。

And it looks like some of those guys could shut down and eventually that would help bring the whole industry more into balance, better D4 outlook, better LCFS outlook, and also reduce the oversupply of [BDRD]. Is that what you're thinking that the advantage projects like yours will run while weaker biodiesel projects using vegetable oil could have to eventually shut down?

看起來其中一些公司可能會關閉，最終這將有助於使整個行業更加平衡，更好的 D4 前景，更好的 LCFS 前景，並減少供應過剩[BDRD]。您是否認為像您這樣的優勢項目將會運行，而使用植物油的較弱的生物柴油項目最終可能不得不關閉？

Manav, it's Bruce. Directionally, that's absolutely correct. The seriatim, the ordinal ranking of cash margin is absolutely going to favor the HEFA producers over the biodiesel, logistics will also sort out individual competitors and ours are going to be the best, because we're the closest to all of the markets.

馬納夫，我是布魯斯。從方向上來說，這是絕對正確的。從順序來看，現金利潤率的順序絕對有利於 HEFA 生產商而不是生物柴油，物流也將篩選出各個競爭對手，我們的將是最好的，因為我們距離所有市場最近。

The question on the table is actually how fast does the EPA correct its error, they underrepresented the supply side, and that has the effect when they set their targets, sorry, they set the targets too low, to be clear. That's putting a lot of pressure on the farmers and on the ag sector. I'm not sure that's politically sustainable.

擺在桌面上的問題實際上是美國環保署糾正錯誤的速度有多快，他們低估了供應方的代表性，這在他們設定目標時產生了影響，抱歉，他們設定的目標太低了，不清楚。這給農民和農業部門帶來了極大的壓力。我不確定這在政治上是否可持續。

Perfect, guys. And a quick follow-up. It looks like New Mexico is also moving ahead. And from what we are hearing is that this delay in carb is actually a little more positive. They are looking at the current mechanism and saying, maybe we need to be more strict about it, to get the carbon price bank in a better balance. Anything you have heard either on New Mexico or the proposed carb ruling if you could help us out.

完美，夥計們。並快速跟進。看來新墨西哥州也在向前邁進。據我們所知，碳水化合物的延遲實際上是更積極的一點。他們正在研究目前的機制並表示，也許我們需要更加嚴格，以使碳價格銀行達到更好的平衡。您在新墨西哥州或擬議的碳水化合物裁決中聽到的任何信息，如果您可以幫助我們的話。

Well, we know what you know from the public reports, but our thesis all along has been that the low carbon fuel standard is going to continue to spread geographically. So if you just look at recent history, you have all the federal Canada opting in, and they were careful with the rule. They took their time to get that right and they came on stream July 1 of this past year, that doubles the addressable diesel volume subject to an LCFS standard just like that.

好吧，我們知道您從公開報告中了解到的情況，但我們的論點一直是低碳燃料標準將繼續在地理上傳播。因此，如果你看看最近的歷史，你會發現所有加拿大聯邦都選擇了加入，而且他們對這項規則非常謹慎。他們花了很多時間來解決這個問題，並在去年 7 月 1 日投入運行，這使得符合 LCFS 標準的可尋址柴油量增加了一倍。

New Mexico is smaller, I believe, 100,000 barrels a day diesel is the volume I have in my head, but they're not going to be last. They're just next. A lot of state legislatures are considering this. Sometimes it's for farm support because it does pull crop-based material through into the transportation fuel pool. Sometimes, it's for air quality. Everybody's got a different motivation, but that's going to continue. And that's just the US or North American picture. These rules are continuing to come in around the world.

新墨西哥州規模較小，我相信，我腦子裡的容量是每天 10 萬桶柴油，但它們不會是最後一個。他們就在下一個。許多州立法機構正在考慮這一點。有時它是為了農場支持，因為它確實將農作物材料拉入運輸燃料池。有時，是為了空氣品質。每個人都有不同的動機，但這種情況將會持續下去。這只是美國或北美的情況。這些規則繼續在世界各地推行。

As Todd indicated, there's been a lot of activity in SAF, most recently the Singapore requirement. And I want to reemphasize that renewable diesel plus SAF is the call on the HEFA hardware. Every gallon of SAF the industry mix has been taken away from diesel, and that's got to be part of the balances for anybody doing any forecasting.

正如托德所指出的，SAF 開展了許多活動，最近一次是新加坡的要求。我想再次強調，再生柴油加 SAF 是對 HEFA 硬體的要求。行業組合中的每一加侖 SAF 都已從柴油中去除，對於任何進行任何預測的人來說，這必須成為平衡的一部分。

Thank you so much for detailed responses, guys.

非常感謝你們的詳細回复，夥計們。

Thanks, Manav.

謝謝，馬納夫。

Sameer Joshi, H.C. Wainwright.

薩米爾‧喬希 (Sameer Joshi)，H.C.溫賴特。

Hey, guys, thanks for taking my questions. Just a clarification on the C-Corp conversion and the monetization of MRL. Is it possible for you to continue to proceed on the -- on the divestiture, while this C-Corp process is going on? Or will it have to be only started after the C-Corp is done?

嘿，夥計們，謝謝你回答我的問題。只是對 C 型企業轉換和 MRL 貨幣化進行澄清。在 C 型公司流程進行期間，您是否可以繼續進行資產剝離？還是必須在 C-Corp 完成後才開始？

Hey, Sameer, it's Todd. The -- I think in general, our plan remains unchanged around both monetization and C-Corp conversion. I see them as separate, but there certainly are connection points. Obviously, our core theory with all of this is as Montana Renewables comes online and just general investor sentiment towards MLPs, there is just -- it's just a completely different investor base.

嘿，薩米爾，我是托德。我認為總的來說，我們在貨幣化和 C 型企業轉型方面的計劃保持不變。我認為它們是分開的，但肯定存在連接點。顯然，我們所有這一切的核心理論是，隨著蒙大拿州再生能源公司上線，以及投資者對 MLP 的普遍情緒，這只是一個完全不同的投資者基礎。

So to get the right type of interest to get our trading volume up to where it needs to be and to be able to outreach to institutional and passive investors, it's just critical that we had a more investable corporate structure.

因此，為了獲得正確類型的興趣，使我們的交易量達到所需的水平，並能夠接觸到機構和被動投資者，我們擁有一個更具投資性的公司結構至關重要。

So I think that's separate from a potential monetization of Montana Renewables. I also think it's generally helpful, right? So as we look at the Montana Renewables potential monetization, I don't think much has changed there. We've said all along that we need probably two quarters of strong steady operations, which we started in December.

所以我認為這與蒙大拿州再生能源公司的潛在貨幣化是分開的。我也認為這通常很有幫助，對嗎？因此，當我們審視蒙大拿州再生能源的潛在貨幣化時，我認為那裡沒有太大變化。我們一直在說，我們可能需要兩個季度的強勁穩定運營，這是我們從 12 月開始的。

We need at least one quarter, if not two, of steady-state financials, which we said today, we expect in Q2. So if we kind of tie all of that together, we would be pointing towards second half of the year for potential monetization.

我們需要至少四分之一（如果不是兩個）的穩態財務數據，我們今天說過，我們預計在第二季。因此，如果我們將所有這些結合在一起，我們將指出今年下半年的潛在貨幣化。

Obviously, we don't have to monetize. We are focused on creating Max shareholder value in this whole deal. But we're certainly interested in it and have been talking about it for a while. And I'd say our plan is that as a base case remains unchanged. The conversion or the change to a C-Corp would happen before that. So we expect the conversion to be complete in Q2, which would be before a sale of Montana Renewables. Does that help?

顯然，我們不需要貨幣化。我們致力於在整個交易中創造最大股東價值。但我們當然對此感興趣並且已經討論了一段時間。我想說的是，我們的計劃是基本情況保持不變。轉換或轉變為 C 型企業將在此之前發生。因此，我們預計轉換將在第二季完成，即在出售蒙大拿州再生能源公司之前。這樣有幫助嗎？

Understood. Yes, yes. No. Thanks for that color. I understand. On the -- stepping back and looking at your overall financials, how has the RIN pricing environment helped or impacted overall profitability because you do have to buy the rents for your non-renewable business? And how is the RINs on balance sheet? How are you playing that pricing that out? Just wanted to understand how we are managing profitability and impact of these elements?

明白了。是的是的。不。謝謝那個顏色。我明白。退後一步，看看您的整體財務狀況，RIN 定價環境如何幫助或影響整體盈利能力，因為您確實必須為不可再生業務購買租金？RIN 在資產負債表上的表現如何？您如何定價？只是想了解我們如何管理這些要素的獲利能力和影響？

Hi, Sameer, it's Bruce. I'll take a start at that. So we basically have an inventory accounting style treatment of RINs on our balance sheet. So we accumulate any length or shortage, treat that as an inventory and reprice it at the end of each quarter. And as we've communicated before, we're not sure that's really a very good estimate of the financial liability for two reasons. One, there's a lot of volatility in the RIN price itself, which you just noted, and a rifle shot of four days out of the whole year is the first question.

嗨，薩米爾，我是布魯斯。我將從這開始。因此，我們的資產負債表基本上是採用庫存會計方式處理 RIN。因此，我們累積任何長度或短缺，將其視為庫存，並在每個季度末重新定價。正如我們之前溝通過的，我們不確定這是否真的是對財務負債的一個很好的估計，原因有兩個。一，RIN 價格本身有很大的波動，正如您剛才提到的，全年四天的步槍射擊是第一個問題。

Secondly, you can't settle that liability with money. That's not how that program works. So with that disclaimer, I think I would also tell you that we're involved in a number of federal circuit court litigations. And I don't want to go too far into any forward-looking statements other than to note that the status of each of those cases is a matter of public record. And for example, the Fifth Circuit sided with us, and we'll see how that plays out as we continue to talk to the EPA.

其次，你不能用金錢來解決這個責任。該程式不是這樣工作的。因此，透過免責聲明，我想我還要告訴您，我們涉及許多聯邦巡迴法院訴訟。我不想過多地談論任何前瞻性陳述，只是想指出，每個案例的狀態都是公共記錄的問題。例如，第五巡迴法院站在我們這邊，當我們繼續與美國環保署對話時，我們將看到結果如何。

Understood. And then one -- just last one. Of the actual production of renewals, what proportion was -- I think it was 5.4 barrels per day on average. What proportion was RD and what proportion was SAF?

明白了。然後是最後一個。在續約的實際產量中，我認為平均每天是 5.4 桶。RD 的比例是多少，SAF 的比例是多少？

Our guidance is a 12,000 barrel per calendar day feedstock run. And if you convert that to gallons, you're going to get about 175 million gallons a year. We've contracted 30 million gallons of SAF.

我們的指導是每個日曆日原料運行量為 12,000 桶。如果將其換算為加侖，每年將獲得約 1.75 億加侖。我們已經簽訂了 3000 萬加侖 SAF 合約。

Okay. Got it. Thanks a lot.

好的。知道了。多謝。

Gregg Brody, Bank of America.

格雷格·布羅迪，美國銀行。

Good morning, guys. And Bruce, are you a little bit surprised that I didn't get to ask the RIN question. Just a thing I'm trying to understand how to think about funding the Max Expansion project. And I realize the DOE funding as part of that. But can you talk a little bit of the sequencing of MaxSAF? Will you -- do you basically need the DOE funding to come in to start doing that? And then maybe you can try to tie that to ultimately the deleveraging of legacy Calumet.

早上好傢伙。Bruce，你對我沒有問 RIN 問題感到有點驚訝嗎？我只是想了解如何考慮為 Max Expansion 專案提供資金。我意識到能源部的資助是其中的一部分。但您能談談 MaxSAF 的排序嗎？你基本上需要能源部的資金來開始這樣做嗎？然後也許你可以嘗試將其與傳統 Calumet 的最終去槓桿化聯繫起來。

Hey, Gregg, it's Todd. We've said before that, that we're not going to take on meaningful extra just senior notes to go fund MaxSAF, and that continues to be the plan at least until we're completely delevered. So I wouldn't expect that to change. So what some of that means is, it's directly linked to DOE. We've been progressing the engineering.

嘿，格雷格，我是托德。我們之前說過，我們不會採取有意義的額外高級票據來為 MaxSAF 提供資金，而且至少在我們完全去槓桿化之前，這仍然是這個計劃。所以我不希望這種情況改變。所以其中一些意味著它與能源部直接相關。我們一直在推進工程。

We can do that internally. We can do that through very minor spend to an extent. We're getting to the point now where we have a pretty strong feel of what we have, and we're very excited about it. We'll provide more details actually probably on the upcoming earnings call of what we actually expect MaxSAF to be. But we don't expect to go forward and spend meaningful dollars until we get DOE approval.

我們可以在內部做到這一點。在某種程度上，我們可以透過非常少的支出來做到這一點。現在我們已經對我們擁有的東西有了非常強烈的感覺，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們可能會在即將召開的財報電話會議上提供更多關於我們對 MaxSAF 的實際預期的詳細資訊。但在獲得能源部批准之前，我們預計不會繼續投入有意義的資金。

So we're quickly coming on to a plateau, and just how productive we can be. It's kind of like with the DOE comes the launch of MaxSAF. It's that simple. We progressed through the preplanning phases over the past few months and really excited about what we have.

因此，我們很快就進入了一個平台期，我們的生產力也隨之提高。這有點像美國能源部推出 MaxSAF。就是這麼簡單。在過去的幾個月裡，我們在預先規劃階段取得了進展，並對我們所擁有的一切感到非常興奮。

So the -- I guess to oversimplify, don't expect a whole bunch of excess new capital to come in to fund MaxSAF. It's directly tied to DOE. No change in our long-term deleveraging plan. We've said that we want to reduce $300 million to $400 million of outstanding debt. That continues to be the plan. Continued path and continues to be a minority sale of Montana Renewables and free cash flow.

因此，我認為過於簡化了，不要指望會有大量多餘的新資本來資助 MaxSAF。它與能源部直接相關。我們的長期去槓桿計畫沒有改變。我們說過，我們希望減少 3 億至 4 億美元的未償債務。這仍然是計劃。繼續前進，並繼續出售蒙大拿州再生能源公司的少數股權和自由現金流。

And then would you expect any free cash flow from Montana Renewable to come out this year? Or is it all going to be reinvested?

那麼您預計蒙大拿州再生能源公司今年會產生任何自由現金流嗎？還是全部都將再投資？

No, I would expect it to stay in Montana Renewables this year.

不，我預計今年它會留在蒙大拿州再生能源公司。

And then just on the DOE, you made it sound like you're optimistic you'll hear something soon. Can you talk a little bit about what you're hearing that gives you confidence in that? Just help us understand what you're thinking when you made that statement?

然後就在能源部，你聽起來好像你很樂觀，你很快就會聽到一些消息。您能談談您所聽到的讓您對此充滿信心的內容嗎？請幫助我們了解您發表此聲明時的想法？

Gregg, it's Bruce. I'll take that one. We are actively engaged with the DOE multiple times per week. It's a priority on both sides. And we will expect to have a go, no go in the foreseeable future. This is not a case where we've got some PowerPoint idea, and we're running around looking for financing. We're launching the expansion off of a real platform and the economics are compelling.

格雷格，我是布魯斯。我會接受那個。我們每週與能源部積極接觸多次。這是雙方的優先事項。在可預見的將來，我們預計會嘗試，也不會嘗試。這不是我們有了一些 PowerPoint 想法，而是四處尋找融資的情況。我們正在從一個真實的平台上擴展，其經濟效益非常引人注目。

All right, guys. I think that's it for me. Thanks for the time.

好吧，夥計們。我想這對我來說就是這樣。謝謝你的時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jason Gabelman, TD Cowen.

賈森·加貝爾曼，TD·考恩。

Hey. Good morning. I want to ask about the political or I should say, government support as it relates to your SAF project. Given that it's an election year, one, how important is it that you get the loan from the DOE prior to the election? Do you see potential for risk if you don't get it by then? And then two, how comfortable are you with the SAF economics, excluding support from the IRA given there could be some risk to the producer tax credit if there's a Republican wave?

嘿。早安.我想詢問有關您的 SAF 項目的政治支持，或者我應該說，政府支持。鑑於今年是選舉年，第一，在選舉前從能源部獲得貸款有多重要？如果到那時你還沒有得到它，你會看到潛在的風險嗎？第二個問題，考慮到如果共和黨掀起一股浪潮，生產者稅收抵免可能會面臨一些風險，排除愛爾蘭共和軍的支持，您對新加坡武裝部隊的經濟狀況有多滿意？

Jason, I'll start. Yeah, it's difficult to speculate on an election result. And as far as the second part of your question, we are able to participate in the current legislated markets, which are not only federal. Remember that LCFS matters. Remember that there is a lot of global pressure to pull SAF into physical commerce. The commercial premiums in Europe were in the $3 a gallon range.

傑森，我要開始了。是的，很難推測選舉結果。至於你問題的第二部分，我們能夠參與當前的立法市場，這些市場不僅僅是聯邦市場。請記住 LCFS 很重要。請記住，全球面臨巨大的壓力，要求 SAF 進入實體商業領域。歐洲的商業溢價為每加侖 3 美元。

Volumes are being mandated. State of Illinois has passed $1.50 per gallon tax credit. So it's a much, much broader tapestry of support than just, is the future administration going to reverse the existing federal law. And I don't think we perceive that as a large risk because if there's not a premium for SAF, we're going to leave it in the diesel. No premium, no SAF, and that's globally true.

批次正在被強制執行。伊利諾伊州已通過每加侖 1.50 美元的稅收抵免。因此，這是一個更廣泛的支持，而不僅僅是未來政府是否會推翻現有的聯邦法律。我不認為我們認為這是一個很大的風險，因為如果 SAF 沒有溢價，我們會將其留在柴油中。沒有溢價，就沒有 SAF，這在全球範圍內都是如此。

Okay. Thanks. And then just on the DOE loan process, has there been something that's been holding this up longer than expected. I don't know if there's something specific or if it's just a typical kind of government delays that you run into. But I think when you first started talking about the DOE loan, you expected it to get it as early as Labor Day 2023.

好的。謝謝。然後就能源部的貸款流程而言，是否有什麼原因導致這一過程比預期的持續時間更長。我不知道是否有任何具體情況，或者這是否只是您遇到的一種典型的政府延誤。但我認為，當您第一次開始談論能源部貸款時，您預計最早會在 2023 年勞動節之前獲得貸款。

Yes, Bruce, again. Your memory is correct. We actually began talking to the DOE two years ago. We didn't talk publicly about that earlier. But as it became a real prospect on both sides, we did have a step change improvement in that conversation after the IRA legislation came through. That changed a number of things. And so we're in actually a much better situation. And assuming success, you're going to like it when it comes out, but it did require some re-architecture based upon the change in legislative support.

是的，布魯斯，又來了。你的記憶是正確的。事實上，我們兩年前就開始與能源部交談。我們之前沒有公開談論過這一點。但隨著這對雙方來說都成為一個真正的前景，在愛爾蘭共和軍立法通過後，我們的談話確實有了一步改變。這改變了很多事情。所以我們的情況實際上要好得多。假設成功，當它問世時你會喜歡它，但它確實需要根據立法支持的變化進行一些重新架構。

Okay. And then the final one, just on Canada, which you mentioned is an important market for your renewable diesel sales. Can you discuss -- it's a bit less transparent than kind of the US LCFS programs, just given the federal programs starting to ramp up. Can you discuss the outlook for that market? Do you expect that to become a major pull on US renewable diesel production over the next couple of years as their clean fuel standard program ramps up?

好的。最後一個是關於加拿大，您提到加拿大是再生柴油銷售的重要市場。您能否討論一下——考慮到聯邦計劃開始增加，它的透明度比美國 LCFS 計劃要低一些。您能討論一下該市場的前景嗎？您預計隨著清潔燃料標準計畫的加強，這將成為未來幾年美國再生柴油生產的主要拉動因素嗎？

Yes. And to give a little more color, if you make a loose analogy, the Canadian industry structure similar to the US side, there is a leader on the West Coast, that's British Columbia. They've got their own model and rules that are tighter than the national averages, same as the analogy to California or carb and the US federal. There is a proliferation of provincial level requirements, some of which are direct volume mandates, not LCFS style. And then you've got the federal overlay of an LCSF (sic - "LCFS") program, running off of a different model platform than the BC one.

是的。再說一點，如果你做一個寬鬆的類比，加拿大的產業結構與美國類似，西海岸有一個領先者，那就是不列顛哥倫比亞省。他們有自己的模型和規則，比全國平均更嚴格，與加州或碳水化合物和美國聯邦的類比相同。省級要求激增，其中一些是直接數量要求，而不是 LCFS 風格。然後你就得到了 LCSF（原文如此，“LCFS”）計劃的聯邦覆蓋，該計劃運行於與 BC 不同的模型平台上。

So the parallels are very, very reasonable. And if you take that and project it, the tightening program just calls in more and more volume. It's supplied by imported now. And the forecast is that will continue. We're in a great position to be the shipper.

所以這些相似之處是非常非常合理的。如果你接受並預測它，緊縮計劃只會帶來越來越多的成交量。現在都是進口供應。預計這種情況將會持續下去。我們作為托運人處於有利地位。

Now I want to give you a different thought. The model differences in Canada are not only on the product side. They treat carbon intensity calculations differently, and particularly British Columbia does. And so there's a real incentive to take Canadian canola and round trip it through our plant back to Canadian placed product.

現在我想給你一個不同的想法。加拿大的型號差異不僅體現在產品方面。他們以不同的方式對待碳強度計算，尤其是不列顛哥倫比亞省。因此，我們確實有動力採取加拿大油菜籽並通過我們的工廠返回加拿大放置的產品。

We've got one of our off-takers specifically requesting that we assign them product made from canola. So there's a lot going on under the surface. The forecast is that the global energy transition drive continues different local political -- local regional political players will find a way to properly tune that to their ag sector, their rent sector in the case of tallow, and there's no reason not to remain optimistic about the underlying industry structure.

我們的一位承購商特別要求我們為他們分配由油菜籽製成的產品。所以表面之下發生了很多事。預測全球能源轉型的動力將繼續不同的地方政治——地方政治參與者將找到一種方法來適當調整他們的農業部門，在牛脂的情況下，他們的租金部門，並且沒有理由不保持樂觀基礎產業結構。

Great. Got it. Thanks for the answers.

偉大的。知道了。感謝您的回答。

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回布拉德·麥克默里（Brad McMurray）發表閉幕詞。

Thanks, Betsy. On behalf of the management team here in the room and really all of us here at Calumet, we appreciate your time and interest this morning. Thank you for joining us on today's earnings call. Have a great weekend, everybody.

謝謝，貝特西。我們謹代表在座的管理團隊以及 Calumet 的所有人，感謝您今天早上的時間和關注。感謝您參加今天的財報電話會議。大家週末愉快。

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。