(CMC) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome, everyone, to the Third Quarter Fiscal 2023 Earnings Call for Commercial Metals Company. Today's materials, including the press release and supplemental slides that accompany this call, can be found on CMC's Investor Relations website. Today's call is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎大家參加商業金屬公司 2023 財年第三季度收益電話會議。今天的材料，包括本次電話會議附帶的新聞稿和補充幻燈片，可以在 CMC 的投資者關係網站上找到。今天的通話正在錄音。

(Operator Instructions) I would like to remind all participants that during the course of this conference call, the company will make statements that provide information other than historical information and will include expectations regarding economic conditions, effects of legislation, U.S. steel import levels, construction activity, demand for finished steel products, the expected capabilities, benefits and timeline for the construction of new facilities, the company's future operations, the timeline for execution of the company's growth plan, the company's future results of operations, financial measures and capital spending.

（操作員說明）我想提醒所有與會者，在本次電話會議期間，公司將發表聲明，提供歷史信息以外的信息，並將包括對經濟狀況、立法影響、美國鋼鐵進口水平、建築業的預期。活動、成品鋼材需求、新設施建設的預期能力、效益和時間表、公司未來的運營、公司增長計劃的執行時間表、公司未來的運營業績、財務措施和資本支出。

These and other similar statements are considered forward-looking and may involve certain assumptions and speculation and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations.

這些和其他類似的陳述被認為是前瞻性的，可能涉及某些假設和猜測，並受到可能導致實際結果與這些預期存在重大差異的風險和不確定性的影響。

These statements reflect the company's beliefs based on current conditions, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including those that are described in the Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements section of the company's latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

這些陳述反映了公司基於當前情況的信念，但受到某些風險和不確定性的影響，包括公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新文件的風險因素和前瞻性陳述部分中描述的風險和不確定性，包括公司的最新年度報告（表格 10-K）和季度報告（表格 10-Q）。

Although these statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, CMC offers no assurance that these expectations or beliefs will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially.

儘管這些陳述基於管理層當前的期望和信念，但 CMC 不保證這些期望或信念將被證明是正確的，並且實際結果可能會存在重大差異。

All statements are made only as of this date. Except as required by law, CMC does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements in connection with future events, changes in assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, new information or circumstances or otherwise.

所有聲明僅截至當日作出。除法律要求外，CMC 不承擔任何更新、修改或澄清與未來事件、假設變化、預期或意外事件發生、新信息或情況或其他相關的聲明的義務。

Some numbers presented will be non-GAAP financial measures, and reconciliations for such numbers can be found in the company's earnings release, supplemental slide presentation or on the company's website. Unless stated otherwise, all references made to [year] or quarter-end are references to the company's fiscal year or fiscal quarter.

提供的一些數據將是非公認會計準則財務指標，這些數據的調節可以在公司的收益發布、補充幻燈片演示或公司網站上找到。除非另有說明，所有提及[年]或季度末的內容均指公司的會計年度或會計季度。

And now for opening remarks and introductions, I will turn the call over to the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Metals Company, Ms. Barbara Smith.

現在，我將向商業金屬公司董事會主席兼首席執行官芭芭拉·史密斯女士致開幕詞和介紹。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for attending CMC's third quarter earnings conference call. As we reported in our press release this morning, it was another period of outstanding financial results, with quarterly core EBITDA performance among the best in our company's history. I would like to thank CMC's 12,500 employees who have made these results possible. Your hard work and focused efforts are driving our success.

大家早上好，感謝大家參加 CMC 第三季度財報電話會議。正如我們今天早上在新聞稿中報導的那樣，這是又一個財務業績出色的時期，季度核心 EBITDA 業績名列我們公司歷史上最好的。我要感謝 CMC 的 12,500 名員工，是他們讓這些成果成為可能。您的辛勤工作和專注努力正在推動我們的成功。

For this morning's call, I'm joined by Commercial Metals Company President, Peter Matt, as well as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Paul Lawrence.

商業金屬公司總裁 Peter Matt 以及高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Paul Lawrence 也參加了今天早上的電話會議。

I will start today's discussion with a few comments on CMC's third quarter results and give an update on our strategic growth projects. Peter will then provide commentary on current market conditions and factors behind CMC's long-term demand outlook.

我將首先對 CMC 第三季度業績發表一些評論，並介紹我們戰略增長項目的最新情況。隨後，Peter 將就當前市場狀況以及 CMC 長期需求前景背後的因素發表評論。

Paul will cover the quarter's financial information in more detail, and I will then conclude with our outlook for the fourth fiscal quarter, after which we will open the call to questions.

保羅將更詳細地介紹本季度的財務信息，然後我將總結我們對第四財季的展望，之後我們將開始提問。

Before diving into more details on the quarter, I'd like to direct listeners to the supplemental slides that accompany this call. The presentation can be found on CMC's Investor Relations website.

在深入了解本季度的更多細節之前，我想引導聽眾觀看本次電話會議附帶的補充幻燈片。該演示文稿可在 CMC 投資者關係網站上找到。

As I noted, CMC's third quarter fiscal 2023 earnings were among the strongest in our company's 108-year history. We recorded net earnings of $234 million or $1.98 per diluted share on net sales of $2.3 billion. Excluding the impact of nonoperational items, which Paul will discuss in more detail, adjusted earnings were $239.7 million or $2.02 per diluted share.

正如我所指出的，CMC 2023 財年第三季度的收益是我們公司 108 年曆史上最強勁的。我們錄得淨利潤 2.34 億美元，即每股攤薄收益 1.98 美元，淨銷售額為 23 億美元。排除保羅將更詳細討論的非運營項目的影響，調整後收益為 2.397 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 2.02 美元。

CMC generated core EBITDA for the quarter of $391.7 million, an increase of 29% from the prior quarter, producing an annualized return on invested capital of 19.1%. This marks the North America segment's tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year EBITDA growth and the 20th quarter of year-over-year growth in the last 21 quarters, excluding the gain on the sale of land recognized during the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

CMC 本季度核心 EBITDA 為 3.917 億美元，比上一季度增長 29%，投資資本年化回報率為 19.1%。這標誌著北美業務連續第十個季度 EBITDA 同比增長，也是過去 21 個季度中第 20 個季度同比增長（不包括 2022 財年第二季度確認的土地出售收益） 。

I will now provide an update on CMC's key strategic growth projects. I am pleased to share that operational startup of Arizona 2 is now underway. This operation marks yet another industry first for CMC as the only micro mill in the world capable of producing both rebar and merchant bar in a continuous process.

我現在將介紹 CMC 關鍵戰略增長項目的最新情況。我很高興地告訴大家，Arizona 2 的運營啟動正在進行中。這項業務標誌著 CMC 的又一項行業第一，它是世界上唯一一家能夠連續生產螺紋鋼和商用棒材的微型鋼廠。

As a reminder, at full run rate, we expect Arizona 2 to produce approximately 350,000 tons of rebar and 150,000 tons of merchant bar annually. The ramp-up to this level should cause minimal market disruption as we have maintained CMC's presence in the West Coast following the closure of our former Steel California operations in anticipation of bringing Arizona 2 online.

提醒一下，在滿負荷運行的情況下，我們預計 Arizona 2 每年可生產約 350,000 噸螺紋鋼和 150,000 噸商業棒材。增至這一水平應該對市場造成的干擾最小，因為在關閉前加州鋼鐵公司業務後，我們一直保持著 CMC 在西海岸的業務，預計亞利桑那 2 號將上線。

Output from our new micro mill, where we placed shipments from locations in the Central and Eastern U.S., further optimizing our footprint.

我們新的微型工廠的產出，我們從美國中部和東部地區發貨，進一步優化了我們的足跡。

As we have discussed previously, the addition of Arizona 2 provides a number of strategic benefits to CMC's portfolio. It will extend our geographic reach in merchant bar to the West Coast and provide optimal access to the sizable Southern California and Arizona markets.

正如我們之前討論的，Arizona 2 的加入為 CMC 的投資組合提供了許多戰略優勢。它將把我們在商業酒吧的地理覆蓋範圍擴大到西海岸，並提供進入南加州和亞利桑那州廣闊市場的最佳途徑。

Additionally, it will help form a unique steelmaking complex through its co-location with our existing Arizona micro mill, allowing for shared staff support, production optimization, improved production scheduling and shared site infrastructure.

此外，它將通過與我們現有的亞利桑那州微型鋼廠共處一地，幫助形成一個獨特的煉鋼綜合體，從而實現共享員工支持、生產優化、改進生產調度和共享現場基礎設施​​。

The operational flexibility of Arizona 2 will also provide the ability to seamlessly adjust output of rebar and merchant bar to quickly address market conditions and opportunities.

Arizona 2 的運營靈活性還將提供無縫調整螺紋鋼和商用棒材產量的能力，以快速應對市場狀況和機遇。

Looking ahead to fiscal 2024, we initially expect our new mill to produce approximately 400,000 tons, with output approaching full run rate by the end of the fiscal year. We anticipate Arizona 2 will achieve breakeven on an EBITDA basis during the first quarter and improve from there as production increases, assuming metal margins remain fairly consistent with current levels. We believe Arizona 2 should add roughly $70 million to $80 million to CMC's sustainable through-the-cycle EBITDA.

展望 2024 財年，我們最初預計新工廠的產量約為 40 萬噸，到本財年末產量將接近滿負荷運轉。我們預計，假設金屬利潤率與當前水平保持相當一致，Arizona 2 將在第一季度實現 EBITDA 盈虧平衡，並隨著產量的增加而改善。我們認為，Arizona 2 將為 CMC 的可持續全週期 EBITDA 增加約 7000 萬至 8000 萬美元。

Turning to our other exciting new mill project, progress at the future Steel West Virginia site remains on target. We anticipate receiving the air permit in the coming weeks and expect to break ground during the middle of summer. We look forward to providing further updates over the next several quarters as we hit key project milestones.

談到我們另一個令人興奮的新工廠項目，未來鋼鐵公司西弗吉尼亞工廠的進展仍然符合目標。我們預計將在未來幾週內獲得航空許可證，並預計在仲夏破土動工。當我們達到關鍵項目里程碑時，我們期待在接下來的幾個季度提供進一步的更新。

We recently celebrated 1 year since the acquisition of Tensar, an industry-leading provider of engineered solutions for ground and soil stabilization that uniquely complement our concrete reinforcing steel products. Several of the first-year highlights are shown on Slide 6 of the supplemental presentation posted to our Investor Relations website.

我們最近慶祝了收購坦薩一周年，坦薩是地面和土壤穩定工程解決方案的行業領先供應商，是我們混凝土鋼筋產品的獨特補充。我們的投資者關係網站上發布的補充演示文稿的第 6 張幻燈片顯示了第一年的一些亮點。

We purchased Tensar with the expectation that it would represent a significant new growth platform for CMC with a meaningful runway of long-term value creation opportunities through increased market adoption, commercial synergies and additional growth targets. Our experience during the first year has validated this view and reinforced our expectations for future prospects of this business.

我們購買坦薩的期望是，它將成為 CMC 的一個重要的新增長平台，通過提高市場採用率、商業協同效應和額外的增長目標，為長期價值創造機會提供有意義的跑道。我們第一年的經驗驗證了這一觀點，並增強了我們對該業務未來前景的期望。

The successful launch of Tensar's newest geogrid design, InterAx, has shown the potential to achieve increased market penetration and share of wallet through engineered solutions that offer a compelling customer value proposition.

坦薩最新土工格柵設計 InterAx 的成功推出，顯示出通過提供令人信服的客戶價值主張的工程解決方案來提高市場滲透率和錢包份額的潛力。

We have a clear path toward executing on a broad commercial strategy, one that leverages a unique portfolio of reinforcement solutions to deliver more value to project owners, general contractors and project engineers. Since the acquisition, Tensar has generated EBITDA of $61 million, punctuated in May by the achievement of its best monthly results since joining CMC.

我們有一條明確的道路來執行廣泛的商業戰略，該戰略利用獨特的加固解決方案組合為項目業主、總承包商和項目工程師提供更多價值。自收購以來，坦薩已實現 EBITDA 6100 萬美元，並於 5 月份實現了自加入 CMC 以來的最佳月度業績。

While this first-year performance was within our initial range of expectations, we see further upside ahead by executing across a number of fronts. First, we see a significant opportunity to increase market penetration, which is currently in the mid-single digits, through an excellent value proposition and sustained marketing efforts. The launch of the InterAx product line highlights Tensar's potential to drive broader adoption.

雖然第一年的表現在我們最初的預期範圍之內，但我們通過在多個方面的執行看到了進一步的上行空間。首先，我們看到了通過卓越的價值主張和持續的營銷努力來提高市場滲透率的重大機會，目前市場滲透率處於中個位數。 InterAx 產品線的推出凸顯了坦薩推動更廣泛採用的潛力。

In less than 2 years on the market, InterAx has grown to roughly 20% of our geogrid volumes. This product has years of patent protection remaining and is, by far, the premier offering in the marketplace.

在上市不到 2 年的時間裡，InterAx 已增長到我們土工格柵產量的約 20%。該產品擁有多年的專利保護，是迄今為止市場上的首要產品。

In addition, we continue to improve production reliability and have an opportunity to add low-cost capacity to meet growing demand. Our recent acquisition of BOSTD in Oklahoma supports this goal by increasing CMC's control of our geogrid supply chain, providing the ability to expand production in the Central U.S., which is a large and growing market.

此外，我們繼續提高生產可靠性，並有機會增加低成本產能以滿足不斷增長的需求。我們最近收購了俄克拉荷馬州的 BOSTD，增強了 CMC 對土工格柵供應鏈的控制，從而有能力擴大在美國中部這個龐大且不斷增長的市場的生產，從而支持了這一目標。

Longer term, we expect commercial synergies and expansion into new product adjacencies to drive meaningful earnings growth. We are confident in our outlook for Tensar to become an increasingly important contributor to CMC's financial success. I would remind you that it is a highly seasonal business, so progress along this growth path may at times be less apparent due to typical quarter-to-quarter variations.

從長遠來看，我們預計商業協同效應和新產品鄰接領域的擴張將推動有意義的盈利增長。我們對坦薩成為 CMC 財務成功的日益重要貢獻者的前景充滿信心。我想提醒您的是，這是一個季節性很強的業務，因此由於典型的季度與季度變化，沿著這條增長道路的進展有時可能不太明顯。

Before turning the call over to Peter, I'd like to comment on the bolt-on acquisitions we have completed since the start of the fiscal year.

在將電話轉給彼得之前，我想對我們自本財年開始以來完成的補充收購發表評論。

Each transaction supports CMC's strategy by either securing critical inputs to our manufacturing operations or enhancing our ability to serve our customers. In 3 separate transactions, we acquired recycling operations in California, Texas and Tennessee. The addition of the California location supports our growth in steelmaking in the Western U.S., while the other facilities increase the security of scrap supply to our mills within core markets.

每筆交易都通過確保我們製造業務的關鍵投入或增強我們為客戶服務的能力來支持 CMC 的戰略。在三筆單獨的交易中，我們收購了加利福尼亞州、德克薩斯州和田納西州的回收業務。加州工廠的增加支持了我們在美國西部煉鋼業務的增長，而其他設施則提高了我們核心市場鋼廠廢鋼供應的安全性。

Finally, the acquisition of Tendon Systems, a leading supplier of post-tension cable to the Southeast market, complements CMC's existing footprint in the region and adds valuable engineering and commercial expertise. Post-tension cable is used in conjunction with rebar, and the ability to offer a bundled package increases the ease of doing business for customers.

最後，對東南市場後張拉索領先供應商 Tendon Systems 的收購補充了 CMC 在該地區的現有足跡，並增加了寶貴的工程和商業專業知識。後張拉索與鋼筋結合使用，提供捆綁包的能力增加了客戶開展業務的便利性。

With that overview of strategic projects, I will now hand the call over to Peter to discuss conditions in CMC's end markets.

概述了戰略項目後，我現在將電話轉給 Peter，討論 CMC 終端市場的情況。

Thank you, Barbara, and good morning to everyone on the call. Before providing remarks on CMC's end markets, I would like to share a few observations for my first 2 months as President.

謝謝芭芭拉，祝所有參加電話會議的人早上好。在對 CMC 的終端市場發表評論之前，我想先分享一下我擔任總裁的頭兩個月的一些觀察。

My time has been filled with site visits and conversations with employees from across the organization, and I have come away with a true appreciation for the quality of our culture and our people. It's clear that our team members are truly dedicated to our customers and to each other. It's also clear that our people excel at meeting challenges from routine business issues to spearheading the adoption of breakthrough technologies.

我的時間充滿了實地考察以及與整個組織的員工的對話，我對我們的文化和員工的質量有了真正的欣賞。很明顯，我們的團隊成員真正致力於我們的客戶和彼此。同樣明顯的是，我們的員工擅長應對從日常業務問題到率先採用突破性技術的挑戰。

After meeting these folks, it's no surprise that CMC has become an industry leader and built a track record of innovation and financial success. I am highly energized by the opportunity to work closely with such a talented group of people and to join a management team I greatly respected during my tenure on the company's Board of Directors.

在與這些人會面後，CMC 成為行業領導者並建立了創新和財務成功的記錄也就不足為奇了。有機會與這樣一群才華橫溢的人密切合作，並加入我在公司董事會任職期間非常尊敬的管理團隊，我感到非常興奮。

Now turning to CMC's markets in North America, conditions remained strong with healthy demand for our products and generally favorable margin environment. The value of our downstream backlog ended the third quarter at a record level for this time of year, up roughly 4% from a year ago. Volume in our backlog is also at historically high levels. And conversations with customers indicate that other fabricators are similarly situated, which should support finished steel shipments over the next several quarters. CMC's downstream bidding activity for newly announced projects, which provides the best view of developments within the future project pipeline, also remained robust, increasing nearly 30% on a year-over-year basis.

現在轉向 CMC 在北美的市場，情況依然強勁，對我們產品的健康需求和總體有利的利潤環境。截至第三季度，我們的下游積壓訂單價值創下了一年中這個時期的歷史最高水平，比去年同期增長了約 4%。我們的積壓訂單量也處於歷史最高水平。與客戶的對話表明，其他製造商也處於類似情況，這應該會支持未來幾個季度的成品鋼材出貨量。 CMC 對新宣布項目的下游招標活動也保持強勁，同比增長近 30%，為未來項目儲備中的發展提供了最佳視角。

Projects in the pipeline continue to represent a healthy blend of both private and public work, spanning across our geographies. We are experiencing particular strength in local infrastructure projects, manufacturing, data centers, LNG investments and e-commerce.

正在籌備的項目繼續代表著跨越我們各個地區的私人和公共工作的健康融合。我們在當地基礎設施項目、製造、數據中心、液化天然氣投資和電子商務方面具有特別的優勢。

There is also surprising resilience in some construction market segments that are typically more sensitive to higher interest rates, including office space, general commercial -- and general commercial. While we expect a slowdown in these areas, it is not yet reflected in our activity.

一些通常對利率上升更為敏感的建築市場領域也表現出令人驚訝的彈性，包括辦公空間、一般商業和一般商業。雖然我們預計這些領域會放緩，但尚未反映在我們的活動中。

Our view is echoed by external indicators that have been historically reliable. The first is the Dodge Momentum Index, which tracks projects entering the planning phase and generally leads on the ground activity by 9 to 12 months.

我們的觀點得到了歷史上可靠的外部指標的呼應。第一個是道奇動量指數，它跟踪進入規劃階段的項目，通常領先地面活動 9 至 12 個月。

The May reading increased by 11% from a year ago and though down month-over-month, remained within the top decile of all months reported over the last 20 years of data. Moreover, both the commercial and institutional components grew, increasing by 7% and 18%, respectively.

5 月份的讀數較去年同期增長 11%，儘管逐月下降，但仍處於過去 20 年數據報告的所有月份的前十分之一之內。此外，商業和機構成分均有所增長，分別增長了 7% 和 18%。

Spending on highway and street construction, as tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau, has increased 20% or more over the last -- on a year-over-year basis, each month since August of 2022. This is consistent with comments that we have made on previous calls regarding the growth in state highway budgets and the record level of new highway and bridge contracts awards that have occurred -- that occurred last year. We believe this uptick in activity represents the early stages of rising infrastructure investment.

據美國人口普查局追踪，自 2022 年 8 月以來，每個月高速公路和街道建設支出比去年同期增長了 20% 或更多。這與我們的評論一致此前關於州公路預算增長以及去年發生的新公路和橋樑合同授予創紀錄水平的呼籲。我們認為，這種活動的增加代表了基礎設施投資增加的早期階段。

Another metric we watch is the Dodge Analytics Infrastructure Design Phase Index, which indicates that federal funding is flowing through the project pipeline. This measure increased by nearly 700% on a year-over-year basis in the 3 months ended in April.

我們關注的另一個指標是道奇分析基礎設施設計階段指數，該指數表明聯邦資金正在流經項目管道。截至 4 月份的 3 個月內，該指標同比增長近 700%。

So to sum up, while we continue to monitor a range of market indicators on balance, we see good activity and positive future signals for our key segments.

總而言之，在我們繼續監控一系列市場指標的同時，我們看到了關鍵細分市場的良好活動和積極的未來信號。

Now let me zoom out a bit and discuss where we are, where we came from and more importantly, where we believe we are going in terms of domestic rebar demand.

現在讓我把目光放遠一點，討論一下我們現在的處境、我們來自哪裡，更重要的是，我們認為國內螺紋鋼需求的發展方向。

U.S. consumption has been consistently above 9 million tons on an annualized basis since mid-2021 and is running about 6% to 10% above the pre-pandemic average from 2015 to 2020. This level of demand already reflects the downward adjustment in the housing market that occurred in early to mid-2022. Following a sharp decline, U.S. new housing starts have stabilized at rates 10% to [15%] above where they were prior to the pandemic.

自2021年中以來，美國的年化消費量一直在900萬噸以上，比2015年至2020年疫情前的平均水平高出約6%至10%。這一需求水平已經反映出房地產市場的下行調整這發生在 2022 年初至中期。在急劇下降之後，美國新屋開工率已穩定在比大流行前高出 10% 至 [15%] 的水平。

We believe the powerful structural trends we are witnessing have the potential to drive rebar consumption well above the level seen on Slide 7. These trends include the reshoring of critical manufacturing, infrastructure investment and investments in energy to support the transition to renewables and the realignment of global energy trade.

我們相信，我們所看到的強大的結構性趨勢有可能推動螺紋鋼消費遠高於幻燈片 7 中看到的水平。這些趨勢包括關鍵製造業的回流、基礎設施投資和能源投資，以支持向可再生能源的過渡以及能源結構的調整。全球能源貿易。

There is over $1.1 trillion of either direct federal funding or announced large private projects that will be executed over the next several years to address these needs. This massive figure incorporates approximately $350 billion in reshoring projects within the semiconductor and automotive supply chains. To this, there are likely to be added hundreds of smaller reshoring investments across a number of other industries that will also benefit rebar demand.

超過 1.1 萬億美元的直接聯邦資金或已宣布的大型私人項目將在未來幾年內執行，以滿足這些需求。這一龐大數字包括半導體和汽車供應鏈內約 3500 億美元的回流項目。為此，許多其他行業可能會增加數百個較小的回流投資，這也將有利於螺紋鋼需求。

Slide 8 provides an overview of domestic rebar consumption and some of the major factors that we believe could have an impact on demand over the next several years.

幻燈片 8 概述了國內螺紋鋼消費情況以及我們認為可能影響未來幾年需求的一些主要因素。

As you can see, about 55% of consumption is in markets that are or will be receiving direct federal funding or incentives, much of which will be subject to Buy America provisions. We would also categorize about 2/3 of demand as having relatively low sensitivity to interest rates. These are markets that are driven by necessity and rely heavily on either public funding or strong corporate balance sheets.

正如您所看到的，大約 55% 的消費發生在正在或將要接受直接聯邦資金或激勵措施的市場，其中大部分將受到“購買美國貨”條款的約束。我們還將約 2/3 的需求歸類為對利率的敏感度相對較低。這些市場是由必要性驅動的，並且嚴重依賴公共資金或強大的企業資產負債表。

Further, of the remaining 1/3 of consumption that tends to be interest rate sensitive, the majority is residential construction. As I indicated earlier, new residential starts have actually stabilized above pre-pandemic levels, despite 30-year mortgage rates nearly doubling since 2022.

此外，在對利率敏感的剩餘1/3消費中，大部分是住宅建設。正如我之前指出的，儘管 30 年期抵押貸款利率自 2022 年以來幾乎翻了一番，但新住宅開工實際上已穩定在大流行前的水平之上。

We believe this points to structural support for new construction, provided by an ongoing shortage of housing inventory in most metropolitan areas. This leaves about 10% of U.S. rebar consumption that is both highly sensitive to lending conditions and unsupported by structural factors such as economic necessity or low levels of existing inventory.

我們認為，這表明大多數大都市地區住房庫存持續短缺，為新建建築提供了結構性支持。這使得美國大約 10% 的螺紋鋼消費既對貸款條件高度敏感，又不受經濟必要性或現有庫存水平低等結構性因素的支持。

Taken together, we believe the multiyear outlook for rebar demand is strong. The markets that are most rebar-intensive are receiving increased investment dollars, while the construction segments likely to contract, such as office, retail and hospitality, are far less rebar-intensive and comprise a relatively small portion of overall consumption. As an example, $1 of infrastructure construction will consume roughly 5x to 6x more rebar than $1 spent on construction of a standard office or retail building.

綜上所述，我們認為螺紋鋼需求的多年前景強勁。螺紋鋼最密集的市場正在獲得更多的投資，而辦公、零售和酒店等可能收縮的建築領域的螺紋鋼密集度要低得多，佔整體消費的比例相對較小。例如，1 美元的基礎設施建設消耗的鋼筋比建設 1 美元的標準辦公樓或零售建築消耗的鋼筋大約多 5 至 6 倍。

While my comments regarding the potential impact of structural economic trends have focused on rebar, we also expect these benefits to carry over to our engineered solutions businesses. Tensar's soil stabilization solutions are used in highway applications, access roads into green energy projects and to improve the structural rigidity of [massive] building foundations, such as those under manufacturing plants.

雖然我對結構性經濟趨勢的潛在影響的評論主要集中在螺紋鋼上，但我們也希望這些好處能夠延續到我們的工程解決方案業務中。坦薩的土壤穩定解決方案用於高速公路應用、綠色能源項目的通路以及提高[大型]建築基礎（例如製造工廠下的基礎）的結構剛度。

Looking briefly at CMC's merchant bar end markets, we continue to experience stable demand across most applications, and supply chain inventories appear to be in good shape.

簡單地看一下 CMC 的商業酒吧終端市場，我們在大多數應用中繼續經歷穩定的需求，並且供應鏈庫存似乎狀況良好。

Turning now to Europe. Current market conditions are more challenging, and the near-term outlook is less certain. Construction activity in recent months has slowed, driven by the impact of higher interest rates on the residential market. The pipeline for new home construction, as indicated by building permits, has contracted sharply since mid-2022 and is now affecting on-the-ground activity.

現在轉向歐洲。當前的市場狀況更具挑戰性，近期前景也不太確定。由於住宅市場利率上升的影響，近幾個月的建築活動有所放緩。根據建築許可證顯示，新房建設計劃自 2022 年中期以來急劇收縮，目前正在影響實地活動。

Some relief may be ahead. We mentioned in our second quarter earnings call that the Polish government was developing a plan to support the housing market through assistance to first-time homebuyers. We are encouraged that this measure passed through the parliament in late May and is expected to be implemented on July 1.

未來可能會有所緩解。我們在第二季度財報電話會議中提到，波蘭政府正在製定一項計劃，通過向首次購房者提供援助來支持房地產市場。我們感到鼓舞的是，這項措施已於 5 月下旬在議會獲得通過，預計將於 7​​ 月 1 日實施。

The legislation will provide qualified buyers with mortgages at 2% interest compared to the current market rate of 9% to 10%. This should benefit residential construction activity, but the magnitude of the impact remains to be seen.

該立法將為合格買家提供 2% 利率的抵押貸款，而目前的市場利率為 9% 至 10%。這應該有利於住宅建設活動，但影響的程度仍有待觀察。

Another encouraging development is the recent announcement by Intel regarding the planned construction of a $4.6 billion semiconductor assembly plant, which is expected to be completed in 2027. The project is the largest greenfield investment in the history of Poland and highlights that the build-out of semiconductor supply chains is not limited to North America.

另一個令人鼓舞的進展是英特爾最近宣布計劃建設一座價值 46 億美元的半導體組裝廠，預計將於 2027 年竣工。該項目是波蘭歷史上最大的綠地投資，並凸顯了該項目的建設半導體供應鏈不僅限於北美。

Industrial activity in Central Europe continues to be impacted by ongoing energy concerns and weak economic sentiment. The current state of manufacturing in the region is best highlighted by 11 consecutive contractionary monthly readings for German manufacturing PMI and 13 [straight] in Poland. Despite this challenging backdrop, our team in Poland has been able to maintain historically strong shipment volumes by leveraging their operational flexibility.

中歐的工業活動繼續受到持續的能源問題和疲弱的經濟信心的影響。德國製造業 PMI 數據連續 11 個月出現收縮，波蘭製造業 PMI 數據連續 13 個月出現收縮，最能突顯該地區製造業的現狀。儘管面臨這種充滿挑戰的背景，我們在波蘭的團隊仍然能夠利用其運營靈活性維持歷史上強勁的發貨量。

Looking ahead, we believe that lower European energy prices and the stimulus of Polish home buying will provide support to our key end markets. We expect that our strong competitive position with both cost and operational flexibility will allow us to maintain volumes above historical levels.

展望未來，我們相信歐洲能源價格下降和波蘭購房刺激將為我們的主要終端市場提供支持。我們預計，我們在成本和運營靈活性方面的強大競爭地位將使我們能夠將銷量保持在歷史水平以上。

And with that, I will now turn the discussion over to Paul to provide more detail on our financial results.

現在，我將把討論轉交給保羅，以提供有關我們財務業績的更多詳細信息。

Thank you, Peter, and good morning to everyone on the call. As Barbara noted earlier, we reported fiscal third quarter 2023 net earnings of $234 million or $1.98 per diluted share compared to the prior-year levels of $312.4 million and $2.54 per diluted share.

謝謝你，彼得，祝所有參加電話會議的人早上好。正如芭芭拉之前指出的，我們報告的 2023 財年第三季度淨利潤為 2.34 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.98 美元，而上年同期為 3.124 億美元，稀釋後每股收益為 2.54 美元。

Results this quarter include a net after-tax charge of $5.8 million related to ongoing commissioning efforts at Arizona 2. Excluding this item, adjusted earnings were $239.7 million or $2.02 per diluted share in comparison to adjusted earnings of $320 million or $2.61 per diluted share during the third quarter of fiscal 2022.

本季度業績包括與亞利桑那 2 號正在進行的調試工作相關的 580 萬美元稅後淨費用。不包括此項，調整後收益為 2.397 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 2.02 美元，而上一季度調整後收益為 3.2 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 2.61 美元。 2022 財年第三季度。

Core EBITDA was $391.7 million for the third quarter of 2023, representing a 19% decline from the record $483.9 million generated during the prior-year period, but still amongst one of the most profitable quarters in CMC history.

2023 年第三季度核心 EBITDA 為 3.917 億美元，比上年同期創紀錄的 4.839 億美元下降 19%，但仍是 CMC 歷史上利潤最高的季度之一。

Slide 12 of the supplemental presentation illustrates the year-to-year changes in CMC's quarterly results. Our North America segment achieved earnings growth, while Europe experienced a reduction from the record set in the prior-year quarter. Consolidated core EBITDA per ton of finished steel of $245 remained well above average historical levels and compared to $293 per ton a year ago.

補充演示文稿的幻燈片 12 說明了 CMC 季度業績的同比變化。我們的北美業務實現了盈利增長，而歐洲業務則較去年同期創紀錄的水平有所下降。每噸成品鋼的綜合核心 EBITDA 為 245 美元，遠高於平均歷史水平，而一年前為每噸 293 美元。

CMC's North American segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $402.2 million for the quarter, equaled to $344 per ton of finished steel shipped. Segment adjusted EBITDA improved 6% on a year-over-year basis and 34% sequentially. The increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2022 was primarily the result of significant expansion in the margin of average downstream selling price over scrap costs.

CMC 的北美部門本季度調整後 EBITDA 為 4.022 億美元，相當於每噸成品鋼材運輸 344 美元。部門調整後 EBITDA 同比增長 6%，環比增長 34%。較 2022 財年第三季度的增長主要是由於下游平均售價相對廢鋼成本的差距大幅擴大。

Sequential improvement was driven by a combination of higher shipments and meaningfully lower controllable cost per ton of finished steel. Controllable cost per ton in the quarter benefited from improved fixed cost leverage, lower per unit cost for key consumables and a lower cost burden related to major planned maintenance outages.

出貨量的增加和每噸成品鋼材可控成本的大幅降低共同推動了業績的連續改善。本季度噸成本可控得益於固定成本槓桿的改善、關鍵耗材單位成本的降低以及與重大計劃維護停運相關的成本負擔的降低。

As we have mentioned on prior calls, CMC is undergoing 2 significant replacement and upgrade projects this year. The first was entirely executed during the second quarter. Due to the timing of costs related to the second project, the costs are split nearly evenly between the third and fourth quarters.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中提到的，CMC 今年正在進行 2 個重大更換和升級項目。第一個完全在第二季度執行。由於與第二個項目相關的成本時間安排，成本在第三季度和第四季度之間幾乎平均分配。

Turning to Slide 14 of the supplemental deck, our Europe segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $9.6 million for the third quarter of 2023 compared to a record $121 million in the prior-year period. The decline was primarily driven by lower margin over scrap, higher costs for energy and a reduction in shipment volumes.

轉向補充幻燈片 14，我們的歐洲部門 2023 年第三季度的調整後 EBITDA 為 960 萬美元，而去年同期創紀錄的 1.21 億美元。下降的主要原因是廢鋼利潤率下降、能源成本上升以及出貨量減少。

CMC energy procurement remains competitively positioned relative to the broader European industry, but no longer provides us with the outside advantage we enjoyed in fiscal 2022. We anticipate that energy costs will continue to improve sequentially in the fourth quarter as the April 1 reduction in contractual natural gas pricing will be fully reflected in our results.

相對於更廣泛的歐洲行業，CMC 能源採購仍然具有競爭優勢，但不再為我們提供在 2022 財年享有的外部優勢。我們預計，隨著 4 月 1 日合同自然能源價格的減少，第四季度能源成本將繼續持續改善。天然氣定價將充分反映在我們的業績中。

Europe volumes decreased 10% compared to the prior year. As a reminder, the prior year benefited from accelerated customer buying in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. Demand [conditions] within Central Europe are challenging. Though as Peter mentioned, some relief could be provided by the recently passed legislation, we believe CMC is well positioned for this current period of volatility in Europe. We are a low-cost industry leader, with operational flexibility to adjust and serve changing market conditions.

歐洲銷量較上年下降 10%。提醒一下，前一年受益於烏克蘭入侵後客戶購買的加速。中歐地區的需求[條件]充滿挑戰。儘管正如 Peter 提到的，最近通過的立法可能會帶來一些緩解，但我們相信 CMC 在歐洲當前的動盪時期處於有利位置。我們是低成本行業的領導者，具有靈活的運營能力，可以根據不斷變化的市場條件進行調整和服務。

Tensar generated EBITDA of $17.4 million during the third quarter, ending the period with its strongest month yet as a division of CMC. The EBITDA performance yielded a margin of approximately 25%, up approximately 750 basis points from the prior quarter. The increase was driven by a strong seasonal pickup in demand, improved production performance at the domestic manufacturing facility as well as growth in sales of InterAx, Tensar's newest and highest-margin geogrid solution.

坦薩第三季度的 EBITDA 為 1,740 萬美元，是 CMC 部門迄今為止表現最強勁的一個月。 EBITDA 業績利潤率約為 25%，比上一季度增長約 750 個基點。這一增長的推動因素包括季節性需求的強勁回升、國內製造工廠生產績效的改善以及坦薩最新且利潤最高的土工格柵解決方案 InterAx 銷量的增長。

As a reminder, Tensar's performance is included within CMC's existing segments. Of the $17.4 million in EBITDA, $13.6 million was included within CMC's North America segment, while the remaining $3.8 million was reported within the Europe segment.

需要提醒的是，坦薩的業績包含在 CMC 的現有細分市場中。在 1740 萬美元的 EBITDA 中，1360 萬美元屬於 CMC 的北美部門，其餘 380 萬美元屬於歐洲部門。

Moving next to the balance sheet. As of May 31, cash and cash equivalents totaled $475.5 million, which reflected the repayment made earlier last month of $214.1 million in maturing senior notes. It should be noted that CMC does not face another note maturity until 2030.

移動到資產負債表旁邊。截至 5 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物總額為 4.755 億美元，反映了上個月早些時候償還的 2.141 億美元到期優先票據。值得注意的是，CMC 在 2030 年之前不會面臨另一次票據到期。

In addition to cash and equivalents, we had approximately $958 million of availability under our credit term loan and accounts receivable facilities, bringing total liquidity to approximately $1.4 billion.

除了現金和等價物外，我們的信用定期貸款和應收賬款融資還擁有約 9.58 億美元的可用資金，使流動性總額達到約 14 億美元。

During the quarter, we generated $375.8 million of cash from operating activities, with working capital being a modest positive factor. Our free cash flow amounted to $225.3 million, defined as our cash from operations less $150.5 million of capital expenditures.

本季度，我們從經營活動中產生了 3.758 億美元的現金，其中營運資本是一個適度的積極因素。我們的自由現金流為 2.253 億美元，定義為我們的運營現金減去 1.505 億美元的資本支出。

Our leverage metrics remain attractive and have improved significantly over the last several fiscal years. As can be seen on Slide 18, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio now sits at just 0.5x. We believe our robust balance sheet and our overall financial strength provide us the flexibility to finance our strategic organic growth projects and pursue opportunistic M&A while continuing to return cash to shareholders.

我們的槓桿指標仍然具有吸引力，並且在過去幾個財年中得到了顯著改善。正如幻燈片 18 所示，我們的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率目前僅為 0.5 倍。我們相信，穩健的資產負債表和整體財務實力使我們能夠靈活地為戰略性有機增長項目提供資金並尋求機會性併購，同時繼續向股東返還現金。

CMC's effective tax rate was 24.5% in the third quarter. And looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we currently expect an effective tax rate of between 23% and 25%.

CMC第三季度的有效稅率為24.5%。展望第四季度，我們目前預計有效稅率在 23% 至 25% 之間。

Turning to CMC's fiscal 2023 capital spending outlook. We expect to invest between $575 million to $600 million in total. Outside of normal sustaining investments, expenditures in 2023 are directed towards finalizing the construction of Arizona 2, funding major upgrade projects at the 2 domestic steel mills as well as initial investments related to Steel West Virginia.

轉向 CMC 2023 財年資本支出前景。我們預計投資總額為 5.75 億至 6 億美元。除了正常的持續投資之外，2023 年的支出將用於完成亞利桑那 2 號的建設，為兩家國內鋼廠的重大升級項目以及與西弗吉尼亞鋼鐵公司相關的初始投資提供資金。

CMC continues to deploy capital to support our growth plan and reinforce our core operations. During the quarter, we invested $101.9 million for strategic bolt-on acquisitions, which Barbara covered earlier.

CMC 繼續部署資本來支持我們的增長計劃並加強我們的核心業務。在本季度，我們投資了 1.019 億美元用於戰略性補強收購，芭芭拉之前曾對此進行過報導。

And lastly, CMC purchased 352,000 shares during the fiscal third quarter at an average price of $46.92 per share. Transactions since the initiation of the buyback program through the third quarter have amounted to approximately $245 million, leaving $105 million remaining under the authorization.

最後，CMC 在第三財季以每股 46.92 美元的平均價格購買了 352,000 股股票。自回購計劃啟動以來，截至第三季度的交易額已達約 2.45 億美元，授權餘額為 1.05 億美元。

And with that, I will now turn the call back to Barbara for comments on CMC's financial outlook.

現在，我將把電話轉回芭芭拉，徵求對 CMC 財務前景的評論。

Thank you, Paul. We expect financial performance to remain strong during the fourth quarter, generally consistent with third quarter levels. North America finished steel shipments are anticipated to be relatively unchanged sequentially, supported by healthy end market demand and a historically high downstream backlog. Margin levels in North America should likewise be similar to the prior quarter.

謝謝你，保羅。我們預計第四季度的財務業績將保持強勁，與第三季度的水平基本一致。在健康的終端市場需求和歷史高位的下游積壓訂單的支撐下，北美成品鋼材出貨量預計將相對保持不變。北美的利潤率水平也應與上一季度相似。

Results in our Europe segment are also expected to remain consistent with the third quarter, reflecting a challenging margin backdrop and ongoing economic uncertainty. Our team in Poland has the skills and operational capabilities to navigate this difficult environment, and they will leverage CMC's market-leading cost position to maintain profitability.

歐洲業務的業績預計也將與第三季度保持一致，反映出充滿挑戰的利潤背景和持續的經濟不確定性。我們在波蘭的團隊擁有應對這一困難環境的技能和運營能力，他們將利用 CMC 市場領先的成本地位來保持盈利能力。

Once again, I would like to thank our customers for their trust and confidence in CMC as well as all of the CMC employees for delivering yet another quarter of outstanding performance. With that -- go ahead.

我再次感謝客戶對CMC的信任和信心，也感謝所有CMC員工再創一個季度的優異業績。就這樣——繼續吧。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Tristan Gresser with BNP Paribas.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Tristan Gresser。

I have two. The first one is on the new micro mill. You discussed some EBITDA figures, I think, of the earning potential of $75 million on average on EBITDA. I believe initially the earnings potential of those mill was closer to $50 million.

我有兩個。第一個是在新的微型磨坊上。我認為，您討論了一些 EBITDA 數據，即 EBITDA 平均盈利潛力為 7500 萬美元。我相信最初這些工廠的盈利潛力接近 5000 萬美元。

So what has changed really in this, if I calculated this $50 uplift? Is that the result of the structural changes you mentioned in the presentation and you flagged in the past and you're currently witnessing in the marketplace? That's my first question.

那麼，如果我計算出 50 美元的漲幅，這到底發生了什麼變化呢？這是您在演示中提到的結構性變化的結果嗎？您過去曾標記過，目前正在市場上目睹？這是我的第一個問題。

Yes. We are really excited about Arizona 2. In fact, I was there on Monday as they were doing their commissioning activities, and they achieved a significant milestone. So it was really exciting to be with the team.

是的。我們對《亞利桑那 2》感到非常興奮。事實上，週一我就在那裡，當時他們正在進行調試活動，他們實現了一個重要的里程碑。所以和這個團隊在一起真的很令人興奮。

As we look at the expectation from the Arizona 2 operation, it's exactly what you pointed out. If we look at through the cycle, average performance, we really have updated based upon current past 10-year results or past 5- to 7-year results, and that is showing that structural uplift through the consolidation of the industry and other factors.

當我們審視亞利桑那 2 號運營的期望時，這正是您所指出的。如果我們縱觀整個週期的平均表現，我們確實根據當前過去 10 年的結果或過去 5 至 7 年的結果進行了更新，這表明通過行業整合和其他因素實現了結構性提升。

All right. That's really clear. And maybe my second question more on the fabrication outlook. I think some peers have flagged some delays within their downstream operation. Is that also something you've witnessed across your specific products and geographies?

好的。這真的很清楚。也許我的第二個問題更多的是關於製造前景。我認為一些同行已經指出其下游業務出現了一些延誤。您在特定產品和地區也看到過這種情況嗎？

And you touched on the backlog and the bid volumes that remain pretty healthy. If you could maybe touch on how meaningful the reshoring activity, all those new semiconductor plants that are being built, how does that contribute to this really healthy activity level?

您談到了積壓訂單和仍然相當健康的投標量。如果您可以談談回流活動有多麼有意義，所有這些正在建設的新半導體工廠，這對這種真正健康的活動水平有何貢獻？

First, let me address the delays. I think we've studied the commentary, and what I would reflect is, every project is different. And there are certain segments of the industry that may see different demand scenario.

首先，讓我解決延遲問題。我想我們已經研究了評論，我想反映的是，每個項目都是不同的。該行業的某些部分可能會出現不同的需求場景。

What CMC is experiencing is the following: There still are challenges from supply chains, and there still are challenges with labor, and then you factor in weather and other things. So shipping activity on certain projects, not all projects, can be affected by those ongoing supply chain or labor challenges in the marketplace. And we've seen that in some jobs that we are carrying in our backlog.

CMC正在經歷的是：供應鏈仍然存在挑戰，勞動力仍然存在挑戰，然後你還要考慮天氣和其他因素。因此，某些項目（而非所有項目）的運輸活動可能會受到市場上持續存在的供應鍊或勞動力挑戰的影響。我們在積壓的一些工作中已經看到了這一點。

But if you look at the situation more broadly, as we indicated, as Peter indicated in his commentary, our backlogs are extremely healthy. We are very encouraged by what we hear from other fabricators. We're very encouraged by the bidding activity, which remains very robust.

但如果你更廣泛地看待情況，正如我們所指出的那樣，正如彼得在他的評論中指出的那樣，我們的積壓情況非常健康。我們對其他製造商的消息感到非常鼓舞。我們對競標活動感到非常鼓舞，競標活動仍然非常活躍。

And a lot of that is underpinned by things like what you mentioned, the supply chain rebalancing and the number of onshoring activities. Those have been consistently strong, and there's a strong pipeline moving forward.

其中很大一部分是由你提到的供應鏈再平衡和本土活動數量等因素支撐的。這些一直很強勁，並且有一個強大的管道在向前推進。

The various infrastructure and other legislation that has been passed, whether that's IIJA or the IRA or the CHIPS Act, every one of those bills has an enormous amount of support for various infrastructure or energy transition or onshoring type of activity. Some of that we've seen already, as we've indicated in the chip plants that we've been associated with here, but much of that is still activity that we expect to see in the future.

已經通過的各種基礎設施和其他立法，無論是 IIJA、IRA 還是 CHIPS 法案，每一項法案都對各種基礎設施、能源轉型或外包類型的活動提供了大量支持。其中一些我們已經看到了，正如我們在與我們相關的芯片工廠中所指出的那樣，但其中大部分仍然是我們預計未來會看到的活動。

It was highlighted in the script, this new chip plant in Poland, that is a very, very positive development from our vantage point for our Polish operations. And we believe that we're very well positioned to participate in that, and we look forward to that. So we remain quite optimistic for a strong demand backdrop, both near term, medium and even if you look at it on the longer term.

腳本中強調了波蘭的這座新芯片工廠，從我們波蘭業務的有利角度來看，這是一個非常非常積極的發展。我們相信我們完全有能力參與其中，我們對此充滿期待。因此，我們對強勁的需求背景保持相當樂觀，無論是短期、中期還是長期來看。

I might just jump in and add. So to complement Barbara's points, on the infrastructure bill, we've said in the past that, that's 1.5 million incremental tons of rebar demand per year, and we think we're on the very front end of that. And on the kind of reshoring projects, you've got -- we can count over 300 billion of projects that are kind of -- will have substantial rebar demand.

我可能會跳進去補充一下。因此，為了補充芭芭拉的觀點，在基礎設施法案上，我們過去曾說過，每年螺紋鋼需求增量為 150 萬噸，我們認為我們正處於這一數字的最前沿。在回流項目方面，我們可以算出超過 3000 億個項目，它們將產生大量的螺紋鋼需求。

And for example, just to put it in context, again, if you look at one of these chip factories, 1 phase, they talk about demand of something like 100,000 tons, right? So there's -- a lot of this that still needs to be clarified, but the one thing that's clear is that there will be a good backlog, going forward, for our products.

舉例來說，再次將其放在上下文中，如果你看看這些芯片工廠之一，一期，他們談論的需求量約為 10 萬噸，對嗎？因此，還有很多問題需要澄清，但明確的一件事是，我們的產品未來將會有大量的積壓。

All right. That's very clear.

好的。這非常清楚。

The next question is from Timna Tanners with Wolfe Research.

下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究公司的 Timna Tanners。

Just wanted to -- I have a bunch of questions. I wanted to ask a little bit about the impact of falling global rebar prices on your operations. Seems like the offset was a strong fab business and falling scrap prices. But just would like a little more color on what you're seeing on imports and how you see your markets holding up relative to those lower global prices.

我只是想——我有很多問題。我想問一下全球螺紋鋼價格下跌對你們運營的影響。看起來抵消是晶圓廠業務強勁和廢品價格下跌。但我只是想更詳細地了解一下您對進口的看法，以及您如何看待您的市場相對於全球較低價格的堅挺。

I'll start off, Timna, and Barbara and Peter can add. You're right. In terms of what we have experienced is that it really has started with a soft scrap market, and we benefited from scrap that came down over the last few months and really, is expected to continue to be soft for the balance of the summer.

我先開始，蒂姆納，芭芭拉和彼得可以補充。你說得對。就我們的經驗而言，廢鋼市場確實是從疲軟開始的，我們受益於過去幾個月廢鋼的下降，預計夏季剩餘時間將繼續疲軟。

And given the strength of the rebar demand, we are -- we have seen and expect to continue to see that we can hold on to pricing for a longer period of time. It's very similar to the back half of 2022 when we saw scrap fall much of the second half of the year, and we saw margin expansion through that period of time.

鑑於螺紋鋼需求的強勁，我們已經看到並預計將繼續看到我們可以在更長的時間內保持定價。這與 2022 年下半年非常相似，當時我們看到下半年大部分時間廢鋼量下降，​​但在那段時間我們看到利潤率擴張。

So that's the benefit of the strong demand environment that we see that's supported not just by our own backlogs, but with a very robust Buy America program, which mutes the direct impact to the import pricing scenarios.

因此，這就是我們看到的強勁需求環境的好處，這不僅得到了我們自己的積壓訂單的支持，而且得到了非常強大的“購買美國貨”計劃的支持，該計劃減弱了對進口定價情景的直接影響。

As it relates, Timna, to imports in general, if you look at rebar imports, they're actually down compared to historical -- but if you look at it more broadly, there -- the import levels have been stable around the 10%, 15%, which is very manageable in the U.S. market. .

Timna，就總體進口而言，如果你看看螺紋鋼進口，你會發現它們實際上比歷史水平有所下降——但如果你從更廣泛的角度來看，進口水平一直穩定在 10% 左右，15%，這在美國市場是非常容易控制的。 。

And again, we've pointed to in the past calls the effect of the earthquakes in Turkey, which has disrupted the production over there and then the rebuilding effort. At the current time, maybe that introduced some of the softness in the scrap market because they weren't as significant a buyer of scrap. But we also think that provides longer-term support to an import environment that is stable and quite manageable for the market here.

再次，我們過去曾指出土耳其地震的影響，這擾亂了那裡的生產和重建工作。目前，這可能導致廢鋼市場出現一些疲軟，因為他們並不是廢鋼的重要買家。但我們也認為這為這裡的市場穩定且易於管理的進口環境提供了長期支持。

And as Paul pointed out, a lot of the demand in the future is going to have a Buy America component to it, which will not allow those imports to compete for that demand.

正如保羅指出的那樣，未來的許多需求都將包含“購買美國貨”的成分，這將不允許這些進口產品來競爭這種需求。

Cool. Yes. So on the Buy America, I was actually going to ask about that as you shift to more public demand and maybe more muted private demand. If you could quantify that Buy America amount?

涼爽的。是的。因此，在“購買美國貨”上，當你轉向更多的公共需求和可能更溫和的私人需求時，我實際上想問這個問題。您能否量化購買美國商品的金額？

And then actually, my second question was just to take a step back and ask about capital allocation, bigger picture. So it sounds like you're stepping away from building new mills. And so I just wondered if you could talk a little bit more about how we should think about uses of cash, going forward.

實際上，我的第二個問題只是退後一步，詢問資本配置和更大的前景。所以聽起來你正在放棄建造新工廠。所以我想知道您是否可以多談談我們今後應該如何考慮現金的使用。

I know you talk about M&A. Maybe you can expand on like what kind of companies you might be looking at downstream focus versus is there much left to do among rebar scrap guys?

我知道你談論併購。也許你可以擴展一下，比如你可能會關注下游的什麼樣的公司，而螺紋鋼廢品公司還有很多工作要做嗎？

Thank you, Timna. So -- sorry, I forgot your first question, but...

謝謝你，蒂姆納。所以——抱歉，我忘記了你的第一個問題，但是……

Just the Buy America quantifying...

僅購買美國商品量化...

Oh, the Buy America, yes. Thank you. So I think it would be hard-pressed to put a specific quantification on it, Timna. And suffice it to say that anything that's got the federal funding to it, generally speaking, is a Buy America. And I think there's just a lot of statistics. You can look at each of the acts, and you can look at the billions of dollars that are allocated to various -- whether it's energy transition or in chips, the onshoring of certain critical manufactured products.

哦，購買美國貨，是的。謝謝。所以我認為很難對其進行具體的量化，Timna。可以這麼說，一般來說，任何獲得聯邦資助的東西都是“購買美國貨”。我認為有很多統計數據。你可以看看每一個行為，你可以看看分配給各個方面的數十億美元——無論是能源轉型還是芯片，以及某些關鍵製造產品的本土化。

And that is all on the come, but that's all going to be Buy America. But I don't have a strict quantification of that, maybe we can take that away and look into that further.

這一切即將到來，但這一切都將是“購買美國貨”。但我對此沒有嚴格的量化，也許我們可以把它拿走並進一步研究。

As far as capital allocation, and welcome any input from Paul and Peter after my remarks, I think we've had a well-balanced strategy. We've taken a look at our dividend policy over the last several years, and we've made a number of adjustments there, and we're proud of that. And that speaks to our confidence in the business and the ongoing cash flows.

至於資本配置，並歡迎保羅和彼得在我發言後提出任何意見，我認為我們已經制定了一個平衡的策略。我們審視了過去幾年的股息政策，並做出了一些調整，我們對此感到自豪。這說明了我們對業務和持續現金流的信心。

We've had the share repurchase program in for a period of time, and we continue to take advantage of returning capital there. Obviously, we have had a strong eye towards growth, and that continues to be a priority for the company.

我們的股票回購計劃已經實施了一段時間，並且我們將繼續利用該計劃的資本返還。顯然，我們對增長有著強烈的關注，這仍然是公司的首要任務。

I'll take a little bit of a challenge from stepping away from new mills because we are looking forward to breaking ground on our next greenfield project in West Virginia in the coming months, and these are massive multiyear projects. So that one is still something that we very much look forward to completing and getting the benefits from that.

我將接受一些遠離新工廠的挑戰，因為我們期待著未來幾個月在西弗吉尼亞州的下一個綠地項目破土動工，而這些都是大型的多年項目。因此，我們仍然非常期待完成這一任務並從中受益。

But clearly, we have made a number of acquisitions, and we will continue to study across the entire portfolio and integrated model that we have, whether that's recycling to support our raw material needs or whether that's within our steel manufacturing or downstream or in the case of Tensar, I spoke about our desire to look at ways we can continue to expand and grow that business possibly through some bolt-on acquisitions.

但顯然，我們已經進行了多次收購，我們將繼續研究我們擁有的整個投資組合和集成模式，無論是回收利用以支持我們的原材料需求，還是在我們的鋼鐵製造或下游領域，或者在這種情況下在坦薩公司期間，我談到了我們希望通過一些補強收購來繼續擴大和發展該業務的願望。

Things like Tendon Systems is an interesting one. We're already in the post-tension cable business. It's relative -- it was a relatively small part of our portfolio, but one that we've been in for a while. It is similar to Tensar, in that many projects not only consume the rebar, they also consume a lot of post-tension cable. And of course, Tensar participates in the excavation and ground stabilization portion of a project.

像 Tendon Systems 這樣的東西很有趣。我們已經涉足後張力電纜業務。這是相對的——它是我們投資組合中相對較小的一部分，但我們已經參與了一段時間。與坦薩類似，許多項目不僅消耗鋼筋，還消耗大量後張拉索。當然，坦薩參與了項目的挖掘和地面穩定部分。

So these are very complementary to what we already do to serve a massive construction project and just allows us to expand and offer our customer a broader range of solutions, which can save them time. It saves complexity if we have a broader solution for them than having to deal with 4 or 5 different suppliers and all the complexity that comes with that. So we see a broad field of opportunities for us, going forward, along our entire value chain.

因此，這些與我們已經為大型建設項目所做的工作非常互補，並且使我們能夠擴展並為客戶提供更廣泛的解決方案，從而節省他們的時間。如果我們為他們提供更廣泛的解決方案，而不是與 4 或 5 個不同的供應商打交道以及隨之而來的所有復雜性，那麼就可以節省複雜性。因此，我們在整個價值鏈上看到了廣闊的機遇。

The next question is from Lawson Winder with Bank of America Securities.

下一個問題來自美國銀行證券公司的勞森·溫德。

I just -- thank you for taking the time to take the question as well. I wanted to ask about the downstream pricing and maybe get a little color on your outlook and thoughts around that heading into Q4. So I mean, pricing surprised us very positively in Q4. And obviously, that helped margins.

我只是——感謝您也抽出時間回答這個問題。我想詢問下游定價，也許可以了解一下您對第四季度的展望和想法。所以我的意思是，第四季度的定價讓我們感到非常積極。顯然，這有助於提高利潤率。

But just when you think about your order backlog and the new bidding, can you speak to the pricing but also the margin outlook for the end of the year? And then looking into next year as well would be really helpful.

但是，當您考慮積壓訂單和新的投標時，您能否談談定價以及年底的利潤前景？然後展望明年也會非常有幫助。

Yes, Lawson, if we look at our -- the pricing environment in the fabrication business, as you can see from sort of the trailing 4 quarters really for much of this year, our pricing has remained very stable and resilient. And I think that, that comes from the perspective of the demand that's underlying and creating the strong backlogs that we have. And so that is the environment that, frankly, we see continuing to support us, going forward.

是的，勞森，如果我們看看製造業務的定價環境，正如您從今年大部分時間裡的過去 4 個季度中看到的那樣，我們的定價一直非常穩定和有彈性。我認為，這是從潛在需求的角度來看的，並造成了我們積壓的大量訂單。坦率地說，我們認為這種環境將繼續支持我們前進。

From a margin perspective, really, that will be driven from your expectations around scrap. So as we look to the fourth quarter, we do see some continued opportunity for overall margin expansion as the forecast is for scrap to remain soft throughout the summer.

實際上，從利潤角度來看，這將取決於您對廢品的期望。因此，當我們展望第四季度時，我們確實看到了整體利潤率持續擴張的機會，因為預計整個夏季廢鋼將保持疲軟。

But there has been a really significant level of stability in the downstream in our downstream business. And I would say to the earlier comments, it really is seeing the benefit of some of these major projects, such as the semiconductor facilities. Those are very complex projects. They are -- they have the degree to which only a few players can actually execute them.

但我們的下游業務確實非常穩定。我想說的是，對於之前的評論，它確實看到了其中一些重大項目的好處，例如半導體設施。這些都是非常複雜的項目。它們的程度只有少數玩家才能真正執行。

And as a result, there is a premium for the complexity of which we're able to deliver to our customers. And I think that's driven some of the uptick in the margin in that space, is the nature of the projects that we're servicing.

因此，我們能夠為客戶提供的複雜性會更高。我認為這推動了該領域利潤率的上升，這是我們所服務的項目的性質。

Yes. Thanks, Paul. That was a fantastic color. Could I also ask about -- just follow-up on your M&A comments, Barbara. Those were very helpful. But in terms of value, are you seeing good value in the M&A pipeline at this point?

是的。謝謝，保羅。那是一種奇妙的顏色。我還可以問一下——只是跟進您的併購評論嗎，芭芭拉。這些非常有幫助。但就價值而言，您目前認為併購渠道具有良好的價值嗎？

What I'd say is that we have to be patient on that, right? So in certain instances, we are seeing good value. I think the thing that the company has done is it has nicely put itself in a position to be patient. So we are -- we see a decent amount of activity. And where the valuation is not where we needed to be, we pass, and we'll be patient.

我想說的是我們必須對此保持耐心，對嗎？因此，在某些情況下，我們看到了良好的價值。我認為該公司所做的事情是它很好地保持了耐心。所以我們看到了相當多的活動。如果估值沒有達到我們需要的水平，我們就會通過，並且會保持耐心。

Okay. And then just finally, it would be helpful to get your thoughts on Turkey and whether or not you're seeing any indications there of like a rebuild starting to gain some momentum and some real local demand starting to take form?

好的。最後，了解您對土耳其的看法以及您是否看到任何跡象表明重建開始獲得一些動力以及一些真正的當地需求開始形成？

So in Turkey, I think we are -- we've seen a slight uptick in utilization over the past month. But generally speaking, it stayed quite low. I think we're running at something like 50% to 60% utilization. The challenge that Turkey has, obviously, is there's -- you've got the combination of the damage that was done to the areas. But then you've also got the humanitarian impact and the challenge of getting people to be able to come to work and produce the material.

因此，我認為在土耳其，過去一個月的利用率略有上升。但總體而言，它保持在相當低的水平。我認為我們的利用率約為 50% 到 60%。顯然，土耳其面臨的挑戰是——這些地區遭受的損害綜合在一起。但隨之而來的還有人道主義影響以及讓人們能夠上班並生產材料的挑戰。

So in general, what we've seen is we've seen Turkey step away from the scrap buy, so they're not as big a factor in the scrap buy. And we've seen them as less of a factor in the export market. So therefore, kind of imports from Turkey are lower than they have been in previous periods. And we expect this is going to continue for a while, while they kind of get things under control.

因此，總的來說，我們看到土耳其放棄了廢鋼購買，因此它們並不是廢鋼購買的重要因素。我們認為它們在出口市場中的影響較小。因此，從土耳其的進口量低於前一時期。我們預計這種情況會持續一段時間，而他們會在某種程度上控制住事情。

And If your question was aimed, Lawson, at the rebuilding, our experience would say that you're not seeing any consumption of structural products toward the rebuilding efforts at this point in time.

勞森，如果你的問題是針對重建的，我們的經驗表明，目前你沒有看到任何結構性產品的消費用於重建工作。

You have a -- whether we point to Hurricane Harvey that occurred here in Texas a few years back or any of the other hurricane events, what happens is you've got cleanup and recovery and the things that Peter mentioned around humanitarian efforts, then you have a massive -- you have to demolish what was destroyed and then begin the reconstruction period.

無論我們指的是幾年前發生在德克薩斯州的哈維颶風還是任何其他颶風事件，發生的事情都是清理和恢復以及彼得提到的有關人道主義努力的事情，然後你有一個巨大的 - 你必須拆除被摧毀的東西，然後開始重建時期。

And so I think -- my personal view is I think we're still 1 year to 18 months out before you're going to see anything measurable in terms of rebuilding. That, of course, can be accelerated or decelerated, based upon their government support and priorities. But I don't think we've seen any rebuilding efforts yet.

所以我認為——我個人的觀點是，我認為我們還需要 1 年到 18 個月的時間才能看到任何可衡量的重建成果。當然，這可以根據政府的支持和優先事項來加速或減速。但我認為我們還沒有看到任何重建工作。

And when things are resolved in Ukraine, you'll kind of go through a similar cycle before rebuilding is going to occur.

當烏克蘭的問題得到解決時，在重建之前你會經歷類似的周期。

All right. As always, thank you very much for the insights.

好的。一如既往，非常感謝您的見解。

(Operator Instructions) The next question is from Emily Chieng with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自高盛的 Emily Chieng。

Barbara, Peter and Paul, thanks for the update this morning. My first question is just around any early insights you might have into fiscal '24 CapEx. Particularly as it relates to the West Virginia mill, is there any indications cost inflationary pressures there? And anything left on the West Virginia mill ahead of groundbreaking that needs to be sort of met, perhaps some permitting or otherwise?

芭芭拉、彼得和保羅，感謝您今天早上的更新。我的第一個問題是關於您對 24 財年資本支出可能有的任何早期見解。特別是與西弗吉尼亞工廠有關，是否有任何跡象表明那裡存在成本通脹壓力？在破土動工之前，西弗吉尼亞工廠還剩下什麼需要滿足的條件，也許是在允許或其他情況下？

I'm going to take a crack at it, and then Paul might be able to add some commentary on how we see the cash flows related to that project.

我將嘗試一下，然後保羅可能會添加一些關於我們如何看待與該項目相關的現金流的評論。

What I would -- as I indicated in my remarks, we are awaiting the air permit. We do anticipate to receive that very shortly. As I indicated as well, upon receiving the air permit, we will proceed in earnest with the construction. And so we don't anticipate any delays in the start of the project.

我想說的是——正如我在發言中指出的那樣，我們正在等待航空許可證。我們預計很快就會收到該信息。我也說過，在獲得航空許可證後，我們將認真開展建設工作。因此，我們預計該項目的啟動不會出現任何延誤。

What I would say from the inflation portion of your question is similar to some of the remarks that we've made. I mean we are seeing some abatement of supply chain issues and some abatement of the severe inflation impacts that we experienced with the Arizona project. So the labor market is better than some of the challenges that we saw in Arizona. We were in the midst of a concrete shortage during a portion of the project there.

我想說的關於你問題的通貨膨脹部分的內容與我們所做的一些評論類似。我的意思是，我們看到供應鏈問題有所緩解，亞利桑那州項目所經歷的嚴重通脹影響也有所緩解。因此，勞動力市場比我們在亞利桑那州看到的一些挑戰要好。在該項目的一部分期間，我們正處於具體的短缺之中。

So I think there is some abatement on the inflation side. Saving things like labor, in general, has gone up over the last couple of years, and it's nothing different than any other project to see.

所以我認為通脹方面有所緩解。總體而言，勞動力等方面的節省在過去幾年中有所增加，這與任何其他項目沒有什麼不同。

I think what I would also say is, this is a target-rich environment for us, having just come off of the Arizona project and seeing all the challenges that we experienced there. And this is our fourth go at it, so we have a lot of experience in building these micro mills. And so we're going to take advantage of everything that we've learned from Arizona and put ourselves in a position to not have to deal with the same set of challenges that we had to in Arizona.

我想我還要說的是，這對我們來說是一個目標豐富的環境，剛剛結束亞利桑那州項目並看到我們在那裡經歷的所有挑戰。這是我們第四次嘗試，因此我們在建造這些微型工廠方面擁有豐富的經驗。因此，我們將利用我們從亞利桑那州學到的一切，使自己不必像在亞利桑那州那樣應對同樣的挑戰。

And we will be looking very carefully at long lead-time items. We will be making sure that we have those scheduled in such that we're either not waiting on something or we're pressured into paying a higher price to get something to be expedited.

我們將非常仔細地研究交貨時間長的項目。我們將確保我們已經安排好這些安排，以便我們要么不等待某些事情，要么被迫支付更高的價格來加快某些事情。

So as I said, I was in Arizona on Monday. It was very exciting. The team that has supported that, there will be a lot of crossover to the team that is beginning to work on West Virginia. And we will absolutely take advantage of all that we've learned, and we do expect to have fewer impacts from supply chain. And at this stage, which is the very beginning of the project, we do see some moderation of inflation.

正如我所說，週一我在亞利桑那州。那真是太讓人激動了。支持這一點的團隊將會與開始在西弗吉尼亞州工作的團隊有很多交叉。我們絕對會利用我們所學到的一切，並且我們確實希望供應鏈的影響更少。在這個項目的最初階段，我們確實看到通貨膨脹有所緩和。

And Emily, in relation to our forecast for CapEx next year, we -- as I guided towards CapEx this year to be $575 million to $600 million, that included really 3 buckets, included our normal ongoing CapEx and included the 2 large maintenance end-of-life replacements as well as Arizona 2.

艾米麗，關於我們明年的資本支出預測，正如我所指導的，今年的資本支出為 5.75 億美元至 6 億美元，其中實際上包括 3 個部分，包括我們正常的持續資本支出，並包括 2 個大型維護終端 -停產替代品以及亞利桑那 2。

So as we look forward to 2024, as Barbara alluded to, the air permit we expect within the next number of weeks. And so next year will be a full year of construction activity in West Virginia. And so we sort of expect that to replace the spending that we did this year on Arizona 2.

因此，正如芭芭拉所提到的，當我們展望 2024 年時，我們預計將在未來幾週內獲得航空許可證。因此，明年將是西弗吉尼亞州建築活動的全年。因此，我們預計這將取代我們今年在《亞利桑那 2》上的支出。

So the spending levels will really be similar to this year, excluding the 2 major end-of-life projects. So it will be lower. It will probably be in the $500 million, somewhere between $550 million at this early-stage look at next year's CapEx.

因此，支出水平實際上與今年相似，不包括兩個主要的報廢項目。所以會更低。從明年資本支出的早期階段來看，它可能會在 5 億美元到 5.5 億美元之間。

Great. That's very helpful. And just one follow-up around the supply side landscape for rebar. Certainly, you guys have been -- had a lot of practice and experience in building rebar micro mills. It seems like there are a couple of other announcements out there around other micro mills being constructed. Do you have any concerns around the level of supply growth that could be on its way over the next couple of years?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。這只是關於螺紋鋼供應方格局的一項後續行動。當然，你們在建造螺紋鋼微型軋機方面擁有大量的實踐和經驗。似乎還有一些其他關於正在建設的微型工廠的公告。您對未來幾年可能出現的供應增長水平有任何擔憂嗎？

Yes. And we monitor all those projects. And I don't know how closely the analyst community monitors, some come to fruition and some don't. And so I think based on our knowledge of the activity that's going on out there, I think that the market will absorb it. I don't think that every project that is being talked about will ultimately be executed on.

是的。我們監控所有這些項目。我不知道分析師界的監控有多密切，有些已經實現，有些則沒有。因此，我認為根據我們對正在發生的活動的了解，我認為市場會吸收它。我不認為正在談論的每個項目最終都會被執行。

And I just point to history. And when we introduced the Durant facility, there was a lot of dialogue and concern. And that facility was absorbed in the market because we start with looking at the need in the marketplace.

我只是指出歷史。當我們介紹杜蘭特設施時，引起了很多對話和擔憂。該設施被市場吸收，因為我們首先關注市場的需求。

And as we outlined earlier, there is certainly a massive structural shift that's going on, that is going to require really strong demand, going forward. But I think we'll wait and see how many of these projects actually get executed. But right now, we're not concerned about that.

正如我們之前概述的那樣，肯定正在發生大規模的結構性轉變，這將需要未來真正強勁的需求。但我認為我們將拭目以待，看看其中有多少項目真正得到執行。但現在，我們並不擔心這一點。

The next question is from Alex Hacking with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Alex Hacking。

So on Tensar, the EBITDA for the last 12 months was fairly similar to the levels when you bought it, I think, $60 million, $65 million, if I have my numbers correct. As you look forward, you see this as a growth opportunity, what kind of CAGR do you think is reasonable to expect from that segment?

因此，坦薩過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 與您購買時的水平相當相似，如果我的數字正確的話，我認為是 6000 萬美元、6500 萬美元。展望未來，您認為這是一個增長機會，您認為該細分市場的複合年增長率是多少才是合理的？

So first of all, in commenting on the performance year-to-date, you know that we have commented that we had some challenges on the manufacturing side that would have impacted our EBITDA this year. But in general, as we look at the opportunity, going forward, we think that we should be to grow the business in the high single digits area.

首先，在評論今年迄今為止的業績時，您知道我們已經評論說我們在製造方面遇到了一些挑戰，這可能會影響我們今年的 EBITDA。但總的來說，當我們展望未來的機會時，我們認為我們應該在高個位數領域發展業務。

And the other thing, just kind of coming back on the performance since the acquisition, remember that with the war in Ukraine, we were forced to kind of sell the Russian business, which was a contributor to EBITDA. So those are some of the factors.

另一件事，只是回顧收購以來的業績，請記住，由於烏克蘭戰爭，我們被迫出售俄羅斯業務，而該業務是 EBITDA 的貢獻者。這些是其中一些因素。

But I think going forward, we're very excited about it. We see, I would say, more opportunities today than we saw at the time that we did the acquisition, and we're confident that we have the tools to grow it.

但我認為展望未來，我們對此感到非常興奮。我想說，我們今天看到的機會比收購時看到的機會更多，而且我們相信我們擁有發展機會的工具。

And really reinforced by the acquisition that we did about a month ago of the facility up in Oklahoma to give us more flexibility to address the production and the strong demand that we're seeing out of that business that I think really supports the ability that we have to recognize that growth that Peter outlined.

大約一個月前，我們對俄克拉荷馬州的工廠進行了收購，這確實增強了我們的實力，使我們能夠更加靈活地滿足生產和我們從該業務中看到的強勁需求，我認為這確實支持了我們的能力必須認識到彼得概述的增長。

Okay. And then second question would be on merchant bar. I mean, are you seeing the same trends in merchant bar as you're seeing in rebar? Are there any particular pockets of strength or weakness in merchant bar? Any comments there would be helpful.

好的。第二個問題是關於商人吧。我的意思是，您在商業棒材中看到的趨勢與在螺紋鋼中看到的趨勢相同嗎？商人酒吧有什麼特別的優勢或劣勢嗎？那裡的任何評論都會有幫助。

Yes. I think it's a stable market. There are obviously -- it's probably a little more dependent upon manufacturing activity. And there's been ups and downs since the global pandemic in terms of recovery of manufacturing activity. I think the most encouraging thing is, again, back to all the reshoring.

是的。我認為這是一個穩定的市場。顯然，它可能更多地依賴於製造業活動。自全球大流行以來，製造業活動的複蘇經歷了起起落落。我認為最令人鼓舞的事情再次回到所有的回流。

And the -- going forward, we're going to see a lot more manufacturing activity in the U.S. market, which is potentially going to support further growth in the ongoing need for merchant type of product. There are so many sizes and shapes and different applications, but we really remain optimistic about the demand profile there.

展望未來，我們將看到美國市場上有更多的製造業活動，這可能會支持對商業類型產品的持續需求的進一步增長。有如此多的尺寸、形狀和不同的應用，但我們對那裡的需求狀況確實保持樂觀。

There's really only one area that may be showing some sign of weakness, and that's in the Joist & Deck. But that's been well publicized by others that are bigger players in this space than certainly we are.

實際上只有一個區域可能表現出一些弱點，那就是托樑和甲板。但這已經被這個領域比我們更強大的其他參與者廣泛宣傳。

At this time, there appears to be no further questions. Ms. Smith, I'll now turn the call back over to you.

此時，似乎沒有其他問題了。史密斯女士，我現在將電話轉回給您。

Thank you for joining us on today's conference call. We look forward to speaking with many of you during our investor calls in the coming days, and we hope everyone has a great day. Thank you.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在未來幾天的投資者電話會議上與你們中的許多人交談，並希望每個人都有美好的一天。謝謝。

This concludes today's Commercial Metals Company conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的商業金屬公司電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。