Huntsman Corp (HUN) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to Huntsman's first-quarter 2026 earnings call (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded.

問候各位。歡迎參加亨斯邁（Huntsman）2026年第一季財報電話會議（接線員指示）。請注意，本次會議將被錄音。

At this time, I'll turn the conference over to Ivan Marcuse, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Thank you. You may now begin.

此刻，我將把會議交給投資人關係與企業發展副總裁 Ivan Marcuse。謝謝。您現在可以開始。

Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Huntsman's first-quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining us on the call today are Peter Huntsman, Chairman, CEO and President; and Phil Lister, Executive Vice President and CFO. Yesterday, April 30, 2026, we released our earnings for the First Quarter of 2026 via press release and posted to our website, huntsman.com. We also posted a set of slides and detailed commentary discussed in the first quarter 2026 on our website.

謝謝你，Rob，各位早安。歡迎參加亨斯邁2026年第一季財報電話會議。今天與會的有董事長、執行長兼總裁 Peter Huntsman，以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Phil Lister。昨天，也就是2026年4月30日，我們透過新聞稿發布了2026年第一季的財報，並已張貼於我們的網站 huntsman.com。我們也在網站上發布了一套投影片，以及第一季2026年所討論的詳細評論。

will provide some opening comments shortly, and we will then move to the question-and-answer session for the remainder of the call. During this call, let me remind you that we may make statements about our projections or expectations for the future. All such statements are forward-looking statements, and while they reflect our current expectations, they involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. You should review our filings with the SEC for more information regarding the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these projections or expectations. We do not plan on publicly updating or revising any forward-looking statements during the quarter.

稍後將提供一些開場評論，之後我們將在本次電話會議剩餘時間進入問答環節。在本次會議中，提醒各位，我們可能會就未來的預測或期望發表聲明。所有此類聲明均屬前瞻性陳述；雖反映我們目前的預期，但涉及風險與不確定性，且不保證未來表現。請查閱我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，以取得更多可能導致實際結果與這些預測或期望出現重大差異之因素資訊。我們不計畫在本季度期間公開更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述。

We will also refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income or loss and free cash flow. You can find reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure in our earnings release, which has been posted to our website at huntsman.com.

我們也將提及非GAAP財務衡量指標，例如調整後EBITDA、調整後淨利或淨損，以及自由現金流。您可在我們的財報新聞稿中找到與最直接可比的GAAP財務衡量指標之調節表；該新聞稿已張貼於我們的網站 huntsman.com。

I'll now turn the call over to Peter Huntsman, our Chairman and President.

現在我把電話交給我們的董事長兼總裁 Peter Huntsman。

Ivan, thank you very much. Thank you all for taking the time to join us this morning. Before I begin my remarks about our company and recent events. I want to simply say that I hope there is a quick and peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Over the past 40 years, I've had the opportunity to visit every country bordering the Persian Gulf with the exception of Iraq.

Ivan，非常感謝。也感謝各位今天早上撥冗參與。在我開始談論我們公司與近期事件之前，我想先簡單表示，希望中東持續中的衝突能夠迅速且和平地解決。在過去40年裡，除了伊拉克之外，我有機會造訪波斯灣周邊的每一個國家。

I have always been treated warmly and fairly by the people I've encountered. I hope that my comments to come across to seem callous any way to the suffering and fear emanating from this region as I address the economic impact of these events to our bottom line and industry.

我一直都受到我所遇到的人們熱情且公平的對待。當我在談及這些事件對我們損益與產業的經濟影響時，我希望接下來的評論不會以任何方式顯得對該地區所散發出的苦難與恐懼冷漠無情。

From the first hours of this conflict, our number one commercial priority has been to increase prices enough to offset rising costs. I believe we've been successful in doing this. This will require continued communications with our customers and suppliers, and also the discipline to make sure that we are not a shock absorber between raw material costs and finished product pricing.

自衝突爆發的最初幾個小時起，我們首要的商業優先事項就是提高價格，以足以抵銷成本上升。我相信我們在這方面已經取得成功。這將需要與客戶與供應商持續溝通，也需要紀律，確保我們不會在原料成本與成品定價之間充當「減震器」。

Our next priority is operating our plants in a reliable manner to make sure that we have the product to meet our demand. Our operations during the first quarter and going into the second quarter have been excellent. From a sales perspective, we are seeing stronger-than-expected demand going well into the second quarter. I would say that this is being brought about by three factors. Number one, seasonality as we move into the second quarter and the building season resumes across North America, Europe and Asia.

我們下一個優先事項是以可靠的方式運營工廠，確保我們有產品可滿足需求。我們在第一季以及進入第二季的營運表現都非常出色。從銷售角度來看，我們看到的需求強於預期，並一路延續到第二季。我認為這主要由三個因素所帶動。第一，隨著進入第二季，北美、歐洲與亞洲的建築季節恢復，帶來季節性因素。

Number two, customers who are buying ahead of the expected price increases that are being announced. And number three, disruptions that have been seen in certain trade flows that have impacted supply. An example of this would be some of our maleic customers in Europe, who will become overly dependent on Chinese supply maleic, have seen a disruption in supply as raw materials and shipping costs have increased from that region.

第二，客戶在已宣布的預期漲價之前提前採購。第三，某些貿易流向出現的干擾影響了供應。例如，我們在歐洲的一些馬來酸酐客戶，原本將變得過度依賴中國的馬來酸酐供應；由於該地區原料與運輸成本上升，他們已看到供應受到干擾。

These three factors are also happening at a time when most inventory levels are very low across many supply chains. These improved order patterns are being seen as we enter into the second quarter, in most of our regions and across many of our products.

這三個因素也同時發生在許多供應鏈的庫存水位普遍非常低的時點。當我們進入第二季時，在多數地區以及我們許多產品上，都看到了這些改善的訂單型態。

The obvious countervailing point to all of this is how long does it continue? I can't see order patterns that go through the month of June. But the guidance that we have shared from each division in Q2 reflect what we've seen to date. Today, that visibility is less clear as we look further into the quarter.

顯而易見的相反問題是：這樣的情況會持續多久？我無法看清訂單型態是否能延續到6月。但我們在第二季（Q2）由各事業部所分享的指引，反映了我們迄今所看到的情況。今天，當我們把視線拉得更遠、看向本季後段時，能見度就沒那麼清楚了。

I struggle to see how inflationary pressures, particularly in areas reliant on imported energy, like much of Asia and Europe, will not see an inevitable downward pressure later in the year as consumer spending gradually shift towards higher prices. To what degree this occurs is yet to be seen.

我很難想像通膨壓力——尤其是在依賴進口能源的地區，例如亞洲與歐洲的大部分地區——不會在今年稍晚，隨著消費支出逐步轉向面對更高價格，而出現不可避免的下行壓力。其發生的程度仍有待觀察。

I am heartened to see the housing starts and durable goods orders in the United States better than expected for the month of March. But I'm also keeping an eye on residential permits. A step that precedes construction starts down 11% for the month of March. There will also be some longer-term dislocation of traditional economics.

我很欣慰看到美國3月的新屋開工與耐久財訂單優於預期。但我也在關注住宅建築許可。這是開工之前的前置指標，3月下降了11%。傳統經濟結構也將出現一些較長期的錯位。

If you are a producer that enjoyed discounted raw materials coming out of Venezuela, Iran and Russia a few months ago. It is likely that you're not seeing such discounts today, and I highly doubt you'll see them in the foreseeable future. Many customers are looking for closer and more secure sources of supply. Supply chains are sifting and being reassessed. I believe that there will be some lasting impact for certain regions and products that may not seem too apparent today. It is simply too early to know how lasting some of these will be.

如果你是一家生產商，幾個月前還能享有來自委內瑞拉、伊朗與俄羅斯的折扣原料，那麼你今天很可能已經看不到這些折扣，而且我非常懷疑在可預見的未來還會再看到。許多客戶正在尋找更近且更安全的供應來源。供應鏈正在被篩選並重新評估。我相信，對某些地區與產品而言，將會出現一些持久性的影響，而這些影響在今天可能還不太明顯。現在要判斷其中一些影響會持續多久，仍然為時過早。

In short, we are aggressively raising our prices to both cover our cost of our raw materials while also expanding margins from the trough economics that we've been experiencing for the past three years. We will continue to manage our costs and deliver these objectives on budget. We will be focused on volumes and make sure that spot buying also comes with longer-term volumes and obligations. I'm glad to see the trends that we're seeing in the second quarter, but we still have a ways to go to get to our normalized margin levels. This will require stable and longer-term demand trends to continue. I feel that we are in a strong position today to capitalize on such changes going forward.

總之，我們正積極提高價格，以同時覆蓋原料成本，並在過去三年我們所經歷的景氣谷底環境中擴大利潤率。我們將持續管理成本，並在預算內達成這些目標。我們將專注於銷量，並確保現貨採購也能帶來較長期的量與承諾。我很高興看到我們在第二季所看到的趨勢，但要回到正常化的利潤率水準，我們仍有一段路要走。這將需要穩定且更長期的需求趨勢持續下去。我認為我們目前處於有利位置，能在未來把握這些變化所帶來的機會。

Thank you. And operator, with that, we'll turn -- open the time up for Q&A.

謝謝。接線員，接下來我們將開放問答時間。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

Patrick Cunningham，花旗（Citi）。

Hi, good morning. In the release, you talked about the potential for a more durable return to mid-cycle profitability. This likely depends on both supply and demand side at this point. But can you give us the latest view on what this crisis may do in terms of supply-side rationalization for MDI and polyurethanes? How do you see this playing out in terms of structural energy cost pressure, feedstock availability or potential closures at this point?

嗨，早安。在新聞稿中，你們提到更持久地回到中周期獲利水準的可能性。在目前這個時間點，這很可能同時取決於供給端與需求端。不過，你能否分享最新看法：這場危機在MDI與聚氨酯方面，可能會在供給端合理化上帶來什麼影響？就結構性的能源成本壓力、原料可得性，或目前可能的關廠而言，你們認為會如何發展？

I don't see a great deal of structural change as we look at MDI. I do see pressures continuing in Europe. If you're a European producer now having to put up with natural gas, that's probably somewhere in the mid-teens versus where we are today. I noticed in the Houston ship channel price this morning was under $2 per MMBtu. These are real material gaps in shift.

就我們觀察 MDI 而言，我沒有看到太多結構性的變化。我確實看到歐洲的壓力仍在持續。如果你是歐洲的生產商，現在必須承受天然氣成本，那大概是在十幾美元的區間，相較於我們今天的水準。我注意到今天早上休士頓航道的價格低於每百萬英熱單位 2 美元。這些都是實質性的重大差距與轉移。

I can't help but think that there's going to be continued pressure on petrochemical producers across the board and in MDI across Europe. But having said that, I also think that there are probably some structural issues that may make Chinese exports in certain products. I won't get into exactly which products those are, but I think that they're varied across the board.

我不禁認為，石化生產商整體上、以及歐洲的 MDI 產業，將會持續承受壓力。但話說回來，我也認為某些結構性問題，可能會影響中國在特定產品上的出口。我不會深入說明究竟是哪些產品，但我認為範圍相當廣泛。

If you're relying on coal as a raw material in China, you're probably doing quite well. If you're integrated into a world-scale refinery and integrated system in China, you're probably doing quite well. If you're a part of what they call the teapot collection of refineries integrated into export bound chemical facilities, you may be under some cost pressures as you see some of the discounted crude product.

如果你在中國以煤作為原料，你可能表現得相當不錯。如果你在中國整合進世界級煉油廠與一體化系統，你可能也做得相當好。如果你屬於他們所稱的「茶壺」煉油廠群，並整合到以出口為導向的化工設施，當你看到部分折價的原油產品時，你可能會面臨一些成本壓力。

So it's not just what we see from a competitive point of view. It's also what we see from the raw material that many of our customers, and many of our competitors and the industry in general will be facing. And I think those are some of the longer-term issues that we'll be dealing with even after the Strait of Hormuz hopefully open soon here.

所以這不只是我們從競爭角度所看到的。也包括我們看到許多客戶、許多競爭對手以及整個產業，將在原料端所面臨的情況。我認為這些是一些較長期的議題，即使荷姆茲海峽希望很快重新開放之後，我們仍將需要面對。

Very helpful. And could you talk about some of the sustainability of the positive trends you're seeing in Advanced Materials, particularly interested in line of sight into aerospace and power order books and what that potentially means for segment profitability in 2026?

非常有幫助。另外，你能談談你在先進材料（Advanced Materials）看到的正向趨勢，其可持續性如何嗎？我特別關心航太與電力的訂單能見度，以及這對 2026 年部門獲利能力可能意味著什麼？

Yeah. I think that -- I don't want to get too much into our numbers is to where we planned and where we saw a lot of upside since the beginning of the war. But my CFO will start kicking in the side here. But what we -- the performance we're seeing in Advanced Materials is largely what we expected a quarter ago. We may have seen a little bit of impetus there in pricing. But remember, that business is not reliant on any one major raw material.

是的。我想——我不想太深入談我們的數字，也就是我們原先的規劃，以及自戰爭開始以來我們看到的許多上行空間。不然我的財務長可能就要在旁邊踢我一腳了。但我們在先進材料看到的表現，大致上就是我們一季前所預期的。我們可能在定價上看到了一點推力。但請記得，那個業務並不依賴任何單一主要原料。

As you would see, for instance, in benzene going into MDI or some of the raw materials, caustic and chlorine prices and so forth into some of our Performance Products materials. And so as you look at our Advanced Materials section, that continues as we see -- as we've said now the last couple of quarters. We see the recovery continue with aerospace power, these better than GDP growth businesses. That business is just going to continue to get traction. And I'm not sure the results this quarter and the second quarter where we finished the first quarter. I'm not sure that would be materially different from where we'd be without the Gulf conflict.

例如苯進入 MDI，或某些原料如燒鹼與氯的價格等，會影響我們部分高性能產品（Performance Products）的材料。因此當你看我們的先進材料部門時，它仍然延續——正如我們過去幾季所說的。我們看到航太與電力的復甦持續，這些是優於 GDP 成長的業務。那個業務只會持續取得動能。而我不確定本季的結果，以及第二季在第一季結束時的狀況。我不確定若沒有海灣衝突，我們會不會在實質上有明顯不同。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

Kevin McCarthy，Vertical Research Partners。

Thank you and good morning. Peter, can you speak to operating rates in MDI, both for Huntsman and also what you're observing at the industry level? And related to that, how are things changing post war versus pre-war?

謝謝，早安。Peter，你能談談 MDI 的開工率嗎？包括亨斯邁（Huntsman）自身，以及你在產業層面觀察到的情況。另外，戰後相較於戰前，情況有哪些變化？

Yeah. I think that as we look at the industry in general, you're probably looking at the low-to-mid 80s. I think now, from where we are, we would be in the high 80s, we're sold out completely in our Chinese operation. Our US operation for the most part is sold out.

好的。我想就整體產業來看，你大概會看到低到中 80% 的水準。而就我們目前而言，我們會在高 80% 左右，我們在中國的營運已經完全售罄。我們在美國的營運大致上也已售罄。

Europe. So as we said, when we announced our first quarter earnings before the Middle East conflict, we're starting to see some green shoots there. We continue to see some opportunities in Europe. And I would say that we're operating at pretty good levels across the board. There have been a number of outages and I would say, short term and also planned disruptions in the industry, not to be too unexpected.

歐洲方面。如同我們在中東衝突之前公布第一季財報時所說，我們開始在那裡看到一些復甦的跡象。我們在歐洲仍持續看到一些機會。我會說我們整體的營運水準都相當不錯。產業中出現了一些停工，我會說短期的以及計畫性的中斷都有，並不算太意外。

When you go -- have an industry that's been operating kind of at a low probably 70%, 80% for the last couple of years. And now all of a sudden, you see an increase in demand and pull-through, you typically have operating issues. So I can't speak about the competition, but I can just say in our facilities, all three of our MDI facilities, our associates there have done a fantastic job in their operations.

當一個產業在過去幾年一直以相對偏低的、可能 70% 到 80% 的水準運轉。而現在突然看到需求與拉動增加時，通常就會出現一些營運問題。所以我無法評論競爭對手，但我只能說在我們的工廠，我們三座 MDI 工廠的同仁在營運上做得非常出色。

Thank you for that. And then secondly, I imagine your PO/MTBE joint venture in China has become more profitable. Maybe you can talk about what you might expect for equity earnings trajectory moving forward?

謝謝你的說明。第二個問題，我想你們在中國的 PO/MTBE 合資企業應該變得更有利潤。也許你可以談談，未來權益法收益的走勢你會怎麼預期？

Yeah, I -- it's -- certainly in the past, it's been a little bit of a drag on us. I think today, we're probably in the low to mid-single-digit, millions of dollars of impact on that business. So certainly doing better than it has been in the past. And I would hope that MTBE, that C factors should improve as you get more into the driving season, but that's -- there's just so much volatility right now in the whole refining chain and what's going on with PO economics, that'd probably be one of the murkier businesses that we have as far as looking into the future.

是的，我——過去它確實對我們有些拖累。我想目前，該業務對我們的影響大概是低到中個位數的百萬美元等級。所以確實比過去好很多。我也希望 MTBE 的 C 因子能在進入更多駕車旺季時改善，但——目前整個煉油鏈的波動性很大，加上 PO 經濟性正在發生的事情，這可能是我們在展望未來時較為不明朗的業務之一。

Remember, Kevin, the price of gasoline is managed differently in China than elsewhere in the world. So MTBE margins aren't what you would expect in China, where the Chinese joint venture is making money today is on propylene oxide and the margins that we're seeing there over and above propylene.

Kevin，請記得，中國的汽油價格管理方式與世界其他地方不同。所以在中國，MTBE 的利差並不會如你所預期；中國的合資企業今天之所以賺錢，是靠環氧丙烷（propylene oxide），以及我們看到的、相對於丙烯之上的利差。

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research.

Frank Mitsch，Fermium Research。

That's interesting. So PO is doing better than TBA, MTBE in China. Thanks for the enlightenment. Peter, I was wondering if you could speak to the polyurethane and MDI pricing initiatives that are underway. How that relates to underlying benzene costs? And what sort of successes are you seeing, or not on that front?

這很有意思。所以在中國，PO 的表現比 TBA、MTBE 更好。謝謝你的說明。Peter，我想請你談談目前正在推動的聚氨酯與 MDI 的漲價／定價措施。這與苯成本的變動有何關聯？在這方面你們看到哪些成功之處，或哪些地方不如預期？

Well, I'd say that we're seeing a -- we're certainly staying ahead of the benzene curve, never as far ahead as I would like to see it. I'd like to see it multiple times better than what we're seeing, but I highly complement our sales and marketing groups on their aggressiveness and making sure that we're covering our raw material costs and staying ahead of that. So yeah, both from a volumetric basis, we'll see a positive influence on it and also margin expansion above and beyond raw materials, we should see the expansion on that.

嗯，我會說我們看到——我們確實是跑在苯的走勢之前，雖然沒有我希望的那麼領先。我希望能比目前看到的好上好幾倍，但我非常肯定我們銷售與行銷團隊的積極作為，確保我們能覆蓋原料成本並保持領先。所以是的，無論從量的角度，我們會看到正向影響；同時在原料之上也會有利潤擴張，我們應該會看到那樣的擴張。

All right. Terrific. Great. So margin expansion. So if I think about the price mix for Huntsman overall, it's been negative for several quarters here, given these initiatives that you have underway, is the expectation for the full company to show positive price mix here in 2Q and hopefully beyond?

好的。太棒了。很好。所以是利潤擴張。如果我從亨斯邁整體的價格／組合（price mix）來看，過去幾季一直是負的；考量你們正在推動的這些措施，是否預期公司整體在第二季會呈現正向的價格／組合，並希望之後也能延續？

Certainly, in Q2, hopefully, beyond, I would reinforce that as well. I mean as I get at some of the pricing trends that we're seeing going into the second quarter. Now just to give you an idea, in North America, I'm talking about all products, all prices. So I'm not going to name one division, but we have not seen a quarter-on-quarter growth in pricing trends. I mean you're -- unfortunately, you're right in what you said earlier, we haven't seen that since 2022.

當然，在第二季，希望在此之後，我也會再次強調這一點。我的意思是，談到我們在進入第二季時所看到的一些定價趨勢。現在只是給你一個概念，在北美，我談的是所有產品、所有價格。所以我不會點名某一個事業部，但我們沒有看到價格趨勢出現季對季的成長。我的意思是——不幸的是，你先前說得對，我們自 2022 年以來就沒看到過這種情況。

So the trends that we're seeing right now and the jump that we're seeing on a quarterly basis right now in North America, we haven't seen that in years now. Europe isn't too dissimilar. We've seen a few quarters here and there where we've seen some pricing. But that's more to do because of the strength of our Advanced Materials business in Europe, not because of the macro trends there.

所以我們現在看到的趨勢，以及我們目前在北美按季度看到的跳升，這些年來我們都沒見過。歐洲也沒有太大不同。我們在某些季度零星看到一些價格上漲。但那更多是因為我們在歐洲的先進材料業務表現強勁，而不是因為那裡的總體趨勢。

So yeah, I like where we're going into the second quarter. And my only question is how sustainable is it. But it's -- look, it's a lot better than where we were a quarter ago.

所以是的，我喜歡我們進入第二季時的狀態。我唯一的問題是這能持續多久。但——你看，這比我們一個季度前的狀況好太多了。

Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global.

Hassan Ahmed，Alembic Global。

Morning, Peter. Peter, I just wanted to revisit some of the earlier commentary around MDI supply, both as it pertains to the product, as well as the feedstock. I mean, there's at least one facility in Saudi Arabia that seems to be offline. And then obviously, I would imagine there would be sort of broader issues in terms of the availability and pricing of benzene as well as methanol.

早安，Peter。Peter，我想再回到你先前對 MDI 供應的評論，無論是就產品本身，還是就上游原料而言。我的意思是，沙烏地阿拉伯至少有一座設施似乎停產了。然後很顯然，我想在苯與甲醇的供應可得性與價格方面，也會有更廣泛的問題。

So could you comment a bit about sort of operating rates for MDI, keeping in mind some of these outages, as well as some of the feedstock availability issues the world may be encountering. And how long it may take for some of these bottlenecks if peace was declared tomorrow, to sort of be ironed out to the system?

所以你能否談談 MDI 的開工率情況，考量到其中一些停產事件，以及全球可能正面臨的一些原料供應可得性問題。以及如果明天就宣布和平，這些瓶頸大概需要多久才能在系統中被逐步消除？

Yeah. I think that as we look -- you made reference to -- you made reference to a Middle East producer. That's roughly about 4% of global capacity. So if you if you kind of think that the industry is operating in the low to mid-80s, I would say that we're kind of pushing the mid- to upper 80s, at 90% capacity utilization globally. Now again, that's not across the board.

是的。我想我們在看——你提到了——你提到了一家中東生產商。那大約占全球產能的 4%。所以如果你大致認為產業目前在低到中 80% 的開工率，我會說我們正推升到中到高 80%，全球產能利用率接近 90%。當然，這不是全面一致的。

There will be parts that are better than that, parts that are worse than that. But just globally across the board, when you reach 90% in the MDI industry, given what people have a stated capacity, and the outages that they place on a yearly basis for maintenance and so forth. You're really in an industry that starts to strain at 90%-plus capacity. So, I mean statistically on paper, you can see where the industry is now moving into the upper 80s. In some regions of the world, it's going to be, again, better and worse.

有些地區會好於這個水準，有些會差一些。但就全球整體而言，當 MDI 產業達到 90% 時，考量到各家公司宣稱的產能，以及他們每年安排的歲修停工等等。你其實已經進入一個在 90% 以上就開始吃緊的產業狀態。所以，從統計與紙面數據來看，你可以看到產業現在正往高 80% 移動。在世界某些地區，仍然會——同樣地——有好有壞。

I've not seen or heard of any problems with the procurement of raw materials in MDI around the world. And the pricing of that raw material so far has been pretty much in line with oil. So that would tell me that there's a pretty decent supply of it that's available. But longer term, my biggest question on MDI is going to be the sustainability of the demand because, again, previous February 28, I would say that -- I don't want to say that we were going [right] down. So we're starting to see some green shoots in Europe as we reported earlier.

我沒有看到或聽到全球 MDI 原料採購有任何問題。而且到目前為止，該原料的價格基本上與油價走勢一致。所以這告訴我，可供應的量相當充足。但從更長期來看，我對 MDI 最大的疑問會是需求的可持續性，因為——再說一次——在 2 月 28 日之前，我會說——我不想說我們正在一路往下走。因此我們開始看到歐洲出現一些復甦跡象，正如我們先前所報告的。

We were moving into the North American housing season. And China was stable and in pretty decent shape. So my whole question is really around sustainability of demand as you looking out in the third and fourth quarter. And (inaudible) it's just too early to start looking at those order trends.

我們正進入北美的房市旺季。而中國則保持穩定，狀況相當不錯。所以我整個問題其實是圍繞著當你展望第三季與第四季時，需求是否可持續。而且（聽不清楚）現在就開始看那些訂單趨勢還太早。

Understood. And as a follow-up, you mentioned the polyurethanes market in Europe, obviously, was volumes-wise up 4%, which obviously is decent. But in your prepared remarks, you obviously talked about easier compares as well, because last year you obviously had the, sort of, Rotterdam, sort of turnaround.

了解。另外追問一下，你提到歐洲聚氨酯市場的銷量（以量計）成長了 4%，這顯然不錯。但在你準備好的發言中，你也提到比較基期較容易，因為去年你們有——某種程度上——鹿特丹的檢修停工。

What green shoots are you guys seeing volume-wise in Europe? And over the last couple of quarters, obviously, long EBITDA lines, it seems for the PU business, EBITDA was negative. Have you guys currently sort of turned that around? Is it actually generating positive EBITDA now?

你們在歐洲看到哪些以量計的復甦跡象？而且過去幾個季度，從 EBITDA 走勢來看，PU 業務的 EBITDA 似乎是負的。你們目前是否已經扭轉了這個狀況？現在是否已經開始產生正的 EBITDA？

Yeah. To look at your first area, I would think that CWP, composite wood products in Europe is looking pretty good. Technical insulation is -- and that would be your sandwich boards and so forth that are going into data centers, warehouses, prefabricated buildings and so forth. Your ACE business, adhesions coatings, elastomers business is doing -- again, I don't want to paint (inaudible) going through the roof in Europe, but we're seeing some green shoots in these areas, badly needed by the way.

是的。先看你第一個問題，我認為歐洲的 CWP（複合木製品）看起來相當不錯。技術保溫——也就是用於資料中心、倉庫、預製建築等的夾芯板等等——表現也不錯。你們的 ACE 業務（黏著劑、塗料、彈性體）也在——同樣地，我不想把（聽不清楚）說成在歐洲大爆發，但我們在這些領域看到一些復甦跡象，而且老實說非常需要。

And -- so yeah, I think that certainly is moving towards an area where we don't just want to see a positive EBITDA coming from Europe. We want to see positive cash coming out of Europe. And so, yeah, we're at that precipice and seeing things improve.

所以——是的，我認為這確實正朝向一個方向發展：我們不只是想看到歐洲帶來正的 EBITDA。我們也想看到歐洲帶來正的現金流。所以，是的，我們正處在那個臨界點上，並看到情況在改善。

And Hassan, as we sit here today, we would expect Europe to be positive from an EBITDA perspective.

而且 Hassan，就我們今天所處的情況來看，我們預期歐洲在 EBITDA 的角度會是正的。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

Michael Sison，Wells Fargo。

Hey, good morning. When I take a look at your outlook for polyurethanes for 2Q, margins look like they're going to improve a little bit, but not a lot. So what do you think needs to happen to get the EBITDA margins for polyurethanes at better levels going forward? And just curious what the pricing for the segment should imply for 2Q year-over-year?

嗨，早安。當我看你們對第二季聚氨酯的展望時，毛利看起來會小幅改善，但幅度不大。那你認為未來要讓聚氨酯的 EBITDA 利潤率提升到更好的水準，需要發生什麼事？另外也想請教，該事業部第二季的定價，年對年應該意味著什麼？

I think the two things that we need more than anything else are demand and raw material stability. We're projecting in the second quarter that we'll take in well in excess of around $100 million of raw material costs. We expect to offset that and get prices higher than that. But that's a tremendous amount of raw material costs that we're absorbing in one quarter. And of course, in order to have any sustainability in pricing and pull-through in pricing, we've got to see the demand.

我認為我們最需要的兩件事是需求，以及原料的穩定性。我們預估第二季將承擔遠超過約 1 億美元的原料成本上升。我們預期能夠抵消這些並把價格提高到高於這個幅度。但在單一季度吸收這麼大量的原料成本，確實非常可觀。當然，若要讓定價具備任何可持續性、並讓漲價得以順利傳導，我們必須看到需求。

So I did note in my prepared remarks, a cautionary note on inflation and what inflation factors may play in Europe. But there's also -- I'd say on one hand, there's those inflation factors that give me concern. On the other hand, Europe has been so lethargic for so long. I can't help but think that there is pent-up demand, whether it be in housing, or remodeling and just industrial demand [dispense] rebuild and so forth across the board. So that's going to be for the second half of the year, the single biggest variable in my opinion, is going to be demand.

所以我在準備好的發言中確實提到，對通膨以及通膨因素在歐洲可能扮演的角色要保持謹慎。但同時——我會說一方面，這些通膨因素讓我擔憂。另一方面，歐洲長期以來一直非常疲弱。我不禁認為存在被壓抑的需求，不論是在住宅、翻修，或只是工業需求、[dispense] 重建等等，幾乎全面如此。所以在我看來，下半年最大的單一變數將會是需求。

Got it. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

David Begleiter，德意志銀行。

Hey, good morning. Peter, just on Performance Products. Why is that business a little bit stronger in Q2 given some of the strength in maleic?

嗨，早安。Peter，想請教一下關於性能產品（Performance Products）。在馬來酸酐（maleic）走強的情況下，為什麼這個業務在第二季（Q2）會稍微更強？

David, that's an excellent question. And I think as we see the strength in maleic, that certainly is going to be manifest through Q2, going into Q3. A lot of our European customers on maleic are actually buying that and negotiating purchases of that FOB Florida. So -- of our plant in Pensacola, Florida.

David，這是個非常好的問題。我認為，隨著我們看到馬來酸酐的強勢，這個趨勢當然會在第二季體現出來，並延續到第三季（Q3）。我們在馬來酸酐方面的許多歐洲客戶，實際上是以FOB佛羅里達的條件在採購並談判採購。也就是——從我們位於佛羅里達州彭薩科拉（Pensacola）的工廠。

So picking it up in the US rather than us shipping it over to Europe. And taking the time and tying up working capital and so forth. So we'll see the impact of that going forward. But I'd also remind you that we also have one of our facilities in Q1, and also presumably could see some impact in Q2, where we have an ethyleneamines facility, joint venture facility, which we believe is one of the lowest cost facilities in Saudi Arabia on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz. And so that's going to also be a little bit of a headwind in that business.

所以他們是在美國提貨，而不是由我們把貨運到歐洲。也就不需要花時間、占用營運資金等等。因此我們會在未來看到這方面的影響。但我也要提醒你，我們在第一季（Q1）有一座設施，而且在第二季可能也會看到一些影響：我們有一座乙烯胺（ethyleneamines）設施，是合資工廠；我們認為它是沙烏地阿拉伯成本最低的設施之一，但它位於荷姆茲海峽（Strait of Hormuz）的另一側、位置不利。因此這也會對該業務帶來一些逆風。

Very good. And do you have an update on your UK aniline plants given some prior comments? Thank you.

非常好。另外，關於你們英國苯胺（aniline）工廠，鑑於先前的一些評論，你有最新進展嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Again, that facility when those comments were made, we were seeing $20, $22 gas in Europe and a government that was lethargic at best in concerns with it. And we are seeing import pressures that we're countering that. I think since that time, imports have lessened a bit. We've seen gas plummet from $20 to $15.

有。同樣地，當時發表那些評論時，我們看到歐洲天然氣價格在20、22美元，而政府對此的關切充其量只能說是反應遲緩。同時我們也面臨進口壓力，而我們正在應對。我認為自那之後，進口量已經稍微減少。我們也看到天然氣價格從20美元大幅下滑到15美元。

I still say that's an aesthetically high number for an energy less policy-driven government. And so I wouldn't say that, that facility is -- when I look at the economics of it, I continue to be concerned. The people that work there, the reliability of that facility, the ongoing maintenance and operations and so forth, that facility are absolutely A+. But they're having to battle some really poor energy policies.

我仍然認為，對一個能源政策缺乏導向的政府而言，這仍是個高得離譜的數字。所以我不會說那座工廠——當我看它的經濟性時——我的擔憂已經消失。那裡的員工、工廠的可靠度、持續的維護與營運等等，絕對都是A+。但他們必須對抗一些非常糟糕的能源政策。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

Vincent Andrews，摩根士丹利。

Thank you. I just want to try to piece together a couple of the comments you made, Peter, as it relates to polyurethanes and [upon] completing things, please, obviously, correct me. But you're talking about how you've been able to get pricing ahead of vending, and we traditionally think of you having about a two-month lag of benzene flowing through. And then maybe later in the year, we may see some negative demand elasticity from the consumer at the end market, working its way back up the supply chain.

謝謝。Peter，我想把你剛才幾個評論串起來理解，特別是關於聚氨酯（polyurethanes）以及[upon]完成的事項；如果我理解有誤，請你務必糾正我。你提到你們能夠在成本轉嫁（pass-through）之前先把售價拉上去，而我們傳統上認為你們大約有兩個月的苯（benzene）傳導滯後。然後可能在今年稍晚，我們會看到終端市場的消費者出現一些負向需求彈性，並沿著供應鏈往上回傳。

So do we think about 2Q, your spreads being strong because you're ahead of that benzene, and then maybe benzene catches up with you in 3Q, and then we have to see how much pricing you can get and that, I guess, would be a function of demand. So thinking 2Q and 3Q may be flattish in terms of profitability in polyurethanes? Or do you think 3Q actually be up a little bit or maybe it would be down a little bit. What's your latest thinking on that?

所以我們是否可以這樣想：第二季你們的價差（spreads）之所以強，是因為你們領先於苯的傳導；然後第三季苯可能追上你們，接著就要看你們能拿到多少定價，而這我想會取決於需求。因此，聚氨酯在第二季與第三季的獲利能力可能大致持平？還是你認為第三季其實會小幅上升，或可能小幅下降？你目前最新的看法是什麼？

Well, far too early to comment on Q3. Again, I believe Q3 is going to be more demand driven than anything else. I do -- the trends that I'm seeing today we are staying ahead of the price on benzene. We also are picking up some volume that we see on a year-to-year sort of growth basis. And we're going to continue to be pushing prices through.

嗯，現在評論第三季還太早。同樣地，我相信第三季將更多是由需求驅動，而不是其他因素。我確實——就我今天看到的趨勢而言——我們仍然領先於苯的價格。我們也在年對年成長的基礎上，拿到一些額外的量。而且我們會持續推動價格上調。

Now again, the ability to push those prices through will be predicated on macro demand and so forth. And as I get into the third quarter and again, I don't want to be overly pessimistic about that, I may say that is right now, there's -- I feel there's a bit of euphoria in the industry, and I love seeing it. I think what's long overdue. I hope it continues into the third and fourth quarter. But a lot of that is just too early to tell on demand.

當然，能否把這些價格推上去，將取決於總體需求等等。至於進入第三季——我也不想對此過度悲觀——我會說目前行業裡有一點亢奮情緒，而我很樂見其成。我認為這是早就該出現的。我希望它能延續到第三季與第四季。但很多事情在需求面上都還太早，難以下定論。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Matthew Blair, Tudor, Pickering, Holt.

Matthew Blair，Tudor, Pickering, Holt。

Great. Thanks and good morning, Peter. I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about just underlying construction activity. One of your peers mentioned that has been weakening. You talked about the diversion in March data between starts and permits. Are there any trends in Q2 on construction activity that you can share so far?

很好。謝謝，早安，Peter。我希望你能多談一點建築活動的基本面。你們的一位同業提到這方面正在走弱。你也談到3月數據中，新屋開工（starts）與許可（permits）之間出現分歧。截至目前，你能分享第二季在建築活動方面的任何趨勢嗎？

I would say that we're not seeing a drop off, but we're also not seeing a lot of improvement. And I think that -- I would say right now, it certainly isn't shaping to be a bad season for us. It's just not a lot of growth in that. So I'd say there's some stability. But I'm sorry, I probably should be saying (inaudible) going up or its going down, but it seems to be quite stable at the present time.

我會說我們沒有看到下滑，但也沒有看到太多改善。而且我認為——我會說就目前而言，這個旺季對我們來說肯定不會是糟糕的一季。只是沒有太多成長。所以我會說有一定的穩定性。但抱歉，我可能應該說（聽不清）是在上升或是在下降，但目前看起來相當穩定。

That's why I say there's some decent trends on housing starts that feel pretty good. And we're -- I think in the second quarter going into the third quarter, we'll probably see 2%, 3% low single-digit growth in construction this year. But I'm also concerned when you see a 10% drop in one month in housing residential permits. Again, that's the step before the housing starts.

這也是為什麼我說，新屋開工的趨勢看起來還不錯，感覺相當正面。而我們——我認為在第二季進入第三季，我們今年的建築活動可能會有2%、3%這種低個位數成長。但我也擔心，當你看到住宅建築許可在一個月內下滑10%。畢竟那是新屋開工之前的前一步。

So again, I don't want to get -- I don't want to read too much into a single quarter of data because February, both of those numbers were the complete opposite. Permits were up and starts were down. So I think we'll probably see some very gradual growth there.

所以同樣地，我不想——我不想對單一季度的數據過度解讀，因為2月這兩個數字完全相反。許可上升，而開工下降。因此我認為那裡可能會出現非常緩慢的成長。

Sounds good. And then I was also intrigued by your comment that you're seeing some customers that are buying ahead of expected price increases. Is this occurring in some products more than others? And if so, which products? And then also on a regional basis, would this be something that's more prevalent in Europe relative to the Americas? Thank you.

聽起來不錯。另外，你提到你看到一些客戶在預期漲價前提前採購，這點也引起我的興趣。這種情況是否在某些產品上比其他產品更明顯？如果是，是哪些產品？另外從區域來看，這是否在歐洲相對於美洲更普遍？謝謝。

Yeah. I would say that as we look at it, you're probably talking about two, three days of -- on MDI, that would be the area where we probably see the most pre-buying. So I'm going to just say that there's -- I wouldn't say that there's a big wave of capacity that is being pulled through. I think that we're managing that very carefully as well. So customers coming in and increasing their orders from where they were just a few weeks ago.

是的。我會說，從我們的觀察來看，你說的可能是兩三天的——以MDI來說，那會是我們看到提前採購最明顯的領域。所以我想說——我不會說有一大波產能被提前拉動。我認為我們也在非常謹慎地管理這件事。因此客戶進來，把訂單量提高到比幾週前更高的水準。

We're discouraging that and making sure that we kind of keep an equilibrium on orders and so forth. And in other areas where people are coming in that haven't bought from us for some time on a spot basis, we're seeing if we can't extend contracts from what you need over the next month or two to what you need over the next year or so, some of our Performance Products customers and so forth that may have shifted supplies to China out from Europe and the US, for example.

我們正在抑制那種情況，並確保我們在訂單等方面大致維持一個平衡。另外，在其他領域，對於那些有一段時間沒有以現貨方式向我們採購、現在又回來的客戶，我們會看看能否把合約從「你接下來一兩個月需要的量」延長到「你接下來一年左右需要的量」；例如，我們的一些高性能產品（Performance Products）客戶等，可能已將供應從歐洲和美國轉移到中國。

So yeah, I think on both of these demand trends, we need to make sure on those that are -- there's a difference between those that are spot buying, panic buying. And those are just trying to buy ahead of a price increase, they all need to be managed a little bit different. Sorry, there's not one size that fits all.

所以是的，我認為針對這兩種需求趨勢，我們需要確保能分辨——現貨採購、恐慌性採購的客戶，以及只是想在漲價前提前買進的客戶；這兩者都需要用稍微不同的方式來管理。抱歉，沒有一種方式適用所有情況。

But right now, if there is prebuying that's taking place, I would be very worried if we were seeing what would be the equivalent of a week or two or three of prebuying taking place. I would say right now, we're seeing low number of days of inventory that is prebuying at this point.

但就目前而言，如果確實有提前採購正在發生，若我們看到相當於一週、兩週或三週的提前採購量，我會非常擔心。我會說，現在我們看到的是以「天數」計的較低庫存天數的提前採購。

Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

Jeff Zekauskas，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Thanks very much. Can you comment on how much Chinese MDI is coming into Europe?

非常感謝。你能評論一下有多少中國的 MDI 正在流入歐洲嗎？

Hasn't been all that much. I wouldn't say that it's anything out of the ordinary. It's been pretty stable with what it's been the last couple of quarters. And -- so it's -- I would say, if anything, maybe it's even a little bit slightly lower than what it's averaged over the last year or so. So nothing that would be nothing that would have a material impact on the industry or pricing there.

其實沒有那麼多。我不會說有任何異常。過去幾個季度一直相當穩定。而且——所以——我會說，如果真要講的話，可能甚至還略低於過去一年左右的平均水準。因此沒有任何會對產業或當地定價造成實質性影響的情況。

Okay. Good. And then in Performance Products, can you frame the penalty from the ethyleneamine joint venture being behind the Strait either in the first quarter or the second quarter, or for the year? And in your guide, you're going from $26 million in EBITDA to an estimate of $30 million to $40 million in the second quarter. Why so big a jump? And why is the range so wide for the second quarter?

好的。很好。那麼在高性能產品（Performance Products）方面，你能否說明一下乙烯胺合資企業因為海峽受阻而落後所造成的損失，是在第一季、第二季，還是全年？另外，在你的指引中，你從第一季 EBITDA 的 2,600 萬美元提高到第二季估計的 3,000 萬到 4,000 萬美元。為什麼跳升這麼大？以及為什麼第二季的區間這麼寬？

As we look at the ethyleneamine facility, again, that facility, it was down for a couple of weeks. It's operating today. I don't want to get too specific. It's operating, let's say, at around 50%, and material is being trucked out to the Red Sea and also South. So I mean, we're finding some means of getting product out of there.

就乙烯胺裝置而言，再次說明，那個裝置停了幾週。目前已在運轉。我不想講得太具體。它在運轉，我們就說大約在 50% 左右，產品正以卡車運往紅海方向以及南向地區。所以我的意思是，我們正在找一些方法把產品運出去。

What the impact of that is going to be and how much that we can offset through operations from our Freeport facilities, I would say that impact could be as high as $4 million, $5 million for the quarter. So as we look at that spread of $30 million, $40 million, a lot of that is going to be based on how successful we are in getting product economically. I mean, because you're moving it out by truck. So you can well imagine, that's going to be quite a bit more expensive than moving out by ship.

其影響會是什麼，以及我們能在多大程度上透過 Freeport 裝置的營運來抵消，我會說該影響單季可能高達 400 萬到 500 萬美元。因此，當我們看 3,000 萬到 4,000 萬美元這個區間時，其中很大一部分取決於我們能否以具經濟性的方式把產品運出去。畢竟你是用卡車運出。所以你可以想像，這會比用船運出昂貴得多。

So there's some variability there. I would also say that there's quite a bit of spot material that seemingly is coming -- opportunities coming in maleic. How much that materializes, what we're able to get pricing, people inquiring people talking about volumes and prices versus actual orders and so forth. We'll know a lot more about that in the coming weeks.

所以這裡面有一些變動性。我也會說，順丁烯二酸酐（maleic）方面似乎有相當多的現貨材料機會出現——這些機會能落實多少、我們能拿到什麼價格、大家詢問、談量與談價，和實際下單之間的差距等等。接下來幾週我們會更清楚。

And Jeff, in terms of step-up from Q1 to Q2, just as in polyurethanes, we are seeing pricing exceed the raw material increases.

Jeff，至於從第一季到第二季的提升，就像在聚氨酯一樣，我們看到售價上漲幅度超過原料成本上升幅度。

Mike Harrison, Seaport Research Partners.

Mike Harrison，Seaport Research Partners。

Hi, good morning. You mentioned in the prepared remarks there that were still meaningfully below mid-cycle margins in the polyurethane business. And I was wondering if you can provide any kind of an updated view on where you think mid-cycle margins could be I'll hold off on asking you when you think you can get there. But what is the appropriate mid-cycle margin level for polyurethanes?

嗨，早安。你在事先準備的發言中提到，聚氨酯業務的利潤率仍明顯低於中周期水準。我想請你更新一下你認為中周期利潤率可能落在什麼位置——我先不問你覺得何時能達到。但聚氨酯適當的中周期利潤率水準應該是多少？

Well, I think that we're probably -- I've always thought of it more on what it is on an EBITDA on average basis. And I think that business on average ought to be a mid-teen sort of a business? And how soon do I expect that to happen? As soon as possible. Sorry. Yeah, it's long overdue.

嗯，我想我們大概——我一直比較是用平均的 EBITDA 角度來看。我認為這個業務平均而言應該是「十幾個百分點」左右的業務。那我預期多快會發生？越快越好。抱歉。是的，早就該如此了。

And then the second question I had is just curious, I didn't see any comments about the specialty amines capacity that you've added to serve the semiconductor industry. And I'm just curious how that's contributing relative to expectations, and whether you expect to see some growth there given the strength in semiconductor?

我第二個問題是，我注意到你們沒有提到為服務半導體產業而新增的特用胺（specialty amines）產能。我想了解它目前的貢獻相對於預期如何，以及在半導體強勁的情況下，你是否預期那邊會有一些成長？

Yeah. We continue to see that coming online. It's going through qualifications as we've stated before that is going to go through a qualification of usually around 9 to 12 months. Sometimes when there's supply disruptions and so forth on chemical products as there is right now. Sometimes that can be accelerated. Sometimes it slows down actually. So I think as we look in 2026 is we're building up to a normalized run rate, hopefully, by the end of the year, we'll probably see $5 million-plus coming from that this year.

是的。我們持續看到那部分產能上線。如同我們先前所說，它正在進行客戶認證，通常認證期大約是 9 到 12 個月。有時候，像現在化學品出現供應中斷等情況時，認證可能會加速。但有時候其實也會放慢。所以我認為，展望 2026 年，我們正在建立到一個正常化的運轉率；希望到今年年底，我們今年大概會看到來自那部分超過 500 萬美元的貢獻。

Josh Spector, UBS.

Josh Spector，瑞銀（UBS）。

Yeah, good morning. I wanted to see if I could just follow up on kind of the benzene MDI math in 2Q here. Just trying to think about, if we say volumes are stable into 3Q, you're pricing ahead of raws in 2Q, is that a headwind in that your raws are going to catch up a bit more from inventory in 3Q? Or are you exiting with enough price where you'd say that earnings in polyurethanes would be stable sequentially in that scenario?

是的，早安。我想就第二季這裡的苯與 MDI 的計算再追問一下。我在想，如果我們假設第三季的銷量維持穩定，而你們在第二季的定價領先原料，那第三季是否會形成逆風，因為原料成本會從庫存因素追上來一些？或者你們在退出第二季時的價格已經足夠高，因此在那種情境下你會說聚氨酯的獲利可望按季持平？

Yes. So I would say that we are exiting Q2 able to stay ahead of the raw materials that we see going into Q3. And we're also working towards more price increases to come in that area. So -- I mean, as I sit here today looking at unless there's a cataclysmic change economically, we will stay ahead of our raw material costs going into Q3.

是的。所以我會說，我們在第二季結束時，仍能領先我們看到進入第三季的原料成本。而且我們也在推動該領域進一步的漲價。所以——我的意思是——以我今天坐在這裡的觀察，除非經濟出現災難性的變化，我們在進入第三季時仍會領先原料成本。

And Josh, benzene just settled at $471. The point is we're ahead of that. And we'll stay ahead of it.

另外 Josh，苯剛剛結算在 471 美元。重點是我們的價格領先於此。而且我們會持續領先。

Understood. Thank you.

了解。謝謝。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

Laurence Alexander，Jefferies。

Good morning. Peter, do you see any end markets where your customers are indicating already that they're in pre-buy mode?

早安。Peter，你是否看到任何終端市場，你們的客戶已經在表示他們正處於提前採購模式？

Good question. We're in a prebuy mode. None that are really that, I mean, typically, this time of year, you're going to get some prebuy in construction. Installation spray foam business feels like it's in there's pretty good demand and people are trying, maybe, to buy ahead of the curve in that business. So those would probably be the two areas.

好問題。我們目前處於預先採購模式。沒有真正特別明顯的，不過一般來說，每年這個時候，建築領域通常都會有一些預先採購。安裝用噴塗泡棉業務感覺需求相當不錯，大家可能也在嘗試在這個業務上提前於趨勢之前先買一些。所以大概就是這兩個領域。

But no, again, I mentioned that earlier, it's something that we're working on very diligently. When I said that we're kind of like a day or two worth of inventory going in that. I think we're -- I'm not going to say that we're walking away from business. We just want to make sure we're managing that very carefully with our customers. We don't want to build up inventory, nor do we want to necessarily see it built up on the customer side.

但沒有，再次強調，我先前提過，這是我們正在非常努力處理的事情。我說我們在那方面的庫存大概只有一兩天的量。我想我們——我不會說我們在放棄生意。我們只是想確保與客戶一起非常謹慎地管理。我們不想累積庫存，也不一定希望看到客戶端把庫存堆起來。

But I guess -- I appreciate that no one wants the customers to build up inventory, but is it unusual for -- with this kind of spike where several companies are out publicly talking about imminent shortages and different molecules that people who may see higher prices in the future aren't trying to pull forward orders? Is that --

但我想——我理解沒有人希望客戶堆庫存，不過在這種價格/供需突然飆升的情況下，現在有好幾家公司都在公開談論即將出現的短缺、以及不同分子（產品）可能短缺；那些預期未來價格更高的人，沒有嘗試把訂單提前拉進來，這不尋常嗎？這是——

I think -- no, I don't think that's unusual at all. I don't think that we're at a point -- I mean, not saying I don't wish we were, but I don't think appointing MDI at this time where we're seeing shortages and people saying, I can't get it. I think that there are people that are concerned as they look at their supplier with their suppliers with announced turnarounds that have been scheduled for multiple years that are taking place and so forth. Some of the disruptions that you're seeing in some of the energy flows and shipping flows.

我想——不，我不覺得那有什麼不尋常。我不認為我們目前已經到了——我的意思是，不是說我不希望是那樣，但我不認為目前MDI已經到了我們看到短缺、大家說「我拿不到」的程度。我認為有些人會擔心，因為他們看到供應商那邊已公告、且已排程多年的歲修/停工正在發生等等。以及你在一些能源流向與航運流向上看到的部分干擾。

But I'm not seeing panic buying at this point, but I am seeing higher capacity utilization. So I think that there's an improvement in market conditions for the producers, but consumers can still get the product.

但我目前沒有看到恐慌性採購，不過我確實看到產能利用率更高。所以我認為對生產商而言，市場狀況正在改善，但消費者仍然能拿到產品。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

Arun Viswanathan，RBC資本市場。

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess we did hear about an outage with Wanhua a couple of days ago, and maybe I can just get your thoughts on that if you think that, that could tighten up markets. And then I guess maybe you were asked this question earlier, apologies if so.

很好。謝謝回答我的問題。我想我們確實在幾天前聽到萬華有停機事件，也許我想請教你對此的看法，你是否認為那可能會讓市場更吃緊。另外我想這個問題可能之前有人問過，如果是的話先說聲抱歉。

But what is kind of the potential for those utilization rates to remain consistently above 90%? Do you see any permanent kind of supply activities that could arise in the next few months? Obviously, it depends on duration but -- of the conflict. But what are your -- are your customers kind of migrating to you in the face of other supply shocks or disruptions? Is there a share gain opportunity as well? Thanks.

但產能利用率持續穩定維持在90%以上的可能性有多大？你是否看到未來幾個月可能出現任何永久性的供應行動/變化？當然這取決於衝突的持續時間，但——你的客戶是否因為其他供應衝擊或中斷而轉向你們？是否也有市占提升的機會？謝謝。

Yeah. Arun, good question. I'm not sure necessarily what's happened with the competitor facility. When they do have multi-year closures, when I say multiyear, I mean, oftentimes, when you do a large-scale closure on a vast petrochemical side, you're renting equipment, your planning equipment, you're planning on workforces, usually 18, 24 months in advance. I mean you know these things are coming and people are exchanging materials.

是的。Arun，好問題。我不太確定競爭對手的設施到底發生了什麼。當他們進行多年期的停工——我說的多年期是指，很多時候在龐大的石化端做大規模停工時，你要租用設備、規劃設備、規劃人力，通常會提前18到24個月規劃。我的意思是，你知道這些事情會發生，大家也會互相調度/交換原料。

I know that's happening. I've heard -- read that a splitter may have gone down or something. I've not read that a facility, there's been a large-scale cataclysmic outage, or anything like that. I think that we're probably as an industry operating in the high 80s right now depending on product flow in the Middle East. That's going to be a bit volatile right now with some of these large members.

我知道這正在發生。我聽說——也讀到——可能是某個分離裝置（splitter）停了之類的。但我沒有看到說某個工廠發生大規模、災難性的停機之類的情況。我認為就整個產業而言，目前大概在80%後段運轉，這取決於中東的產品流向。在目前一些大型業者的情況下，這會有點波動。

In China, you've got single site facilities of 1 million metric ton sites. When those go down, aside that big, you will fill it globally. And if they're down for an extra couple of weeks because of a problem or whatever, you'll fill it acutely on a short-term basis. So we'll continue to take -- I think, as we look right now, our facilities are operating well, and we're in a position where we can be a strong and reliable supplier.

在中國，你有單一廠址、年產100萬公噸的工廠。那種規模的廠一旦停下來，你會在全球感受到影響。如果因為某些問題之類的又多停了幾週，你會在短期內非常明顯地感受到缺口。所以我們會持續——我想以目前來看，我們的工廠運轉良好，我們也有能力成為強而可靠的供應商。

Okay. Thanks for that. And then the other question I had was just on the PO market. Obviously, there's some tightness there, but there was also a reduction of capacity by one of the suppliers recently, and I know one of the other plants are down. So are you guys feeling like your own kind of procurement for the polyurethanes business is intact? Or do you foresee any supply disruptions or rerouting of your supply chain that would be required? Thanks.

好的。謝謝你的說明。我另外一個問題是關於PO市場。顯然那邊有些吃緊，但最近也有一家供應商減少了產能，而且我知道另外一座工廠也停了。所以你們是否覺得你們自身在聚氨酯業務的採購仍然完整無虞？或者你們是否預期會有任何供應中斷，或需要改道/重整供應鏈？謝謝。

No, we don't see any disruption in our PO supply right now. We've got a good supplier that plants operating, and I feel that we're covered with that. And we've also got an excellent supply source in China as well. So I feel we're okay with that.

不，我們目前看不到PO供應有任何中斷。我們有很好的供應商，工廠也在運轉，我覺得這方面我們有保障。此外我們在中國也有非常優秀的供應來源。所以我覺得這方面沒問題。

Operator, why don't we take one more question, and we'll let people get on the way.

接線員，我們再接最後一個問題，然後就讓大家繼續忙。

John Roberts, Mizuho Securities.

John Roberts，瑞穗證券。

Thank you. Not that it's large, but maybe your Saudi Amines JV give some insights into the sustainability of the disruption. If we had an agreement imminent here on the Strait of Hormuz, what's the earliest do you think you might be able to resume full production in export by sea?

謝謝。雖然規模不大，但也許你們在沙烏地的Amines合資公司能提供一些關於這次中斷可持續性的洞見。如果我們在荷姆茲海峽這裡很快達成協議，你認為最早什麼時候能恢復全面生產並透過海運出口？

You're probably looking at 30 to 45 days would be my assumption on that. Again, there's going to be a bottleneck of shipping both to get there to pick product up, and also shipping a product to get out. And yeah, so I would say about that time, 30 to 45 days.

我推測大概需要30到45天。再次強調，航運會形成瓶頸：一方面船要到那裡去提貨，另一方面也要把產品運出去。所以，是的，我會說大概就是那個時間，30到45天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. At this time, this will conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for (inaudible) You may now disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.

謝謝。現在，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位（聽不清楚）。您現在可以掛斷電話，祝您有美好的一天。