Kirby Corp (KEX) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Kirby Corporation 2023 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Kirby Corporation 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Kurt Niemietz, Vice President and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、副總裁兼財務主管庫爾特·尼米茨 (Kurt Niemietz)。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me today are David Grzebinski, Kirby's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Raj Kumar, Kirby's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A slide presentation for today's conference call as well as the earnings release, which was issued earlier today can be found on our website. During this conference call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP or adjusted financial measures. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings press release and are also available on our website in the Investor Relations section under Financials.

早上好，感謝您加入我們。今天與我在一起的有 Kirby 總裁兼首席執行官 David Grzebinski；以及 Kirby 執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Raj Kumar。您可以在我們的網站上找到今天電話會議的幻燈片演示以及今天早些時候發布的收益報告。在本次電話會議期間，我們可能會提及某些非公認會計原則或調整後的財務指標。非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標的調節表包含在我們的收益新聞稿中，也可在我們網站的“投資者關係”部分的“財務”部分中找到。

As a reminder, statements contained in this conference call with respect to the future are forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's reasonable judgment with respect to future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various factors. A list of these risk factors can be found in Kirby's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and then our other filings made with the SEC from time to time. I will now turn the call over to David.

提醒一下，本次電話會議中包含的有關未來的聲明均為前瞻性聲明。這些陳述反映了管理層對未來事件的合理判斷。前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，由於各種因素，我們的實際結果可能與預期存在重大差異。這些風險因素的列表可以在 Kirby 截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的年度 10-K 表格以及我們不時向 SEC 提交的其他文件中找到。我現在將把電話轉給大衛。

Thank you, Kurt, and good morning, everyone. Earlier today, we announced second quarter revenue of $777 million and earnings per share of $0.95. Both of our segments continued to perform well during the quarter and produced higher revenue and operating income sequentially and year-over-year. In Marine Transportation, pricing on spot and term contracts continued to benefit some strong demand and limited availability of barges. Favorable weather conditions and increased operating efficiency helped improve margins for both Inland and Coastal.

謝謝你，庫爾特，大家早上好。今天早些時候，我們宣布第二季度收入為 7.77 億美元，每股收益為 0.95 美元。我們的兩個部門在本季度繼續表現良好，並連續和同比產生了更高的收入和營業收入。在海運方面，現貨和定期合同的定價繼續有利於一些強勁的需求和有限的駁船供應。有利的天氣條件和提高的運營效率有助於提高內陸和沿海地區的利潤率。

Distribution and Services delivered improved margins and business remains stable at high levels. Overall, we had solid results, and we generated $113 million of free cash flow, which helped support an increase in our share repurchases to $34 million in the quarter. In Inland Marine Transportation, our second quarter results reflected continued improvement in pricing, together with better weather conditions and operating efficiency.

分銷和服務的利潤率有所提高，業務保持穩定在高水平。總體而言，我們取得了穩健的業績，產生了 1.13 億美元的自由現金流，這有助於支持我們本季度的股票回購額增加至 3400 萬美元。在內陸海運方面，我們第二季度的業績反映了定價的持續改善，以及更好的天氣條件和運營效率。

From a demand standpoint, customer activity was strong in the quarter, with barge utilization rates running in the low 90% range. Spot market prices were up in the mid-single digits sequentially and in the mid- to high 20% range year-over-year. Term contract prices also renewed up with low double-digit increases versus a year ago. Overall, second quarter Inland revenues increased 11% year-over-year and margins were in the high teens range. Also, shortly after the end of the second quarter, we acquired 23 Inland tank barges from an undisclosed seller.

從需求角度來看，本季度客戶活動強勁，駁船利用率處於 90% 的低水平。現貨市場價格環比上漲中個位數，同比上漲 20% 左右。定期合同價格也與一年前相比出現了兩位數的低漲幅。總體而言，第二季度 Inland 收入同比增長 11%，利潤率達到十幾位數。此外，第二季度末後不久，我們從一位未透露姓名的賣家處收購了 23 艘內陸油罐駁船。

With a total capacity of 265,000 barrels and an average age just under 14 years, these barges will be a nice addition to the Kirby fleet. In Coastal, market fundamentals continue to improve with our barge utilization levels running in the mid- to high 90% range. During the quarter, we saw solid customer demand and limited availability of large capacity vessels, which resulted in high-teens price increases on term contract renewals and increases on new spot deals in the high 20% range. As mentioned on our first quarter call, our results this year are being impacted by planned shipyard maintenance on several large vessels.

這些駁船的總容量為 265,000 桶，平均船齡不到 14 年，將成為 Kirby 船隊的有力補充。在沿海地區，市場基本面繼續改善，駁船利用率達到 90% 的中高水平。本季度，我們看到強勁的客戶需求和大容量船舶的供應有限，導致定期合同續簽價格出現高位上漲，新現貨交易價格上漲高達 20%。正如我們在第一季度電話會議中提到的，我們今年的業績受到了幾艘大型船舶計劃的船廠維護的影響。

Consequently, second quarter Coastal revenues decreased slightly year-over-year, but operating margins were positive in the low single digits. In Distribution and Services, demand remains strong across our markets with continued new orders combined with high levels of backlog. In manufacturing, revenues were up sequentially and year-over-year as high market acceptance drove strong demand for our environmentally friendly pressure pumping equipment and power generation equipment for e-frac. However, as expected, persistent supply chain issues, particularly with electronic and electrical components delayed many new equipment deliveries during the quarter.

因此，第二季度沿海收入同比略有下降，但營業利潤率為正，為低個位數。在分銷和服務領域，我們的市場需求依然強勁，新訂單持續增加，積壓量很高。在製造領域，由於市場接受度高，對我們的環保壓力泵設備和電子壓裂發電設備的需求強勁，收入環比和同比增長。然而，正如預期的那樣，持續存在的供應鏈問題，特別是電子和電氣元件，延遲了本季度許多新設備的交付。

We continue to work diligently to manage these supply chain challenges. In our commercial and industrial market, overall demand remained solid across our different businesses with growth coming from the marine repair, power generation and on highway sectors. In summary, our second quarter results reflected ongoing strength in market conditions for both segments. The Inland market is strong and rates continue to push higher, helping to offset inflation. While our Coastal revenue is challenged near term by planned shipyards, industry-wide supply and demand dynamics remain very favorable. Our barge utilization is good, and we are realizing price rate increases.

我們將繼續努力應對這些供應鏈挑戰。在我們的商業和工業市場中，我們不同業務的總體需求仍然強勁，其中增長來自船舶維修、發電和高速公路行業。總之，我們第二季度的業績反映了這兩個細分市場市場狀況的持續強勁。內陸市場強勁，利率繼續走高，有助於抵消通脹。雖然我們的沿海收入近期受到計劃造船廠的挑戰，但整個行業的供需動態仍然非常有利。我們的駁船利用率良好，並且我們正在實現價格上漲。

Steady demand in Distribution and Services is contributing to further growth in the segment. And while supply chain bottlenecks are expected, the outlook for the market is very strong. I'll talk more about our outlook later, but first, I'll turn the call over to Raj to discuss the second quarter segment results and the balance sheet.

分銷和服務的穩定需求有助於該領域的進一步增長。儘管預計會出現供應鏈瓶頸，但市場前景非常樂觀。稍後我將詳細討論我們的前景，但首先，我將把電話轉給 Raj，討論第二季度的部門業績和資產負債表。

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter of 2023, Marine Transportation segment revenues were $427 million, and operating income was $64 million with an operating margin of 15%. Compared to the second quarter of 2022, total Marine revenues increased $21 million or 5% and operating income increased $34 million or 108% driven by increased pricing and improved operating efficiencies in the Inland market. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, total Marine revenues, Inland and Coastal together increased 4% and operating income increased 49%. Inland was up, while Coastal was down, and I'll provide more details on this in a minute.

謝謝大衛，大家早上好。 2023年第二季度，海運部門收入為4.27億美元，營業收入為6400萬美元，營業利潤率為15%。與 2022 年第二季度相比，由於內陸市場定價上漲和運營效率提高，船舶總收入增加了 2100 萬美元，即 5%，營業收入增加了 3400 萬美元，即 108%。與 2023 年第一季度相比，海洋、內陸和沿海總收入合計增長 4%，營業收入增長 49%。內陸地區上升，而沿海地區下降，我將立即提供更多詳細信息。

First, let me discuss the Inland business in more detail. The Inland business contributed approximately 82% of segment revenue. Average barge utilization was in the low 90% range for the quarter. This was slightly down from the utilization seen in the first quarter of 2023 as weather conditions improved and operating efficiency increased. This compares to the low 90% range in the second quarter of 2022. Long-term Inland Marine transportation contracts or those contracts with a term of 1 year or longer contributed approximately 55% of revenue with 62% from time charters and 38% from contracts of affreightment. Improved market conditions contributed to spot market rates increasing sequentially in the mid-single digits and in the mid- to high 20% range year-over-year. Term contracts that renewed during the second quarter were on average up in the low double digits compared to the prior year.

首先，讓我更詳細地討論一下內陸業務。內陸業務貢獻了約82%的分部收入。本季度駁船平均利用率處於 90% 的低水平。由於天氣條件改善和運營效率提高，利用率略低於 2023 年第一季度的利用率。與 2022 年第二季度 90% 的低水平相比。長期內陸海運合同或期限為 1 年或以上的合同約佔收入的 55%，其中 62% 來自期租，38% 來自合同貨運。市場狀況的改善促使現貨市場利率連續上升中個位數，同比上升 20% 左右。與去年同期相比，第二季度續籤的定期合同平均增長了兩位數。

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, Inland revenues increased by 11% primarily due to higher term and spot contract pricing. Inland revenues were up 4% compared to the first quarter of 2023 as higher pricing was partially offset by lower rebuild revenues due to lower fuel prices. Inland operating margins improved sequentially from the low teens to the high teens as the benefits of higher pricing and improved operating conditions were seen throughout the quarter.

與 2022 年第二季度相比，內陸收入增長了 11%，主要是由於定期和現貨合同定價較高。與 2023 年第一季度相比，內陸收入增長了 4%，因為較高的定價被燃料價格下降導致的重建收入減少部分抵消。由於整個季度定價上漲和運營條件改善的好處，內陸運營利潤率連續從低十幾歲上升到高十幾歲。

Now moving to the Coastal business. Coastal revenues decreased 15% year-over-year as downtime from planned shipyards was partially offset by higher contract prices and improved barge utilization. Overall, Coastal had a positive operating margin in the low single digits as improved pricing was partially offset by increased shipyard days. The Coastal business represented 18% of revenues for the Marine Transportation segment. Average Coastal barge utilization was in the mid- to high 90% range, which compares to the low 90% range in the second quarter of 2022. During the quarter, the percentage of Coastal revenue under term contracts was approximately 85%, of which approximately 90% were time charters. Average spot market rates were up in the mid-single digits sequentially and renewals of term contracts were on average higher in the high teens range year-over-year.

現在轉向沿海業務。沿海收入同比下降 15%，原因是合同價格上漲和駁船利用率提高部分抵消了計劃中的造船廠停工時間。總體而言，沿海公司的營業利潤率為低個位數，因為定價的改善被造船廠天數的增加部分抵消。沿海業務佔海運部門收入的 18%。 Coastal 駁船平均利用率處於 90% 的中高水平，而 2022 年第二季度為 90% 的低水平。本季度，Coastal 定期合同收入百分比約為 85%，其中約90%是期租。現貨市場平均利率連續上升至中個位數，定期合同續簽率平均同比上升至十幾位數。

With respect to our tank barge fleet for both the Inland and Coastal businesses, we have provided a reconciliation of the changes in the second quarter as well as projections for 2023. This is included in our earnings call presentation posted on our website. At the end of the second quarter, the Inland fleet had 1,045 barges representing 23.3 million barrels of capacity. On a net basis, we currently expect to end 2023 with a total of 1,073 Inland barges, representing 23.6 million barrels of capacity. This increase is driven by a modest number of reactivations and the acquisition of a small number of barges from an undisclosed seller that David mentioned. Coastal Marine is expected to remain unchanged for the year.

對於我們內陸和沿海業務的油罐駁船船隊，我們提供了第二季度的變化調節表以及 2023 年的預測。這包含在我們網站上發布的收益電話會議演示文稿中。截至第二季度末，內陸船隊擁有 1,045 艘駁船，運力 2,330 萬桶。按淨額計算，我們目前預計到 2023 年底，內陸駁船總數將達到 1,073 艘，運力達 2,360 萬桶。這一增長是由大衛提到的少量重新啟動以及從未公開的賣家處收購少量駁船推動的。沿海海運預計今年保持不變。

Now I'll review the performance of the Distribution & Services segment. Revenues for the second quarter of 2023 were $350 million, with operating income of $30 million and an operating margin of 8.5%. Compared to the second quarter of 2022, the Distribution & Services segment saw revenues increase by $58 million or 20% with operating income increasing by $13 million or 78%. When compared to the first quarter of 2023, revenues increased by $12 million or 4% and operating income increased by $7 million or 31%.

現在我將回顧分銷與服務部門的業績。 2023年第二季度收入為3.5億美元，營業收入為3000萬美元，營業利潤率為8.5%。與 2022 年第二季度相比，分銷和服務部門的收入增加了 5800 萬美元，即 20%，營業收入增加了 1300 萬美元，即 78%。與 2023 年第一季度相比，收入增加了 1200 萬美元，即 4%，營業收入增加了 700 萬美元，即 31%。

In the oil and gas market, revenues were up 30% year-on-year and 14% sequentially. We experienced steady demand for new engines, transmissions and parts throughout the quarter. As David mentioned, we continue to manage through supply chain bottlenecks, especially in our manufacturing business. Despite these issues, the manufacturing business experienced continued favorable trends in new orders and backlog driven by our e-frac units and associated power generation equipment. Overall, oil and gas represented approximately 48% of segment revenue in the second quarter and had operating margins in the mid- to high single digits.

在石油和天然氣市場，收入同比增長30%，環比增長14%。整個季度我們對新發動機、變速箱和零部件的需求穩定。正如大衛提到的，我們繼續管理供應鏈瓶頸，特別是在我們的製造業務中。儘管存在這些問題，在我們的電子壓裂裝置和相關發電設備的推動下，製造業務在新訂單和積壓訂單方面經歷了持續的有利趨勢。總體而言，第二季度石油和天然氣業務約佔該部門收入的 48%，營業利潤率為中高個位數。

On the commercial and industrial side, strong activity contributed to a 12% year-over-year increase in revenues with improved demand for equipment, parts and service in our marine repair and on-highway businesses. Power generation was also up year-over-year. Overall, the commercial and industrial business represented approximately 52% of segment revenue and had an operating margin in the high single digits in the second quarter.

在商業和工業方面，由於我們的船舶維修和公路業務對設備、零件和服務的需求增加，強勁的活動導致收入同比增長 12%。發電量也同比增長。總體而言，商業和工業業務約佔分部收入的 52%，第二季度營業利潤率處於較高個位數。

Now I'll move on to the balance sheet. As of June 30, we had $37 million of cash with total debt just under $1 billion. During the quarter, we reduced our debt balances by $81 million, and our debt-to-cap ratio improved to 24.3%. During the quarter, we had net cash flow from operating activities of $211 million. Second quarter cash flow from operations improved sequentially as better collections were partially offset by a slight inventory build as a result of supply chain delays. We continue to target unwinding working capital as the year progresses and are making progress towards this goal.

現在我將轉向資產負債表。截至 6 月 30 日，我們擁有 3700 萬美元現金，債務總額略低於 10 億美元。本季度，我們的債務餘額減少了 8100 萬美元，債務上限比率提高至 24.3%。本季度，我們經營活動產生的淨現金流量為 2.11 億美元。第二季度運營現金流連續改善，因為供應鏈延誤導致庫存略有增加，部分抵消了更好的收款情況。隨著時間的推移，我們繼續以減少營運資本為目標，並正在朝著這一目標取得進展。

We used cash flow and cash on hand to fund $98 million of capital expenditures, of which $60 million was related to maintenance of the equipment, and the remainder was directed to growth CapEx in Marine and e-frac. During the quarter, we had free cash flow of $113 million of which we used $34.4 million to repurchase stock at an average price of around $72. As of June 30, we had total available liquidity of approximately $516 million. For 2023, we expect to generate net cash flow from operating activities of $500 million to $580 million. Our CapEx guidance for 2023 is still expected to be in the $300 million to $380 million range.

我們利用現金流和手頭現金為 9800 萬美元的資本支出提供資金，其中 6000 萬美元用於設備維護，其餘部分用於船舶和電子壓裂的資本支出增長。本季度，我們的自由現金流為 1.13 億美元，其中 3440 萬美元用於以平均價格約 72 美元回購股票。截至 6 月 30 日，我們的可用流動資金總額約為 5.16 億美元。 2023 年，我們預計經營活動產生的淨現金流量為 5 億至 5.8 億美元。我們對 2023 年的資本支出指導預計仍將在 3 億至 3.8 億美元之間。

Of this, up to $140 million is related to growth CapEx in both of our businesses. It is important to note that even with the anticipated higher level of capital spending, we expect to generate $150 million to $200 million in free cash flow. We are committed to a balanced capital allocation approach, and we expect to use this free cash flow to continue to repurchase stock, pay down debt and look for value-added acquisitions.

其中，高達 1.4 億美元與我們兩項業務的增長資本支出相關。值得注意的是，即使預期資本支出水平較高，我們仍預計將產生 1.5 億至 2 億美元的自由現金流。我們致力於平衡的資本配置方法，我們預計將利用這些自由現金流繼續回購股票、償還債務並尋找增值收購。

I will now turn the call back to David to discuss the remainder of our outlook for 2023.

我現在將把電話轉回給 David，討論我們對 2023 年展望的其餘部分。

Thank you, Raj. We exited the quarter with continued strength in our businesses. Pricing in the Marine market continues to improve and demand is strong. In Distribution & Services, despite persistent supply chain constraints and delays, demand for our products and services continues to grow and we continue to receive new orders in manufacturing. Overall, we expect our businesses to deliver improved financial results in the coming quarters.

謝謝你，拉傑。本季度結束時，我們的業務持續強勁。海洋市場的定價持續改善，需求強勁。在分銷和服務方面，儘管供應鏈持續受到限制和延誤，但對我們產品和服務的需求仍在持續增長，我們繼續收到新的製造訂單。總體而言，我們預計我們的業務將在未來幾個季度實現更好的財務業績。

While all of this is encouraging, we are mindful of challenges related to a slowing global economy, additional economic headwinds due to higher interest rates and choppiness in the oil and gas market. Also, labor constraints and inflationary pressures continue to contribute to rising costs across our businesses, although some of that is starting to moderate.

儘管所有這些都令人鼓舞，但我們也注意到與全球經濟放緩、利率上升導致的額外經濟阻力以及石油和天然氣市場波動相關的挑戰。此外，勞動力限制和通脹壓力繼續導致我們整個企業的成本上升，儘管其中一些成本已開始放緩。

Even with these headwinds and uncertainties, we remain very positive and expect to drive strong cash flow from operations. In Inland Marine, steady demand driven in part by high refinery and chemical plant utilization should continue to support high barge utilization. Limited new barge construction and high industry maintenance requirements for the next several years, combined with lingering inflationary pressures are expected to further support Inland rate increases. Barge availability remains very constrained. These factors are expected to contribute to our barge utilization running in the low to mid-90% range for the foreseeable future. These favorable supply and demand dynamics are expected to drive further improvements in the spot market, which currently represents approximately 45% of Inland revenues. We also expect continued improvement in term contract pricing as renewals occur throughout the remainder of the year.

儘管面臨這些不利因素和不確定性，我們仍然非常樂觀，並預計將推動運營產生強勁的現金流。在內陸海運，煉油廠和化工廠利用率高所推動的穩定需求應繼續支持駁船利用率的高水平。未來幾年有限的新駁船建造和較高的行業維護要求，加上揮之不去的通脹壓力，預計將進一步支持內陸費率上漲。駁船的可用性仍然非常有限。在可預見的未來，這些因素預計將導致我們的駁船利用率保持在 90% 的中低水平。這些有利的供需動態預計將推動現貨市場的進一步改善，目前現貨市場約佔內陸收入的 45%。我們還預計，隨著今年剩餘時間的續約，定期合同定價將持續改善。

In the third quarter, our Inland Marine operations will be challenged by near-term headwinds associated with lock closures on the Illinois River and recent unplanned refinery outages. However, improved efficiencies generated by better weather and continued increases in pricing should offset this and yield modest sequential improvement in revenue and operating margin for our Inland business in the third quarter. Overall, we are on track to grow Inland revenues in the double -- the low double-digit range for the full year and expect near term Inland operating margins to average in the high teens for the full year, with gradual improvement for the remainder of 2023 ending the year close to, if not at 20%.

第三季度，我們的內陸海洋業務將受到伊利諾伊河船閘關閉和最近計劃外煉油廠停運帶來的近期不利因素的挑戰。然而，天氣好轉和定價持續上漲帶來的效率提高應該會抵消這一影響，並為我們的內陸業務第三季度的收入和營業利潤率帶來適度的環比改善。總體而言，我們的內陸收入有望實現雙倍增長——全年處於較低的兩位數範圍，並預計近期內陸營業利潤率全年平均將達到高十幾歲，並在剩餘時間裡逐步改善。到 2023 年年底，即使不是達到 20%，也接近 20%。

In Coastal, market conditions are expected to follow a steadily improving path as the industry is getting very close to supply and demand balance across the fleet. Even if there is some market softness, Kirby's Coastal barge utilization is expected to remain in the low to mid-90% range. Full year 2023 Coastal revenues are expected to be flat year-over-year. Good fundamentals in our core liquid cargo business and higher coal shipments in our offshore dry cargo business are expected to be largely offset by this year's planned maintenance and ballast water treatment installations, which in terms of shipyard days is almost double compared to last year. Operating margins are expected to be near breakeven to low single digits on a full year basis.

在沿海地區，隨著該行業非常接近船隊的供需平衡，預計市場狀況將穩步改善。即使市場出現一些疲軟，Kirby 的沿海駁船利用率預計仍將保持在 90% 的低至中水平範圍內。 2023 年全年沿海收入預計將同比持平。我們的核心液體貨運業務的良好基本面和海上乾貨業務的煤炭運輸量增加預計將在很大程度上被今年計劃的維護和壓載水處理裝置所抵消，就造船天數而言，這幾乎是去年的兩倍。預計全年營業利潤率將接近盈虧平衡至低個位數。

That said, looking forward, 2024 will be a much better year for Coastal. Looking at Distribution & Services, we continue to have a favorable demand outlook for equipment parts and service across the segment. In the oil and gas market, despite the near-term headwinds of lower commodity prices and lower rig counts, we expect strong demand for manufacturing as well as for OEM parts, products and services in our Distribution business. As an early mover in e-frac, our units have a long-standing operating history of safety, performance and reliability, and we see a growing understanding from our customers of the total -- the lower total cost of ownership of e-frac.

也就是說，展望未來，2024 年對於 Coastal 來說將是更好的一年。就分銷和服務而言，我們對該領域的設備零件和服務的需求前景仍然看好。在石油和天然氣市場，儘管短期內面臨大宗商品價格下跌和鑽機數量減少的不利因素，但我們預計分銷業務中對製造以及 OEM 零件、產品和服務的需求強勁。作為 e-frac 的先行者，我們的裝置在安全性、性能和可靠性方面擁有悠久的運營歷史，並且我們看到客戶對 e-frac 較低的總擁有成本的了解不斷加深。

Our latest generation of units have increased power and efficiency and are performing well in the field. As a direct result, we added new incremental orders for e-frac and associated power generation equipment in the second quarter, and we expect this trend will continue. And although we've seen a slight improvement in supply chain, in general, we expect the delays and long lead times for OEM equipment which, in some cases, extend beyond a year to remain an ongoing challenge. These issues are likely to contribute to some choppiness with new product deliveries, which could potentially shift between the final quarters of 2023 and perhaps even into 2024.

我們最新一代的裝置提高了功率和效率，並且在現場表現良好。直接結果是，我們在第二季度增加了電子壓裂和相關發電設備的新增量訂單，我們預計這一趨勢將持續下去。儘管我們看到供應鏈略有改善，但總的來說，我們預計 OEM 設備的延誤和交貨時間較長，在某些情況下，會延長一年以上，這仍然是一個持續的挑戰。這些問題可能會導致新產品交付出現一些波動，這種情況可能會在 2023 年最後幾個季度甚至到 2024 年之間發生變化。

In Commercial and Industrial, we expect steady demand in on-highway parts and service driven by increase on highway and municipal repair work, continued improvement in bus ridership and increased long-term demand for Thermo-King refrigeration products. In power generation, new backup power installations, parts and service activity are expected to remain solid as demand for electrification and 24/7 power continues to grow. Marine repair is also expected to be strong with increasing activity in the Gulf of Mexico and improved commercial markets on the East and West Coast.

在商業和工業領域，我們預計，由於高速公路和市政維修工作的增加、公交車客流量的持續改善以及對 Thermo-King 製冷產品的長期需求的增加，公路零部件和服務的需求將保持穩定。在發電領域，隨著電氣化和 24/7 電力需求的持續增長，新的備用電力裝置、零件和服務活動預計將保持穩定。隨著墨西哥灣活動的增加以及東海岸和西海岸商業市場的改善，預計船舶維修也將強勁。

For the 2023 full year, we are on track to achieve revenue growth in the low double-digit range for commercial and industrial. Well, supply chain issues are expected to continue impacting new product and equipment deliveries in Distribution & Services. We expect 2023 segment revenues will increase 10% to 20% for the full year, with commercial and industrial representing approximately 60% of revenues and oil and gas representing 40%. We expect segment operating margins will be in the mid- to high single digits for 2023.

2023 年全年，我們有望實現商業和工業領域的低兩位數收入增長。嗯，供應鏈問題預計將繼續影響分銷和服務領域的新產品和設備交付。我們預計2023年全年分部收入將增長10%至20%，其中商業和工業約佔收入的60%，石油和天然氣佔40%。我們預計 2023 年該部門的營業利潤率將達到中高個位數。

To conclude, both our segments performed well during the quarter, delivering improved revenue and operating income, and our team executed well on near-term objectives. Our balance sheet is very strong, and we expect to generate significant free cash flow this year and expect to use free cash flow for share repurchases, debt repayment and high value-added projects. Although we see favorable market conditions continuing and expect our businesses will produce improving financial results in 2023, we are closely monitoring the potential for a recession or an economic pullback that may impact our business.

總而言之，我們的兩個部門在本季度都表現良好，收入和營業收入有所提高，而且我們的團隊在近期目標方面表現良好。我們的資產負債表非常強勁，預計今年將產生大量自由現金流，並預計將自由現金流用於股票回購、債務償還和高附加值項目。儘管我們看到有利的市場狀況持續存在，並預計我們的業務將在 2023 年取得更好的財務業績，但我們正在密切關注可能影響我們業務的衰退或經濟回調的可能性。

Having said that, as we look long term, we are confident in the strength of our core businesses and our long-term strategy. Our Marine businesses are in the early innings of a multiyear recovery and demand remains solid in Distribution & Services despite recent macro headwinds. We intend to continue capitalizing on our strong market fundamentals and driving shareholder value.

話雖如此，從長遠來看，我們對核心業務的實力和長期戰略充滿信心。我們的船舶業務正處於多年復甦的早期階段，儘管最近面臨宏觀阻力，但分銷和服務的需求仍然強勁。我們打算繼續利用我們強大的市場基礎並推動股東價值。

Operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. We're now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們準備好的發言到此結束。我們現在準備好回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from the line of Jack Atkins with Stephens Inc.

我們的第一個問題來自傑克·阿特金斯 (Jack Atkins) 與斯蒂芬斯公司 (Stephens Inc.) 的關係。

Okay. Congratulations on a great quarter here, guys.

好的。伙計們，恭喜你們度過了一個美好的季度。

So I guess, David, if we could maybe start for a minute just in terms of the pricing backdrop. There seems to be still quite a bit of momentum, both year-over-year and sequentially in terms of spot and contract pricing. Is there any way to maybe think about the differential, like how far below spot -- how far is contract pricing below spot pricing right now? And we've had this window where not a lot of capacity has been built. How much longer do you think we have before you start seeing the order boards increase in terms of new capacity maybe getting built?

所以我想，大衛，我們是否可以先談談定價背景。在現貨和合同定價方面，同比和環比似乎仍然有相當大的動力。有沒有什麼方法可以考慮差異，比如比現貨價格低多少——現在合同價格比現貨價格低多少？我們已經度過了這個窗口期，但尚未建立大量產能。您認為在您開始看到訂單板因可能建立的新產能而增加之前，我們還有多長時間？

Sure. Well, let me talk about the pricing first, and then I'll get into new builds and what price would be needed to justify new builds. Look, I mean, you saw our numbers, spot pricing was up mid-single digits sequentially, up over 20% year-over-year. Term contracts that renewed were up low double digits. It's pretty healthy. There's still a good gap between spot and contract with spot being probably 10% to 15% above contracts.

當然。好吧，讓我先談談定價，然後我將討論新的構建以及證明新構建的合理性需要多少價格。你看，我的意思是，你看到了我們的數據，現貨價格連續上漲了中個位數，同比上漲超過 20%。續籤的定期合同增長了兩位數。這是相當健康的。現貨與合約之間仍有較大差距，現貨價格可能比合約高出 10% 至 15%。

So that, as you know, is a healthy market dynamic. You know what's driving that, Jack, is supply and demand. Demand has held up okay. We have seen some weakness in chemicals, but it's been at the margin, not overly material. Refined products is still pretty strong. The rest of our trade lanes are pretty strong. So demand is holding up. Supply is what's really helping, right? It's all -- it's in check. I think this year, on the order board is about 27 barges to be delivered and if you combine this year and last year, it's still the lowest has been in decade so there's not a lot of new capacity coming on. And we really don't see that changing much.

如您所知，這是一個健康的市場動態。傑克，你知道推動這一趨勢的因素是供給和需求。需求一直保持良好。我們已經看到化學品方面存在一些弱點，但只是微不足道的，並不是太過嚴重。成品油仍然相當強勁。我們的其他貿易航線也相當強大。因此需求依然強勁。供應才是真正有幫助的，對嗎？一切都在控制之中。我認為今年的訂單量大約有 27 艘駁船需要交付，如果把今年和去年結合起來，它仍然是十年來的最低水平，所以沒有太多新的運力。我們確實沒有看到這種情況發生太大變化。

If you think about the cost of a new 30,000-barrel barge is pretty high right now and needs to be because steel prices are high and labor inputs are high. So the cost of new barges is high, prices don't really support building new yet. I'll come back to that in a second. The other thing, look, the cost of money has gone up. We have a lot of private competitors in our space and borrowing rates have gone up. And then the overlay bonus depreciation slowly disappearing. It's about 80% this year, down from 100%. Next year, it goes to 60% and then 40% the following year. So when you put all that together, there's not a lot of building that's going to happen.

如果您考慮一下，目前一艘新的 30,000 桶駁船的成本相當高，並且需要如此，因為鋼材價格高，勞動力投入高。因此，新駁船的成本很高，價格還不能真正支持建造新駁船。我稍後會回過頭來討論這一點。另一件事，你看，資金成本上升了。我們的領域有很多私人競爭對手，借貸利率也上升了。然後疊加獎金折舊慢慢消失。今年約為 80%，低於 100%。明年，這一比例將達到 60%，然後第二年達到 40%。所以當你把所有這些放在一起時，不會發生太多的建築。

I would tell you, rates do need to continue to go up because inflation is still here. We're still trying to offset inflation every day. It's real. You can see it in consumables, you can see it in wages. You can see it in shipyard cost with steel up, labor inputs up. The wages, obviously, we're feeling that. And then you've got other things like medical. We continue to see medical inflation. So look, with inflation, you need rates $12,000 to $13,000 a day on a two barge to justify building to get a double-digit return.

我想告訴你，利率確實需要繼續上升，因為通貨膨脹仍然存在。我們每天仍在努力抵消通貨膨脹。它是真實的。你可以在消耗品中看到它，你可以在工資中看到它。你可以在造船廠成本中看到，鋼鐵成本上升，勞動力投入上升。顯然，工資是我們的感受。然後還有其他事情，比如醫療。我們繼續看到醫療通脹。因此，考慮到通貨膨脹，一艘兩艘駁船每天需要 12,000 至 13,000 美元的費率才能證明建造該船以獲得兩位數的回報是合理的。

The bonus depreciation obviously impacts that too, right, because bonus depreciation helps front-end load the cash flow. So that's what we're seeing, not a lot of building. So that's kept supply and demand tight and demand continues to go okay. We are mindful of the ever rising interest rates, I mean, it's pretty clear the Fed's trying to tamp down the inflation I just talked about. So we're watching that carefully. But so far, our demand's holding up and supply is in check. So we're -- we remain constructive. I will tell you that there's some interim headwinds here in this quarter, the Illinois River, some of you know on the call that the Illinois is closed now, and it's scheduled to be closed the whole of the third quarter. That's a little bit of a headwind and there's been a couple of refinery fires and outages that have impacted things. But even with that, we're staying pretty darn busy and the market is very constructive right now for us.

紅利折舊顯然也會影響這一點，對吧，因為紅利折舊有助於前端加載現金流。這就是我們所看到的，而不是很多建築。因此，供應和需求保持緊張，需求繼續良好。我們注意到不斷上升的利率，我的意思是，很明顯美聯儲正在試圖抑制我剛才談到的通貨膨脹。所以我們正在仔細觀察。但到目前為止，我們的需求保持穩定，供應也受到控制。所以我們——我們仍然保持建設性。我會告訴你，本季度伊利諾伊河存在一些臨時阻力，你們中的一些人在電話中知道伊利諾伊河現在已關閉，並且計劃在整個第三季度關閉。這是一個有點逆風，已經發生了幾起煉油廠火災和停電事件，對事情產生了影響。但即便如此，我們仍然非常忙碌，而且目前市場對我們來說非常有建設性。

Okay. That's super helpful, David. I guess just as a quick follow-up for Raj. We think about the balance sheet here and sort of capital allocation, what's that maybe the -- is there an update in terms of the targeted level of debt that you're going to maybe try to run at, whether it's debt to EBITDA, debt to cap, Raj? And then I guess when we think about the buyback activity, $34 million, I think, in the second quarter, is that the kind of the run rate we should be thinking about here given the level of cash flow you should be generating or on a quarterly basis? Or was that sort of front loaded? I mean, just kind of -- can you help us think about that?

好的。這非常有幫助，大衛。我想這只是拉傑的快速跟進。我們考慮這裡的資產負債表和資本配置，可能是什麼——你可能會嘗試運行的債務目標水平是否有更新，無論是 EBITDA 債務，還是債務上限，拉吉？然後我想，當我們考慮回購活動時，我認為，第二季度的 3400 萬美元是我們應該考慮的運行率，考慮到您應該產生的現金流水平或在每季？或者是那種前置的？我的意思是，你能幫助我們思考一下嗎？

Yes. Sure, Jack. It's a good question. I think in the prepared comments, we talked about how we're looking at capital allocation. I mean, it's a balancing act. You saw -- we closed on an acquisition a couple of weeks ago, very value-creating acquisition. So we've got a balance between the projects that we have in front of us. Share buyback, of course, is a priority. And on the debt side, I think you could see us pay down a bit more debt, but to a lesser extent. So the way I would look at it is as we go through the rest of the year, barring any attractive projects, you should see us prioritize share repurchases.

是的。當然，傑克。這是一個好問題。我認為在準備好的評論中，我們討論了我們如何看待資本配置。我的意思是，這是一種平衡行為。你看到了——我們幾週前完成了一項收購，這是一次非常創造價值的收購。因此，我們在擺在我們面前的項目之間取得了平衡。當然，股票回購是當務之急。在債務方面，我認為你可以看到我們償還更多的債務，但程度較小。因此，我的看法是，在今年剩下的時間裡，除非有任何有吸引力的項目，否則你應該會看到我們優先考慮股票回購。

Your next question comes from the line of Ben Nolan with Stifel.

你的下一個問題來自本·諾蘭和斯蒂菲爾的對話。

All right. Real quick, hopefully, this isn't kind of the question. David, you mentioned you'd need barge rates of $12,000 to $13,000 a day for 2 barge too. Just to help contextualize that. Where would you say is roughly the place that we're at right now?

好的。很快，希望這不是一個問題。 David，您提到 2 艘駁船也需要每天 12,000 至 13,000 美元的駁船費率。只是為了幫助了解這一點。你認為我們現在所處的位置大概是哪裡？

Yes. I got to be careful doing that, Ben, for competitive reasons, not -- obviously, our lawyers would fuss at me if they -- if I gave current rates. So I'm going to avoid that a little bit. I think I think you can -- there's some outside services that can give you an indication. We just can't, for legal reasons, signal kind of pricing, but you can get the range. It's out there pretty readily available. I'd rather not say.

是的。本，出於競爭原因，我這樣做必須小心，而不是——顯然，如果我給出當前費率，我們的律師會對我大驚小怪。所以我會稍微避免這種情況。我想我認為你可以——有一些外部服務可以給你指示。出於法律原因，我們無法發出定價信號，但您可以了解範圍。它在那裡很容易獲得。我寧可不說。

That's fine. I wanted to circle back on to the acquisition you announced, I think it was 23 barges. It sounded like they were maybe 10,000 barrel barges roughly. And David, you said right now, doesn't make sense to build new. Can you maybe talk through what you're seeing with respect to secondhand acquisitions? Obviously, prices are higher there, too, but how are you thinking about the relative economics and attractiveness of acquiring secondhand equipment?

沒關係。我想回顧一下您宣布的收購，我認為是 23 艘駁船。聽起來大概有一萬艘桶駁船。大衛，你現在說，建造新的沒有意義。您能否談談您對二手收購的看法？顯然，那裡的價格也更高，但您如何看待購買二手設備的相對經濟性和吸引力？

Yes. No, this was -- it's kind of a one-off deal. The great thing about this deal was, it was all barges. As you've heard us discuss, we have the ability to leverage our infrastructure and work barges pretty readily with our existing horsepower. So it's a very good deal for us in terms of that. I would tell you it's a significant discount to replacement value, as you would expect. It was mostly 10s, but there were a number of specialty barges in this 23 barge acquisition. I think it was a total of 7 specialty barges. So you can't just take the price and divide it. But it fits perfectly with us, I would say, it's a good 50% below replacement value in terms of cost. We're really excited about it. It's kind of our bread and butter, a drop in consolidating acquisition, just -- it's right in our wheel hall, so to speak.

是的。不，這是——這是一筆一次性交易。這筆交易的偉大之處在於，全部都是駁船。正如您所聽到的，我們有能力利用現有的馬力輕鬆利用我們的基礎設施和工作駁船。因此，就這一點而言，這對我們來說是一筆非常划算的交易。我會告訴您，正如您所期望的那樣，這比重置價值有很大折扣。大部分是10艘，但在這23艘駁船收購中也有不少特種駁船。我認為總共有 7 艘特種駁船。所以你不能只拿價格來分。但我想說，它非常適合我們，就成本而言，它比重置價值低了 50%。我們對此感到非常興奮。這是我們的麵包和黃油，是鞏固收購的一部分，可以說，它就在我們的方向盤大廳裡。

Okay. And then lastly for me, Raj, maybe I think it was $240 million of maintenance CapEx this year. Obviously, that includes a decent amount of shipyard costs associated with the Coastal fleet just for next year, is it possible to maybe -- without giving specific guidance, but maybe frame in how I should think about what the run rate maintenance CapEx should look like?

好的。最後，對於我來說，Raj，也許我認為今年的維護資本支出為 2.4 億美元。顯然，這包括明年與沿海船隊相關的大量造船廠成本，是否有可能——沒有給出具體指導，但也許框架我應該如何思考運行率維護資本支出應該是什麼樣子？

So Ben, this shipyard bubble is actually going to stretch into next year. So I think if you look at the maintenance CapEx on the Inland side, I think we'll still see the bubble continue. On the Coastal side, we should be done with all of the ballast water treatment installations, et cetera, by the middle of the year. So the way I would describe it is Inland is probably going to stretch into '24 and Coastal is probably going to -- with the ballast water, it should end by the middle of the year. So I don't know whether I've given you color that's enough, but that's what we're looking at right now. So I would say, probably slightly lower, but not materially.

所以本，這個造船廠泡沫實際上將延續到明年。因此，我認為如果你看看內陸地區的維護資本支出，我認為我們仍然會看到泡沫繼續存在。在沿海方面，我們應該在年中之前完成所有壓載水處理設施等。因此，我的描述方式是內陸地區可能會持續到 24 年，而沿海地區可能會——有了壓載水，應該會在今年年中結束。所以我不知道我給你的顏色是否足夠，但這就是我們現在正在考慮的。所以我想說，可能會稍微低一點，但不是實質性的。

Okay. And then just once that's done, how should I think about sort of what a normalized maintenance CapEx? I mean, is it, I don't know, 200 or 150 or I don't know.

好的。然後，一旦完成，我應該如何考慮標準化維護資本支出？我的意思是，是嗎，我不知道，200 或 150 還是我不知道。

So without giving you numbers, I think what you could do is go back to what we used to do prior to all the shipyard -- this shipyard bubble that we're talking about right now. Bear in mind, though, those numbers need to be adjusted for inflation, right? So we've seen, to David's earlier point, considerable inflation there. I would say the $160 million to $180 million range could be reasonable.

因此，在不給你數字的情況下，我認為你可以做的是回到我們在所有造船廠之前所做的事情——我們現在正在討論的造船廠泡沫。但請記住，這些數字需要根據通貨膨脹進行調整，對嗎？因此，正如大衛之前所說，我們已經看到那裡存在相當大的通貨膨脹。我認為 1.6 億至 1.8 億美元的範圍可能是合理的。

Your next question comes from the line of Ken Hoexter with Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ken Hoexter。

This is Nathan dialing in for Ken Hoexter. Congratulations on the fantastic results. I'd like to just dig a little deeper into the barge acquisition. I mean we're currently in just a fantastic rate environment for the Inland Marine side of the business, I'm just curious on what you're seeing within the secondhand space and the availability of these types of consolidation-related opportunities?

我是內森 (Nathan) 撥通肯·霍克斯特 (Ken Hoexter) 的電話。祝賀取得瞭如此出色的成績。我想更深入地了解一下駁船的收購情況。我的意思是，我們目前的內陸海運業務處於一個極好的利率環境中，我只是好奇您在二手空間中看到了什麼以及這些類型的整合相關機會的可用性？

Yes, there's not a lot of activity there. There's always a few smaller deals out there that could transact. We've seen a few in our space here recently, a couple of smaller deals. I wouldn't say it's overly active, Nathan. It's more just kind of one-off deals, sometimes larger companies selling off their barge fleets. But look, price expectations are going to be going up, right? I mean, it's a pretty good market when you look at a multiyear up cycle here. As we look at the maintenance bubble, the supply being relatively in check and demand is pretty solid.

是的，那裡沒有太多活動。總有一些較小的交易可以進行。我們最近在我們的空間中看到了一些較小的交易。我不會說它過於活躍，內森。這更像是一種一次性交易，有時大公司會出售其駁船隊。但是看，價格預期將會上升，對嗎？我的意思是，當你看到這裡的多年上升週期時，這是一個非常好的市場。當我們觀察維護泡沫時，供應相對受到控制，需求也相當穩定。

I think price expectations are higher. So it's always hard to forecast acquisitions. So I'm always cautious. But I would say there's probably going to be fewer than more going forward. That said, you never know. People want to sell at the top and people like us want to buy at the bottom. So we have to meet in the middle, and it's hard to predict where that middle is.

我認為價格預期更高。因此，預測收購總是很困難。所以我總是很謹慎。但我想說的是，未來可能會更少而不是更多。也就是說，你永遠不知道。人們想在頂部賣出，而像我們這樣的人則想在底部買入。所以我們必須在中間相遇，而很難預測中間在哪裡。

Yes. I was just curious if what motivates operators to cut capacity here. I guess as my follow-up on Distribution & Services, a pretty material step-up in operating margins. In your prepared remarks, I think the team referenced still some supply chain-related constraints. Have we seen any type of improvement there? And maybe talk a little bit about what's driving this margin improvement sequentially?

是的。我只是好奇是什麼促使運營商削減這裡的產能。我想，作為我對分銷和服務的後續行動，營業利潤率將得到相當大的提升。在您準備好的發言中，我認為團隊仍然提到了一些與供應鏈相關的限制。我們在那裡看到了任何類型的改進嗎？也許可以談談是什麼推動了利潤率的連續改善？

Yes. Well, let me take the supply chain one first. It's improved on the margin, but there -- we talk about whack-a-mole sometimes you get one part of the supply chain line down and another part pops up. But I would tell you, where we've been most affected is on electrical and electronic type parts. As you know, we're building a lot of electric frac equipment and power generation equipment and that supply chain has been choppy at best. It is improving at the margin, but it's still been, as Raj would say, hand-to-hand combat. That said, we're delivering in some backlog and so that's helping margins across the board -- when we're not delivering equipment, it just -- it keeps margins in check and as we start deliveries, margins tend to improve and also, we're just running better. I would tell you, we've taken a lot of costs out and now that things are running a little smoother, it helps the margin. I don't know, Raj, anything you want to add?

是的。好吧，讓我先談談供應鏈。它在邊際上有所改善，但在那裡——我們談論打地鼠有時你會得到供應鏈線的一部分，而另一部分會突然出現。但我想告訴你，我們受影響最嚴重的是電氣和電子類零件。如您所知，我們正在建造大量電動壓裂設備和發電設備，而供應鏈充其量是不穩定的。雖然情況有所改善，但正如拉傑所說，仍然是肉搏戰。也就是說，我們正在交付一些積壓的訂單，因此這有助於全面提高利潤率——當我們不交付設備時，它只是——它可以控制利潤率，當我們開始交付時，利潤率往往會提高，而且，我們只是跑得更好。我想告訴你，我們已經削減了很多成本，現在事情進展得更順利了，這有助於提高利潤。我不知道，Raj，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I think, to build on what David just said, Nathan, I think we've done a lot of work in terms of leaning out our operations on the KDS side, and we're starting to see the benefit of that. But we are cognizant of the supply chain issues to David's point. If everything works out and deliveries get shipped, margins will be better, right? But then if you have a supply chain hiccup, we start to see some headwinds there.

是的。我認為，以 David 剛才所說的為基礎，Nathan，我認為我們在 KDS 方面的運營方面做了很多工作，並且我們開始看到這樣做的好處。但我們認識到大衛的供應鏈問題。如果一切順利並且交貨順利，利潤率會更高，對吧？但如果供應鏈出現問題，我們就會開始看到一些阻力。

Yes. I mean when you have to -- so you can't get certain parts that you've designed in and then all of a sudden, you've got to switch parts. There's a whole new design effort and management of change process, where you got -- just eats up engineering hours that eats up labor hours as you make supply chain changes. So the good news is as the supply chain continues to improve, that should help us on a go-forward basis.

是的。我的意思是，當你必須這樣做時，你就無法獲得你設計的某些部件，然後突然間，你必須更換部件。這是一種全新的設計工作和變更流程管理，在您進行供應鏈變更時，只會佔用工程時間，從而佔用勞動力時間。因此，好消息是，隨著供應鏈的不斷改善，這應該有助於我們繼續前進。

Your next question comes from the line of Greg Wasikowski with Webber Research.

您的下一個問題來自韋伯研究中心的格雷格·華斯科夫斯基 (Greg Wasikowski)。

I wanted to talk about the rate bogey here for potentially new orders kind of coming in being now at $12,000 or $13,000 per day. I think last time we talked about it, it's closer to $11,000 or $12,000 per day. So just -- I want to understand as we move closer to that point, the way you think about it, does that $12,000 or $13,000 per day contemplate further cost increases like we've seen or is there a potential for that bogey to kind of continue moving higher as we get closer, and therefore, maybe there's even more breathing room than people realize right now?

我想談談這裡潛在的新訂單的價格忌諱，現在是每天 12,000 美元或 13,000 美元。我想上次我們討論過這個問題，每天接近 11,000 美元或 12,000 美元。所以，當我們接近這一點時，我想了解一下，您的想法是，每天 12,000 美元或 13,000 美元是否會像我們所看到的那樣考慮進一步增加成本，或者是否有可能出現這種情況隨著我們越來越接近，我們會繼續向更高的方向移動，因此，也許還有比人們現在意識到的更多的喘息空間？

Yes. No, it's been inflation. I mean you've heard me rattle off all the inflation inputs, but cost of compliance has gone up, whether it's with the Coast Guard or our customers' vetting standards. And then you get into Tier-4 engine packages on boats. They're more expensive, they're more expensive to operate. There's -- it's just a whole host of little things that keep adding up. There is a little bit forward-looking to your question directly. There is a bit of forward-looking inflation in that $12,000 to $13,000 number.

是的。不，這是通貨膨脹。我的意思是，你已經聽到我滔滔不絕地說出所有的通貨膨脹因素，但合規成本已經上升，無論是海岸警衛隊還是我們客戶的審查標準。然後您就可以使用船上的 Tier-4 發動機套件。它們更貴，運營成本也更高。這只是一大堆小事不斷加起來。直接問你的問題有點前瞻性。 12,000 美元至 13,000 美元的數字存在一定的前瞻性通脹。

Yes, you're right. I mean, 6 months or a year ago, we were $1,000 below when we gave you that number. And I would just tell you that inflation has continued across the board. In almost every category, we've seen even just on consumables, whether it's line, paint and things that we use on a regular basis, they've gone up. And of course, everybody knows about food, rental cars. You can imagine with our 3,000 or 4,000 mariners moving them every day, getting them to boats, just the cost to move them around and putting them in hotels as they crew on or crew off or getting rental cars for them or whatnot to facilitate getting them to where they need to be. Those costs have gone up and have continued to go. Now the good news is we're seeing a little bit of that moderate now. I think we've seen rental car rates come down a bit, hotel rates not so much, but airfare has come down a little bit, but not a lot. So it's -- I am not giving you a direct answer, but directionally, we do see more inflation and I put a little more of inflation in that number, but that's what's been driving the increase, I mean you can look at steel prices alone and that tells you a lot.

你是對的。我的意思是，6 個月或一年前，當我們給你這個數字時，我們的價格低於 1,000 美元。我只想告訴你，通脹全面持續。在幾乎每個類別中，我們都看到，即使只是消耗品，無論是線條、油漆還是我們經常使用的東西，它們都在上漲。當然，每個人都知道食物和租車。您可以想像一下，我們的 3,000 或 4,000 名水手每天都會搬運它們，將它們送到船上，只是搬運它們並在船員上下船時將它們安置在酒店或為它們租賃汽車或其他方便獲取它們的費用到他們需要去的地方。這些成本已經上升並持續上升。現在好消息是我們現在看到了一點溫和的情況。我認為我們已經看到租車價格有所下降，酒店價格沒有下降那麼多，但機票價格下降了一點，但幅度不大。所以，我不會給你一個直接的答案，但從方向上看，我們確實看到了更多的通脹，我在這個數字中加入了更多的通脹，但這就是推動增長的原因，我的意思是你可以單獨看看鋼鐵價格這告訴你很多。

And I think, Greg, even I have to add the cost of money has gone up, right? That should be in your calculus when you look at the rate increase that we're talking about right now.

我想，格雷格，即使我也必須補充資金成本已經上升，對吧？當您查看我們現在正在討論的利率上漲時，您應該考慮到這一點。

Yes, for sure. No, that's helpful.

是肯定的。不，這很有幫助。

I would say the costs (inaudible) have come down, so that's a good story.

我想說成本（聽不清）已經下降，所以這是一個好故事。

Yes. Next, I wanted to revisit the idea of vertical integration for you guys, and I didn't see this from 2 angles, and I might ramble a bit, but just want to flush them out here. So the first and kind of more practical would be to expand San Jac or acquire additional repair and maintenance yard capacity so that you guys can maybe avoid longer lines over the next few years at yards for your own fleet and then potentially benefit from the upcoming maintenance bubble that we see in the market. The more far fetched, I guess, would be to think about acquiring or developing enough barge building capacity when some control or some say over the supply in the future if and when we do get to the place where new orders start to come into the market?

是的。接下來，我想為你們重新審視垂直整合的想法，我沒有從兩個角度看待這個問題，我可能會有點漫無目的，但只是想在這裡把它們沖掉。因此，第一個也是更實際的方法是擴大聖雅克或獲得額外的維修和保養船廠容量，這樣你們就可以在未來幾年內避免為自己的船隊在船廠排長隊，然後可能從即將進行的維護中受益我們在市場上看到的泡沫。我想，更牽強的是，當我們確實到達新訂單開始進入市場的地方時，當對未來的供應進行某種控製或有人說時，考慮收購或發展足夠的駁船建造能力？

I realize that's a huge move and probably unlikely, but still -- I think worth acknowledging at least and seeing what your opinions are for that, but mostly contemplating expanding repair and maintenance capacity for Kirby and kind of integrating vertically a little bit? How do you think about that?

我意識到這是一個巨大的舉措，而且可能不太可能，但仍然——我認為至少值得承認並看看您對此有何看法，但主要是考慮擴大卡比的維修和維護能力，並進行一點垂直整合？您對此有何看法？

Yes. Well, as you're aware, we bought San Jac shipyard out of bankruptcy a number of years ago. That has helped us. It doesn't cover -- not even close to covering all our maintenance needs, but they do help us with maintenance. One of the exciting things about San Jac is we're just -- they're about to christen first diesel hybrid electric towboat in August, and that's really exciting. We're getting a lot of traction with that, a lot of customer interest in it. It's got a great carbon footprint. We've got the ability to use green dock power for it. So it could be in terms of emissions, almost emission-free working in the Houston Harbor area initially.

是的。嗯，正如你所知，我們幾年前買下了破產的聖雅克造船廠。這對我們有幫助。它並沒有覆蓋——甚至沒有接近覆蓋我們所有的維護需求，但它們確實幫助我們進行維護。 San Jac 令人興奮的事情之一是我們即將在八月份為第一艘柴油混合動力電動拖船命名，這真的很令人興奮。我們對此很感興趣，很多客戶對此很感興趣。它有很大的碳足跡。我們有能力使用綠色碼頭電源。因此，就排放而言，最初在休斯頓港地區工作幾乎是零排放的。

So we're really excited about San Jac enabled that. We have expanded San Jac a bit to help with barge maintenance as well as boat maintenance. But look, we've got, as you know, a lot of barges and a lot of boats we need the whole ecosystem supporting us. And look, we've got great partners, and they've been helpful, can always been a partner -- always been partners, I would say, but they've seen inflation. We're seeing the cost of maintenance go up with each shipyard what you would expect. Now in terms of building new barges, I mean, look, you know the players there. I mean, Arcosa is probably the most efficient and they build an excellent barge. Is that something we'd want to get into now is the short answer. Again, we've got great partners. So we work pretty well as an ecosystem. San Jac is different for us. It's really kind of a small part of our maintenance and also doing things like building electric hybrid boats, which could be a good future for that. But it's not something that would be a massive investment or undertaking for us in the shipyard space.

所以我們對 San Jac 實現這一點感到非常興奮。我們對聖雅克進行了一些擴建，以幫助駁船維護和船舶維護。但是，正如你所知，我們有很多駁船和船隻，我們需要整個生態系統來支持我們。看，我們有很棒的合作夥伴，他們一直樂於助人，可以永遠成為合作夥伴——我想說，永遠是合作夥伴，但他們已經看到了通貨膨脹。我們發現每個造船廠的維護成本都在上升，正如您所期望的那樣。現在就建造新駁船而言，我的意思是，你知道那裡的參與者。我的意思是，阿科薩可能是效率最高的，他們建造了一艘出色的駁船。簡而言之，這是我們現在想要討論的問題嗎？再說一次，我們有很棒的合作夥伴。所以我們作為一個生態系統運作得很好。聖雅克對我們來說是不同的。這確實是我們維護工作的一小部分，也包括建造電動混合動力船之類的事情，這可能是一個美好的未來。但這對我們在造船廠領域來說並不是一項大規模投資或承諾。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

I see no further questions in the queue. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

我在隊列中沒有看到更多問題。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。