Li-Cycle Holdings Corp (LICY) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. My name is Todd, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Fourth Quarter 2022 Li-Cycle Holdings Earnings Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

今天是個好日子。我叫托德，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線員。此時，我想歡迎大家參加 2022 年第四季度 Li-Cycle Holdings 財報電話會議和網絡直播。 （操作員說明）謝謝。

I will now turn the call over to Nahla Azmy, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在將把電話轉給投資者關係主管 Nahla Azmy。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today for Li-Cycle's review of our fourth quarter and year 2022 results ended October 31.

謝謝你。早上好，謝謝大家今天加入我們，參加 Li-Cycle 對截至 10 月 31 日的第四季度和 2022 年業績的回顧。

We will start today with formal remarks from Ajay Kochhar, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer; Debbie Simpson, Chief Financial Officer; and Tim Johnston, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman. We will then follow with a Q&A session.

今天，我們將從聯合創始人、總裁兼首席執行官 Ajay Kochhar 的正式講話開始；黛比辛普森，首席財務官；和聯合創始人兼執行主席蒂姆約翰斯頓。然後我們將進行問答環節。

Ahead of this call, Li-Cycle issued a press release and a presentation, which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.licycle.com.

在此電話會議之前，Li-Cycle 發布了新聞稿和演示文稿，可在我們網站 investors.licycle.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

On this call, management will be making statements based on current expectations, plans, estimates and assumptions, which are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements if any of our key assumptions are incorrect including because of factors discussed in today's press release, during this conference call and in our past reports and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada. These documents can be found on our website at investors.licycle.com.

在這次電話會議上，管理層將根據當前的預期、計劃、估計和假設做出陳述，這些預期、計劃、估計和假設受到重大風險和不確定性的影響。如果我們的任何關鍵假設不正確，包括由於今天的新聞稿、本次電話會議期間以及我們過去向美國證券交易委員會和安大略省提交的報告和文件中討論的因素，實際結果可能與我們的前瞻性陳述存在重大差異加拿大證券委員會。這些文件可以在我們的網站 investors.licycle.com 上找到。

We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, made during this call or from time to time to reflect new information, future events or otherwise, except as required.

我們不承擔更新本次電話會議期間或不時作出的任何前瞻性陳述（無論是書面的還是口頭的）以反映新信息、未來事件或其他情況的義務，除非另有要求。

With that, I'm pleased to turn the call to Ajay.

有了這個，我很高興把電話轉給 Ajay。

Thank you, Nahla, and good morning, everyone. It has been a phenomenal year for Li-Cycle and our team. We continue to be very excited by the growth opportunities we see ahead and remain laser-focused on the execution of our spoke and hub network.

謝謝你，Nahla，大家早上好。對於 Li-Cycle 和我們的團隊來說，這是非凡的一年。我們繼續對我們看到的未來增長機會感到非常興奮，並繼續專注於我們的輻條和樞紐網絡的執行。

Beginning on Slide 3, covering key achievements from the past year that positioned Li-Cycle as a preferred global battery recycling partner. In North America, with 4 spokes in operation, we grew our total processing capacity by nearly 3x versus the prior year. And in Europe, we made strategic strides having advanced development at key commercial sites.

從幻燈片 3 開始，涵蓋了過去一年的主要成就，這些成就將 Li-Cycle 定位為首選的全球電池回收合作夥伴。在北美，有 4 個輻條在運行，我們的總處理能力比上一年增長了近 3 倍。在歐洲，我們取得了戰略性進展，在關鍵商業地點取得了先進的發展。

At our Rochester Hub, we made significant progress on engineering, procurement and construction, keeping us in line with our targeted budget and schedule. We are reiterating that we expect commissioning to commence in late calendar 2023.

在我們的羅切斯特樞紐，我們在工程、採購和施工方面取得了重大進展，使我們符合我們的目標預算和時間表。我們重申，我們預計調試將於 2023 年末開始。

Continuing to expand and diversify our customer base, within the battery material supply chain, including notable multiyear commercial arrangements with strategic global participants, LG and Glencore, and we further strengthen our balance sheet with the receipt of $250 million from strategic partners and have significantly progressed meaningful debt financing alternatives in support of our future network growth.

在電池材料供應鏈中繼續擴大我們的客戶群並使其多樣化，包括與全球戰略參與者 LG 和 Glencore 的顯著多年商業安排，我們進一步加強了我們的資產負債表，從戰略合作夥伴那裡收到了 2.5 億美元，並取得了重大進展有意義的債務融資替代方案，以支持我們未來的網絡增長。

Moving to Slide 4 for our fourth quarter highlights. We continue to enhance the company's foundation on the financial, commercial and operational fronts. Financially, we ended the quarter with approximately $578 million cash on hand. We continue to time our capital investment needs with advancing the development of key projects.

轉到幻燈片 4，了解我們第四季度的亮點。我們繼續加強公司在金融、商業和運營方面的基礎。在財務上，我們在本季度結束時手頭現金約為 5.78 億美元。我們繼續通過推進重點項目的開發來安排我們的資本投資需求。

Importantly, we made significant progress towards securing meaningful debt financing and expect to provide more details in the first calendar quarter. Commercially, we continue to expand our sources of battery materials through meaningful multiyear commercial relationships with key global customers, including a global strategic recycling partnership with VinES, a leading Vietnamese battery manufacturer. And more recently, we entered into multiyear agreements with top-tier global EV and battery OEMs to recycle battery materials in Europe and North America.

重要的是，我們在確保有意義的債務融資方面取得了重大進展，並希望在第一季度提供更多細節。在商業上，我們通過與主要全球客戶建立有意義的多年商業關係，包括與越南領先的電池製造商 VinES 建立全球戰略回收合作夥伴關係，繼續擴大我們的電池材料來源。最近，我們與全球頂級電動汽車和電池原始設備製造商簽訂了多年協議，以回收歐洲和北美的電池材料。

Operationally, our fourth quarter black mass production exceeded 1,600 tonnes, reflecting a sequential increase of more than 70%. Arizona and Alabama are ramping to target throughput. Importantly, we've advanced construction at the Rochester Hub on key engineering, procurement and construction milestones.

在運營方面，我們第四季度的黑色批量生產超過 1,600 噸，環比增長超過 70%。亞利桑那州和阿拉巴馬州正在努力實現目標吞吐量。重要的是，我們在羅切斯特樞紐的關鍵工程、採購和建設里程碑上推進了建設。

Turning to Slide 5 for a review of our strategy to be the preferred global recycling partner with a leading domestic supply position in North America and Europe, with strong commercial connectivity to Asia. We continue to align our network expansion plans with the highest growing demand centers, mirroring customer timing.

轉到幻燈片 5，回顧我們的戰略，即成為首選的全球回收合作夥伴，在北美和歐洲擁有領先的國內供應地位，並與亞洲有著強大的商業聯繫。我們繼續將我們的網絡擴展計劃與增長最快的需求中心保持一致，以反映客戶的時間安排。

We remain highly disciplined on capital allocation. With our investment in each project underpinned by multiyear and diverse commercial contracting, and we maintain a strong project pipeline, providing us with the flexibility to shift with market and customer demand.

我們在資本配置方面保持高度自律。我們對每個項目的投資都以多年和多樣化的商業合同為基礎，我們保持著強大的項目管道，使我們能夠靈活地根據市場和客戶需求進行調整。

Turning to Slide 6 for a look at our total addressable market, or TAM, for lithium-ion batteries available for recycling in our focused regions as well as Li-Cycle's progress in capturing this growth.

轉向幻燈片 6，看看我們的總可尋址市場，或 TAM，在我們的重點區域可回收的鋰離子電池，以及 Li-Cycle 在抓住這一增長方面取得的進展。

As mentioned earlier, we continue to add to our portfolio of customers across the entire battery supply chain, including battery, EV, energy storage OEMs as well as traditional recyclers. As we've noted on previous calls, we are battery chemistry and form factor agnostic. This advantage, combined with growing operational capacity in North America, has enabled us to meet customer demand for recycling needs, which has driven both volume and mix of supply.

如前所述，我們繼續增加整個電池供應鏈的客戶組合，包括電池、電動汽車、儲能原始設備製造商以及傳統回收商。正如我們在之前的電話會議上指出的那樣，我們對電池化學和外形因素一無所知。這一優勢，加上北美不斷增長的運營能力，使我們能夠滿足客戶對回收需求的需求，從而推動了供應量和供應組合。

Specifically, as altered on the left, in fiscal 2022, we saw an increase in recycling needs for energy storage batteries from retooling and EV battery packs from recalls. The picture on the right are the TAM trends for our current focused regions for 2025 and 2030, which reflects accelerating growth potential for manufacturing scrap and end-of-life EV batteries. In summary, we are very well positioned to capitalize on these strong market fundamentals.

具體來說，如左圖所示，在 2022 財年，我們看到對來自改裝的儲能電池和來自召回的電動汽車電池組的回收需求有所增加。右圖是我們當前重點區域 2025 年和 2030 年的 TAM 趨勢，這反映了製造廢電池和報廢電動汽車電池的加速增長潛力。總之，我們完全有能力利用這些強勁的市場基本面。

I'd now like to hand off to Debbie for a discussion of our financial results.

我現在想請黛比討論我們的財務結果。

Thank you, Ajay. I will provide a more detailed discussion of our quarterly and full year results, specifically regarding black mass production, revenues, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow. Additionally, I will provide an overview of future reporting and timing on outlook.

謝謝你，阿傑。我將更詳細地討論我們的季度和全年業績，特別是關於黑色量產、收入、調整後的 EBITDA 和現金流量。此外，我將概述未來的報告和展望的時間安排。

Turning to Slide 7 for black mass production. We continue to generate higher product sales volumes due to the ramp-up of operations in our spoke facilities, with the Arizona Spoke coming online in the latter half of the year and the Alabama Spoke right at the end of the year. As a result, production of black mass was 1,640 tonnes in the fourth quarter and a total of 4,023 tonnes for the year, which came in higher than the top end of the revised 12-month guidance. Having completed scheduled maintenance and processing upgrades, which Tim will discuss later, we are estimating a range of 850 to 900 tonnes of black mass production for the 2 months, November and December 22 stub period.

轉向黑色量產的幻燈片 7。由於亞利桑那輻條在今年下半年上線，阿拉巴馬州輻條在年底上線，我們的輻條設施的運營不斷增加，我們繼續產生更高的產品銷量。因此，第四季度黑漿產量為 1,640 噸，全年總產量為 4,023 噸，高於修訂後的 12 個月指導值的上限。完成預定的維護和加工升級後，蒂姆將在稍後討論，我們估計在 11 月和 12 月 22 日這兩個月的剩餘時間段內，黑色批量生產範圍為 850 至 900 噸。

Turning to Slide 8. Our revenues are impacted by market prices of metal contained our products, notably cobalt and nickel, and with no value attributed to lithium content at this time as we continue to sell black mass as an intermediate product.

轉到幻燈片 8。我們的收入受到我們產品中所含金屬（尤其是鈷和鎳）的市場價格的影響，並且由於我們繼續將黑色物質作為中間產品銷售，因此目前沒有鋰含量的價值。

As a reminder, aligning with our contracts and IFRS reporting requirements, we recognized revenues on product sales at the point of delivery to our customers based on product sales volume and prevailing market metal prices. Our customers take title to the materials, and we retain pricing exposure until the related receivable is to be settled. As a result, fair market value adjustments are booked to revenue until fully settled.

提醒一下，根據我們的合同和 IFRS 報告要求，我們根據產品銷量和現行市場金屬價格在交付給客戶時確認產品銷售收入。我們的客戶擁有材料的所有權，我們保留定價風險，直到相關的應收賬款得到結算。因此，公允市場價值調整記入收入，直至完全結算。

For the quarter, we sold 1,302 tonnes of black mass, an increase of 210 tonnes from the corresponding period in 2021. Revenue was $3 million compared to $4.4 million for the same period last year. The primary driver of the decline in revenue and the change in fair market value pricing adjustment was a decrease in commodity prices for cobalt, offset by a small increase in nickel prices.

本季度，我們售出了 1,302 噸黑色物質，比 2021 年同期增加了 210 噸。收入為 300 萬美元，而去年同期為 440 萬美元。收入下降和公允市場價值定價調整變化的主要驅動因素是鈷的商品價格下降，但被鎳價的小幅上漲所抵消。

For the full year, we sold 3,679 tonnes, which was more than double the 2021 LIBOR of 1,824 tonnes. Total revenue was $13.4 million compared to $7.3 million in the prior year. The increase in product revenue was primarily attributable to increase production of black mass due to ramp up of our operations at the company's spoke facilities, with both the Arizona Spoke and Alabama Spoke coming online. Revenue was negatively impacted by a cumulative noncash fair market value adjustment of $2.2 million as compared to a fair market value gain of $800,000 in the comparable period last year.

全年，我們售出了 3,679 噸，是 2021 年倫敦銀行同業拆借利率 1,824 噸的兩倍多。總收入為 1340 萬美元，上年為 730 萬美元。產品收入的增長主要歸因於我們在公司輻條設施上的運營增加，亞利桑那輻條和阿拉巴馬輻條都上線了，從而增加了黑色物質的產量。收入受到累計非現金公平市場價值調整 220 萬美元的負面影響，而去年同期的公平市場價值收益為 800,000 美元。

Turning to Slide 9. For the quarter, adjusted EBITDA loss was $32.6 million compared to $11.7 million in the same period in 2021. This was largely related to growing volumes, offset partially by lower metal prices and increases in raw material costs. Additionally, production costs, inclusive of raw materials and conversion costs, exceeded the net realizable value of black mass, leading to inventory write-downs of $3.8 million. The net realizable value of black mass inventory is based on cobalt and nickel content, with no value assigned to lithium.

轉到幻燈片 9。本季度，調整後的 EBITDA 虧損為 3260 萬美元，而 2021 年同期為 1170 萬美元。這主要與銷量增長有關，但部分被金屬價格下跌和原材料成本上漲所抵消。此外，包括原材料和轉換成本在內的生產成本超過了黑色物質的可變現淨值，導致存貨減記 380 萬美元。黑塊存貨的可變現淨值基於鈷和鎳的含量，不對鋰賦值。

Finally, as we continue to support the expansion of our global network, particularly the Rochester Hub, we incurred higher employee compensation for operational, corporate commercial and engineering resources. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA loss was $100.7 million versus $26.2 million last year. Similar to our fourth quarter results, this was largely attributable to higher costs associated with the ongoing expansion of our operations in North America as well as the impact of net realizable value inventory write-downs of $4.8 million.

最後，隨著我們繼續支持我們全球網絡的擴展，尤其是羅徹斯特樞紐，我們為運營、企業商業和工程資源支付了更高的員工薪酬。全年，調整後的 EBITDA 虧損為 1.007 億美元，而去年為 2620 萬美元。與我們第四季度的業績類似，這主要是由於與我們在北美業務的持續擴張相關的成本增加以及 480 萬美元的可變現淨值存貨減記的影響。

Turning to Slide 10. I'd like to cover our planning and strategy for our growing black mass production. As we've discussed on prior calls, black mass sales, our near-term bridge, on an intermediate sales product and will lead up to the commencement of operations at our Rochester Hub. It will then serve as a feed source to the hub. Over the course of 2023, we will strategically start the build of black mass inventory for processing at the hub.

轉到幻燈片 10。我想介紹一下我們對不斷增長的黑色大規模生產的規劃和戰略。正如我們在之前的電話會議上討論過的那樣，我們的近期橋樑黑色大規模銷售是一種中間銷售產品，將導致我們羅切斯特中心開始運營。然後它將作為集線器的饋送源。在 2023 年期間，我們將戰略性地開始構建用於在樞紐處理的黑色大量庫存。

Turning to Slide 11. Another important rationale related to black mass inventory build is to monetize the significant lithium value embedded in black mass, Currently, black mass has now seen payable under our current sales contracts. Here, we show the opportunity cost or value upside, assuming current end-of-period market prices for lithium, which is meaningful.

轉到幻燈片 11。與黑塊庫存建立相關的另一個重要理由是將黑塊中嵌入的重要鋰價值貨幣化。目前，根據我們當前的銷售合同，黑塊現在已經可以支付。在這裡，我們展示了機會成本或價值上行空間，假設當前鋰的期末市場價格是有意義的。

Turning to Slide 12 for a review of the strength of our balance sheet and liquidity. Li-Cycle ended the year with approximately $578 million of cash on hand. As Ajay mentioned, we enhanced our balance sheet during the year with $250 million in combined investment proceeds from LG and Glencore.

轉向幻燈片 12，回顧我們資產負債表和流動性的實力。 Li-Cycle 到年底手頭現金約為 5.78 億美元。正如 Ajay 所提到的，我們在這一年中通過 LG 和 Glencore 的 2.5 億美元投資收益改善了我們的資產負債表。

During the fourth quarter, cash uses included capital spend of approximately $60 million, with the majority allocated to security equipment for the continued construction of our Rochester Hub. Our operating expenditures also rose by about $9 million in support of the global network expansion.

在第四季度，現金使用包括大約 6000 萬美元的資本支出，其中大部分分配給安全設備，用於繼續建設我們的羅切斯特樞紐。我們的運營支出也增加了約 900 萬美元，以支持全球網絡擴張。

Looking ahead, future major change drivers of cash includes capital investment and operating expenditure to support the network growth, our black mass inventory optimization strategy, and finally and importantly, meaningful debt financing for future growth capital. We plan to provide an update in the first calendar quarter of 2023 on financing alternatives.

展望未來，未來現金的主要變化驅動因素包括支持網絡增長的資本投資和運營支出、我們的黑色大量庫存優化策略，以及最後且重要的是，為未來增長資本提供有意義的債務融資。我們計劃在 2023 年第一季度提供有關融資替代方案的最新信息。

Moving to Slide 13 to review our future reporting timelines and plans for providing additional guidance. As we announced in late December, Li-Cycle will change its fiscal year from end of October to a calendar year-end. As a result, in late March, we will file a transition report that will provide financial statements for the 2 months stub period, covering November and December '22. With this earnings report, we plan to provide guidance on key metrics for calendar '23. In mid-May of this year, we will report our first quarter results for the period ended March 31.

轉到幻燈片 13，查看我們未來的報告時間表和提供額外指導的計劃。正如我們在 12 月下旬宣布的那樣，Li-Cycle 將把其財政年度從 10 月底改為日曆年末。因此，在 3 月下旬，我們將提交一份過渡報告，其中將提供 2 個月存根期間的財務報表，涵蓋 22 年 11 月和 12 月。通過這份收益報告，我們計劃為 calendar '23 的關鍵指標提供指導。今年 5 月中旬，我們將報告截至 3 月 31 日的第一季度業績。

I would now like to hand it off to Tim for an update regarding the spoke network and Rochester Hub.

我現在想把它交給蒂姆，了解有關輻射網絡和羅切斯特中心的更新。

Thanks, Debbie. Turning to Slide 14.

謝謝，黛比。轉到幻燈片 14。

The driver of this significant TAM is the increasing demand by battery and electric vehicle manufacturers in North America and Europe for localized supply. As shown on the right side, the TAM potential is driven by planned mega factory investments with capacity expected to grow by nearly 5 and 10x by 2025 and 2030, respectively. This dynamic is driving many global supply chain participants to walk in commercial recycling arrangements, which we expect to continue to benefit life cycle as we expand our network capacity.

這一重要 TAM 的驅動因素是北美和歐洲的電池和電動汽車製造商對本地化供應的需求不斷增加。如右側所示，TAM 潛力由計劃中的大型工廠投資驅動，預計到 2025 年和 2030 年產能將分別增長近 5 倍和 10 倍。這種動態正在推動許多全球供應鏈參與者參與商業回收安排，我們希望隨著我們擴大網絡容量，這將繼續有利於生命週期。

We are strategically growing our global commercial position and network reach by locating our facilities near high regional demand centers and mirroring customer timing. Li-Cycle's sustainable and scalable technology enables us to move flexibly and quickly to meet our customer needs.

通過將我們的設施設在高區域需求中心附近並反映客戶時間安排，我們正在戰略性地擴大我們的全球商業地位和網絡覆蓋範圍。 Li-Cycle 的可持續和可擴展技術使我們能夠靈活快速地行動以滿足客戶的需求。

Turning to Slide 15, for a discussion of the planned total processing capacity of our spoke network. Today, I would like to provide an update on the continued innovation of our spoke processing technology, which has evolved over 3 generations of design.

轉到幻燈片 15，討論我們輻射網絡的計劃總處理能力。今天，我想介紹一下我們輻條處理技術的持續創新，該技術已經發展了 3 代設計。

With each subsequent spoke rollout, we are incorporating design upgrades to match our customers' growing volumes and mix of barter materials. By way of background, our initial capacity was focused on our patent-protected Sumare trading technology, which is referred to here as the mainline capacity. This is specifically for battery materials that contain electrolyte and have a risk of thermal runaway.

隨著每個後續輻條的推出，我們都在進行設計升級，以適應我們客戶不斷增長的數量和易貨材料的組合。作為背景，我們的初始能力集中在我們受專利保護的 Sumare 交易技術上，這裡稱為主線能力。這專門針對含有電解質且存在熱失控風險的電池材料。

More recently, we have added ancillary processing lines that include dry shredding processes materials that don't contain electrolyte and therefore, at less risk of thermal runaway, such as electrode foils. Powder processing processes electronic powders to minimize dusting and downstream processes, and bailing process of electrode foils into form cubes for optimizing logistics and downstream processing.

最近，我們增加了輔助處理線，其中包括乾式粉碎處理不含電解質的材料，因此熱失控風險較小，例如電極箔。粉末加工處理電子粉末以最大程度地減少粉塵和下游工藝，以及將電極箔加工成立方體以優化物流和下游加工。

In summary, the existing and planned development, we expect total processing capacity to be more than 95,000 tonnes per year. As we continue to build upon the first-mover advantage, you should expect that we will focus capital allocation to projects that enable us to adapt and grow with commercial demand.

綜上所述，現有和規劃的發展，我們預計總加工能力將超過每年95,000噸。隨著我們繼續建立先發優勢，您應該期望我們將資本配置集中在使我們能夠適應商業需求並隨著商業需求增長的項目上。

Turning to Slide 16. Our North American operational spoke capacity totals more than 50,000 tonnes per year and is distributed across North America in key strategic growth regions. Starting with an update on Ohio, which was originally planned for 2023.

轉到幻燈片 16。我們的北美運營輻條產能每年總計超過 50,000 噸，分佈在北美的主要戰略增長區域。從俄亥俄州的更新開始，原計劃於 2023 年進行。

We are deferring this site capacity as we look for operational efficiencies to consolidate our processing capacity with growing multiple customer needs. Our Ontario Spoke is a Generation 1 spoke that was constructed in 2020. We are now working on plans to develop a new Generation 3 spoke and warehouse facility in Kingston, Ontario to replace the existing site, with the initial site work expected to commence in 2023.

我們正在推遲該站點的容量，因為我們尋求運營效率以整合我們的處理能力以滿足不斷增長的多個客戶需求。我們的 Ontario Spoke 是 2020 年建造的第 1 代輻條。我們現在正在製定計劃，在安大略省金斯敦開發新的第 3 代輻條和倉庫設施，以取代現有場地，初步場地工作預計將於 2023 年開始.

At our Generation 2 New York spoke, we recently completed improvements, which included upgrading the mainline and the addition of bailing to supplement the ancillary capacity, which now provides up to 18,000 tonnes of processing capacity per year. In 2022, we operationalized the Arizona and Alabama spokes. Both are Generation 3 spokes incorporating multistage shredding with full patch rating capabilities. These plants have the optionality for dual main lines and flex capacity with ancillary processes. Our Arizona Spoke is up and running as expected and benefiting from our recent optimization projects, underpinning a significant increase in our fourth quarter production.

在我們的 Generation 2 New York 演講中，我們最近完成了改進，其中包括升級主線和增加提水以補充輔助能力，現在每年可提供高達 18,000 噸的處理能力。 2022 年，我們啟用了亞利桑那州和阿拉巴馬州的輻條。兩者都是第 3 代輻條，結合了多級粉碎和完整的補丁評級功能。這些工廠可選擇雙主線和帶有輔助工藝的靈活產能。我們的 Arizona Spoke 按預期啟動並運行，並受益於我們最近的優化項目，支撐了我們第四季度產量的顯著增長。

Moving to Slide 17 for Alabama. The warehousing here was designed with significant capacity to safely handle and store all types of value materials, particularly the increasing demand for the processing of full electric vehicle battery packs. As discussed earlier, we are seeing significantly growing volumes and an increased mix of battery materials from OEMs and battery producers.

移動到阿拉巴馬州的幻燈片 17。這裡的倉庫設計具有強大的容量，可以安全地處理和存儲所有類型的有價值的材料，特別是對全電動汽車電池組加工的日益增長的需求。如前所述，我們看到原始設備製造商和電池生產商的產量顯著增長，電池材料的組合也在增加。

Turning to Slide 18 for a look at the Alabama spoke processing activity. This site became fully operational in late October following the implementation of learnings from the Arizona spoke. This facility is operational with high-quality talent from the automotive and battery industry and is ramping to target throughput, processing all types of lithium-ion batteries.

轉到幻燈片 18 查看阿拉巴馬州的輪輻處理活動。在實施從亞利桑那州講話中學到的知識後，該網站於 10 月下旬全面投入運營。該工廠擁有來自汽車和電池行業的高素質人才，並正在逐步提高目標吞吐量，處理所有類型的鋰離子電池。

Turning to Slide 19 for an update on the construction of our Germany and Norway spokes. Germany represents the largest market for both battery manufacturing scrap and the expected supply of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries in Europe. The country's battery ecosystem continues to grow with leading players in the electric vehicle industry establishing operations throughout the country, providing a high density of battery and electric vehicle manufacturing facilities.

轉到幻燈片 19，了解我們德國和挪威輻條結構的最新情況。德國是歐洲電池製造廢料和報廢鋰離子電池預期供應的最大市場。該國的電池生態系統持續發展，電動汽車行業的領先企業在全國各地開展業務，提供高密度的電池和電動汽車製造設施。

On our last earnings call, we noted that we would take a staggered approach to the start-up of our spokes in Germany and Norway. While this remains the plan, in the near term, we are redirecting the equipment from Norway to double up the mainline capacity in Germany. The German spoke will also have an additional 10,000 tonnes in ancillary processing for total capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year.

在我們上次的財報電話會議上，我們指出，我們將採取交錯方式啟動我們在德國和挪威的分支機構。雖然這仍然是計劃，但在短期內，我們正在重新定向來自挪威的設備，以將德國的干線容量增加一倍。德國輻條還將有額外的 10,000 噸輔助加工，總產能為每年 30,000 噸。

Our decision to expand total capacity at our German spoke is driven by the recent increase in successful contracting with global top-tier battery and electric vehicle OEMs in the region. In line with this, we are retiming our Norway spoke from 2023 to 2024. In the interim, we will continue to develop the Norway location, initially as a battery consolidation facility.

我們決定擴大德國輻條的總產能，是因為最近與該地區全球頂級電池和電動汽車 OEM 的成功簽約有所增加。為此，我們將挪威演講的時間從 2023 年重新安排到 2024 年。在此期間，我們將繼續開發挪威地點，最初是作為電池整合設施。

Turning to Slide 20. The Rochester Hub is expected to be the first commercial hydrometallurgical battery resource recovery facility in North America and positions Li-Cycle as a leading domestic supplier of battery gray materials. As a reminder, as a key input for the definitive feasibility study, that was completed in December of 2021, Li-Cycle constructed and operated a large pilot plant in Kingston, Ontario for approximately 1 year, providing a strong technical basis for the plant's future operation. This includes testing and qualifying battery-grade materials, such as lithium carbonate, nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate, for key customers in the global battery supply chain.

轉到幻燈片 20。Rochester Hub 預計將成為北美第一個商業濕法冶金電池資源回收設施，並將 Li-Cycle 定位為國內領先的電池灰材料供應商。提醒一下，作為於 2021 年 12 月完成的最終可行性研究的關鍵投入，Li-Cycle 在安大略省金斯敦建造並運營了一個大型試驗工廠約 1 年，為該工廠的未來提供了強大的技術基礎手術。這包括為全球電池供應鏈中的主要客戶測試和鑑定電池級材料，例如碳酸鋰、硫酸鎳和硫酸鈷。

Turning to Slide 21 for an aerial view of the Rochester Hub as of mid-January. As you can see, significant construction progress has been made since our last update. Turning to Slide 22, for more details on the key engineering, procurement and construction milestones. To reiterate, a key part of our strategy was to accelerate the procurement of long-lead equipment and construction materials. This has proven to be a strategically significant advantage to maintain the project schedule.

轉到幻燈片 21，查看截至 1 月中旬羅切斯特樞紐的鳥瞰圖。如您所見，自上次更新以來，建設取得了重大進展。轉到幻燈片 22，了解有關關鍵工程、採購和施工里程碑的更多詳細信息。重申一下，我們戰略的一個關鍵部分是加快採購長周期設備和建築材料。事實證明，這對於維持項目進度具有重要的戰略優勢。

Specifically, key milestones include, achieving nearly 75% completion of the warehouse and associated administration center for the storage of black mass and finished battery grade materials; progress the construction of the cobalt, nickel and manganese processing buildings; largely completing civil works as well as underground utilities and electrical infrastructure.

具體而言，關鍵里程碑包括，用於存儲黑體和成品電池級材料的倉庫和相關管理中心完成近 75%；推進鈷、鎳、錳加工廠房建設；主要完成土建工程以及地下公用設施和電力基礎設施。

More than 90% of equipment has now been procured, and we're nearing 65% completion on detailed engineering for the project. We are on track with our project budget and schedule. We are reiterating that we expect to commence commissioning in late 2023.

現在已經採購了超過 90% 的設備，我們接近完成該項目詳細工程設計的 65%。我們的項目預算和時間表都在按計劃進行。我們重申，我們預計將在 2023 年底開始調試。

Turning to Slide 23. I would like to close with a recap. We are incredibly proud of what the Li-Cycle team has accomplished in 2022, building strong momentum for our spoke and hub business for 2023 and beyond.

轉到幻燈片 23。我想以回顧一下結束。我們為 Li-Cycle 團隊在 2022 年取得的成就感到無比自豪，為我們 2023 年及以後的輪輻和輪轂業務建立了強勁勢頭。

We continue to competitively position Li-Cycle to be a preferred recycler and domestic supply of critical battery grade materials. We are growing and diversifying our portfolio of commercial partnerships capturing the benefit of a robust battery supply chain and positive regulatory export. And we look forward to providing a progress update and details on debt financing and our 2023 outlook in the first calendar quarter.

我們繼續將 Li-Cycle 定位為具有競爭力的關鍵電池級材料的首選回收商和國內供應商。我們正在發展和多樣化我們的商業合作夥伴關係組合，以從強大的電池供應鍊和積極的監管出口中獲益。我們期待在第一季度提供有關債務融資的進展更新和詳細信息以及我們的 2023 年展望。

That concludes our formal remarks. Operator, we are ready to take questions.

我們的正式發言到此結束。接線員，我們準備好接受提問了。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from P.J. Juvekar with Citi.

（操作員說明）我們將從花旗的 P.J. Juvekar 那裡回答我們的第一個問題。

A couple of questions. Congratulations on your spoke start-ups. Going over to Europe, obviously, you are prioritizing Germany there, will be a very large spoke. How much of that plant input is contracted? And also the same question about the output?

幾個問題。祝賀您的輻條初創企業。很明顯，去歐洲，你在那裡優先考慮德國，這將是一個非常大的輻條。有多少工廠投入被承包了？還有關於輸出的同樣問題？

P.J., it's Ajay. And that's a good for Tim to answer. So I'll turn it over to him.

P.J.，是阿傑。這對蒂姆來說很好回答。所以我會把它交給他。

Yes, no problem. So P.J., so we typically don't provide plant-by-plant details in terms of utilization. I think the message is clear, however, that we were going to be short capacity with a single line. And so we saw the need to accelerate the second line and we expect to have that installed and commissioned this year.

是沒有問題。所以 P.J.，所以我們通常不提供利用率方面的逐個工廠詳細信息。然而，我認為信息很明確，即我們將用一條線路來解決容量不足的問題。因此，我們看到了加速第二條生產線的必要性，我們預計今年將安裝並投入使用。

And in terms of your hub operations that you are building in New York, is there -- have there been any changes to the design or flow process as compared to what you had in Canada? And then there are some new companies popping up in recycling -- battery recycling. Obviously, you guys have the first mover advantage. But is there any other types of chemistries or processes that we should be aware of to keep an eye on?

就您在紐約建設的樞紐運營而言，與加拿大相比，設計或流程是否有任何變化？然後在回收領域出現了一些新公司——電池回收。顯然，你們有先發優勢。但是，是否有任何其他類型的化學或過程是我們應該注意的？

Yes. So Tim will take the first one, P.J. and then I'll take the second one.

是的。所以 Tim 會拿第一個，P.J.，然後我會拿第二個。

Yes. And so PJ, in essence, the process design hasn't changed since we developed the process in Kingston. If you think back to what was our objective, our objective was to utilize metallurgical principles that have existed in the primary industry and bringing them together in a novel way.

是的。所以 PJ，本質上，自從我們在金士頓開發流程以來，流程設計沒有改變。如果你回想一下我們的目標是什麼，我們的目標是利用第一產業中存在的冶金原理，並以一種新穎的方式將它們結合在一起。

And so from our perspective, the flow sheet that we've designed is both robust from a technical perspective, but also very well suited from an economical perspective to process black mass from lithium-ion batteries.

因此，從我們的角度來看，我們設計的流程圖既從技術角度來看是穩健的，但從經濟角度來看也非常適合處理鋰離子電池的黑色物質。

And competitively, to your question, P.J. Yes, I mean, broadly speaking, I know a lot of you folks are well aware, to divide the space into pre-processing and post-processing. So pre-meaning battery materials to black mass or an equivalent, and then post from black mass or equivalent to end products.

對於你的問題，P.J. 是的，我的意思是，從廣義上講，我知道你們中的很多人都很清楚，將空間劃分為預處理和後處理。因此預意電池材料為黑塊或等同物，然後由黑塊或等同物後期製成最終產品。

So when you look within those sectors of the landscape, if you will. On the pre1-processing side, yes, we continue to see growth there. We continue to see also at the same time that we're very differentiated. And today, you would have seen we added even more color on the way that we've continued to keep the network flexible and optimize deal with all types of lithium-ion battery feeds.That continues to keep us ahead.

因此，如果您願意的話，當您查看景觀的這些部分時。在 pre1-processing 方面，是的，我們繼續看到那裡的增長。同時，我們也繼續看到我們非常與眾不同。今天，您會看到我們在繼續保持網絡靈活性和優化處理所有類型的鋰離子電池供電的方式上添加了更多顏色。這繼續使我們保持領先。

And then on the post-processing side, and that, of course, is the real financial strategic driver here for Li-Cycle, initial reprocessing, it continues to be, I'd say, pretty stark in the sense of we are ahead on permits. We are ahead on construction. We are ahead on procurement. You would have seen an update today from Tim.

然後在後處理方面，當然，這是 Li-Cycle 真正的財務戰略驅動力，初始後處理，我想說，從我們領先的意義上來說，它仍然是非常明顯的許可證。我們在建設方面領先。我們在採購方面領先。你會看到蒂姆今天的更新。

You do see a lot of announcements from companies, but I think the reality of the lead time for permits and long lead equipment and also doing the base piloting work, means that we have several years of head start. It doesn't mean that we can sit here and be happy about that. I mean we have to continue to keep the pace, and Tim is going to have a little bit of that as well.

你確實看到了很多公司的公告，但我認為許可證和長期設備的提前期以及基地試點工作的現實意味著我們有幾年的領先優勢。這並不意味著我們可以坐在這裡並對此感到高興。我的意思是我們必須繼續跟上步伐，蒂姆也會有一點這樣的。

Yes. And I think one final point on this, P.J., and that is that you've been around the chemical industry for a long time. And one of the things that people are always cautious of is introducing new processes and technologies to any full shop.

是的。我認為最後一點，P.J.，那就是你已經在化學行業工作了很長時間。人們始終謹慎的事情之一是將新流程和技術引入任何完整的商店。

And so I would say, when you are looking at different things that are coming through, think about it from a total risk perspective in the sense that coming back to my point earlier that we deliberately designed this flow sheet with robustness in line with proven principles.

所以我想說，當你看到正在發生的不同事情時，從總體風險的角度考慮它.

And so I think every time you think about it from the perspective of introducing new principles for processing, et cetera, you really need to make sure that it's been properly risk assessed from that perspective. We feel very confident in our process.

所以我認為每次你從引入新的處理原則等角度考慮它時，你真的需要確保從這個角度對其進行了適當的風險評估。我們對我們的過程非常有信心。

We'll take our next question from Jeff Rosetti with Cowen.

我們將與 Cowen 一起接受 Jeff Rosetti 的下一個問題。

Tim, just a quick one on Slide 15 provided on the spoke pipeline processing capacity. Just wondering is there any incremental revenue or costs associated with the ancillary tonnage that you provided?

蒂姆，幻燈片 15 上的一個快速幻燈片提供了輻條管道處理能力。只是想知道是否有與您提供的輔助噸位相關的任何增量收入或成本？

Jeff. And so when it comes to the ancillary processes, what you can expect is that these have lower processing costs relative to the traditional mainline processes simply because of the simple processes in themselves, typically single unit operation steps, so less operators to run those operations.

傑夫。因此，當涉及到輔助流程時，您可以預期的是，與傳統的主線流程相比，這些流程的處理成本更低，這僅僅是因為它們本身的流程簡單，通常是單個單元操作步驟，因此運行這些操作的操作員更少。

In terms of revenue, it depends. If you have a look at Slide 26, what we have tried to explain here is that as you produce lithium-ion batteries, you actually generate all different sorts of materials from this process. And depending on what that material is, it depends on how we process it, where it's most optimal to process it.

就收入而言，這取決於。如果你看一下幻燈片 26，我們在這裡試圖解釋的是，當你生產鋰離子電池時，你實際上會從這個過程中產生各種不同的材料。並且取決於材料是什麼，這取決於我們如何處理它，在哪里處理它是最佳的。

And if you think about it from the perspective that each of these different feed streams have different metal content, the higher the metal content, the higher potential revenue for that material. So in essence, it's quite a good business for us today. It provides us flexibility and overall provides high-quality returns on those operations.

如果您從這些不同的進料流中的每一種都具有不同的金屬含量的角度考慮，金屬含量越高，該材料的潛在收入就越高。所以從本質上講，這對我們今天來說是一項非常好的業務。它為我們提供了靈活性，並且總體上為這些業務提供了高質量的回報。

Okay. And then, Debbie, I believe you mentioned that in 2023, over the course of 2023, you'll begin to build some black mass inventory through the hub. I just wanted to see if you could elaborate if there's -- how that cadence might be over 2023? And is there a certain tonnage that you would be gunning for relative to the 35,000 tonnes of black mass input capacity that the hub will have?

好的。然後，黛比，我相信你提到過，在 2023 年，在 2023 年期間，你將開始通過中心建立一些黑色庫存。我只是想看看你是否可以詳細說明 - 這種節奏可能會超過 2023 年？相對於中心將擁有的 35,000 噸黑色質量輸入能力，您是否會爭取一定的噸位？

Jeff, yes, there's 2 parts to it. So I think I also said, by the time we get to our March release, we'll be in a position to give you some more color around our 2023 outlook. So I'd expect to hear more in that space to run there. And we do actually like this is -- you're nearing the plan here. This is exactly as planning ahead, for having sufficient tons of black mass on hand, not just for running the hub, but in the early stages where we're commissioning and ramping up.

傑夫，是的，它有兩個部分。所以我想我也說過，到 3 月發佈時，我們將能夠為您提供更多有關 2023 年展望的信息。所以我希望在那個空間聽到更多的聲音。我們確實喜歡這樣——你正在接近這裡的計劃。這與提前計劃完全一樣，因為手頭有足夠多的黑色物質，不僅僅是為了運行中心，而是在我們調試和提升的早期階段。

So yes, that is the plan, and we should probably be able to share some more information with you when we get to March.

所以，是的，這就是計劃，到 3 月時，我們應該可以與您分享更多信息。

Okay. Great. And one more quick one, if I could squeeze one in. I think on Slide 7, you gave kind of indication for November and December production, which seems to be a little bit of a lower monthly run rate than Q4. I was wondering, are you taking the first Ontario spoke off-line? Or is that at a later point?

好的。偉大的。還有一個快速的，如果我能擠進去的話。我想在幻燈片 7 上，你給出了 11 月和 12 月生產的某種指示，這似乎比第四季度的月度運行率低一點。我想知道，您是否讓安大略省的第一個演講脫機？或者是在稍後的時間？

Yes, I can take that one, Jeff. And so for November, December was partially impacted by -- we had a planned maintenance and upgrade process in Alabama. And so what you're going to see is that our Generation 3 plants, being Arizona and Alabama today and then coming up Magdeburg in Germany. And then thereafter, Ontario, which is your final point.

是的，我可以接受那個，傑夫。因此，對於 11 月、12 月，我們在阿拉巴馬州進行了計劃的維護和升級過程，部分受到了影響。所以你將看到的是我們的第 3 代工廠，今天是亞利桑那州和阿拉巴馬州，然後是德國的馬格德堡。然後是安大略省，這是你的最後一點。

They have the biggest influence on our overall production for the quarter. And so having that downtime planned in December did impact that slightly. The other aspect is that because we are still ramping up the facility, we've only just now at the start of January in Alabama gone to 24/7 operations with the addition of a fourth shift. And so what you should expect to see is continued ramping up of the production over the course of the year. Thanks very much.

他們對我們本季度的整體生產影響最大。因此，計劃在 12 月停工確實對此產生了輕微影響。另一個方面是，因為我們仍在擴大設施，我們只是在 1 月初在阿拉巴馬州進行了 24/7 運營，並增加了第四班。因此，您應該期望看到的是在這一年中繼續增加產量。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our next question from Evan Silverberg with Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）我們將與摩根士丹利一起接受 Evan Silverberg 的下一個問題。

In regards to the 1.6 thousand tonnes of black mass produced in the fourth quarter. Can you give any color on what the lithium input was to yield that 1.6? And what kind of differences are you seeing in the yield between each facility?

關於第四季度生產的 1600 噸黑色物質。你能給出產生 1.6 的鋰輸入的任何顏色嗎？您在每個設施之間的產量中看到什麼樣的差異？

Yes. So I think broadly speaking, there's 2 answers here. One is the range of roughly 35% to 65% content of black mass, depending on the feed. I think hopefully, today, with the view of the different streams for manufacturing scrap to get a bit of a sense of how that can range, right?

是的。所以我認為從廣義上講，這裡有 2 個答案。一種是黑塊含量大約在 35% 到 65% 的範圍內，具體取決於飼料。我希望，今天，鑑於製造廢料的不同流程，可以對它的範圍有一些了解，對嗎？

So obviously, if you're cathode material or an electrode stack, as per the page in the appendix, then you're going to have a very high content to black mass. If you're a full pack, there's other stuff in there, right? So you can have a lower content of black mass. So that's what we see.

很明顯，如果您是陰極材料或電極堆，按照附錄中的頁面，那麼您將擁有非常高的黑色物質含量。如果你是一個完整的包，那裡還有其他東西，對吧？所以你可以有較低的黑色物質含量。這就是我們所看到的。

Roughly speaking, second, just take you rule of thumb like half as a factor. It does vary. But if you take feed in and then take half of that, that's probably a good general rule of thumb, if you will, for black mass open.

粗略地說，第二，把你的經驗法則當作一個因素。它確實有所不同。但是，如果你先輸入然後再輸入一半，這可能是一個很好的一般經驗法則，如果你願意的話，對於黑色物質開放。

Yes. And then maybe just to build upon that from because I think you're asking about the lithium content perspective is that you can consider that one of the key constitutes of the black mass, obviously, is the coper materials. And so if you consider that the lithium content is relatively consistent across the capital materials, our lithium content is relatively consistent across our black mass.

是的。然後也許只是以此為基礎，因為我認為你問的是鋰含量的觀點，你可以考慮黑色物質的關鍵構成之一，顯然是銅材料。因此，如果您認為資本材料中的鋰含量相對一致，那麼我們的黑色物質中的鋰含量相對一致。

Today, we don't get any value for lithium within the black mass because we sell it to traditional nickel and cobalt refineries, However, that's one of the key benefits of the Rochester Hub coming online is that ability to extract and recover that lithium value.

今天，我們沒有從黑色物質中獲得任何鋰的價值，因為我們將其出售給傳統的鎳和鈷精煉廠，但是，羅切斯特中心上線的主要好處之一是能夠提取和回收鋰價值.

That's helpful. One follow-up. It was on Slide 22. What's been spent for Rochester basically back into what's remaining? What kind of lead time do you have on CapEx so we can kind of get a sense, obviously, you're not providing '23 numbers, but trying to get a sense of where the capital outflows are going to be during '23?

這很有幫助。一個跟進。它在幻燈片 22 上。羅切斯特花費了什麼基本上回到了剩下的？您在資本支出方面有什麼樣的提前期，以便我們可以感覺到，顯然，您沒有提供'23 數字，而是試圖了解'23 期間資本流出的位置？

Evan, it's a big build year for us. So I think you can expect to see an acceleration this year in our capital spend if we get pretty serious about this construction and also supporting getting to what we said, which is starting our commissioning towards the end of 2023.

埃文，這對我們來說是重要的一年。因此，我認為，如果我們非常認真地對待這項建設並支持實現我們所說的，即在 2023 年底開始調試，那麼今年我們的資本支出將會加速。

We'll take our last question from Brian Dobson with Chardan Capital Markets.

我們將接受來自 Chardan Capital Markets 的 Brian Dobson 的最後一個問題。

So I guess I understand your additional focus on Germany. You mentioned multiyear agreements with top tier OEMs and battery makers in North America and Europe. As it pertains to Europe, are you partnering with a battery OEM or an auto OEM? And how do you see that partnership kind of benefiting both parties? And when can we expect to learn more about it?

所以我想我理解你對德國的額外關注。您提到了與北美和歐洲頂級原始設備製造商和電池製造商的多年協議。至於歐洲，您是與電池 OEM 還是汽車 OEM 合作？您如何看待這種夥伴關係對雙方都有利？我們什麼時候可以期望更多地了解它？

Yes, so I think that's a good 1 for Tencent as a general comment for Tim liberation Europe. I mean, look, I think take it back to the fundamentals here of why we're building this spoke, is ultimately there to feed the right at the end of the day, it's to really secure the resource.

是的，所以我認為這對騰訊來說是一個很好的 1 作為蒂姆解放歐洲的一般評論。我的意思是，看，我認為回到我們構建這個輻條的根本原因，最終是為了在一天結束時提供正確的服務，這是為了真正保護資源。

So the whole point here from our perspective is to get great customer diversification, and we have seen a lot of diversification over the last year and a lot of growth. So that's the bigger picture, and then Tim will comment a little bit on the Europe side in general.

所以從我們的角度來看，這裡的重點是讓客戶多樣化，我們在去年看到了很多多樣化和很多增長。所以這是更大的圖景，然後蒂姆將對歐洲方面的總體情況發表一些評論。

Yes. And so just in terms of what's -- why we are doing this. And if you think about it, I talked about a little bit in the presentation this morning, and that is that Germany has really become the ecosystem, as you know, for not just vehicle OEMs, but battery manufacturing in Europe as they begin to scale and ramp up.

是的。所以就什麼而言——我們為什麼要這樣做。如果你仔細想想，我在今天早上的演講中談到了一點，那就是德國已經真正成為生態系統，正如你所知，不僅是汽車原始設備製造商，而且歐洲的電池製造商開始擴大規模並加速。

Coming back to our business plan and strategy is that we have a combination of what we call merchant sites and co-located facilities. This, of course, is a merchant facility that benefits from supporting multiple customers. And this is really important in this stage of the development of the industry.

回到我們的商業計劃和戰略，我們將我們所說的商業站點和同地設施相結合。當然，這是一種受益於支持多個客戶的商業設施。而這一點在行業發展的現階段是非常重要的。

As our customers begin to scale and grow their businesses, their volumes will also grow over time. But in the meantime, we can support them from the centralized facilities within the regions in which they're operating. So whilst we don't provide -- typically, we do not provide guidance in relation to individual customers as we respect the confidentiality of the customers and the groups that we work with, I think what you can expect is the site will continue to support not just one customer within the region, but multiple customers, and we'll continue to evaluate additional options within Europe as our customers continue to build up and bring that scale to market that will require additional recycling capacity.

隨著我們的客戶開始擴展和發展他們的業務，他們的業務量也會隨著時間的推移而增長。但與此同時，我們可以通過他們運營所在地區的集中設施為他們提供支持。因此，雖然我們不提供 - 通常，我們不提供與個人客戶相關的指導，因為我們尊重客戶和我們合作的團體的機密性，我認為您可以期望該網站將繼續支持不僅僅是該地區的一個客戶，而是多個客戶，我們將繼續評估歐洲範圍內的其他選擇，因為我們的客戶繼續建立並將這種規模推向市場，這將需要額外的回收能力。

Excellent. And then can you expand a little bit on your partnership with buying the ES in Vietnam and how you expect that to position you in the region?

出色的。然後，您能否擴大與在越南購買 ES 的合作夥伴關係，以及您希望如何在該地區定位您？

Yes, for sure. Yes. So Vin Group is the largest private company in Vietnam, and folks may be aware that Vinfast is a relatively newer EV brand, car rent. That is launched actually in the U.S. and North America. So they're in great things, and they are one of our great customers and partners, and Vineet is the battery group within Vingroup that is actually making battery cells. So they have plans and already currently making battery cells in Vietnam. And then within North America, have been fast is also on track to be making vehicles and they do plan to also to assemble packs.

是肯定的。是的。所以 Vin Group 是越南最大的私人公司，人們可能知道 Vinfast 是一個相對較新的電動汽車品牌，汽車租賃。這實際上是在美國和北美推出的。所以他們做得很好，他們是我們偉大的客戶和合作夥伴之一，Vineet 是 Vingroup 中的電池組，實際上是在製造電池。所以他們有計劃，目前已經在越南生產電池。然後在北美，been fast 也正在按計劃製造車輛，他們確實也計劃組裝背包。

So that is a classic example of a multipronged partner with numerous types of feed, and they saw us as a strategic partner. And hence, what we announced back in October.

所以這是一個多管齊下的合作夥伴的典型例子，擁有多種類型的飼料，他們將我們視為戰略合作夥伴。因此，我們在 10 月份宣布了什麼。

Yes. Excellent. And finally, if I can sneak in just one more. as you stockpile black mass ahead of the head of the Rochester opening, do you anticipate that, that stockpiling will interfere with any of your deliveries to current partners -- should we expect to see those decline as you heard this as the day open?

是的。出色的。最後，如果我能再潛入一個。當你在羅切斯特開幕前儲存黑色物質時，你是否預計，這種儲存會干擾你對當前合作夥伴的任何交付 - 我們是否應該期望看到這些下降，因為你在開放日聽到這個消息？

Yes. So in summary, no, it won't conflict with any of our commitments. I think at the end of the day, we're taking an economic decision, as Debbie talked about, to get the best intrinsic unlocked value. And as you've seen, it's been interesting. With looking prices staying relatively high and sustained even though there might be some short-term denervation that has shifted the value equation significantly.

是的。所以總而言之，不，它不會與我們的任何承諾相衝突。我認為在一天結束時，我們正在做出經濟決策，正如黛比所說的那樣，以獲得最佳的內在解鎖價值。正如你所看到的，這很有趣。儘管可能有一些短期的去神經支配顯著改變了價值等式，但看起來價格仍保持相對較高且持續。

As you saw on Page 11, 70% of that roughly intrinsic value being lithium. So this is really the inflection point that our Rochester Hub will drive. And that's the best decision most likely in those cases for us to retain that value, but still keep some flow as needed for some black mass to be sold. Debbie, do you want to add to that?

正如您在第 11 頁上看到的那樣，大約 70% 的內在價值是鋰。所以這確實是我們羅切斯特中心將推動的轉折點。在那些情況下，這是最有可能保留該價值的最佳決定，但仍會根據需要保留一些流量以出售一些黑色物質。黛比，你想補充嗎？

No, it's -- there's 2 trends to it, Brian. As Ajay said, it's the value. It's parking the industry to access the embedded value in the future, which is a very good economic decision. And then the second part to it is just operational planning and making sure that we build sufficient inventory to help with this and start to the hub.

不，它是——有兩種趨勢，布賴恩。正如 Ajay 所說，這就是價值。將行業停放以獲取未來的內含價值，這是一個非常好的經濟決策。然後它的第二部分只是運營規劃，並確保我們建立足夠的庫存來幫助解決這個問題並開始到中心。

We'll take a follow-up question from P.J. Juvekar with Citi.

我們將接受花旗 P.J. Juvekar 的後續問題。

Ajay and Tim, I understand that you don't get any value for lithium today because you sell to cobalt and manganese smelters. But what happens to that lithium that is there? Who gets that value?

Ajay 和 Tim，我知道你們今天沒有從鋰中獲得任何價值，因為你們賣給了鈷和錳冶煉廠。但是那裡的鋰會發生什麼變化呢？誰得到這個價值？

Nobody, P. J. In short, I mean, basically, it goes into a high temperature smelter style arrangements, and lithium is effectively converted to waste whether or not that's in the form of slag or simply burnt off as part of the off gas from the smelter. So it's lost. And that was one of the key drivers why we started Li-Cycle in the first place is that, that traditional way of processing black mass and lithium-ion batteries doesn't attribute the value -- to where the value is.

沒人，P.J. 簡而言之，我的意思是，基本上，它進入了高溫冶煉廠式的安排，鋰被有效地轉化為廢物，無論它是以爐渣的形式還是作為冶煉廠廢氣的一部分簡單地燃燒掉.所以它丟失了。這就是我們首先啟動 Li-Cycle 的關鍵驅動因素之一是，處理黑色物質和鋰離子電池的傳統方法並沒有將價值歸因於價值所在。

Clearly. And when your hub starts in Rochester, how much of the revenues would be in lithium given that -- where prices are and how valuable it is and it's lost today? How much would that be as part of your revenues there?

清楚地。當你的中心在羅切斯特開始時，考慮到鋰的收入中有多少 - 價格在哪裡，它有多大價值，它今天已經丟失了？那將是您在那裡收入的一部分？

Yes. If you look at Page 11, P.J., with that breakdown, essentially that pie chart that we've given for the black mass. So the bar on the right at Page 11, it shows 70% of rough value attributable to lithium and then 30% to nickel and cobalt. That gives you a rough indication. And obviously, as prices move around, they may shift, but just roughly, that gives you a bit of an idea.

是的。如果你看第 11 頁，P.J.，有那個細分，基本上是我們為黑色質量提供的餅圖。因此，第 11 頁右側的條形圖顯示 70% 的粗略價值歸因於鋰，然後 30% 歸因於鎳和鈷。這給了你一個粗略的指示。顯然，隨著價格的波動，它們可能會發生變化，但只是粗略地變化，這會給你一些想法。

Yes. And if you think about it today, keep in mind, we don't extract 100% of the nickel and cobalt value when we sell the black mass. Today, we're really attracting a proportion of that. So the whole stack grows proportionately.

是的。如果您今天考慮一下，請記住，當我們出售黑色物質時，我們不會提取 100% 的鎳和鈷價值。今天，我們確實吸引了其中的一部分。所以整個堆棧按比例增長。

And at this time, it appears we have no further questions in queue. I'll turn it back to Ajay for any additional or closing remarks.

此時，我們似乎沒有其他問題要排隊了。我會把它轉回給 Ajay 以徵求任何補充意見或結束意見。

Thank you. So to reiterate our earlier remarks, this past year was foundational for Li-Cycle, and we continue to be excited by our growth prospects. We continued the implementation of our spoke and hub strategy, keeping the Rochester Hub on budget and schedule. And advancing our spoke technology and processing capacity.

謝謝你。因此，重申我們之前的言論，過去的一年是 Li-Cycle 的基礎，我們繼續對我們的增長前景感到興奮。我們繼續實施我們的輻條和樞紐戰略，使羅切斯特樞紐保持在預算和時間表之內。並提高我們的輻條技術和加工能力。

We can continue to mirror customer demand and expect continued execution of long-term arrangements with key global battery market participants. We also expect to drive further network growth with meaningful debt financing, and we look forward to updating you with more details in the first calendar quarter.

我們可以繼續反映客戶需求，並期待與全球主要電池市場參與者繼續執行長期安排。我們還希望通過有意義的債務融資進一步推動網絡增長，我們期待在第一季度為您提供更多詳細信息。

Thank you for your interest and your support of Li-Cycle.

感謝您對 Li-Cycle 的關注和支持。

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接。