Livent Corp (LTHM) 2022 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Release Conference Call for Livent Corporation. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Daniel Rosen, Investor Relations and Strategy for Livent Corporation.

下午好，歡迎參加 Livent Corporation 2022 年第二季度收益發布電話會議。 （操作員說明）我現在將會議轉交給 Livent Corporation 投資者關係和戰略部的 Daniel Rosen 先生。

Thank you, Dennis. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Livent's Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Joining me today are Paul Graves, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Gilberto Antoniazzi, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，丹尼斯。大家晚上好，歡迎參加 Livent 2022 年第二季度財報電話會議。今天加入我的是總裁兼首席執行官 Paul Graves；和首席財務官 Gilberto Antonazzi。

The slide presentation that accompanies our results, along with our earnings release, can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website. Prepared remarks from today's discussion will be made available after the call. Following our prepared remarks, Paul and Gilberto will be available to address your questions. Given the number of participants on the call today, we would request a limit of one question and one follow-up per caller. We would be happy to address any additional questions after the call.

我們的結果隨附的幻燈片演示文稿以及我們的收益發布可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。今天討論的準備好的評論將在電話會議後提供。在我們準備好的發言之後，Paul 和 Gilberto 將可以回答您的問題。鑑於今天電話會議的參與者人數，我們將要求每個呼叫者限制一個問題和一個後續行動。我們很樂意在電話會議後解決任何其他問題。

Before we begin, let me remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning specific factors, including but not limited to those factors identified in our release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Information presented represents our best judgment based on today's information. Actual results may vary based upon these risks and uncertainties. Today's discussion will include references to various non-GAAP financial metrics. Definitions of these terms as well as a reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure, calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, are provided on our investor relations website.

在我們開始之前，讓我提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到與特定因素有關的各種風險和不確定性的影響，包括但不限於我們在發布和提交給證券交易委員會的文件中確定的那些因素.所提供的信息代表我們根據今天的信息做出的最佳判斷。實際結果可能因這些風險和不確定性而異。今天的討論將包括對各種非公認會計原則財務指標的引用。我們的投資者關係網站上提供了這些術語的定義以及根據公認會計原則計算和呈現的最直接可比財務指標的對賬。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給保羅。

Thank you, Dan. Good evening, everyone. Livent had a very strong second quarter performance with the business achieving record levels of profitability. To provide some perspective, Livent's Q2 adjusted EBITDA of $95 million compared to $16 million 1 year ago or nearly sixfold increase and $53 million last quarter. In the exceptionally strong lithium market we're seeing this year, Livent has continued to achieve higher realized prices across its entire product portfolio.

謝謝你，丹。各位晚上好。 Livent 在第二季度的表現非常強勁，該業務實現了創紀錄的盈利水平。從某種角度來看，Livent 第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 9500 萬美元，而一年前為 1600 萬美元，增長了近六倍，上一季度為 5300 萬美元。在我們今年看到的異常強勁的鋰市場中，Livent 繼續在其整個產品組合中實現更高的實際價格。

Given our expectations for the lithium market to remain structurally tight at least into the first half of 2023, Livent has raised its full year 2022 financial guidance. With our realized volumes in 2022 still expected to be flat compared to 2021, this improvement is driven by higher pricing across all of our lithium products as well as increased confidence in our ability to navigate this environment of higher costs. Livent now expects 2022 adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $325 million to $375 million or a $30 million improvement at the midpoint from prior guidance.

鑑於我們預計鋰市場至少到 2023 年上半年仍將保持結構性緊張，Livent 上調了 2022 年全年財務指引。與 2021 年相比，我們在 2022 年的實際銷量預計仍將持平，這一改善是由我們所有鋰產品的更高定價以及對我們在這種成本更高的環境中駕馭能力的信心增強所推動的。 Livent 現在預計 2022 年調整後的 EBITDA 將在 3.25 億美元至 3.75 億美元之間，或較先前指導的中點提高 3000 萬美元。

Last week, Livent and General Motors announced that we had entered into a long-term supply arrangement. This is based on a 6-year agreement that delivers lithium hydroxide to GM beginning in 2025. As part of this new relationship, GM is providing a $198 million advanced payment to Livent, which will be paid to us in 2022. This payment reflects the joint commitment of Livent and General Motors to build a long-term supply relationship and establishes a strong foundation for expansion over time.

上週，Livent 和通用汽車宣布我們已達成長期供應安排。這是基於一項為期 6 年的協議，從 2025 年開始向通用汽車提供氫氧化鋰。作為這一新關係的一部分，通用汽車將向 Livent 提供 1.98 億美元的預付款，這筆款項將在 2022 年支付給我們。這筆款項反映了Livent 和通用汽車公司共同致力於建立長期供應關係，並為隨著時間的推移的擴張奠定堅實的基礎。

This contract is structured like all of our long-term hydroxide agreements and that it puts responsibility on General Motors to fulfill its obligations in the form of take-or-pay commitments and puts an equal responsibility on Livent to do what is needed to meet both the committed volumes and the ever-tightening qualifications being demanded by the next-generation battery producers.

該合同的結構與我們所有的長期氫氧化物協議類似，它讓通用汽車公司負責以照付不議的形式履行其義務，並讓 Livent 承擔同等的責任來滿足兩者的要求下一代電池生產商所要求的承諾數量和日益嚴格的資質。

To be clear, the prepayment is structured as exactly that; a fixed amount per metric ton for supply committed by Livent, which will be credited over the life of the agreement as product is delivered to General Motors and its battery partners. This is a real mutual commitment, not a non-binding MOU or similar. And we believe these are the kind of commitments that can only be made between proven, integrated lithium producers such as Livent and an iconic name in the automotive industry such as General Motors that has an advanced and credible plan to succeed in the transition to electrification.

需要明確的是，預付款的結構正是如此； Livent 承諾的每公噸供應的固定金額，當產品交付給通用汽車及其電池合作夥伴時，該金額將在協議有效期內計入。這是真正的相互承諾，而不是不具約束力的諒解備忘錄或類似的。我們相信，只有在經過驗證的綜合鋰生產商（如 Livent）和汽車行業的標誌性品牌（如通用汽車）之間才能做出此類承諾，後者擁有先進且可靠的計劃，以在向電氣化轉型中取得成功。

This type of structure is important to Livent since it increases both our financial flexibility and our certainty as to how Livent funds and execute its capacity expansion plans. As we continue to scale, customer prepayments allow us to accelerate our expansion capabilities and make it easier for us to make significant commitments to customers regarding future volumes.

這種類型的結構對 Livent 很重要，因為它既增加了我們的財務靈活性，也增加了我們對 Livent 如何資助和執行其產能擴張計劃的確定性。隨著我們不斷擴大規模，客戶預付款使我們能夠加速我們的擴張能力，並使我們更容易就未來的數量向客戶做出重大承諾。

Although our ongoing growth projects will result in significantly higher production volumes in the coming years, we know that we cannot sell to the entire market. This is because we want to be a meaningful supplier to a core set of long-term strategic customers and their battery supply chains, but also because the lengthy timeline and challenges associated with getting qualified and battery-grade lithium hydroxide dictates the need for longer-dated agreements with firmer commitments.

儘管我們正在進行的增長項目將在未來幾年顯著提高產量，但我們知道我們無法向整個市場銷售。這是因為我們希望成為一組核心長期戰略客戶及其電池供應鏈的有意義的供應商，還因為與獲得合格和電池級氫氧化鋰相關的漫長時間和挑戰決定了對更長時間的需求有更堅定承諾的過時協議。

With all of this said, entering into a new relationship with General Motors is a logical and straightforward decision for Livent. We hold a shared commitment to sustainable and responsible operations. We want to bring greater predictability to our supplier relationships. And we have a strong desire to strengthen and localize electric vehicle supply chains in the Western Hemisphere over time. Both companies also have complementary businesses and investment plans in Argentina and in Quebec, Canada. Livent expects to continue to expand its Americas footprint over time, while also continuing to add to its capabilities in other key regions.

綜上所述，與通用汽車建立新的合作關係對於 Livent 來說是一個合乎邏輯且直接的決定。我們共同致力於可持續和負責任的運營。我們希望為我們的供應商關係帶來更大的可預測性。我們強烈希望隨著時間的推移加強和本地化西半球的電動汽車供應鏈。兩家公司在阿根廷和加拿大魁北克也有互補的業務和投資計劃。 Livent 預計將隨著時間的推移繼續擴大其在美洲的足跡，同時繼續增加其在其他關鍵地區的能力。

Starting on Slide 4, I want to highlight the publication of our 2020 -- 2021 sustainability report last month and talk briefly about why sustainability is so critical to the discussion of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and the lithium industry. At the heart of the EV revolution is the growing global urgency for decarbonization and climate change solutions, including reduced reliance on fossil fuels for transportation.

從幻燈片 4 開始，我想重點介紹我們上個月發布的 2020 - 2021 年可持續發展報告，並簡要談談為什麼可持續發展對於電動汽車、鋰離子電池和鋰行業的討論如此重要。電動汽車革命的核心是全球對脫碳和氣候變化解決方案的日益緊迫，包括減少對化石燃料的運輸依賴。

In the early days of electric vehicles, the comparative carbon benefits of EVs over gasoline-powered vehicles seem limited to tailpipe emissions with lingering questions about overall carbon footprint advantages. That debate has now been resolved. The data is conclusive that modern EVs have a significantly lower carbon footprint than gasoline-powered vehicles on a total life cycle basis. This includes emissions from EV, battery and battery materials production as well as vehicle end-of-life and well-to-wheel emissions.

在電動汽車的早期，電動汽車相對於汽油動力汽車的比較碳效益似乎僅限於尾氣排放，而關於整體碳足跡優勢的問題揮之不去。這場辯論現在已經解決。數據是結論性的，現代電動汽車的碳足跡在整個生命週期的基礎上明顯低於汽油動力汽車。這包括電動汽車、電池和電池材料生產以及車輛報廢和油井到車輪的排放。

In fact, 2021 analysis by the International Energy Agency determined that EVs currently avoid 50% of the total life cycle emissions generated by their gasoline counterparts on the global average. This is actually a conservative estimate and the gap will only widen as electricity grids become greener. But at the same time, we expect there to be greater expectations for responsible investment and production across the EV, battery and battery material supply chains.

事實上，國際能源署 2021 年的分析確定，電動汽車目前在全球平均水平上避免了其汽油同類產品產生的總生命週期排放量的 50%。這實際上是一個保守的估計，隨著電網變得更加環保，差距只會擴大。但與此同時，我們預計對整個電動汽車、電池和電池材料供應鏈的負責任投資和生產會有更大的期望。

If you look at all the components and minerals that go into electric vehicles, there are clear opportunities for improvement. This goes beyond just carbon footprint. It extends that other environmental impacts, including water use and waste generation as well as the socio-economic impact on the local communities near mining and manufacturing sites. This is why sustainability is and will continue to be a top priority for Livent.

如果您查看電動汽車的所有組件和礦物質，就會發現明顯的改進機會。這不僅僅是碳足跡。它擴展了其他環境影響，包括用水和廢物產生以及對採礦和製造場所附近當地社區的社會經濟影響。這就是為什麼可持續性是並將繼續成為 Livent 的重中之重的原因。

We believe we have a fundamental responsibility to operate in a safe, ethical, socially conscious and sustainable manner. You'll see this commitment reflected in our sustainability report. It describes the progress we continue to make across all aspects of ESG, including the key process technologies and innovations, which differentiate Livent's sustainability profile, plans to make our operations even more efficient and less resource-intensive going forward and our ongoing efforts to advance human rights and increase the broad benefits obtained by local communities.

我們相信，我們負有以安全、合乎道德、具有社會意識和可持續發展的方式運營的基本責任。您會在我們的可持續發展報告中看到這一承諾。它描述了我們在 ESG 各個方面繼續取得的進展，包括使 Livent 的可持續發展概況與眾不同的關鍵流程技術和創新、使我們的運營更加高效和資源密集度更低的計劃，以及我們為推進人類發展所做的持續努力權利並增加當地社區獲得的廣泛利益。

A dual focus on growth and responsible operations is reflected in our various commitments to expand lithium production in a sustainable way. These commitments include meaningful reductions in our water use, greenhouse gas and waste disposed intensities by 2030, establishing a path to using 100% renewable energy in our operations and achieving overall carbon neutrality by 2040.

對增長和負責任運營的雙重關注體現在我們以可持續方式擴大鋰生產的各種承諾中。這些承諾包括到 2030 年顯著減少我們的用水量、溫室氣體和廢物處理強度，建立在我們的運營中使用 100% 可再生能源的道路，以及到 2040 年實現整體碳中和。

Of course, there's no denying that all extractive and manufacturing processes have sound environmental impact, but there are ways to minimize them. At Livent, we address these challenges as we do with most things, by using a data and science-led approach to assess local impacts and then finding solutions. This is one of the reasons we actively participate in responsible production initiatives such as IRMA as well as third-party studies on sustainable water use. Our engagement in these initiatives expands and deepens our understanding and helps us to improve.

當然，不可否認，所有採掘和製造過程都會對環境產生良好的影響，但有辦法將其降至最低。在 Livent，我們通過使用數據和科學主導的方法來評估當地影響，然後尋找解決方案，像處理大多數事情一樣應對這些挑戰。這是我們積極參與 IRMA 等負責任生產計劃以及第三方可持續用水研究的原因之一。我們參與這些舉措擴大並加深了我們的理解，並幫助我們改進。

For similar reasons, we've been conducting life cycle assessments or LCAs of our key products with leading organizations, including Minviro and Argonne National Labs. The findings from these assessments and studies provide insights to drive further enhancements across our operations, and more importantly, deliver on our broader commitments to growing responsibly. Taken together, we believe all of these actions will further enhance our competitive position as sustainability continues to grow as a focus for our customers.

出於類似的原因，我們一直在與領先的組織（包括 Minviro 和 Argonne National Labs）進行關鍵產品的生命週期評估或 LCA。這些評估和研究的結果為推動我們的業務進一步增強提供了見解，更重要的是，實現了我們對負責任增長的更廣泛承諾。總而言之，我們相信所有這些行動將進一步增強我們的競爭地位，因為可持續發展繼續成為我們客戶關注的焦點。

Turning now to some market observations on Slide 5. Despite short-term disruptions from a near complete shutdown in key regions in China during the second quarter due to zero tolerance COVID-19 policies, lithium demand continue to be incredibly strong. As we look back at the first 6 months of 2022, Chinese EV sales reached new highs of 2.6 million vehicles or roughly 115% higher versus the prior year period. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has increased its new energy vehicle production forecasts for the full year 2022 by 10%. Additionally, total battery installations in China through the first half of the year are up by even higher percentages.

現在轉向對幻燈片 5 的一些市場觀察。儘管由於 COVID-19 零容忍政策，第二季度中國主要地區幾乎完全停工造成短期中斷，但鋰需求仍然非常強勁。回顧 2022 年前 6 個月，中國電動汽車銷量創下 260 萬輛的新高，比去年同期增長約 115%。中國汽車工業協會將2022年全年新能源汽車產量預測上調10%。此外，今年上半年中國的電池總安裝量增長了更高的百分比。

With limited additional near-term lithium supply coming online and continued long and complex qualification processes for certain products, the market has continued to be extremely tight. What is even more clear is the forecasted lithium demand growth, which shows no signs of slowing down, continues to outpace any reasonable projections of supply growth in our industry over the foreseeable future.

由於近期上線的額外鋰供應有限，以及某些產品的持續漫長而復雜的認證流程，市場仍然非常緊張。更清楚的是，在可預見的未來，預測的鋰需求增長沒有放緩的跡象，繼續超過我們行業供應增長的任何合理預測。

That is not to say that there will not be some supply relief in the coming years, but it is hard to see a probable scenario where the lithium market does not remain structurally tight to varying degrees. So while the dramatic rises seen across all lithium prices, particularly in China, have started to stabilize, we believe that it is unlikely that prices will decrease dramatically from current levels during our near-term forecast period.

這並不是說未來幾年供應不會出現一些緩解，但很難看到鋰市場不會不同程度地保持結構性緊張的可能情況。因此，儘管所有鋰價格（尤其是在中國）的大幅上漲已經開始企穩，但我們認為，在我們的近期預測期內，價格不太可能從當前水平大幅下跌。

It's important to note that even at recent historical highs in lithium prices, we see no evidence of a resulting slowdown in demand. This is partly explained by the fact that lithium prices realized across our industry due to different regional, quality and contractual situations are not on average at the levels seen in the China price reporting data.

值得注意的是，即使鋰價格處於近期歷史高位，我們也沒有看到需求放緩的跡象。部分原因是，由於不同的地區、質量和合同情況，我們整個行業實現的鋰價格並未達到中國價格報告數據中的平均水平。

Conversely, on the supply side, there's a little surprise in the increased number of expansion announcements given the apparently clear financial justification for even the riskier or less attractive development projects. However, as those who have followed this industry for a period of time understand, making an announcement is not the same as bringing unusable supply. And more projects pursuing the same scarce capital and human resources may in fact slow down the pace at which new supply comes to market at a time when acceleration is needed.

相反，在供應方面，鑑於即使是風險更大或吸引力較小的開發項目的財務理由明顯明確，擴張公告數量的增加也令人有些意外。但是，正如那些關注這個行業一段時間的人所了解的那樣，發佈公告並不等於帶來無法使用的供應。在需要加速的時候，更多追求同樣稀缺資本和人力資源的項目實際上可能會減慢新供應進入市場的速度。

Expected supply additions continue to be meaningfully delayed as has been well documented. There are multiple reasons for this, ranging from permitting challenges to difficulties in procuring long lead time equipment with multiple competing projects to difficulties in finding sufficient experienced labor. Expansion projects and especially the greenfield developments that are becoming more critical have very complex undertakings and are time-intensive by their very nature.

正如有據可查的那樣，預期的供應增加繼續顯著延遲。造成這種情況的原因有很多，從允許挑戰到採購具有多個競爭項目的長交貨期設備的困難，再到難以找到足夠有經驗的勞動力。擴建項目，尤其是變得越來越重要的綠地開發項目具有非常複雜的任務，並且本質上是時間密集型的。

On top of this, the input costs for these necessary expansions are moving higher due to inflationary pressures and tight labor markets, especially in remote parts of the world where most activity is taking place. And of course, pressure from local communities to participate in these projects from decision-making processes through employment opportunities and royalty structures means that a longer, more extensive engagement is required before many of the greenfield projects can commence development.

最重要的是，由於通脹壓力和勞動力市場緊張，這些必要擴張的投入成本正在上升，尤其是在世界上大多數活動都在進行的偏遠地區。當然，當地社區從決策過程到就業機會和特許權使用費結構參與這些項目的壓力意味著，在許多新建項目開始開發之前，需要更長時間、更廣泛的參與。

Understandably, in this environment and with a growing realization that there is a fundamental shortage of lithium available for at least the next couple of years, those are higher focus from lithium consumers and particularly automotive OEMs on securing battery-grade lithium from proven suppliers. As demonstrated by recent announcements, including ours and General Motors, OEMs are becoming much more involved in battery material procurement conversations. And they are seeking to sign commitments with and increasingly provide capital to back to material suppliers, across all products and across all stages of development. However, we continue to believe that simply providing loan commitments of signing non-binding MOUs will do little to accelerate current projects and will not make a difference at all to the fundamental engineering or technical development challenges many of them face.

可以理解的是，在這種環境下，隨著人們越來越多地意識到至少在未來幾年內將出現根本性的鋰短缺，鋰消費者尤其是汽車原始設備製造商更加關注從成熟供應商那裡獲得電池級鋰。正如包括我們和通用汽車在內的近期公告所表明的那樣，原始設備製造商正越來越多地參與電池材料採購對話。他們正在尋求與所有產品和所有開發階段的材料供應商簽署承諾，並越來越多地向材料供應商提供資金。然而，我們仍然認為，僅僅提供簽署不具約束力的諒解備忘錄的貸款承諾對加速當前項目無濟於事，而且根本不會改變他們中許多人面臨的基本工程或技術開發挑戰。

I will now turn the call over to Gilberto.

我現在將把電話轉給吉爾伯托。

Thanks, Paul, and good evening, everyone. Turning to Slide 6. Livent reported second quarter revenue of $219 million, adjusted EBITDA of $95 million and adjusted earnings of $0.31 per diluted share. This is a record quarterly financial performance for Livent and demonstrates our ability to execute in this strong market environment. Versus the prior quarter, revenue was up 52% with slightly lower total LCE volumes sold more than offset by much higher realized pricing across all of our products. The lower LCE volumes delivered was not a reflection of lower demand, but rather was a function of customer timing as well as some logistical challenges in China due to the COVID-related lockdowns.

謝謝，保羅，大家晚上好。轉到幻燈片 6。 Livent 報告第二季度收入為 2.19 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 9500 萬美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.31 美元。這是 Livent 創紀錄的季度財務業績，證明了我們在這種強勁的市場環境中的執行能力。與上一季度相比，收入增長了 52%，而 LCE 總銷量略有下降，但被我們所有產品的更高實際定價所抵消。交付的 LCE 數量減少並不是需求下降的反映，而是客戶時機以及由於與 COVID 相關的封鎖而在中國面臨的一些後勤挑戰的函數。

Second quarter adjusted EBITDA was 78% higher than just last quarter and was roughly 6x higher than the prior year. This was due to a meaningful step-up in lithium prices across all products and our ability to take advantage of higher market price. Costs were also higher versus the prior quarter, largely due to rising costs of feedstock material, such as lithium metal for our butyllithium business. However, Livent has been able to pass through most of this higher cost to customers.

第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 比上一季度高出 78%，比上年高出約 6 倍。這是由於所有產品的鋰價格都大幅上漲，以及我們利用更高市場價格的能力。與上一季度相比，成本也較高，這主要是由於原料成本上升，例如我們的丁基鋰業務的鋰金屬。但是，Livent 已經能夠將大部分較高的成本轉嫁給客戶。

We finished the quarter with $49 million of cash on the balance sheet and our $400 million revolving credit facility remains undrawn. We also ended the quarter with roughly $179 million -- sorry, 179 million of common shares outstanding, inclusive of the additional shares issued in conjunction with the Nemaska transaction, which we closed during the second quarter. Livent now has a 50% ownership interest in Nemaska.

我們在本季度結束時資產負債表上有 4900 萬美元現金，我們的 4 億美元循環信貸額度仍未提取。我們還以大約 1.79 億美元結束了本季度——抱歉，有 1.79 億股已發行普通股，包括與我們在第二季度結束的 Nemaska 交易一起發行的額外股份。 Livent 現在擁有 Nemaska 50% 的所有權權益。

Through the first half of 2022, lithium demand was exceptionally strong and published lithium prices in all forms moved higher, reflect tight market conditions. We expect these market conditions to remain through at least the rest of 2022 and most likely into the first half of 2023. Livent's realized prices across all products were significantly higher sequentially in the second quarter. And we are expecting prices to remain at similar levels in the remaining quarters this year.

到 2022 年上半年，鋰需求異常強勁，公佈的各種形式的鋰價格走高，反映出市場狀況緊張。我們預計這些市場狀況至少會持續到 2022 年剩餘時間，並且很可能會持續到 2023 年上半年。Livent 的所有產品的實際價格在第二季度環比都顯著提高。我們預計今年剩餘季度的價格將保持在相似水平。

As a result, Livent has further improved its outlook as we move to the second half of 2022, as shown on Slide 7. This positive pricing impact, which has far exceeded our initial assumption, is largely reflected in the uncontracted portion of our business, which includes roughly 1/4 of our hydroxide sales volumes and all of our carbonate sales. And it also includes butyllithium and high purity metal where we actively shifted price setting from annual to a more short-term basis this year. This was done to address some of the more acute input cost pressures we are experiencing in those businesses, particularly lithium metal.

因此，隨著我們進入 2022 年下半年，Livent 進一步改善了其前景，如幻燈片 7 所示。這種遠遠超出我們最初假設的積極定價影響在很大程度上反映在我們業務的未簽約部分，其中包括大約 1/4 的氫氧化物銷量和我們所有的碳酸鹽銷量。它還包括丁基鋰和高純度金屬，我們今年積極將定價從年度調整為更短期的基礎。這樣做是為了解決我們在這些業務中遇到的一些更嚴重的投入成本壓力，特別是鋰金屬。

As a reminder, we expect 2022 total volumes sold on an LCE basis to be flat versus 2021 as no meaningful volumes from our capacity expansions are expected to be commercially available until 2023. The revised guidance does not assume any change in volumes compared to last guidance.

提醒一下，我們預計 2022 年以 LCE 為基礎的總銷量將與 2021 年持平，因為我們的產能擴張預計在 2023 年之前不會有任何有意義的銷量。與上次指南相比，修訂後的指南假設銷量沒有任何變化.

For the full year 2022, Livent now projects revenue to be in the range of $800 million to $860 million and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $325 million to $375 million. At the midpoint, this is a 35 and $30 million higher than prior guidance range respectively and is underpinned by the expectations for higher realized pricing across all lithium products.

對於 2022 年全年，Livent 現在預計收入將在 8 億美元至 8.6 億美元之間，調整後的 EBITDA 將在 3.25 億美元至 3.75 億美元之間。在中點，這分別比之前的指導範圍高出 35 美元和 3000 萬美元，這得益於對所有鋰產品實現更高定價的預期。

As a fully integrated producer of lithium products with predictability around cost and security of supply, Livent is able to build its core business around long-term supply agreements with firm commitments and more predictable pricing, while still retaining the ability to take advantage of higher market prices. This is supported by our position in key strategic markets and regions. And our ability to deliver both lithium carbonate and hydroxide to customers, provide us with a differentiated position and great operational flexibility.

作為一家在成本和供應安全方面具有可預測性的鋰產品生產商，Livent 能夠圍繞具有堅定承諾和更可預測定價的長期供應協議建立其核心業務，同時仍保留利用更高市場的能力價格。這得益於我們在關鍵戰略市場和地區的地位。我們向客戶提供碳酸鋰和氫氧化鋰的能力，為我們提供了差異化的地位和巨大的運營靈活性。

Livent has also increased its full year 2022 outlook for adjusted cash from operations to a range of $280 million to $340 million, which would mark a company record. This is a significant increase in cash flow generation. And as we look to the next few years, it will be enhanced by additional production volumes come online. This much improved cash generation position, coupled with the $198 million of advanced payment from General Motors, provide Livent with ample liquidity to continue advancing, and where possible, accelerating its capital expansions.

Livent 還將其 2022 年全年調整後的運營現金展望上調至 2.8 億至 3.4 億美元，這將創下公司紀錄。這是現金流量的顯著增加。我們展望未來幾年，將通過額外的生產量上線來增強它。這一顯著改善的現金生成狀況，再加上通用汽車 1.98 億美元的預付款，為 Livent 提供了充足的流動性以繼續推進，並在可能的情況下加速其資本擴張。

Livent's projection for 2022 capital spending of $300 million to $340 million remains unchanged. Having spent $132 million through Q2, the base of spending should increase in the second half of the year in line with our expectations ahead into the year.

Livent 對 2022 年資本支出 3 億至 3.4 億美元的預測保持不變。在第二季度花費了 1.32 億美元後，今年下半年的支出基數應該會增加，這符合我們對今年的預期。

I will now turn the call back to Paul.

我現在將電話轉回給保羅。

Thanks, Gilberto. I want to conclude with a few comments related to our ongoing expansion work and reiterate that we remain on schedule to deliver all of our announced capacity expansions. Focusing on the near-term, the first 10,000 metric ton expansion of lithium carbonate in Argentina will be mechanically complete by the end of this year and we'll commence commercial production during the first quarter of 2023.

謝謝，吉爾伯托。最後，我想就我們正在進行的擴建工作發表一些評論，並重申我們將按計劃交付我們宣布的所有產能擴張。著眼於近期，阿根廷首個10000噸碳酸鋰擴建將於今年年底機械完成，我們將在2023年第一季度開始商業生產。

The company's 5,000 metric ton expansion of lithium hydroxide in Bessemer City will be mechanically complete by the end of September this year and in commercial production in the following quarter. Although we do not expect meaningful sales from this unit until the start of 2023 given the nature of qualification processes and the timing of our additional carbonate production that will be used as feedstock coming online.

公司在Bessemer City的5000噸氫氧化鋰擴建工程將於今年9月底機械完工，下個季度投入商業生產。儘管鑑於認證過程的性質以及我們將用作原料的額外碳酸鹽生產的時間安排，我們預計該裝置在 2023 年初之前不會有有意義的銷售。

Livent is on track to add another 10,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate capacity in Argentina by the end of next year, which will nearly double Livent's total available LCEs from 2021 levels. The company also expects to add another 15,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide capacity at a new location in China by the end of 2023.

Livent 有望在明年年底前在阿根廷再增加 10,000 公噸碳酸鋰產能，這將使 Livent 的可用 LCE 總量比 2021 年水平增加近一倍。該公司還預計到 2023 年底將在中國的一個新地點再增加 15,000 噸氫氧化鋰產能。

Finally, Nemaska is concluding all remaining work on its construction plan. This is expected to be finalized by the end of the third quarter of this year. And we plan to provide a more detailed update on Nemaska as part of our next earnings call. As a reminder, Nemaska will be a fully integrated asset located in Quebec, Canada, with an expected 34,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide capacity and first production in the second half of 2025. We look forward to keeping you updated on all our progress in the coming quarters as we start to bring incremental volumes online and further advance our longer-dated expansion projects.

最後，Nemaska 正在完成其建設計劃的所有剩餘工作。預計將在今年第三季度末完成。作為我們下一次財報電話會議的一部分，我們計劃提供有關 Nemaska 的更詳細更新。提醒一下，Nemaska 將成為位於加拿大魁北克省的完全整合資產，預計 34,000 公噸電池級氫氧化鋰產能，並於 2025 年下半年首次投產。我們期待您隨時了解我們所有的最新信息。隨著我們開始將增量數量上線並進一步推進我們的長期擴張項目，我們將在未來幾個季度取得進展。

I will now turn the call back to Dan for questions.

我現在將電話轉回給 Dan 提問。

Thank you, Paul. Dennis, you may now begin the Q&A session.

謝謝你，保羅。丹尼斯，你現在可以開始問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) And the first question is from the line of Christopher Parkinson with Mizuho.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自克里斯托弗·帕金森（Christopher Parkinson）和瑞穗（Mizuho）的台詞。

A very simple question. Paul, obviously, you've been evaluating some of these potential contracts to OEs for quite some time. Can you just offer a little bit more color on the key variables that made GM such an attractive choice versus your discussions with other customers?

一個非常簡單的問題。保羅，很明顯，你已經評估了一些潛在的 OE 合同已經有一段時間了。與您與其他客戶的討論相比，您能否就使通用汽車成為如此有吸引力的選擇的關鍵變量提供更多色彩？

Sure. Look, I think it's -- you don't get to these kind of commitments quickly, and so we've been (inaudible) for a long time. And it gives us an insight into how their thinking has been developing and frankly it gives them an insight into what our capabilities are. And so I think it really starts with a long-term engagement with them, while you sort of figure out what does each of us want.

當然。聽著，我認為是——你不會很快做出這些承諾，所以我們已經（聽不清）很長時間了。它讓我們深入了解他們的思維是如何發展的，坦率地說，這讓他們了解我們的能力是什麼。所以我認為這真的始於與他們的長期接觸，而你可以弄清楚我們每個人想要什麼。

As I said in the call, Chris, we can't serve everybody. So looking for people who share our views as to how the supply chains can most responsibly evolve is really actually pretty important to us. I mean, we've been pretty clear that we believe localization of supply chains and certainly America's localization makes a lot of sense and General Motors share that view.

正如我在電話中所說，克里斯，我們不能為所有人服務。因此，尋找與我們分享供應鏈如何以最負責任的方式發展的觀點的人實際上對我們來說非常重要。我的意思是，我們非常清楚，我們相信供應鏈的本地化，當然美國的本地化很有意義，通用汽車也同意這一觀點。

I think we also are very thoughtful in many cases about what kind of commitments each of us are willing to make. And not every automotive company thinks of a commitment the same way, and General Motors is certainly thinking for the long-term here. By making the advanced payment, the prepayment, they are clearly indicating and giving us the commitment that we were looking for. Because let's be clear, it's a very much a commitment on our side too. We have to now make sure that we have both the capacity and frankly the material qualified into a supply chain that today doesn't necessarily exist with as much visibility as either of us would like.

我認為我們在很多情況下也非常考慮我們每個人願意做出什麼樣的承諾。並非每家汽車公司都以同樣的方式考慮承諾，通用汽車公司當然在這裡著眼於長遠。通過預付預付款，他們清楚地表明並給予我們我們正在尋找的承諾。因為讓我們明確一點，這也是我們的一項承諾。我們現在必須確保我們有能力，坦率地說，我們有足夠的材料進入供應鏈，而今天的供應鏈並不一定像我們兩個人想要的那樣具有可見性。

And so this is an engagement that requires us to be able to work together carefully and closely. And of course, we look for senior level commitment from General Motors and just as they do from us. And we were able to get that as part of this process of getting to know them better. So lots of factors really go into it to manage, Chris.

因此，這是一項需要我們能夠仔細而密切地合作的參與。當然，我們尋求通用汽車的高層承諾，就像他們對我們所做的那樣。作為更好地了解他們的過程的一部分，我們能夠做到這一點。克里斯，所以很多因素確實需要管理。

That's helpful. And just actually as a corollary of that question and ironically part of your response, if some of these upfront payments become more of the norm, whether it's to you or other producers, I mean does that ultimately open up other opportunities to diversify and look for other expansions or is there anything else to kind of add? Is this more about the asset or is this more about the producer and your ability to deliver high quality products?

這很有幫助。實際上，作為這個問題的必然結果，諷刺的是你的回答的一部分，如果這些預付款中的一些變得更加常態，無論是對你還是其他生產商，我的意思是這最終會開闢其他機會來多樣化和尋找其他擴展還是有什麼要添加的？這更多地與資產有關，還是更多地與生產商和您提供高質量產品的能力有關？

I mean, look, you would have to ask each counterparty that we deal with here, each partner that we have what their view of it is. I think I'm probably on safe ground by stating that most automotive OEMs who are still learning what the lithium industry is all about, have more confidence committing capital and committing -- just committing period to somebody who's demonstrated over decades or more that they can do this.

我的意思是，聽著，您將不得不詢問我們在這裡打交道的每個交易對手，每個合作夥伴我們對此有何看法。我認為我可能會說大多數汽車原始設備製造商仍在學習鋰行業的全部內容，他們更有信心投入資金和承諾——只是向那些在幾十年或更長時間內證明他們可以做到的人承諾一段時間。做這個。

It's a very different thing when you turn to somebody who has a hard rock mine in Australia or a non-conventional resource somewhere else or even frankly a new resource down in Argentina. It's a different commitment you're going to be willing to make, including the form of that commitment whether that's an MOU, whether that's a loan versus a prepayment, et cetera. And I think to the extent that there are opportunities to partner with us to grow our asset base in a way that otherwise we might not be able to do, I think people like General Motors absolutely open to hearing about that.

當你求助於在澳大利亞擁有硬岩礦或在其他地方擁有非常規資源，甚至坦率地說在阿根廷擁有新資源的人時，情況就完全不同了。這是您將願意做出的不同承諾，包括該承諾的形式，無論是諒解備忘錄，還是貸款還是預付款等等。我認為，如果有機會與我們合作，以一種我們可能無法做到的方式擴大我們的資產基礎，我認為像通用汽車這樣的人絕對願意聽到這個消息。

Your next question is from the line of Chris Kapsch with Loop Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Chris Kapsch。

So you made comments that you see the fundamentals as structurally tight sort of into the foreseeable future, but you also said on your revised guidance, the outlook of pricing just through being shrunk just through the first half of '23. So I'm just wondering if you could sort of reconcile those comments? And also on pricing outlook, do you see hydroxide and carbonate prices remaining close to parity or diverging over time?

因此，您發表評論說，在可預見的未來，您認為基本面在結構上會有些緊張，但您還在修訂後的指導中表示，定價前景只是在 23 年上半年被縮減。所以我只是想知道你是否可以調和這些評論？在定價前景方面，您認為氫氧化物和碳酸鹽的價格是否保持接近平價或隨著時間的推移而出現分歧？

Our ability to forecast 4 quarters out is not totally awful as an industry even forecast prices. And so sitting here in August, I feel confident about forecasting the rest of this year. It's hard for me to see what makes them change in Q1 and Q2 of next year. I'm not suggesting by the way that the end of Q2 next year this environment is over. I just am not willing to look much further than 3 or 4 quarters ahead.

我們預測 4 個季度的能力並不完全糟糕，因為一個行業甚至可以預測價格。所以八月份坐在這裡，我對預測今年剩下的時間充滿信心。我很難看出是什麼讓他們在明年第一季度和第二季度發生了變化。我並不是在暗示明年第二季度末這種環境已經結束。我只是不願意向前看超過 3 或 4 個季度。

And so the comment that it's turning through the end of 2022, I mean that's why we were confident in moving our guidance up. I just want to send the message that I don't know what changes in the next 3, 4, 5 months that makes the first half of 2023 we feel materially different to be perfectly honest. So I think that's really sort of where I'm coming with that comment.

所以評論說它將在 2022 年底結束，我的意思是這就是為什麼我們有信心提高我們的指導。我只是想傳達這樣一個信息，即我不知道在接下來的 3、4、5 個月內會發生什麼變化，這讓 2023 年上半年我們感覺完全不同。所以我認為這就是我要發表評論的地方。

I'm sorry, read your second part of the question, Chris, again.

對不起，克里斯，再次閱讀問題的第二部分。

Just right now hydroxide and carbonate prices are sort of at -- were close to parity. Do you see those diverging over time as more carbonate versus hydroxide or credible battery-grade hydroxide comes on?

就在現在，氫氧化物和碳酸鹽的價格有點接近 - 接近平價。隨著更多的碳酸鹽與氫氧化物或可靠的電池級氫氧化物的出現，您是否看到隨著時間的推移而出現差異？

It's a hard one to answer. The logical answer is why would you make hydroxide. It's just much more difficult to make. It's much more difficult to get qualified. Qualification processes are not shorter in this market. Everybody predicted when supply gets tight, let's see what qualification is by then, they've largely got longer for us most qualification processes and not shorter.

這是一個很難回答的問題。合乎邏輯的答案是你為什麼要製造氫氧化物。製作起來要困難得多。獲得資格要困難得多。在這個市場上，資格認證流程並不短。每個人都預測當供應緊張時，讓我們看看到那時什麼是資格認證，他們對我們大多數資格認證流程來說基本上更長，而不是更短。

Carbonate commands a similar price today. I mean, making a decision honestly rationally, why would you make hydroxide. But of course, we know if that does happen, you'll create quite likely a supply tightness in hydroxide, especially if it grows just as quick, if not quicker, and from a smaller producer base. So I do expect hydroxide to maintain a premium. I think we've seen in the past that it tends to be more stable because of the contracting nature in hydroxide. I think that will be the case too. I think you'll just get more volatility in carbonate pricing.

今天的碳酸鹽價格相似。我的意思是，誠實理性地做出決定，為什麼要製造氫氧化物。但是，當然，我們知道如果確實發生了這種情況，您很可能會造成氫氧化物供應緊張，特別是如果它的增長速度同樣快，甚至更快，而且生產商基礎較小。所以我確實希望氫氧化物保持溢價。我認為我們過去已經看到，由於氫氧化物的收縮性質，它往往更穩定。我認為情況也會如此。我認為你只會在碳酸鹽定價中獲得更大的波動性。

Having said all of that, one thing we've discovered is that because of the predominant way that most products are made, today at least, there's always a knock-on effect. When you have LCEs in some form, somebody someone has to make a decision as to what to make of it. We've seen in metal particularly the challenges in getting lithium metal prices down because everything referenced against the decision, should I just make the simple version of carbonate. I think it's why commitments from OEMs are going to be needed to incentivize people to continue to invest in hydroxide. And I think in return for that, you'll certainly get more stable and predictable pricing in hydroxide.

說了這麼多，我們發現的一件事是，由於大多數產品的主要製造方式，至少在今天，總會產生連鎖反應。當您擁有某種形式的 LCE 時，必須有人決定如何處理它。我們已經看到金屬特別是降低鋰金屬價格的挑戰，因為一切都反對該決定，我是否應該製作簡單的碳酸鹽版本。我認為這就是為什麼需要原始設備製造商的承諾來激勵人們繼續投資氫氧化物。我認為作為回報，您肯定會獲得更穩定和可預測的氫氧化物定價。

That's helpful. My follow-up question was just on the GM agreement. And just curious if Nemaska is contemplated in that partnership at this point or if not, why not?

這很有幫助。我的後續問題只是關於通用汽車協議。只是好奇 Nemaska 目前是否考慮加入該合作夥伴關係，或者如果沒有，為什麼不呢？

Nemaska is still an independent entity, just remember that. And so while there won't be any commercial agreements -- and Nemaska hasn't contracted anything yet. It's still too early in its development process to do that. So this is not contemplated in there.

Nemaska 仍然是一個獨立的實體，請記住這一點。因此，雖然不會有任何商業協議——Nemaska 還沒有簽訂任何合同。在其開發過程中這樣做還為時過早。所以這不是在那裡考慮的。

Clearly, forming the relationship with General Motors, we would be disingenuous if we didn't look to Quebec and what both of us are doing there and see great opportunities to remain very close in that regard. We have a partner in Nemaska in IQ who have just as large a sales we do. And so whatever decisions are made around Nemaska will be made by Nemaska but will require the approval of both Livent and IQ. And as I said, it's still a little too early to make those commitments on Nemaska's part.

顯然，與通用汽車建立關係，如果我們不關注魁北克以及我們倆在那裡所做的事情，並看到在這方面保持密切聯繫的巨大機會，我們將是不誠實的。我們在 IQ 的 Nemaska 有一個合作夥伴，他的銷售額與我們一樣大。因此，圍繞 Nemaska 做出的任何決定都將由 Nemaska 做出，但需要得到 Livent 和 IQ 的批准。正如我所說，現在就 Nemaska 做出這些承諾還為時過早。

Our next question is from the line of Steve Richardson with Evercore ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自於 Evercore ISI 的 Steve Richardson。

Paul, I was wondering if you could talk about, as you've concluded the GM agreement, just think about your other stable of customers. And so I guess the question is, your existing customers are seeing you lock up some of your volume growth contractually. Does this create an opportunity to convert some of the shorter term agreements to term in the same way? And again, I guess the follow-up to that is, how many of these types of agreements do you think is the -- are the right number for the size of business you'll have in '25 and '26 considering the tonnage?

保羅，我想知道你是否可以談談，因為你已經簽訂了通用汽車協議，想想你的其他穩定的客戶。所以我想問題是，您現有的客戶看到您以合同方式鎖定了部分銷量增長。這是否創造了以相同方式將一些短期協議轉換為期限的機會？再一次，我想後續行動是，您認為有多少此類協議是 - 考慮到噸位，您在 25 年和 26 年將擁有的業務規模是正確的數字？

Yes, really good questions and one that we wrestle with every single day. Look, I think it's important to point out every single customer OEM that we have is at a different stage in their development. They're running different models about how and where and why they source batteries. They're probably running different mixes of covenant and hydroxide-based batteries in different regions and somehow global strategies and some of regional strategies.

是的，非常好的問題，也是我們每天都在努力解決的問題。看，我認為重要的是要指出我們擁有的每個客戶 OEM 都處於其發展的不同階段。他們正在運行不同的模型，了解他們如何、在哪里以及為什麼採購電池。他們可能在不同地區運行不同的契約電池和氫氧化物電池組合，並以某種方式運行全球戰略和一些區域戰略。

And so I don't think we have a one size fits all for our customers nor would we want it. I think we've said that we're looking to build long-term supply agreements. By definition, that means that the supply agreements we have today, we want to continue. We want to continue to grow them and build them. And we've put a lot of time and effort and investment into those customers. And so we are adding a couple of more customers does not represent by any stretch of the imagination a change in strategy or tactics with our existing customers.

因此，我認為我們沒有一種適合所有客戶的尺寸，我們也不會想要它。我想我們已經說過我們正在尋求建立長期供應協議。根據定義，這意味著我們今天擁有的供應協議，我們希望繼續。我們希望繼續發展它們並建立它們。我們已經為這些客戶投入了大量的時間、精力和投資。因此，我們增加了幾個客戶，這並不代表我們現有客戶的戰略或策略發生變化。

With regard to how many is enough. You could certainly see that we stop at 3 and still wish you were bigger in terms of what your market share will be at each of those customers. I think for us, it's going to be much more regional in the way we answer that question rather than taking a global perspective on the addressable market at customers. It's going to be more of a regional question. I would expect that we certainly will want to add over the next 2, 3 or 4 years as we double in size and then hopefully double again in the future. We want to add at least a couple of more major relationships to be of a size that makes sense.

至於多少就夠了。您當然可以看到我們在 3 處停止，並且仍然希望您在每個客戶的市場份額方面更大。我認為對我們來說，我們回答這個問題的方式將更具區域性，而不是從全球視角看待客戶的潛在市場。這將是一個區域性問題。我預計我們肯定會希望在接下來的 2、3 或 4 年內增加，因為我們的規模翻了一番，然後希望將來再翻一番。我們希望添加至少幾個更重要的關係，以使其具有合理的規模。

Now I wouldn't forget by the way that behind that are whole bunch of relationships that we do have with multiple cathode producers that we intend to continue to support away from their OEM supply chains as well as industrial customers. We have our carbonate business, which is obviously very different and then our butyllithium and metals-based businesses. So we'll continue to have diversification even if we remain relatively concentrated in hydroxide.

現在我不會忘記，這背後是我們與多家陰極生產商建立的大量關係，我們打算繼續支持他們的 OEM 供應鏈以及工業客戶。我們有我們的碳酸鹽業務，這顯然非常不同，然後是我們的丁基鋰和金屬業務。因此，即使我們仍然相對集中於氫氧化物，我們仍將繼續多元化。

If I could just slip in one more, Paul. I think it's important to address. There's been some volatility around headlines out of Argentina, around the regulatory framework. And I was wondering if you could just quickly address your relationships in the province and that regulatory framework and the stability of that just in regards to some of the volatility we've seen with some of these headlines?

如果我能再溜進去一個，保羅。我認為解決問題很重要。圍繞監管框架，阿根廷的頭條新聞出現了一些波動。而且我想知道您是否可以快速解決您在該省的關係以及監管框架以及我們在其中一些頭條新聞中看到的一些波動性的穩定性？

Yes, I'm not sure it's possible to be addressed quickly. But Argentina is complicated, but we've been there a long time. We have -- there were really 2 major areas of relationships, federal and provincial and the federal relationships. Federal is complicated right now. I mean there's been enough changes around that economy ministry today, the structure of it, the head of it, what we've caused into it. It creates noise. A lot of it bluntly is noise. We don't see a lot of near-term or short-term impact on us from most federal actions.

是的，我不確定是否可以快速解決。但是阿根廷很複雜，但我們已經在那裡很久了。我們有——實際上有兩個主要的關係領域，聯邦和省以及聯邦關係。聯邦現在很複雜。我的意思是今天的經濟部已經發生了足夠多的變化，它的結構，它的負責人，我們對它造成了什麼影響。它會產生噪音。直白地說，很多都是噪音。我們沒有看到大多數聯邦行動對我們產生很多近期或短期影響。

The biggest relationship that really matters frankly isn't for expansions and ongoing operations at the provincial level and the Province of Catamarca is critical to us. And we invest a lot of time in communities in Catamarca. We invest a lot of time making sure we have complete transparency with both the government, the administration and the communities. And it remains a constant dialogue that we have with them, which is I think very good, it's very solid. We don't always agree with each other, and I think sometimes we have to agree to disagree at certain topics. But we're all trying to pursue the same thing, which is increasing the economic benefits to Argentina, to the Province of Catamarca through responsible development and responsible operation.

坦率地說，真正重要的最大關係不是省級的擴張和持續運營，而卡塔馬卡省對我們至關重要。我們在卡塔馬卡的社區投入了大量時間。我們投入大量時間確保我們對政府、行政部門和社區都完全透明。我們與他們保持持續的對話，我認為這非常好，非常紮實。我們並不總是彼此同意，我認為有時我們必須同意在某些主題上不同意。但是我們都在努力追求同樣的事情，那就是通過負責任的發展和負責任的運營，增加阿根廷和卡塔馬卡省的經濟利益。

Your next question is from the line of Kevin McCarthy with Vertical Research Partners.

您的下一個問題來自垂直研究合作夥伴的 Kevin McCarthy。

Paul, how would you describe the pricing mechanism that's embedded in your contract with GM for lithium hydroxide?

保羅，您如何描述與通用汽車簽訂的氫氧化鋰合同中的定價機制？

I'm surprised to wait so long for that question, Kevin. Look, obviously, we're not going to disclose confidential commercial details. It's not appropriate to do so. But what I would say is I think a couple of the principles behind this were I think there was a desire to not attempt to try and predict future prices with too much accuracy. So variable market-based references are certainly involved in the way pricing will ultimately be set. But at the same time, I think we also wanted to avoid either party being in any way economically disadvantaged by the incredibly tight or incredibly loose markets.

凱文，我很驚訝這個問題等了這麼久。看，顯然，我們不會透露機密的商業細節。這樣做是不合適的。但我想說的是，我認為這背後的一些原則是，我認為人們不想嘗試太準確地預測未來的價格。因此，最終定價的方式肯定會涉及可變的基於市場的參考。但與此同時，我認為我們也希望避免任何一方因極其緊張或極其寬鬆的市場而在經濟上處於任何不利地位。

So we've put in place mechanisms that help to protect Livent's profitability in an environment where pricing moves down significantly and to protect General Motor's profitability in environments where prices move up significantly. So they were really important parts of the conversation, they were important parts of the structure. And look, bluntly, we both look at each other and say either of us are smart enough to know what the price of lithium hydroxide is going to be in 2027 and 2028. And so we recognize that we have to keep engaging with each other to make sure that the partnership is delivering what both of us want. Pricing is only a piece of that, but it's an important one.

因此，我們制定了有助於在價格大幅下跌的環境中保護 Livent 的盈利能力並在價格大幅上漲的環境中保護通用汽車的盈利能力的機制。所以它們是談話中非常重要的部分，它們是結構的重要部分。看，坦率地說，我們都看著對方，說我們中的任何一個都足夠聰明，知道氫氧化鋰的價格在 2027 年和 2028 年會是多少。所以我們認識到我們必須繼續相互接觸確保合作夥伴關係能夠滿足我們雙方的需求。定價只是其中的一部分，但它很重要。

It makes sense. As a second question, I wanted to ask you about volume. I think in your prepared remarks, you affirmed the view that volume will be about flat for this year. As I look at your Slide 10, it appears as though volume declined sequentially in the quarter, and I believe that was true of the first quarter as well. If that's correct, should we expect higher volumes in the back half of the year relative to the front half or how would you characterize the amount of volume that you have sold and will sell?

這說得通。作為第二個問題，我想問你關於音量的問題。我認為在你準備好的發言中，你肯定了今年成交量將基本持平的觀點。當我查看您的幻燈片 10 時，似乎該季度的交易量連續下降，我相信第一季度也是如此。如果這是正確的，我們是否應該預計下半年相對於上半年的銷量會更高，或者您如何描述您已售出和將要售出的數量？

That is absolutely how [the math] works, correct.

這絕對是[數學]的工作原理，正確的。

Your next question is from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James.

你的下一個問題來自雷蒙德詹姆斯的帕維爾莫爾查諾夫。

So a lot of bullishness, but let me rain on the parade a little bit. What in your mind could cause a down cycle in the lithium market conceptually?

如此多的看漲，但讓我在遊行中下雨。從概念上講，您認為什麼會導致鋰市場出現下行週期？

So let's just think about what underpins this structure. I mean we can all point to larger, major global events that could change this, particularly in China, particularly with given how much of the lithium flows through China. You can't help but look in that direction, like could we get a major disruption over there of whatever type. I don't have to predict that or how to manage my business any differently around that one.

所以讓我們想想是什麼支撐了這個結構。我的意思是，我們都可以指出可能改變這種情況的更大的、重大的全球事件，尤其是在中國，尤其是考慮到有多少鋰流經中國。你不禁朝那個方向看，就像我們在那裡會受到任何類型的重大破壞一樣。我不必對此進行預測，也不必圍繞該業務以任何不同的方式管理我的業務。

I think it's difficult to imagine that the pressures that are creating demand in China and in Europe, particularly as China has massive policy incentives in place to drive electrification, to drive leadership frankly in the entire value chain of electrification and that's just been reaffirmed very recently with some of their policies. I think China is going to continue to be an immediately important end market, not just a manufacturing location, but a demand location. I don't see that fundamentally changing.

我認為很難想像正在中國和歐洲創造需求的壓力，特別是因為中國有大量的政策激勵措施來推動電氣化，坦率地推動整個電氣化價值鏈的領導地位，而這一點最近才得到重申與他們的一些政策。我認為中國將繼續成為一個直接重要的終端市場，不僅僅是一個製造地點，而是一個需求地點。我認為這不會發生根本性的變化。

I think that Europe is the same, I think for whatever good or bad reason, the policy -- the policies in Europe are really here to stay. And I don't think anybody is expecting a sudden reversal away from them because they are largely driven by climate change commitments on that power, which is different to China. I think the U.S. is creating a lot of demand right now, a lot of demand expectation, and clearly, that may not be there. It's much more difficult to predict. I think the -- some of the acts that have been looked at trying to pass right now clearly help you build that confidence. I think consumers continue to look at electric vehicles in the U.S. favorably. But maybe there's a demand shortfall or decline there. It's hard for me to though really see a single area that's going to fundamentally change the demand side.

我認為歐洲是一樣的，我認為無論出於什麼好或壞的原因，政策——歐洲的政策真的會繼續存在。而且我認為沒有人會期望它們會突然逆轉，因為它們在很大程度上是受到氣候變化承諾的驅動，這與中國不同。我認為美國現在正在創造大量需求，大量需求預期，很明顯，這可能不存在。預測要困難得多。我認為 - 一些現在試圖通過的法案顯然可以幫助你建立這種信心。我認為消費者繼續看好美國的電動汽車。但也許那裡存在需求短缺或下降。我很難真正看到一個領域將從根本上改變需求方。

So then you just certainly question does somebody for the market on the supply side. I mean we have total demand for lithium hydroxide in our -- for lithium, sorry, on an LCE basis in 2022, probably up 200,000 tons or more. There's very few new projects come online that are bigger than 30,000 or 40,000 tons, I mean. So it's hard to flow the market when a single project is 30,000 tons and we need 6 or 7 of them a year just to deal with the growth. So I don't -- I struggle to see where the big product supply comes from as well in the short-term anyway.

那麼你肯定會質疑供應方面的市場是否有人。我的意思是，我們對氫氧化鋰的總需求——對於鋰，抱歉，在 2022 年的 LCE 基礎上，可能會增加 200,000 噸或更多。我的意思是，很少有新項目上線超過 30,000 或 40,000 噸。所以當一個項目3萬噸的時候，市場很難流通，我們每年需要6到7個來應對增長。所以我不——無論如何，我很難在短期內看到大量產品供應的來源。

You touched on just a minute ago, but what are your thoughts are on these domestic content rules being proposed in relation to the electric vehicle tax credit in the United States?

您剛才談到了，但是您對這些與美國電動汽車稅收抵免有關的國內內容規則有何看法？

I think a lot of that domestic content would have happened anyway, maybe not as quickly and maybe it feels more certain now. But I think when people do understand post semiconductors, the challenges, the risks and the dangers of allowing such heavy concentration in a single country of all the manufacturing. And so I think in our conversations with General Motors and others all reflected strong desire to diversify supply chains for good economic and business reasons. They don't need legislation, but legislation helps for sure.

我認為很多國內內容無論如何都會發生，也許不會那麼快，也許現在感覺更確定了。但我認為，當人們真正理解後半導體時，允許如此高度集中在所有製造業的單一國家所面臨的挑戰、風險和危險。因此，我認為在我們與通用汽車和其他公司的對話中，都反映了出於良好的經濟和商業原因使供應鏈多樣化的強烈願望。他們不需要立法，但立法肯定會有所幫助。

Your next question is from the line of Joel Jackson with BMO Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Joel Jackson。

Just reviewing some of the disclosure and guidance you gave from the Q1 deck, you talked about having 29,000 tons of LCE available for sale in '23, 34,000 tons of LCE available in 2024. You didn't have those same set of slides in this deck. Is that still the guidance or is something better or worse?

只是回顧了你從第一季度甲板上提供的一些披露和指導，你談到在 23 年有 29,000 噸 LCE 可供出售，2024 年有 34,000 噸 LCE 可供出售。你沒有在這組相同的幻燈片甲板。這仍然是指導還是更好或更壞？

No, at the moment, that's still the same, Joel. That hasn't changed. Unless that reflects, I mean, it's -- it reflects the timing on which product -- new capacity comes online and the ramp-up time and qualification times. And so I think as we get near to mechanical completion and start then we'll be in a better position to see that how much will we actually add in 2023 as salable product. We know what we had in capacity. But I think you know better than anybody, you don't just switch these things on and lithium carbonate on hydroxide comes fitting. The speed of which we can bring them on and the pace at which we can get individual new units qualified will allow us to revisit those numbers closer to the time.

不，目前，這仍然是一樣的，喬爾。那沒有改變。除非這反映了，我的意思是，它反映了新產能上線的時間以及加速時間和資格認證時間。所以我認為，隨著我們接近機械完工並開始，我們將處於更好的位置，可以看到我們在 2023 年實際添加多少作為可銷售產品。我們知道我們有什麼能力。但我認為你比任何人都清楚，你不只是打開這些東西，氫氧化物上的碳酸鋰就很合適。我們可以讓他們加入的速度以及我們可以讓單個新單位獲得資格的速度將使我們能夠在更接近時間的情況下重新審視這些數字。

I wanted to bring up again the question of what to do with Nemaska obviously as a partner with Investissement Quebec? I mean obviously you know what happened to Nemaska last time and they signed a bunch of offtakes with small amounts of money here, $10 million, no upfront capital, didn't really help them raise over $1 billion. We're seeing another OEM in the last couple of weeks go out and throw MOUs, not with a lot of commitment at all, bunch of junior projects, don't know what that means. As a partner at Nemaska with IQ, what will your kind of leading beats? Would you be willing to sign an MOU, doesn't have paid upfront capital or maybe leading to a deal like this or you got a couple of hundred million dollars that you did in existing -- a couple of million dollars to help get some commitment from the OEM? Like what's sort of your meaning?

我想再次提出一個問題，顯然作為 Investissement Quebec 的合作夥伴，Nemaska 該怎麼辦？我的意思是顯然你知道 Nemaska 上次發生了什麼，他們在這裡用少量資金簽署了一系列承購協議，1000 萬美元，沒有前期資金，並沒有真正幫助他們籌集超過 10 億美元。在過去的幾周里，我們看到另一個 OEM 出去拋出 MOU，根本沒有太多的承諾，一堆初級項目，不知道這意味著什麼。作為擁有 IQ 的 Nemaska 的合作夥伴，您的領先優勢會是什麼？您是否願意簽署諒解備忘錄，沒有支付前期資金或者可能導致這樣的交易，或者您獲得了現有的幾億美元 - 幾百萬美元來幫助獲得一些承諾來自 OEM？比如你的意思是什麼？

So I think 2 things we have never been supported ourselves are what I'll loosely call will in fact becomes a running job with our conversations with customers or potential customers as we correct them every time that we say offtake. You can't win an offtake agreement on lithium hydroxide. It seems to deliver at the factory day and up it goes. That copper forms a chemical supply agreements that require real engagement. So we don't sign MOUs and we don't sign anything that looks like a free option for the purchaser. We would not be supportive of that. And that is what Nemaska did last time.

因此，我認為我們自己從未得到支持的兩件事是我將鬆散地稱為實際上將成為我們與客戶或潛在客戶對話的一項持續工作，因為我們每次說承接時都會糾正他們。你無法贏得氫氧化鋰的承購協議。它似乎在工廠當天交付，然後就可以了。銅形成了需要真正參與的化學品供應協議。因此，我們不簽署諒解備忘錄，也不簽署任何看起來對購買者來說是免費選項的東西。我們不會支持這一點。這就是 Nemaska 上次所做的。

We also are not supportive of prematurely putting debt on to Nemaska. I think as a business, it clearly can support that a little bit at an appropriate time. But we know that was taken down by an inappropriate debt load. We will work with IQ to make sure we get the funding in place the right way. There are a number of customers that make a lot of sense for Nemaska given where their supply chains are being built and we and IQ see completely eye to eye on that, which of them we choose to contract with will again just like we said with General Motors I think be a function of what kinds of commitments those customers are willing to make today. And we recognize, look, it's a development project. It's not -- it doesn't have the broad network of assets that we have today that gives customers more comfort that they actually will get the product.

我們也不支持過早地向 Nemaska 欠債。我認為作為一家企業，它顯然可以在適當的時候支持這一點。但我們知道，這是由於不適當的債務負擔而取消的。我們將與 IQ 合作，確保我們以正確的方式獲得資金。有很多客戶對 Nemaska 很有意義，因為他們的供應鍊是在哪裡建立的，我們和 IQ 完全一致，我們選擇與他們中的哪一個再次簽約，就像我們對 General 所說的那樣我認為電機取決於這些客戶今天願意做出什麼樣的承諾。我們認識到，看，這是一個開發項目。不是——它沒有我們今天擁有的廣泛的資產網絡，無法讓客戶更加放心，因為他們實際上會得到產品。

So it's going to look different than Nemaska, but I think a lot of what we talked about today and what we've been talking about frankly on calls for a couple of years now, I think Nemaska lends itself very well to finding the right partners, making the commitments and working with them to get them what they need, while at the same time, giving Nemaska what it needs.

所以它看起來會與 Nemaska 不同，但我認為我們今天談論的很多內容以及我們幾年來在電話會議上坦率談論的內容，我認為 Nemaska 非常適合尋找合適的合作夥伴，做出承諾並與他們合作，為他們提供所需的東西，同時為 Nemaska 提供所需的東西。

Do you find strategics look at Quebec a little more negative based on some of the history of other projects?

根據其他項目的一些歷史，您是否發現戰略對魁北克的看法更加消極？

Compared to Argentina or compared to well...

與阿根廷相比或與...相比...

Well, compared to anywhere else, but Quebec started from a bad luck (inaudible).

好吧，與其他任何地方相比，但魁北克從運氣不佳開始（聽不清）。

I actually hear the opposite. I hear a lot of people say incredibly good things about the way the Quebec Government has put in place its battery technology policies and its infrastructure support. I have to say I've kind of seen the same thing. I've heard this comment about Quebec somehow being disadvantaged in there. I just frankly I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. But I think they have a very coherent policy with regard to broader or who they're trying to attract. I think they've been very successful in presenting their assets, not just the resources, but hydroelectric power, green power, physical location, et cetera, geographical reach very effectively. I think Quebec is probably one of the more favorable jurisdictions I hear customers being willing to be associated with.

我實際上聽到相反的聲音。我聽到很多人對魁北克政府實施電池技術政策和基礎設施支持的方式表示難以置信的好話。我不得不說我見過同樣的事情。我聽說魁北克在某種程度上處於不利地位的評論。我只是坦率地說我還沒有看到它。也許我沒有找對地方。但我認為他們對更廣泛的或他們試圖吸引的人有一個非常一致的政策。我認為他們非常成功地展示了他們的資產，不僅僅是資源，還有水力發電、綠色電力、物理位置等等，地理範圍非常有效。我認為魁北克可能是我聽到客戶願意與之聯繫的更有利的司法管轄區之一。

Your next question is from the line of Aleksey Yefremov with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Aleksey Yefremov。

Paul, have you extended any contracts further from long-term contract portfolio during the quarter or have you renegotiated other terms such as price?

保羅，您是否在本季度進一步延長了長期合同組合的任何合同，或者您是否重新談判了價格等其他條款？

No.

不。

So that's pretty steady. So if you look at your portfolio of contracts for '23, how do you feel the pricing for those long-term contracts is likely to be hit? And maybe what percentage of them can have a meaningful update on price and maybe as a group that 3/4 of hydroxide that's under long-term contracts, what the ASP change could be?

所以這很穩定。因此，如果您查看 23 年的合同組合，您認為這些長期合同的定價可能會受到怎樣的影響？也許其中有多少百分比可以對價格進行有意義的更新，也許作為一個長期合同下 3/4 的氫氧化物組，平均售價的變化可能是什麼？

Yes, I don't think they'll change. I'm not expecting them to change at all because of the nature of -- because they will be (inaudible) a little bit of an increase for a bunch of minor reasons that I won't go you with. So they will go up a little bit on average for next year. But no, I'm not expecting major changes. I mean, I think we -- back to this idea of commitments to customers, unless there's a very good reason to renegotiate on both sides, these contracts were designed to stay in place the way that they are. I would say they'll represent a smaller proportion of our revenue next year because we have more volume coming online, and none of that has been committed nor will we commit it before we go into next year. So we will have more market exposure on a relative basis and on an absolute basis next year.

是的，我認為他們不會改變。我不指望它們會因為以下性質而改變——因為它們會（聽不清）由於一堆我不會同意的次要原因而有所增加。所以他們明年的平均水平會上升一點。但不，我不期待重大變化。我的意思是，我認為我們 - 回到對客戶承諾的想法，除非雙方有充分的理由重新談判，否則這些合同旨在保持原樣。我想說他們明年將占我們收入的一小部分，因為我們有更多的在線交易量，而且這些都沒有承諾，我們也不會在明年之前承諾。因此，明年我們將在相對基礎上和絕對基礎上擁有更多的市場敞口。

Your next question is from the line of P.J. Juvekar with Citigroup.

您的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 P.J. Juvekar。

Congrats on your GM announcement. Does it involve building -- this GM agreement, does that involve building incremental conversion capacity in North America? And sort of what are the commitments on building out new capacity to meet demands of GM?

恭喜你的 GM 公告。它是否涉及建立——這項通用汽車協議，是否涉及在北美建立增量轉換能力？以及在建設新能力以滿足通用汽車需求方面的承諾是什麼？

We have made no specific commitments. It's entirely up to us as to how, when and what we do with regard to meet those commitments. We've clearly made commitments and those commitments include both a volume commitment and a regionalization commitment. So we will absolutely meet those commitments. But those -- we have not -- there's nothing specific. We have complete freedom as to how we do that.

我們沒有做出具體承諾。至於如何、何時以及如何履行這些承諾，完全取決於我們自己。我們已經明確做出承諾，這些承諾包括數量承諾和區域化承諾。因此，我們絕對會履行這些承諾。但是那些——我們沒有——沒有什麼特別的。我們對如何做到這一點擁有完全的自由。

And what do you mean by regionalization commitment? What does that mean?

你所說的區域化承諾是什麼意思？這意味著什麼？

They're looking to have lithium hydroxide produced in very close proximity to where they produce their cathode materials and then ultimately where they produce their batteries. So as their chain of the supply chain, if you will, for that battery technology. And I think they've announced now a couple of cathode partners, both of those cathode partners have made commitments to build cathode material capacity in North America. GM wants the lithium hydroxide to also be produced in North America. They don't need the raw material to come from North America, but they want that final production, that processing step into lithium hydroxide to be in the same region.

他們希望在非常靠近生產陰極材料的地方以及最終生產電池的地方生產氫氧化鋰。如果你願意的話，作為他們的供應鍊鍊，對於那種電池技術。我認為他們現在已經宣布了幾個陰極合作夥伴，這兩個陰極合作夥伴都承諾在北美建立陰極材料產能。通用汽車希望氫氧化鋰也能在北美生產。他們不需要來自北美的原材料，但他們希望最終生產，氫氧化鋰的加工步驟在同一地區。

And then a lot of people have talked about solid-state batteries or silicon anode or lithium metal batteries. Have you seen any significant advances or are all these technologies still a few years away?

然後很多人都在談論固態電池或矽陽極或鋰金屬電池。您是否看到了任何重大進展，或者所有這些技術還需要幾年時間嗎？

One thing I'd tell you is that it's a lot more difficult to get excited about a solid-state battery or lithium metal battery and lithium metal is so expensive now. I mean the economics quickly get twisted on solid-state if you're not careful. So the question is, do you get as much performance out of it relative to the extra cost of that, a few metal you have to put in there. It depends on the solid-state technology.

我要告訴你的一件事是，對固態電池或鋰金屬電池感到興奮要困難得多，而且現在鋰金屬是如此昂貴。我的意思是，如果你不小心的話，經濟學很快就會在固態上扭曲。所以問題是，相對於額外的成本，你是否能從中獲得盡可能多的性能，你必須在其中放入一些金屬。這取決於固態技術。

I will tell you, look, I don't expect solid-state technology to materially and incrementally move on a quarter-by-quarter basis, just not going to happen that quickly. And so you can ask me each quarter and I suspect it will feel the same. While there may be changes taking place, I don't see anything that suggests or any automotive OEM having any kind of conversation that suggests an expectation of an imminent shift to solid-state.

我會告訴你，看，我不希望固態技術逐個季度地實質性地和增量地發展，只是不會那麼快發生。所以你可以每季度問我一次，我懷疑它會感覺一樣。雖然可能會發生變化，但我沒有看到任何暗示或任何汽車原始設備製造商有任何類型的對話暗示即將轉向固態的預期。

Your next question is from the line of Matthew DeYoe with Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Matthew DeYoe。

Livent's on track to add 20,000 metric tons by the end of next year, but clearly bullish. So why is that production expansion not 30,000 or 40,000 or 50,000? Like what are the primary blocks to being more aggressive? Because some of your peers are taking much bigger swings at some of the expansions.

Livent 有望在明年年底前增加 20,000 公噸，但顯然看漲。那麼為什么生產擴張不是 30,000 或 40,000 或 50,000 呢？比如，更具侵略性的主要障礙是什麼？因為你的一些同行在一些擴張中採取了更大的波動。

The easiest way to answer that is to say, why don't you come visit our site in Argentina and see how you feel about expanding at that pace. It's remote. It has significant infrastructure that needs to be built. The lead time on building that infrastructure is not 6 months. And if I may remind people 2 or 3 years ago when we started this project, the market for lithium wasn't what it is today. And no doubt at some point in the future, it won't be.

回答這個問題的最簡單方法是，您為什麼不來訪問我們在阿根廷的網站，看看您對以這種速度擴張的感覺如何。它很遙遠。它有重要的基礎設施需要建設。構建該基礎設施的準備時間不是 6 個月。如果我可以提醒人們 2 或 3 年前我們開始這個項目時，鋰市場已經不是今天的樣子了。毫無疑問，在未來的某個時候，它不會是。

It's not easy to commit, to take a facility that needs major, I mean, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of capital invested in it to grow at those rates to make that investment when you're getting $10 or $11 (inaudible) top side. You're just not going to do it. And that's where we were year and a half ago. Will we be more aggressive if we can be, yes. But there's only so much you can do in some of these locations, but they are not -- and it's one of the key challenges that I think people just don't fundamentally understand.

當你獲得 10 美元或 11 美元（聽不清）最高時，投入一個需要大量資金的設施並不容易，我的意思是，投入數億美元的資本以這些速度增長以進行投資邊。你只是不打算這樣做。這就是一年半前我們所處的位置。如果可以的話，我們會更加激進嗎，是的。但是在其中一些地方你能做的只有這麼多，但事實並非如此——我認為這是人們根本不了解的關鍵挑戰之一。

These are not infinitely expandable mines as large as the resource may be, it's never really about the resource for the primary source or a grinding operation. It's about all the above-ground processing that requires infrastructure that just doesn't exist. And so you've got to build it yourself and that can make a meaningful difference to capital needs, to timings of expansions and to frankly willingness to commit to large expansions without firm commitments on price.

這些不是與資源一樣大的無限擴展礦山，它從來沒有真正與主要資源或研磨作業的資源有關。它涉及所有需要基礎設施的地面處理，而這些基礎設施根本不存在。所以你必須自己建造它，這可以對資本需求、擴張時機以及坦率地說願意在沒有堅定的價格承諾的情況下進行大規模擴張產生有意義的影響。

I appreciate the context. I guess on the guidance, if we were to look at the lower end and the higher end, is it -- I guess, what would -- it seems like the contract side is pretty firm. We have volume coming in, in the second half. But what's assumed on the high end and low end? Do you need more price traction in China or Asia and on China to get to the high end or what does that look like?

我很欣賞上下文。我猜在指導上，如果我們要查看低端和高端，是不是 - 我想，會是什麼 - 看起來合同方面非常堅定。下半年我們有成交量。但是高端和低端的假設是什麼？您是否需要在中國或亞洲以及中國獲得更多的價格牽引力才能進入高端市場，或者這是什麼樣的？

Easiest way to say it's sort of a timing of shipments and a mix question. It can move around pretty quickly depending on who ship, which customers, what mix goes where. You've seen the volume in Q1 and Q2 largely driven by factors outside our control, inability to move stuff in and out of China, for example. Occasionally, the inability to move stuff out of either Argentina or Chile, depending on what's going on there. So didn't have a complete control over it. And because a lot of this is moving at a reasonably high price that doesn't take many tons for it to make a difference to EBITDA. So that's really what's driving the range. It's supply chain, logistics, unpredictability, particularly towards year end.

最簡單的說法是發貨時間和混合問題。它可以很快移動，這取決於誰發貨、哪些客戶、什麼組合去哪裡。您已經看到第一季度和第二季度的銷量很大程度上是由我們無法控制的因素驅動的，例如無法將貨物進出中國。有時，無法將貨物運出阿根廷或智利，具體取決於那裡發生的情況。所以沒有完全控制它。而且因為其中很多都以相當高的價格移動，不需要很多噸就可以對 EBITDA 產生影響。所以這就是推動這個範圍的真正原因。這是供應鏈、物流、不可預測性，尤其是在年底。

Your next question is from the line of Corinne Blanchard with Deutsche Bank.

您的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Corinne Blanchard。

Most of my questions have been answered, but maybe just like more general. Do you have any view on the hydroxide side, there is many upcoming converting facility in Australia? Like how do you view that they can compete potentially with you? And then the third will be obviously like your view on some of the potentially upcoming project in Argentina. You touched base on the lack of infrastructure, et cetera. Just interested in hearing your view on those.

我的大部分問題都已得到解答，但也許只是更籠統。你對氫氧化物方面有什麼看法嗎，澳大利亞有很多即將到來的轉換設施？比如你如何看待他們可以與你競爭？然後第三個顯然就像你對阿根廷一些可能即將進行的項目的看法。你觸及基礎設施的缺乏等等。只是想听聽你對這些的看法。

Look, I think building hydroxide plants in Australia has not been a particularly successful process for new entrants. I think there will be a couple of big ones come and they will be successful there owned and operated by very credible existing competitors of ours. I have absolutely no doubt they will be successful, and that's great. I mean they naturally point at Southeast Asia away from China. It's not -- one thing I will tell you is making lithium hydroxide for Korean or a Japanese customer is generally more difficult. So your qualification bar is higher, the quality bar is higher. So you're taking on a different commitment when you build those hydroxide plants there.

看，我認為在澳大利亞建造氫氧化物工廠對於新進入者來說並不是一個特別成功的過程。我認為會有幾個大公司出現，他們將在那裡取得成功，由我們非常可靠的現有競爭對手擁有和運營。我絕對不懷疑他們會成功，這很棒。我的意思是他們自然而然地指向遠離中國的東南亞。這不是——我要告訴你的一件事是為韓國或日本客戶製造氫氧化鋰通常更困難。所以你的資格門檻越高，質量門檻就越高。因此，當您在那裡建造這些氫氧化物工廠時，您將承擔不同的承諾。

I think we're seeing sort of an increase in what I'll loosely call synthetic production, i.e., the spodumene producer maintaining control of a spodumene and having a Chinese converter tolling for them. That will be an interesting development because it's hard to know where that material goes in the end, depending on the quality of the product and what the qualification demands are, but it will certainly contribute too. But I don't view it as being a massive competitor necessarily to what we're doing, particularly as we look to regionalize in the Americas. I just think it's far more natural than Australia or non-Australian assets will point to Southeast Asia.

我認為我們正在看到我粗略地稱之為合成生產的增加，即鋰輝石生產商保持對鋰輝石的控制並讓中國加工商為他們收費。這將是一個有趣的發展，因為很難知道這些材料最終會去哪裡，這取決於產品的質量和資格要求是什麼，但它肯定也會有所貢獻。但我並不認為它必然是我們正在做的事情的巨大競爭對手，特別是當我們希望在美洲進行區域化時。我只是認為這比澳大利亞或非澳大利亞資產指向東南亞要自然得多。

I think in terms of Argentina, look, every single Argentinean resource is different. They all require different technologies. Not all of them lend themselves to pond-based systems, not all lend themselves to DLE-based systems. Some of them are so incredibly remote that it's hard to know how in the end they get employees up there, how they get material on and off the mountain. But there are some big deep pocket of man chasing them and developing them. And I think it would be naive of me to think that they don't have the in-house capabilities in the end ultimately to succeed, but it won't happen quickly.

我認為就阿根廷而言，看，每一種阿根廷資源都是不同的。它們都需要不同的技術。並非所有人都適合基於池塘的系統，也並非所有人都適合基於 DLE 的系統。其中一些非常偏遠，以至於很難知道他們最終如何讓員工上山，如何在山上和山下獲得材料。但是有一些人在追逐和發展他們。我認為我認為他們沒有最終成功的內部能力是天真的，但這不會很快發生。

And it's -- they mine everything coming out right is carbonate as well. And so it's going into a different market. And in my experience a very few of them that are developing there are looking now to turn that carbonate somewhere into hydroxide, not by the way, should they. I mean they've got a natural market in carbonate, there will be very low-cost producers of carbonate just as we are. And so I think it's going to sort of speak to a market that while in many ways is similar today, probably looks very different a decade from now as you think about those new resources and new entrants in the market.

而且它 - 他們開采的所有東西都是碳酸鹽。所以它進入了一個不同的市場。以我的經驗，那裡正在開發的其中極少數現在正在尋求將某處的碳酸鹽轉化為氫氧化物，而不是順便說一句，他們應該。我的意思是他們在碳酸鹽方面有一個天然市場，就像我們一樣，會有非常低成本的碳酸鹽生產商。所以我認為它會在某種程度上說明一個市場，雖然今天在很多方面都很相似，但當你考慮市場中的那些新資源和新進入者時，十年後可能看起來會大不相同。

And our last question will come from the line of Lucas Pipes with B. Riley Securities.

我們的最後一個問題將來自 Lucas Pipes 和 B. Riley Securities 的意見。

This is actually Matt Key here asking a question for Lucas. Most of my questions have already been addressed, but I guess I would like to drill down a little bit on the updated outlook a little. The new EBITDA guidance was roughly $100 million per quarter. How are you thinking about kind of the earnings cadence over the next 2 quarters? Should we expect that mostly flat or more front-weighted?

這實際上是 Matt Key 在這裡向 Lucas 提問。我的大部分問題已經得到解決，但我想我想對更新的前景進行一些深入研究。新的 EBITDA 指引約為每季度 1 億美元。您如何看待未來兩個季度的盈利節奏？我們應該期望大部分是平坦的還是更多的前加權？

We don't give quarterly guidance, as you know. And so I'm going to do my best not to give you backdoor quarterly guidance. But clearly, the guidance assumes $200 million plus of EBITDA over the next quarters. Historically, our business has tended to be reasonably even on a quarter basis. You do sometimes get more demand in the back half of the year from customers. We've also tend to find we have more production disruptions in the back half of the year, whether that's weather in the southern hemisphere as we go through August and into September or whether it's some of these shutdowns in China that have been imposed on us (inaudible) put it in the back half of the year. So allocation between those 2 quarters is going to be pretty difficult for me to do today. But yes, look, your math is right, we need on average $100 million in the quarter for the next 2 quarters.

如您所知，我們不提供季度指導。因此，我將盡我所能不給你提供後門季度指導。但顯然，該指引假設未來幾個季度的 EBITDA 超過 2 億美元。從歷史上看，我們的業務往往是合理的，即使是在一個季度的基礎上。有時你會在下半年從客戶那裡得到更多的需求。我們還傾向於發現，在今年下半年，我們的生產中斷更多，無論是我們經歷 8 月到 9 月的南半球天氣，還是中國的一些停工對我們施加的影響（聽不清）放在下半年。所以這兩個季度之間的分配對我來說今天將非常困難。但是，是的，看，你的數學是正確的，我們在接下來的兩個季度平均需要 1 億美元。

This concludes the Q&A portion of today's conference call. I will now return the call to Daniel Rosen for closing comments.

今天電話會議的問答部分到此結束。我現在將電話回复給 Daniel Rosen 以徵求結束意見。

Thanks, Dennis. That's all the time we have for the call today, but we will be available following the call to address any additional questions you may have. Thanks, everyone, and have a good evening.

謝謝，丹尼斯。這就是我們今天電話會議的所有時間，但我們將在電話會議後解決您可能有的任何其他問題。謝謝大家，祝大家晚上愉快。

This concludes the Livent Corporation second quarter 2022 earnings release conference call. Thank you.

Livent 公司 2022 年第二季度財報電話會議到此結束。謝謝你。