Livent Corp (LTHM) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the First Quarter 2023 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. Mr. Rosen, you may begin.

下午好，歡迎來到 Livent Corporation 2023 年第一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。羅森先生，您可以開始了。

Great. Thank you, Rob. Good evening, everyone and welcome to Livent's first quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me today are Paul Graves, President and Chief Executive Officer and Gilberto Antoniazzi, Chief Financial Officer. A 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.

偉大的。謝謝你，羅布。大家晚上好，歡迎來到 Livent 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天加入我的是總裁兼首席執行官 Paul Graves 和首席財務官 Gilberto Antoniazzi。在我們網站的“投資者關係”部分可以找到伴隨我們的結果以及我們的收益發布的幻燈片演示。今天討論的準備好的評論將在電話會議後提供。

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 will be happy to address any additional questions after the call.

在我們準備好的評論之後，Paul 和 Gilberto 將可以回答您的問題。考慮到今天電話會議的參與者人數，我們會要求每位來電者只能回答一個問題和一次跟進。我們很樂意在通話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 Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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，這些因素包括但不限於我們的 10-K 表格和提交給證券交易所的其他文件中確定的那些因素委員會。

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.

所提供的信息代表了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因素而異。今天的討論將包括對各種非 GAAP 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與根據 GAAP 計算和呈現的最直接可比財務指標的調節。

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 strong start to 2023, reporting record financial results in the first quarter of this year. Adjusted EBITDA of $157 million was nearly 50% higher than the fourth quarter of 2022. With this improvement being a result of higher average realized prices across all lithium products. The development of Nemaska Lithium in which Livent is a 50% shareholder continues to progress as expected and the project reached several important milestones in the quarter. The detailed engineering phase of the project is now complete and the Nemaska Lithium Board has approved the start of construction of the 34,000 metric ton lithium hydroxide facility at Becancour and the earlier commencement of mining operations at Whabouchi.

謝謝你，丹。各位晚上好。 Livent 在 2023 年開局強勁，報告了今年第一季度創紀錄的財務業績。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.57 億美元，比 2022 年第四季度高出近 50%。這一改善是所有鋰產品平均實現價格上漲的結果。 Livent 持股 50% 的 Nemaska Lithium 的開發繼續按預期進行，該項目在本季度達到了幾個重要的里程碑。該項目的詳細工程階段現已完成，Nemaska Lithium 董事會已批准開始在 Becancour 建設 34,000 公噸氫氧化鋰設施，並提前開始在 Whabouchi 的採礦作業。

A feasibility study is planned to be released by Nemaska Lithium in the second quarter. This study will outline an expected pathway to initial production and sale of spodumene in 2025, which will then be replaced by the production and sale of lithium hydroxide, commencing in the second half of 2026. Livent has raised its full-year financial guidance for 2023 and continues to expect meaningful improvement following record 2022 results. This is highlighted by a mid-point for adjusted EBITDA of $565 million or 54% year-over-year increase.

Nemaska Lithium 計劃在第二季度發布可行性研究報告。該研究將勾勒出 2025 年初始生產和銷售鋰輝石的預期途徑，然後從 2026 年下半年開始生產和銷售氫氧化鋰。Livent 提高了 2023 年的全年財務指導並繼續期待在 2022 年取得創紀錄的業績後會有有意義的改善。調整後的 EBITDA 中值為 5.65 億美元，同比增長 54%，這一點凸顯了這一點。

As we discussed last quarter, the way we structured pricing for 2023 across our portfolio of customer contracts brings two benefits to us. It provides greater earnings visibility for the year, for the year ahead than a purely market price approach, while also retaining some exposure to market prices and allowing flexibility to take advantage of commercial opportunities.

正如我們上個季度討論的那樣，我們在客戶合同組合中構建 2023 年定價的方式給我們帶來了兩個好處。與純粹的市場價格方法相比，它為今年和未來一年提供了更大的收益可見性，同時還保留了一些市場價格風險，並允許靈活地利用商業機會。

We have also announced that we amended and extended our supply agreement with BMW, committing greater volumes and additional years to this relationship, which will help bring greater visibility to our operations in the coming years. Before I provide some market observations and highlight key focus areas for Livent, I will turn the call over to Gilberto, to discuss our first quarter performance, as well as our revised full-year 2023 financial guidance.

我們還宣布，我們修改並延長了與寶馬的供應協議，承諾增加產量並延長這種關係的期限，這將有助於提高我們未來幾年運營的知名度。在我提供一些市場觀察並強調 Livent 的重點關注領域之前，我將把電話轉給吉爾伯托，討論我們第一季度的業績，以及我們修訂後的 2023 年全年財務指導。

Thanks, Paul and good evening everyone. Turning to Slide 4, Livent reported first quarter revenue of $254 million, adjusted EBITDA of $157 million and adjusted earnings of $0.60 per diluted share. These financial metrics were all up considerably versus the fourth quarter as always versus the first quarter of 2022. Livent saw average realized price across all lithium products in the quarter, as we continue to see strong demand. Total volumes sold were flat versus the first quarter of '22 and were down slightly versus the prior quarter, due to higher portion of our committed volumes we delivered to customers in the fourth quarter of last year as discussed on our last earning calls.

謝謝，保羅，大家晚上好。轉到幻燈片 4，Livent 報告第一季度收入為 2.54 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1.57 億美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.60 美元。與 2022 年第一季度相比，這些財務指標與第四季度相比一如既往地大幅上漲。隨著我們繼續看到強勁的需求，Livent 在本季度看到了所有鋰產品的平均實現價格。總銷量與 22 年第一季度持平，與上一季度相比略有下降，這是由於我們在上次財報電話會議上討論的去年第四季度向客戶交付的承諾銷量中所佔比例較高。

Adjusted EBITDA was three times the same quarter a year-ago, as meaningful price improvements across all lithium products more than offset higher operating costs compared to a year-ago quarter. On a sequential basis, adjusted EBITDA was nearly 50% higher versus the fourth quarter. This performance was driven primarily by price improvement, coupled with lower cost.

調整後的 EBITDA 是去年同期的三倍，因為與去年同期相比，所有鋰產品的價格大幅上漲抵消了更高的運營成本。按順序計算，調整後的 EBITDA 比第四季度高出近 50%。這一業績主要是由價格改善和成本降低推動的。

Let me provide a bit more color on our improved pricing performance. While observed higher prices across all product lines, we achieved realized prices for hydroxide, they were 46% higher on average than in the fourth quarter. This improvement is consistent with the commentary we provided on our last earnings call regarding last year's negotiated price increases across our contract volumes. The cost reductions we saw in the quarter are mostly timing-related, lower royalties were due to timing of export shipments out of Argentina, coupled with higher production of lithium chloride to feed our downstream lithium and lithium metal products, thus delaying third-party lithium metal purchases.

讓我為我們改進的定價性能提供更多顏色。雖然觀察到所有產品線的價格都在上漲，但我們實現了氫氧化物的實際價格，它們比第四季度平均高出 46%。這一改進與我們在上次財報電話會議上提供的關於去年我們合同量的協商價格上漲的評論一致。我們在本季度看到的成本下降主要與時間相關，特許權使用費降低是由於阿根廷出口發貨的時間安排，再加上供應我們下游鋰和鋰金屬產品的氯化鋰產量增加，從而延遲了第三方鋰金屬採購。

For the full-year and the quarters ahead, we expect to see higher costs in our results. Livent's total capital spending in the first quarter was $72 million. We expect this increase -- this to increase over the remainder of the year as we reach target year end, completion of our second 10,000 metric ton lithium carbonate expansion in Argentina, as well as the 15,000 metric lithium hydroxide expansion in China.

對於全年和未來幾個季度，我們預計我們的業績會出現更高的成本。 Livent 第一季度的總資本支出為 7200 萬美元。我們預計這一增長——隨著我們達到目標年底、完成我們在阿根廷的第二次 10,000 公噸碳酸鋰擴建以及在中國的 15,000 公噸氫氧化鋰擴建，這一增長將在今年剩餘時間內增加。

As a reminder, while 2023 capital expenditures are anticipated to be $325 million to $375 million, slightly higher than in 2022 and will be supported by adjusted cash from operations, projected in the range of $360 million to $440 million. Our balance sheet and overall liquidity remains very strong. We ended the quarter with [$194 million] in cash and no draw under our $500 million revolving credit facility. The combination of our current cash position, our ability to draw on the credit facility and a strong outlook for cash generation give us continued confidence in our ability to internally fund our capacity expansions.

提醒一下，雖然 2023 年的資本支出預計為 3.25 億美元至 3.75 億美元，略高於 2022 年，但將由調整後的運營現金支持，預計在 3.6 億美元至 4.4 億美元之間。我們的資產負債表和整體流動性仍然非常強勁。本季度結束時，我們擁有 [1.94 億美元] 現金，並且在我們的 5 億美元循環信貸額度下沒有提款。我們目前的現金狀況、我們利用信貸額度的能力以及強勁的現金產生前景相結合，使我們對我們為產能擴張提供內部資金的能力充滿信心。

On Slide 5, you will see that we have raised Livent's full-year 2023 guidance and we continue to expect a substantial improvement in financial performance compared to 2022, leading to record results. For the full-year, we now project revenue to be $25 million higher at $1.025 billion to $1.125 billion and adjusted EBITDA to be $20 million higher at $530 million to $600 million. This implies revenue growth of 32% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 54% a midpoint versus 2022.

在幻燈片 5 中，您會看到我們提高了 Livent 的 2023 年全年指引，我們繼續預計與 2022 年相比財務業績將有實質性改善，從而取得創紀錄的業績。對於全年，我們現在預計收入將增加 2500 萬美元，達到 10.25 億美元至 11.25 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 將增加 2000 萬美元，達到 5.3 億美元至 6 億美元。這意味著與 2022 年相比，收入增長 32%，調整後的 EBITDA 增長 54%。

Our guidance continues to be based on higher volumes sold and higher average realized pricing across all lithium products, partially offset by higher anticipated costs. We expect sales volumes to be 20% higher or roughly 4,000 metric tons on a LCE basis versus 2022. This increase is driven by our initial phases of expansion coming online. This includes our first 10,000 metric ton expansion of lithium carbonate in Argentina, which is now complete and it's start-up process -- in start-up process. This carbonate will feed a new 5,000 metric ton lithium hydroxide line in Bessemer City, North Carolina, that was completed at the end of last year.

我們的指引繼續基於所有鋰產品的更高銷量和更高的平均實現價格，部分被更高的預期成本所抵消。我們預計與 2022 年相比，按 LCE 計算的銷量將增加 20% 或約 4,000 公噸。這一增長是由我們的初始擴張階段上線推動的。這包括我們在阿根廷的第一個 10,000 公噸碳酸鋰擴建項目，該擴建項目現已完成，並且正在啟動過程中——正在啟動過程中。這種碳酸鹽將為北卡羅來納州貝瑟默市一條新的 5,000 公噸氫氧化鋰生產線提供原料，該生產線已於去年年底完工。

We expect most of this incremental sales volumes to be realized in the second half of this year. Looking ahead, we continue to expect to live and we will see meaningful average realized price improvements in 2023, recognizing that many prices forecast for the remaining of the year are lower than -- are lower now than they were three months ago. There are a few key points we want to reemphasize with respect to Livent.

我們預計大部分增量銷量將在今年下半年實現。展望未來，我們繼續期望生活，我們將看到 2023 年實現的平均平均價格顯著改善，認識到今年剩餘時間的許多價格預測低於 - 現在低於三個月前。關於 Livent，我們想再次強調幾個關鍵點。

First, we previously disclosed that roughly 70% of our 2023 volumes have fixed price terms that was said prior to last earnings call in February and many of these are under firm take or pay commitments. As a result, we have a high degree of confidence around a 40% average expected price increase across these volumes. While the remaining 30% of uncontracted volumes, our guidance has always assumed the lithium market crisis in 2023 will be lower on average than the prices we saw at the end of 2022. And so the forecast of lower market price are entirely consistent with how we have been dealing 2023.

首先，我們之前透露，我們 2023 年的交易量中大約有 70% 有固定價格條款，這是在 2 月份的上一次財報電話會議之前所說的，其中許多都處於堅定的接受或支付承諾。因此，我們對這些數量的平均預期價格上漲 40% 充滿信心。雖然剩餘 30% 的未簽約量，但我們的指導始終假設 2023 年的鋰市場危機將平均低於我們在 2022 年底看到的價格。因此，市場價格較低的預測與我們的預測完全一致一直在處理 2023。

This 70% to 30% volume allocation between firm fixed-price commitments, market price exposed opportunities allows us to strike a balance of locking higher prices for 2023, while retaining flexibility to elect which product-line to focus on carbonate or hydroxide and even Chloride or metal versus utility. Therefore, we still expect a continued increase in our average realized price in 2023 on a wide range of market scenarios. We gave additional upside as we move into 2024.

這 70% 到 30% 的數量分配在堅定的固定價格承諾和市場價格暴露的機會之間，使我們能夠在鎖定 2023 年的更高價格之間取得平衡，同時保持靈活性來選擇將哪條產品線集中在碳酸鹽或氫氧化物甚至氯化物上或金屬與效用。因此，我們仍然預計 2023 年我們的平均實現價格會在廣泛的市場情景下繼續上漲。隨著我們進入 2024 年，我們給出了額外的上漲空間。

To conclude and as mentioned earlier, we continue to expect higher costs in 2023, although not enough to offset our anticipated margin improvement. The biggest drivers of this increase -- the biggest drivers of this are increased royalty payments in Argentina due to higher average expected lithium prices and temporary higher costs incurred from commissioning our new production units. We also continue to see higher costs for raw materials such as soda ash and for energy and labor, although not in the same magnitude as experienced last year.

總而言之，如前所述，我們繼續預計 2023 年的成本會更高，儘管不足以抵消我們預期的利潤率提高。這一增長的最大驅動因素——最大的驅動因素是阿根廷的特許權使用費增加，這是由於平均預期鋰價格上漲以及調試我們的新生產裝置所產生的臨時成本增加。我們還繼續看到純鹼等原材料以及能源和勞動力的成本上漲，儘管幅度與去年不同。

I'll now turn the call back to Paul.

我現在將電話轉回給保羅。

Thanks, Gilberto. A lot of attention on the lithium industry in the first quarter was focused on lower-than-expected lithium demand, particularly in China and the impact it had on spot market prices in the country. It became clear that many cell producers built inventory in the fourth quarter of last year, especially in China in anticipation of elevated demand prior to expiring subsidies.

謝謝，吉爾伯托。一季度鋰行業的很多注意力都集中在低於預期的鋰需求上，尤其是在中國，以及它對該國現貨市場價格的影響。很明顯，許多電池生產商在去年第四季度積累了庫存，尤其是在中國，因為預計補貼到期前需求會增加。

In the first quarter, we saw the usual seasonal lithium demand slowdown, consistent with patterns we've experienced over the last few years. However, the magnitude this year was certainly greater than we expected, as the higher inventory built-in the fourth quarter was worked through and cell producers reduced their production and therefore procurement accordingly.

在第一季度，我們看到通常的季節性鋰需求放緩，這與我們過去幾年經歷的模式一致。然而，今年的幅度肯定比我們預期的要大，因為第四季度內置的較高庫存得到解決，電池生產商減少了產量，因此相應地減少了採購。

We also saw continued weakness in consumer electronics applications which like LFP batteries is largely a carbonate based business. It's important to note that demand for energy storage applications did not decrease during the first quarter and battery installations in both electric vehicle and stationary storage applications continue to show significant year-over-year growth.

我們還看到消費電子應用的持續疲軟，如 LFP 電池主要是基於碳酸鹽的業務。值得注意的是，第一季度對儲能應用的需求並未減少，電動汽車和固定存儲應用中的電池安裝繼續呈現顯著的同比增長。

LFP cathode production was most notably down in the first quarter, with the average monthly outpoint in China down about 40% versus fourth quarter levels. This helps to explain why carbonate demand and therefore carbonate prices in China were most severely impacted. We saw much greater resiliency in hydroxide prices and in some non-China international pricing benchmarks.

LFP 陰極產量在第一季度下降最為明顯，與第四季度相比，中國的月平均出口量下降了約 40%。這有助於解釋為什麼中國的碳酸鹽需求以及碳酸鹽價格受到最嚴重的影響。我們發現氫氧化物價格和一些非中國國際定價基準的彈性要大得多。

Battery, cathode and lithium demand outside of China, most notably in Japan and Korea continues to be healthy. This is supported by recent positive commentary from leading producers in these regions. Outside of China, battery use quality standards and access to IRA compliant production continue to be key areas of focus for leading global energy storage supply chains, resulting in greater emphasis on maintaining existing supply relationships. These are factors that contribute to our continued view that while important, the spot market in China is not reflective of the entire market.

中國以外的電池、陰極和鋰需求，尤其是日本和韓國，仍然保持健康。這些地區的主要生產商最近的積極評論支持了這一點。在中國以外，電池使用質量標準和獲得符合 IRA 標準的生產仍然是全球領先的儲能供應鏈關注的重點領域，因此更加重視維持現有的供應關係。這些因素促使我們繼續認為中國的現貨市場雖然重要，但並不能反映整個市場。

Coming out of the first quarter, we have already begun to see notable improvements in demand globally. Specifically in China, both EV assembly and sales have increased on a month-over-month and a year-over-year basis every month to begin the year, despite the end of central government subsidies at the end of 2022. While the very near-term implications for lithium prices are challenging to predict, there were a few data points that give us comfort that pricing is not retreating back to historical levels. We have already seen the impact of current price levels on high-cost lithium converters in China, where the cost of spodumene for non-integrated producers not declining at the same pace as China market lithium prices, we've seen negative economics for many converters.

從第一季度開始，我們已經開始看到全球需求出現顯著改善。具體來說，在中國，儘管中央政府補貼在 2022 年底結束，但從年初開始，電動汽車組裝和銷量每個月都環比和同比增長。雖然非常接近-鋰價格的長期影響很難預測，有幾個數據點讓我們感到安慰，即價格不會回落到歷史水平。我們已經看到當前價格水平對中國高成本鋰轉換器的影響，其中非綜合生產商的鋰輝石成本沒有與中國市場鋰價格同步下降，我們已經看到許多轉換器的負面經濟效益.

But surprisingly, this resulted in converter shutdowns in the last few months. Additionally, the first quarter reduction in production levels of cathode and cell producers appears to have already brought inventory levels back to more normalized ranges when compared to overall aggregate demand. Therefore, as activity resumes and demand growth continues as expected, production levels and therefore, lithium demand are expected to increase again. And for those of you that continue to believe that spot carbonate prices are all the matters, you will no doubt be pleased to have seen that last week several price reporting agencies reported increases in lithium spot prices inside and outside China.

但令人驚訝的是，這導致了過去幾個月轉換器的關閉。此外，與總體總需求相比，第一季度陰極和電池生產商生產水平的下降似乎已經使庫存水平恢復到更正常的範圍。因此，隨著活動的恢復和需求增長如預期的那樣繼續，生產水平和鋰需求預計將再次增加。對於那些仍然相信碳酸鹽現貨價格決定一切的人來說，上週幾家價格報告機構報告稱中國國內外的鋰現貨價格上漲，您無疑會很高興。

We have not reduced our lithium demand expectations for 2023, consistent with many other industry analysts and participants. Bear in mind that historically, almost 2/3 of our annual global passenger EV demand occurs in the second half of the year. Demand for lithium ion batteries is also becoming much more broad-based. Battery demand from EV applications in the U.S., Europe and rest of the world combined is growing at a faster year-over-year rate than in China.

我們沒有降低 2023 年的鋰需求預期，這與許多其他行業分析師和參與者一致。請記住，從歷史上看，我們每年全球乘用電動汽車需求的近 2/3 發生在下半年。對鋰離子電池的需求也變得更加廣泛。美國、歐洲和世界其他地區對電動汽車應用的電池需求的年增長率高於中國。

Additionally, stationary storage demand is increasing at faster rates today than all EV applications, growing close to 200% year-over-year in the first quarter in China despite the broader slowdown. Despite the massive battery demand for electric vehicles, passenger EVs are expected to be only 60% of total lithium-ion battery demand in 2023. This increased geographic and application diversification adds further resiliency to the overall growth forecasts. As we've said in the past, demand growth is unlikely to always be linear and prices could certainly move around a lot over shorter periods, but we don't see any new data points that would suggest that long-term fundamentals are meaningfully different than our recent commentary.

此外，如今固定存儲需求的增長速度快於所有電動汽車應用，儘管整體放緩，但第一季度中國的同比增長接近 200%。儘管對電動汽車的電池需求巨大，但預計到 2023 年乘用電動汽車將僅佔鋰離子電池總需求的 60%。這種地域和應用多樣化的增加進一步增強了整體增長預測的彈性。正如我們過去所說，需求增長不太可能總是線性的，價格肯定會在較短的時間內大幅波動，但我們沒有看到任何新的數據點表明長期基本面存在顯著差異比我們最近的評論。

On the supply side, we continue to see broad expansion delays and disruptions, further challenging any view that we're approaching a meaningful or sustained oversupply of lithium. While there is new supply slated to come online in 2023, there have been multiple announcements of delays and cost increases. In China, we continue to see periodic challenges around energy supply rationing, as well as crackdowns on illegal or environmentally unfriendly mining activities. As prices fall for carbonate in China, high cost lepidolite and non-integrated converters curtail their output.

在供應方面，我們繼續看到廣泛的擴張延遲和中斷，進一步挑戰了我們正在接近有意義或持續的鋰供應過剩的任何觀點。雖然有新供應計劃於 2023 年上線，但已多次宣布延遲和成本增加。在中國，我們繼續看到圍繞能源供應配給的周期性挑戰，以及對非法或不利於環境的採礦活動的打擊。隨著中國碳酸鹽價格的下跌，高成本的鋰雲母和非集成轉化器削減了它們的產量。

Globally, skilled local labor has been flagged repeatedly as a bottleneck for meeting current production targets and expansion goals. Additionally, we've seen the impact of political uncertainty in several regions and the effect it has on confidence in making very large multiyear capital investments.

在全球範圍內，熟練的本地勞動力一再被標記為實現當前生產目標和擴張目標的瓶頸。此外，我們已經看到了幾個地區政治不確定性的影響，以及它對進行非常大的多年資本投資的信心的影響。

Finally, the cost of building and operating lithium assets continues to climb higher as demonstrated by recent updates across our industry, ranging from established producers to the more marginal or speculative projects. These higher costs are being amplified further as the desire for localized supply chains grows, given the need for unprecedented volume expansion in our industry over the foreseeable future. Expected economic returns will need to be high enough to support the investment required to keep up with growing demand.

最後，建設和運營鋰資產的成本繼續攀升，正如我們行業最近的更新所證明的那樣，從成熟的生產商到更邊緣化或投機性的項目。鑑於我們行業在可預見的未來需要前所未有的產量擴張，隨著對本地化供應鏈需求的增長，這些更高的成本正在進一步放大。預期的經濟回報將需要足夠高，以支持滿足不斷增長的需求所需的投資。

On Slide 7, I'd like to focus on Livent specifically and what you should expect from the company, as we move through the rest of this year. As reflected by the increase of our guidance, our expectations for 2023 financial performance over the full year remain strong and we anticipate significant improvement in profitability and cash flow generation. Livent's average realized pricing in the first quarter was higher than our expectations when we set our guidance range three months ago. And it was these higher realized prices that underpin our decision to increase guidance today. While we have also seen a greater-than-anticipated decline in certain lithium reference prices, particularly carbonate in China, the prices in the markets that we participate in were actually better than our forecast had assumed.

在幻燈片 7 上，我想特別關注 Livent 以及您對公司的期望，因為我們將在今年剩餘時間裡進行。正如我們上調指引所反映的那樣，我們對 2023 年全年財務業績的預期依然強勁，我們預計盈利能力和現金流產生將顯著改善。 Livent 第一季度的平均實現價格高於我們三個月前設定指導範圍時的預期。正是這些更高的實際價格支撐了我們今天增加指導的決定。雖然我們也看到某些鋰參考價格（尤其是中國的碳酸鹽）的跌幅超過預期，但我們參與的市場價格實際上好於我們的預測假設。

And to be clear, we did not sell any lithium carbonate in China in the first quarter and do not expect to do so in the second quarter. We have seen no signs of reduced demand from our customers for the full year. In fact, the focus for them remains on incentivizing continued expansionary investment and seeking to lock in larger volume commitments from us over a longer period of time, especially given our multiregional current and future lithium hydroxide capabilities.

需要明確的是，我們第一季度沒有在中國銷售任何碳酸鋰，預計第二季度也不會銷售。我們沒有看到全年客戶需求減少的跡象。事實上，他們的重點仍然是激勵持續的擴張性投資，並尋求在更長的時間內鎖定我們更大的數量承諾，特別是考慮到我們當前和未來的多區域氫氧化鋰能力。

With respect to volumes, 2023 will be the first of a sequence of years that Livent will see the benefit from incremental production as a result of multiple years of expansion reinvestment. We remain on schedule to deliver all our announced capacity expansions. After completing our first 10,000 metric ton expansion of lithium carbonate in Argentina in the first quarter, we expect to complete our second 10,000 metric ton phase in Argentina by the end of 2023. This will result in our nameplate lithium carbonate capacity being double that of 2022, approaching 40,000 metric tons.

就產量而言，2023 年將是 Livent 將因多年擴張再投資而從增量生產中受益的一系列年份中的第一年。我們仍按計劃交付所有已宣布的產能擴張。在第一季度完成我們在阿根廷的第一個 10,000 公噸碳酸鋰擴建後，我們預計到 2023 年底將完成我們在阿根廷的第二個 10,000 公噸階段。這將使我們的銘牌碳酸鋰產能是 2022 年的兩倍, 接近 40,000 公噸。

Outside of Argentina, construction is progressing on a 15,000 metric ton lithium hydroxide facility and a new location in the province of Zhejiang in China. First commercial volume from this unit are expected in 2024 and it will increase our total global lithium hydroxide capacity to 45,000 metric tons. Put together, we believe total production in 2024 on an LCE basis can be roughly 10,000 metric tons higher or a 40% increase versus 2023.

在阿根廷以外，一個 15,000 公噸的氫氧化鋰設施和位於中國浙江省的一個新地點的建設正在進行中。預計該裝置將於 2024 年實現首次商業化，屆時我們的全球氫氧化鋰總產能將增至 45,000 公噸。總而言之，我們認為 2024 年的總產量與 2023 年相比可能會增加約 10,000 公噸或增加 40%。

Beyond 2024, Livent continues to progress engineering and evaluation work on additional planned carbonate expansions in Argentina, as well as additional hydroxide expansions that include the ability to use lower-grade recycled lithium as a feedstock. We expect to share further details on all of these fronts later this year.

到 2024 年以後，Livent 將繼續推進阿根廷計劃中的額外碳酸鹽岩擴建項目以及氫氧化物擴建項目的工程和評估工作，其中包括使用低品位回收鋰作為原料的能力。我們希望在今年晚些時候分享所有這些方面的更多細節。

Increased production will be a significant driver of future financial growth for Livent, which will result in meaningfully higher cash flow generation for the company that is much more balanced around a wider range of pricing assumptions. The development of Nemaska Lithium, an integrated lithium hydroxide project located in Quebec, Canada, in which Livent is a 50% shareholder, continues to advance. As I mentioned earlier, the Board of Nemaska Lithium approved the start of construction of the 34,000 metric ton hydroxide facility at Becancour and the acceleration of mining operations at Whabouchi.

產量增加將成為 Livent 未來財務增長的重要驅動力，這將為公司帶來顯著更高的現金流產生，並在更廣泛的定價假設範圍內更加平衡。 Livent 持股 50% 的位於加拿大魁北克省的綜合氫氧化鋰項目 Nemaska Lithium 的開發繼續推進。正如我之前提到的，Nemaska Lithium 董事會批准開始在 Becancour 建設 34,000 公噸的氫氧化物設施，並加速在 Whabouchi 的採礦作業。

Commercial sales of spodumene concentrate are expected to begin in 2025 and continue until the hydroxide facility comes into full production. First production of lithium hydroxide is expected in the second half of 2026. Further details regarding the project, along with supporting cost information will be provided by Nemaska Lithium in a feasibility study expected to be released in the second quarter of this year.

鋰輝石精礦的商業銷售預計將於 2025 年開始，並持續到氫氧化物工廠全面投產。預計將於 2026 年下半年首次生產氫氧化鋰。Nemaska Lithium 將在預計於今年第二季度發布的可行性研究中提供有關該項目的更多詳細信息以及支持成本信息。

Livent continues to provide significant, technical and commercial expertise to Nemaska Lithium and has been appointed to engage sales and marketing efforts on its behalf. Livent expects that Nemaska Lithium will be in a position to announce initial customer agreements in the second quarter. Nemaska Lithium continues to be a highly attractive project with a strategic location in North America and ability to take advantage of various customer and government incentives for localization, access to low-cost green hydroelectric energy and a critical first-mover advantage in the region.

Livent 繼續為 Nemaska Lithium 提供重要的技術和商業專業知識，並已被任命代表其從事銷售和營銷工作。 Livent 預計 Nemaska Lithium 將能夠在第二季度宣布初步客戶協議。 Nemaska Lithium 仍然是一個極具吸引力的項目，位於北美的戰略位置，能夠利用各種客戶和政府激勵措施進行本地化，獲得低成本綠色水電能源，並在該地區擁有關鍵的先發優勢。

For all of these reasons, Livent remains fully committed to helping bring it into production. Livent's success will be determined by our ability to deliver on expansions and to continue to be a reliable supplier of high-quality lithium materials to our customers. As I mentioned at the start of this call, Livent and BMW Group agreed to an amendment and extension of their existing supply agreement. As part of this, total lithium hydroxide volumes delivered per year will increase and the contract was extended in duration.

出於所有這些原因，Livent 仍然完全致力於幫助將其投入生產。 Livent 的成功將取決於我們是否有能力實現擴張並繼續成為我們客戶可靠的優質鋰材料供應商。正如我在本次電話會議開始時提到的，Livent 和寶馬集團同意修改和延長他們現有的供應協議。作為其中的一部分，每年交付的氫氧化鋰總量將增加，合同期限將延長。

Livent and BMW continue to work closely together in multiple areas, including various sustainability and technology initiatives, while also providing mutual regional support and resources for expansion projects. We believe these additional capabilities that Livent can provide to customers beyond reliable lithium supply is a true differentiator for our business. This should become a growing model for our industry as the need for closer relationships between OEMs and battery material suppliers only becomes more important.

Livent 和 BMW 繼續在多個領域密切合作，包括各種可持續發展和技術計劃，同時還為擴展項目提供相互的區域支持和資源。我們相信，除了可靠的鋰供應之外，Livent 可以為客戶提供的這些額外功能是我們業務的真正差異化因素。這應該成為我們行業的增長模式，因為 OEM 和電池材料供應商之間建立更緊密關係的需求只會變得更加重要。

Finally, Livent will be delivering its latest annual corporate sustainability report in the second quarter. We look forward to highlighting the dedication and hard work of our employees and our ongoing commitment to corporate citizenship, transparency and continuous improvement in all aspects of our operations.

最後，Livent 將在第二季度發布其最新的年度企業可持續發展報告。我們期待著突出我們員工的奉獻精神和辛勤工作，以及我們對企業公民、透明度和持續改進我們運營各個方面的持續承諾。

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. Rob, you may now begin the Q&A session.

謝謝你，保羅。 Rob，你現在可以開始問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) And your first question comes from the line of Chris Kapsch from Loop Capital.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Chris Kapsch。

You mentioned no sales of carbonate in the quarter. I was just curious if that was a function more of the trajectory of spot prices in China? Or was it more reflective of just continued steady demand, maybe even increased demand from your customers for hydroxide? And then just to complement that question, just if you look at the divergence, I guess, somewhat backward-looking for LFP demand thus carbonate and what you -- your commentary about demand for hydroxide and pricing holding steady. Is your guidance currently based on the notion of selling no opportunistic carbonate tonnage into China?

您提到本季度沒有銷售碳酸鹽。我只是好奇這是否更多地是中國現貨價格軌蹟的函數？或者它更能反映持續穩定的需求，甚至可能是您的客戶對氫氧化物的需求增加？然後只是為了補充這個問題，如果你看看分歧，我想，有點向後看 LFP 需求，因此碳酸鹽和你 - 你對氫氧化物需求和定價保持穩定的評論。您目前的指導是否基於不向中國出售機會性碳酸鹽噸位的概念？

We didn't sell any carbonate in Q1, we didn't have any to sell. What we did sell carbonate very small volumes and was to customers outside China. Frankly, second half of the year is hard to tell, right? We have this carbonate coming online and the objective is to clearly utilize out for lithium hydroxide capacity, which is not being fully utilized today because we don't have enough carbonate to feed it. But of course, the levels of plants need to be qualified. We need to get customers qualified. You can't qualify these plants until they're actually running at commercial levels. And so we sort of need the carbonate first, the carbonate treats the hydroxide plant and because it's a new plant, we will then finish the qualification processes that have already started.

我們在第一季度沒有出售任何碳酸鹽，我們沒有任何可出售的。我們所做的是向中國以外的客戶銷售非常少量的碳酸鹽。坦率地說，下半年很難說，對吧？我們讓這種碳酸鹽上線，目的是明確利用氫氧化鋰的產能，因為我們沒有足夠的碳酸鹽來供給它，所以今天沒有得到充分利用。但當然，植物的水平需要合格。我們需要讓客戶合格。在這些工廠實際以商業水平運行之前，您無法對其進行鑑定。所以我們首先需要碳酸鹽，碳酸鹽處理氫氧化物工廠，因為它是一個新工廠，我們將完成已經開始的鑑定過程。

I'd tell you all of that to say, it sort of depends, our objective is to sell hydroxide in our carbonate at this point in time. But if in the second half of the year, qualification is either delayed or there were any other issues with that, we reserve the right to sell lithium carbonate. I'm not entirely sure whether it would be into China, there are deep enough markets for the small volumes we're talking about here outside China. So again, it's hard to be purely predictive today. I'm not ruling out that we sell carbonate in China, although that's not our base plan. Again, we retain that optionality. Our guidance is absolutely based upon our assumption as to what are predominantly lithium hydroxide pricing will be plus other products. Don't forget, we have lithium business in other bits and pieces as well. But it's not predicated on a large carbonate sale in any region, certainly not in China.

我會告訴你所有這些，這取決於，我們的目標是此時在我們的碳酸鹽中出售氫氧化物。但如果下半年，資質延遲或出現其他問題，我們保留出售碳酸鋰的權利。我不完全確定它是否會進入中國，我們在中國以外的地方談論的小批量產品有足夠深的市場。同樣，今天很難進行純粹的預測。我不排除我們在中國銷售碳酸鹽，儘管這不是我們的基本計劃。同樣，我們保留了這種選擇權。我們的指導完全基於我們關於主要是氫氧化鋰定價的假設以及其他產品。別忘了，我們還有其他零碎的鋰業務。但這並不是基於在任何地區的大量碳酸鹽銷售，當然不是在中國。

And then just if you could, with some more details having emerged in the IRS round the IRA, could you just comment on your anticipation of compliance for your hydroxide from Bessemer City that's where the feedstock is coming from Argentina?

然後，如果你可以的話，隨著 IRS 圍繞 IRA 出現了更多細節，你能否評論一下你對 Bessemer City 的氫氧化物合規性的預期，而 Bessemer City 的原料來自阿根廷？

Yes, our understanding has always been and remains that Bessemer City hydroxide is fully IRA compliant.

是的，我們一直認為 Bessemer City hydroxide 完全符合 IRA 標準。

And your next question comes from the line of Christopher Parkinson from Mizuho.

你的下一個問題來自 Mizuho 的 Christopher Parkinson。

So you've had a nice benefit in terms of live and ASPs have been rolling off some lower price, let's say, legacy contracts and that should be ongoing throughout 2023. Just Paul, what do you think investors will get a better sense of kind of when that ends and when there's going to be a little bit more fluidity versus spot in terms of just how we should think about your contractual balances and how you're thinking about that strategically on a go-forward basis?

因此，您在實時方面獲得了不錯的收益，並且 ASP 已經推出了一些較低的價格，比方說，遺留合同，並且應該在整個 2023 年持續進行。保羅，您認為投資者會獲得更好的親切感什麼時候結束，什麼時候會有更多的流動性與現貨相比，我們應該如何考慮你的合同餘額以及你如何在前進的基礎上戰略性地考慮這一點？

Yeah and hey, Chris, getting all the Chris's out of the way first. Look, I think our objective remains -- it's always been to be largely contracted sales. But I think what that contract looks like is changing, as we've talked about before, I don't see multiyear fixed-price contracts anymore, I just don't think that's going to happen. But that doesn't mean we won't have multiyear contracts. And then within those contracts, we will always reserve the flexibility to sit down with the customer at the start of the year and fix the pricing for any given year if both of us want to do it. I can't really predict how much of that will happen, but I think it will. I think some customers will be happy to have a contract that gives them the commitment that they need. They'll recognize that, that contract cannot fix prices because if it does, it can't be a multiyear contract.

是的，嘿，Chris，先讓所有 Chris 的人離開。看，我認為我們的目標仍然是——它一直是主要的合同銷售。但我認為合同的樣子正在發生變化，正如我們之前談到的那樣，我再也看不到多年固定價格合同了，我只是認為這不會發生。但這並不意味著我們不會簽訂多年合同。然後在這些合同中，我們將始終保留在年初與客戶坐下來討論的靈活性，並在我們雙方都願意的情況下確定任何特定年份的定價。我真的無法預測其中有多少會發生，但我認為它會發生。我認為有些客戶會很高興簽訂一份合同，讓他們能夠做出所需的承諾。他們會認識到，該合同不能固定價格，因為如果固定價格，它就不可能是多年期合同。

And so they'll be willing to have market referencing contracts and that's what we're seeing. Everybody is really quite comfortable doing that. Not everybody wants to price them the same way, some really do want short-term price resets based on market indices, others want the ability to revisit the market on an annual basis. But I think as you go into the future, we're going to have an increasing capability to move our prices with the market and that's pretty much what we started to do in 2023.

因此，他們將願意擁有市場參考合同，這就是我們所看到的。每個人都非常樂意這樣做。並不是每個人都想以同樣的方式給它們定價，有些人確實希望根據市場指數重新設定短期價格，其他人則希望能夠每年重新審視市場。但我認為，隨著未來的發展，我們將有越來越大的能力隨市場調整價格，而這正是我們在 2023 年開始做的事情。

And just in your prepared remarks, you mentioned just obviously some ongoing geopolitical considerations. Could you just give us a very simplistic updated thought process on how you're thinking about your own asset base, what Nemaska's optionality means to live in? And any further thoughts you could add on the matter?

就在您準備好的發言中，您顯然提到了一些正在進行的地緣政治考慮。你能不能給我們一個非常簡單的更新思維過程，關於你如何思考你自己的資產基礎，Nemaska 的可選性意味著什麼？您還可以就此事添加任何進一步的想法嗎？

We're certainly not expecting the development of Quebec to nationalize the lithium industry anytime soon. So we feel reasonably comfortable that, that's not the fair on the horizon. Look, we've always viewed ourselves as a predominantly Americas-based business and that's South America, North America and Canada, right? So we are very comfortable with that footprint. We have a long experience of operating in Argentina. The challenges of Argentina are well known, but they're not the same as the challenges of Chile. They're not the same as the challenges, frankly, we've been in China and Australia. We continue to view Argentina, the resources world class as anybody who read our resource report will understand. And our expertise and experience and relationships down there were also our deepest.

我們當然不會指望魁北克的發展會很快將鋰產業國有化。所以我們感到相當舒服，這不是地平線上的公平。看，我們一直認為自己是一家以美洲為主的企業，即南美、北美和加拿大，對吧？所以我們對這個足跡非常滿意。我們在阿根廷有長期的經營經驗。阿根廷的挑戰眾所周知，但與智利的挑戰不同。它們與挑戰不同，坦率地說，我們去過中國和澳大利亞。我們繼續關注阿根廷，這是世界一流的資源，任何閱讀我們資源報告的人都會明白這一點。我們在那裡的專業知識、經驗和關係也是我們最深厚的。

I think we will absolutely expect to diversify, particularly in hydroxide capacity in the Northern Hemisphere in the U.S. with Nemaska in Canada and potentially others. But having single reason, single country risk, okay, nobody really wants that, but the truth is we're always going to have concentration in Argentina and we're going to still have concentration even when Canada comes online.

我認為我們絕對會期望實現多元化，特別是在美國北半球的氫氧化物產能方面，以及加拿大的 Nemaska 和其他潛在地區。但是有單一的原因，單一的國家風險，好吧，沒有人真的想要那樣，但事實是我們總是會集中在阿根廷，即使加拿大上線我們仍然會集中。

And your next question comes from the line of Matthew DeYoe from Bank of America.

你的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Matthew DeYoe。

Can you help frame a little bit the size of the margin decrement as we move from 1Q to 2Q or 2Q to the second half, as we think about the fixed cost absorption from starting up the asset in Argentina?

當我們從 1Q 到 2Q 或 2Q 到下半年時，當我們考慮在阿根廷啟動資產的固定成本吸收時，你能幫助確定一下利潤率減少的大小嗎？

I'm not sure I can help you with the margin point, because I have not really looked at the direct percentage margin impact of those customers. I think you're going to see the first hit of start-up costs coming in Q2 and clearly more of them coming Q3 and Q4 once we're producing and we're still ramping up production, so you get those cost inefficiencies. But Gilberto, I don't know whether you wanted to add any more specifics to that?

我不確定我能否在保證金點方面為您提供幫助，因為我還沒有真正研究過這些客戶的直接百分比保證金影響。我認為你會在第二季度看到啟動成本的第一波衝擊，一旦我們開始生產並且我們仍在提高產量，顯然會有更多的啟動成本出現在第三季度和第四季度，所以你會發現這些成本效率低下。但是 Gilberto，我不知道你是否想添加更多細節？

No Paul, you spot on, we will start having more impact of costs starting Q2, but more even in Q3 and Q3 as ramp up productions both in BC, Bessemer City and Argentina. And we actually, as we start exporting more and more in Argentina right because we expect to be more royalties there as well, which also has an impact on our costs.

不，保羅，你注意到了，從第二季度開始，我們將開始對成本產生更大的影響，但隨著不列顛哥倫比亞省、貝塞默市和阿根廷的產量增加，甚至在第三季度和第三季度也會產生更大的影響。事實上，隨著我們開始在阿根廷出口越來越多的產品，因為我們預計那裡也會有更多的特許權使用費，這也會對我們的成本產生影響。

And then I guess on the Nemaska side of the equation, when will we hear more about funding the commitments, maybe what Canada is willing to offer and what this might look like out of pocket for Nemaska is that 2Q? Or what are we looking at?

然後我想在等式的 Nemaska 方面，我們什麼時候才能聽到更多關於為承諾提供資金的信息，也許加拿大願意提供什麼，而這對 Nemaska 來說可能是自掏腰包的是 2Q？或者我們在看什麼？

Yeah, look, I think it's 2Q, 3Q, but I would hope in 2Q, the government -- it's not really the government of Canada or even of Quebec is providing funding, its investment in Quebec versus obviously an arm of the government, but there are still processes they need to go through in order to be able to deliver on their funding commitments. And their funding commitments are significant. They've made some very significant funding commitments to us. I think beyond that in terms of other government funds, et cetera, we're still in conversations around that. I think you should certainly see it becomes easier when Nemaska Lithium file their engineering report that 43-101 report in Canada. At that point, a lot of this data will be out there and it's much easier for us then to have that conversation. It is Nemaska lithium's information to release not ours.

是的，你看，我認為這是第二季度、第三季度，但我希望在第二季度，政府——並不是真正的加拿大政府，甚至不是魁北克政府提供資金，它在魁北克的投資顯然是政府的一個部門，但為了能夠兌現他們的資助承諾，他們仍然需要經歷一些過程。他們的資金承諾非常重要。他們向我們做出了一些非常重要的資金承諾。我認為除此之外，就其他政府基金等而言，我們仍在就此進行對話。我認為當 Nemaska Lithium 在加拿大提交 43-101 報告的工程報告時，您肯定會看到它變得更容易。到那時，會有很多這樣的數據，然後我們就可以更容易地進行對話了。 Nemaska lithium 不發布我們的信息。

Clearly, as we get clarity on the contributions of capital from IQ and from others and government money, et cetera, then we can give you an update on exactly what the quantum and timing of Livent's contribution to that capital will be.

顯然，當我們清楚地了解來自 IQ 和其他人以及政府資金等的資本貢獻時，我們可以向您提供有關 Livent 對該資本貢獻的確切數量和時間的最新信息。

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

你的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Corinne Blanchard。

The first one would be on the BMW Group and I think interesting, you mentioned in the remarks, the mutual support for expansion project. Could you share a little bit what does that mean? Could that mean like an equity stake, would be the volume for new assets or that will be (inaudible)?

第一個是關於寶馬集團的，我覺得很有趣，你在評論中提到，對擴張項目的相互支持。你能分享一下這是什麼意思嗎？這是否意味著像股權一樣，是新資產的數量還是（聽不清）？

Yeah, no, look, it's certainly not financial commitment. What we're really talking about is BMW -- we've been talking for many years, as I'm sure you know. And they don't make these partnerships lightly. And we've spent a lot of time helping them understand our Argentina operations and what expansion requires. And BMW large operations down there in Argentina and they have large operations here in the U.S. And so a lot of practical help, frankly, with conversations, with local authorities, helping us describe what we're doing, how we're doing it, validating many of our statements with regard to sustainability, in particular. So really, it's -- I know some technology pieces as you know, we do have some lithium technologies that we think could be helping the transition between current state lithium batteries in the next state, solid state and we have some ongoing conversations with BMW's technology about those technologies.

是的，不，看，這肯定不是財務承諾。我們真正談論的是寶馬——我們已經談論了很多年，我相信你知道。他們不會輕率地建立這些夥伴關係。我們花了很多時間幫助他們了解我們在阿根廷的業務以及擴張需要什麼。寶馬在阿根廷有大型業務，他們在美國也有大型業務。坦率地說，通過與地方當局的對話，他們提供了很多實際幫助，幫助我們描述我們在做什麼，我們是如何做的，特別是驗證我們關於可持續性的許多聲明。所以真的，它是 - 我知道一些技術，如你所知，我們確實有一些鋰技術，我們認為這些技術可以幫助當前狀態鋰電池與下一個狀態，固態之間的過渡，我們正在與寶馬的技術進行一些持續的對話關於那些技術。

So it's really quite wide-ranging conversations. I certainly would not want you to interpret this as being some kind of capital investment, financial investment, co-investment, that's certainly not what we're talking about here.

所以這真的是非常廣泛的對話。我當然不希望你將其解釋為某種資本投資、金融投資、共同投資，這當然不是我們在這裡談論的內容。

And then the other question was on the guidance. So obviously, I think, very good as you were able to raise the guidance. But if you look at the 1Q, you have a 30% bid in the street. So trying to think about the earnings guidance for the rest of the year here?

然後另一個問題是關於指南的。很明顯，我認為，非常好，因為你能夠提出指導意見。但如果你看一下 1Q，你在街上有 30% 的出價。那麼在這裡考慮一下今年剩餘時間的收益指導？

Look, I think one of the hardest messages we've tried to get across to people is we never assumed pricing was going to stay where it was, right? And so Q1 pricing stayed higher for longer than we thought it would. And for the first four months of the year, we have been pleasantly surprised. But our fundamental analysis is the same with the pricing assumptions that we saw the pricing levels that we saw in Q4 and that people are thinking we're all going to achieve have never been part of our guidance. And so while we still expect average realized prices for the full year to be much higher than last year, we're certainly not expecting to continue to realize prices on our non-fixed price sales.

看，我認為我們試圖向人們傳達的最困難的信息之一是我們從未假設定價會保持原樣，對嗎？因此，第一季度的定價比我們想像的要高得多。今年前四個月，我們感到驚喜。但我們的基本面分析與我們在第四季度看到的定價水平的定價假設相同，人們認為我們都將實現的定價水平從未成為我們指導的一部分。因此，儘管我們仍然預計全年的平均實現價格將遠高於去年，但我們當然不會期望繼續實現非固定價格銷售的價格。

Now just again, to be fair, it's not a large amount and it's key to remember that in the first half of this year, we really don't have a huge amount of volume available to sell into what you guys might call the spot markets. So we're basically being cautious with the back half of the year and saying we know prices are not going to be up in the stratosphere as they were in Q4. It's really difficult to predict on a quarter-by-quarter basis exactly where prices are going to be. And given the way we go to market, it's even more difficult to directly predict what our realized prices will be. But I think it's probably fair to say that a combination of lower market prices in the second half of the year than we saw in Q1 or in Q4 last year combined with some of the higher costs that we're talking about, help you think about why our full year guidance is what it is relative to Q1 performance.

現在再說一次，公平地說，這不是一個很大的數量，重要的是要記住，在今年上半年，我們真的沒有大量的數量可以出售到你們可能稱之為現貨市場的地方.因此，我們基本上對今年下半年持謹慎態度，並表示我們知道平流層的價格不會像第四季度那樣上漲。很難按季度準確預測價格走勢。考慮到我們進入市場的方式，直接預測我們的實際價格會更加困難。但我認為可以公平地說，今年下半年的市場價格低於我們在去年第一季度或第四季度看到的價格，再加上我們正在談論的一些更高的成本，幫助你思考為什麼我們的全年指導是相對於第一季度的表現。

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

您的下一個問題來自 Vertical Research Partners 的 Kevin McCarthy。

Paul, as you formulate the annual guidance, do you have in your mind a particular level of EV demand growth that's required to get there? Or is it the case that your volume has been so constrained that you feel you can hit the guidance regardless of how EV demand fluctuates within reason?

保羅，在製定年度指南時，您是否認為達到該目標所需的特定電動汽車需求增長水平？還是您的銷量如此受限，以至於您覺得無論電動汽車需求如何在合理範圍內波動，您都可以達到指導？

Yeah, look, I think the first thing I would say is that you can't always -- as you've seen in Q1, draw a direct short-term linear relationship between EV demand and lithium prices. They certainly drive long-term analysis of ours. For ourselves, as I said, we could sell 2x what we make today if we had the capacity, we are absolutely not demand constrained, we are absolutely supply constrained. And so in the short term, blunting EV demand is not a major driver of our business. It does factor into our investment decisions. It factors into our long-term price estimates and forecasts. It factors into our product mix, whether we want to have more hydroxide, more carbonate and our customer targeting and customer mix. But when I'm -- it's not frankly given a big driver at all of how we calculate guidance. I mean guidance is we know in any given year, when we started the year, what our total demand is, who our customers are going to be, what surplus material we have to place into the market and what is already firm committed to know. It's not a big factor in the short term.

是的，看，我想我要說的第一件事是，你不能總是——正如你在第一季度看到的那樣，在電動汽車需求和鋰價格之間建立直接的短期線性關係。他們肯定會推動我們的長期分析。對於我們自己，正如我所說，如果我們有能力，我們可以銷售 2 倍於今天的產品，我們絕對不受需求限制，我們絕對受供應限制。因此，短期內，電動汽車需求減弱並不是我們業務的主要驅動力。它確實會影響我們的投資決策。它會影響我們的長期價格估計和預測。它會影響我們的產品組合，我們是否想要更多的氫氧化物、更多的碳酸鹽以及我們的客戶定位和客戶組合。但是，當我——坦率地說，我們計算指導的方式並沒有給我們很大的推動力。我的意思是指導是我們在任何特定年份都知道，當我們開始這一年時，我們的總需求是什麼，我們的客戶將是誰，我們必須將哪些過剩材料投放市場以及已經堅定地承諾知道什麼。這在短期內不是一個大因素。

And then coming back to price trajectory, would you expect your second quarter average realized selling prices to trend flat up or down relative to the first quarter given the 70/30 construct that Gilberto outlined?

然後回到價格軌跡，考慮到 Gilberto 概述的 70/30 結構，您是否預計第二季度平均實現銷售價格相對於第一季度呈上升或下降趨勢？

We don't guide on a quarterly basis, as you know and I don't really want to get into that habit because it can make a difference as to timing between quarters because of customer mix, because of product mix and it can change our average realized price in any given quarter, it all evens out through the year. So we tend to focus on full year thoughts on this, not quarterly thought.

正如你所知，我們不會按季度進行指導，我真的不想養成這種習慣，因為它會因客戶組合、產品組合而改變季度之間的時間安排，而且它會改變我們的任何給定季度的平均實現價格，全年都趨於平衡。所以我們傾向於關注全年的想法，而不是季度的想法。

Your next question comes from the line of David Deckelbaum from TD Cowen.

您的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 David Deckelbaum。

I was hoping to just touch a bit on just guidance and the pricing beat in the first quarter. I guess just to put in context, last quarter, I think you said expectations that this year in '23, the fixed-priced contracts that are roughly, I guess, 17,000 to 18,000 tons LCE, that the pricing on that would be up 40% this year. I guess when you beat in the first quarter, did that reflect conservative guidance or the fact that some of those negotiations came in higher for fixed price agreements. And then, I guess, when you think overall, is that 40% still the expectation on pricing for fixed prices for fixed contracts in '23 versus '22?

我希望能稍微談談第一季度的指導和定價。我想只是為了說明情況，上個季度，我想你說過今年 23 年的預期，我猜固定價格合同大約是 17,000 到 18,000 噸 LCE，其定價將上漲 40 ％ 今年。我想當你在第一季度擊敗時，這是否反映了保守的指導或其中一些談判針對固定價格協議的價格更高的事實。然後，我想，當您總體考慮時，40% 是否仍然是 23 年與 22 年固定合同固定價格定價的預期？

Yeah, it is. The 40% came in -- if we take the 40%, there was no change to that. As we said, that's pretty predictable for us. And again, mix between customers in there can change 38%, 42%, but it's kind of locked in at 40% year-over-year because the volumes are committed on a take-or-pay and the prices are set. So there's not going to be any variability in that number. And so the beat in Q1 was a little bit of favorable costs that went in our favor that we didn't expect, but it was really more achieving a realized price in our non-fixed price book of business, which is not as hydroxide, it's other products, too. There's a bunch of other lithium products we sell as well that were higher than we expected.

是啊，就是。 40% 進來了——如果我們拿下 40%，那就沒有變化。正如我們所說，這對我們來說是可以預見的。再一次，那裡的客戶之間的混合可能會發生 38%、42% 的變化，但同比鎖定在 40%，因為數量是按照付不議承諾的，而且價格是固定的。所以這個數字不會有任何變化。因此，第一季度的節拍是一些有利的成本，這對我們有利，這是我們沒有預料到的，但實際上更多的是在我們的非固定價格業務簿中實現了實際價格，這不像氫氧化物，它也是其他產品。我們還銷售了許多其他鋰產品，其價格高於我們的預期。

And so the outperformance in Q1 was really driven by higher market prices than we'd expected. Again, just to be clear, we didn't expect Q4 prices in Q1. We just didn't. We thought Q4 was a complete anomaly and we never factored that in. Were we too conservative in our Q1 estimates, it appears we were. I don't know whether it's too conservative for the rest of the year, time will tell, but it was really in that space, plus, as I said, some sort of timing on costs that benefited that really helped us in Q1.

因此，第一季度的出色表現實際上是由高於我們預期的市場價格推動的。同樣，需要明確的是，我們沒想到第一季度會出現第四季度的價格。我們只是沒有。我們認為第 4 季度完全異常，但我們從未將其考慮在內。我們對第 1 季度的估計是否過於保守，看來我們是。我不知道今年餘下時間是否過於保守，時間會證明一切，但它確實在那個領域，另外，正如我所說，某種對成本有利的時機在第一季度確實幫助了我們。

The second one for me is just to ask more on the BMW side and congrats on extending that contract. I guess, are you able to indicate percentage-wise, how much the volumes increased through '28, did the pricing mechanisms changed at all? And then lastly with that, is BMW agnostic on the geography that you're delivering hydroxide from in this contract? Or is it going to be specifically tied to specific conversion outlets?

第二個對我來說只是想問更多關於寶馬方面的問題，並祝賀延長合同。我想，您能否按百分比表示，到 28 年為止銷量增加了多少，定價機制是否發生了變化？最後一點，寶馬是否對您在本合同中提供氫氧化物的地理位置不可知？或者它會專門綁定到特定的轉換網點嗎？

So I unfortunately cannot comment on the first part of your question. On the second part, I wouldn't describe BMW diagnostic. The contract that we have with them is explicitly designed to evolve with them as their supply chain changes, right? This is not a hard contract where we've set in stone today, rules for the next several years. It's actually designed to allow their supply chain to change and evolve and as our manufacturing capability evolves to also have that evolve. Look, I think everybody wants our U.S. based production when they can. Not everybody is able to use it in a IRA compliant way today. But over the next few years, everybody absolutely wants U.S. production from us.

所以很遺憾，我無法對你問題的第一部分發表評論。在第二部分，我不會描述 BMW 診斷。我們與他們簽訂的合同明確旨在隨著他們供應鏈的變化而與他們一起發展，對嗎？這不是我們今天制定的硬性合同，而是未來幾年的規則。它實際上旨在讓他們的供應鏈發生變化和發展，並且隨著我們製造能力的發展也隨之發展。聽著，我認為每個人都希望盡可能地在美國生產。今天不是每個人都能以符合 IRA 的方式使用它。但在接下來的幾年裡，每個人都絕對希望我們在美國生產。

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

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

Actually, the last question is what I wanted to prove a bit more too in the BMW deal because I know you're not going to be able to disclose specific terms. But I would think here in this environment, you've been able to negotiate with the key customer and yeah, pricing mechanism reopening period lags. Any other things that you can talk about, indexes, different indices, a group of indices? Like how have things changed since the last time you signed that contract. Can you just give us as much color as possible what happened differently now be perfect.

實際上，最後一個問題是我想在寶馬交易中進一步證明什麼，因為我知道你無法透露具體條款。但我認為在這種環境下，你已經能夠與主要客戶進行談判，是的，定價機制重新開放期滯後。您還可以談論其他任何事情嗎，指數，不同的指數，一組指數？就像自從您上次簽署該合同以來情況發生了怎樣的變化。你能不能給我們盡可能多的顏色，發生的不同現在是完美的。

That's an interesting one to hear you ask it because our focus is actually the focus has never been really on any of the points you just mentioned, right? What we actually have here is that for almost the entire industry, one or two exceptions, a relatively immature supply chain and where the procurement mechanisms particularly for lithium hydroxide, it really would have never been fit for purpose. And so what we've sat down with BMW who are truly a fantastic partner for us when we sit down and we openly share challenges, they have challenges we have and we jointly try and solve them. And the whole purpose of those amending and extending is to reinforce what we believe will be a long-term multiyear partnership. And so it's actually been much more about how do we -- you sell a lithium hydroxide, it's a lot of constraints to. It doesn't have a long shelf life.

聽到你這樣問很有趣，因為我們的重點實際上從來沒有真正放在你剛才提到的任何一點上，對吧？我們實際上擁有的是，對於幾乎整個行業，只有一兩個例外，一個相對不成熟的供應鏈，以及特別是氫氧化鋰的採購機制，它真的永遠不會適合目的。因此，當我們坐下來公開分享挑戰時，我們與寶馬坐下來，他們是我們真正出色的合作夥伴，他們有我們面臨的挑戰，我們共同努力解決這些問題。這些修改和擴展的全部目的是加強我們認為將成為長期多年合作夥伴關係的內容。因此，實際上更多的是關於我們如何銷售氫氧化鋰，這有很多限制。它的保質期不長。

The specifications are very precise. Packaging is very precise, right? There's a lot to it that in the end actually constrains the supply chain of the automotive OEM. And if we're going to work with them to help free up that supply chain and help them get more flexibility in the supply chain, we ask from them longer-term commitments and some other commitments. And so what we've really done here is what I consider to be sort of create a supply relationship that is fit for tomorrow's market and not just for today's market and allows it all to evolve. It really hasn't been about pricing or indices or any of those type of topics, it's just really not particularly large part of the conversation.

規格非常精確。包裝很精密吧？最終實際上限制了汽車原始設備製造商的供應鏈。如果我們要與他們合作以幫助釋放供應鏈並幫助他們在供應鏈中獲得更大的靈活性，我們會要求他們做出長期承諾和其他一些承諾。因此，我們在這裡真正做的是我認為是建立一種適合明天市場的供應關係，而不僅僅是今天的市場，並允許這一切發展。它實際上與定價或指數或任何此類主題無關，它真的不是談話的主要部分。

So you made a point early in the call, right, that some of the pricing indices that we all follow, there's lots of them and they're all different data points every week have started to churn up, some of the future exchange price have been turning up for several weeks. What prices matter for you, Paul, like when you're following prices? I know you have a contract look and you've got different pricing, but what do you follow that actually matters that informs for you the types of pricing decisions you're going to have to make in the coming weeks?

所以你在電話會議的早期就提出了一個觀點，對，我們都遵循的一些定價指數，有很多，而且每週都有不同的數據點開始湧現，一些未來的交易所價格已經已經出現了幾個星期。什麼價格對你很重要，保羅，比如當你關注價格時？我知道你有一個合同外觀並且你有不同的定價，但是你遵循什麼實際上很重要，可以告訴你未來幾週你將不得不做出的定價決定的類型？

Yeah, Joe, I'm going to give you a really unsatisfactory answer, which is I'm not sure. I'm actually still not really sure. Look, I think the China spot carbonate price is an important price, but it does not directly impact our business. We have seen, as we saw in the last couple of years, the sort of bleeding effect from any single index that gets out of whack with everything else, right? When China carbonate went through the roof a few years ago, what surprised me was how quickly other people moved into carbonate and what that did for pricing in other spaces, whether it's lithium metal or whether it was hydroxide at the time. And so it's not really an -- we sort of try and look in its entirety. We try -- we do price some of our customer contract off specific indices. They tend to be hydroxide-based indices, much carbonate indices. So we do look at them. It's a relatively small part of our volume today. I think it will become more important. I'm as interested as you are in understanding how accurately these indices actually move and how much they start to really reflect what I'll call market prices because they don't today, but they're moving more in that direction.

是的，喬，我要給你一個非常不滿意的答案，我不確定。其實我還是不太確定。看，我認為中國現貨碳酸鹽價格是一個重要的價格，但它不會直接影響我們的業務。正如我們在過去幾年所看到的那樣，我們已經看到任何單一指數的出血效應與其他一切都失去了聯繫，對吧？幾年前，當中國碳酸鹽的價格暴漲時，令我驚訝的是其他人進入碳酸鹽的速度有多快，以及這對其他領域的定價有何影響，無論是鋰金屬還是當時的氫氧化物。所以它不是真正的——我們有點嘗試從整體上看。我們嘗試 - 我們確實根據特定指數為我們的一些客戶合同定價。它們往往是基於氫氧化物的指數，更多的是碳酸鹽指數。所以我們確實在看他們。這在我們今天的交易量中所佔比例相對較小。我認為它會變得更加重要。我和你一樣有興趣了解這些指數實際移動的準確程度，以及它們開始真正反映我所謂的市場價格的程度，因為它們今天沒有，但它們正朝著那個方向移動。

I think we're still a couple of years away from them really being what you might see is a truly accurate reflection of what average realized prices are for those of those that are actually in the business. So I think what I'd answer to your question is I'm sort of watching them all and I'm trying to figure out at what point do they actually start to have enough substance to them that they really do reflect the level of activity and the pricing activity that's going on in whatever product and whatever market they reference.

我認為我們離他們真正成為你可能看到的真正準確反映了那些實際從事該業務的人的平均實現價格還有幾年的時間。所以我想我對你的問題的回答是我正在觀察他們，我試圖弄清楚他們實際上在什麼時候開始對他們有足夠的實質內容，他們確實反映了活動水平以及他們所參考的任何產品和任何市場中正在進行的定價活動。

Have you been surprised so my lovely Prime Minister came out and talk about investment tax credit the other month and it's 30%, but for exploration only, which doesn't help you, I believe. Have you been surprised about the lack of funding the Canada's offer, considering all the spot I mean it has in [Terrain] Quebec. And really, it's investment in Quebec as an investor and I know how they have pockets of money making a decision what they want to do as your partner, but have you been surprised the lack of government funding inside Canada?

你有沒有感到驚訝，所以我可愛的總理上個月出來談論投資稅收抵免，它是 30%，但僅用於探索，這對你沒有幫助，我相信。考慮到加拿大在[Terrain] 魁北克的所有位置，你是否對加拿大的提議缺乏資金感到驚訝。實際上，這是作為投資者在魁北克的投資，我知道他們如何擁有大量資金來決定作為您的合作夥伴他們想做什麼，但是您是否對加拿大國內缺乏政府資金感到驚訝？

I think there's a lot of ambition in Canada and I'm not entirely sure yet that they've lined up with actual direct support. I think they found a good way to support the cell industry, right? They're certainly in Quebec, they have. There's certainly plenty of money going to you from the government if you're willing to build thought the battery supply chain. I don't think they quite understand -- my own view is they don't quite understand yet how to maximize the natural resources to their advantage is because we are the vast majority of the spodumene mines and the vast majority of people looking to develop them in Canada, but no intention of building a hydroxide plant, so that's only ever going to get exported.

我認為加拿大有很多雄心壯志，但我還不完全確定他們是否已經準備好獲得實際的直接支持。我認為他們找到了支持電池行業的好方法，對嗎？他們肯定在魁北克，他們有。如果你願意建立電池供應鏈，政府肯定會給你很多錢。我認為他們不太了解 - 我自己的觀點是他們還不太了解如何最大限度地利用自然資源，因為我們是鋰輝石礦的絕大多數，也是尋求開發的絕大多數人他們在加拿大，但無意建造氫氧化物工廠，因此只能出口。

And so I think Nemaska Lithium is a bit of a trial space for them. And I think they see us today as an opportunity to help them learn, look, how important is lithium hydroxide in the context of attracting a broader battery chain into Canada. My view has always been not very, but that's not necessarily their view today. And I think as their thinking evolves and as the market evolves and how they provide support is going to evolve as well.

所以我認為 Nemaska Lithium 對他們來說是一個試驗空間。我認為他們今天將我們視為一個機會，可以幫助他們了解、了解氫氧化鋰在吸引更廣泛的電池鏈進入加拿大方面的重要性。我的觀點一直不是很，但今天他們不一定是這樣。我認為，隨著他們的思想和市場的發展，他們提供支持的方式也會發生變化。

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

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

Paul, you mentioned you expect tight market, tight lithium market this year. Do you have a lithium demand growth number that's kind of this assumption or this view depends on like how much lithium did grow this year to keep the market tight?

保羅，你提到你預計今年市場緊張，鋰市場緊張。您是否有一個鋰需求增長數字是這種假設，或者這種觀點取決於今年鋰的增長量以保持市場緊張？

Yeah, I think it depends -- I've said it for a while, I don't think it's changed yet. I think demand is limited by supply still. And I think explicitly the case within my drug side, maybe little bit less so in some other products or some other applications. But certainly, for the more demanding high nickel battery applications for lithium hydroxide, where we play -- demand is so far ahead of what supply is going to be for the next year or two. I don't really get too hung up on demand number to be perfectly honest. It's certainly -- I mean it's not out of line on a percentage basis with what we've seen in the last few years in terms of demand. And some of the secular or through all the sort of fundamental drivers of lithium demand the move over to EVs just keeps getting stronger and stronger with you reach a tipping point pretty quickly where people are not really buying ICE vehicles.

是的，我認為這取決於 - 我已經說過一段時間了，我認為它還沒有改變。我認為需求仍然受到供應的限制。而且我明確地認為我的藥物方面的情況，在其他一些產品或其他一些應用中可能會少一些。但可以肯定的是，對於我們所從事的氫氧化鋰的更高要求的高鎳電池應用，需求遠遠超過未來一兩年的供應。老實說，我真的不太在意電話號碼。這當然是 - 我的意思是它與我們過去幾年在需求方面所看到的百分比並沒有不一致。一些長期的或通過鋰需求的所有基本驅動因素轉向電動汽車只會變得越來越強大，你很快就會達到一個臨界點，人們不會真正購買 ICE 汽車。

And so everything is migrating really, really quickly to EVs. I mean some of the numbers being thrown out there by ID, I think the IEA I think came out with some I don't know why they were coming out with this data, but basically half of all cars sold by 2025 globally will be EVs I think, that's a little -- getting little carried away because it either means not many cars are being sold or we've certainly found a whole bunch of battery metals that we don't know about. But I think generally speaking, demand is constrained by supply.

因此，一切都在非常、非常迅速地轉向電動汽車。我的意思是 ID 拋出了一些數字，我認為 IEA 給出了一些我不知道他們為什麼會給出這些數據，但基本上到 2025 年全球銷售的所有汽車中有一半將是電動汽車我認為，這有點——有點太過分了，因為這要么意味著沒有多少汽車被出售，要么我們肯定發現了一大堆我們不知道的電池金屬。但我認為一般來說，需求受供應制約。

And then on pricing, I think I heard Gilberto mention that you expect higher prices next year. Is that correct? And if so, could you expand on that perhaps?

然後關於定價，我想我聽到吉爾伯托提到你預計明年價格會更高。那是對的嗎？如果是這樣，您能否對此進行擴展？

Yeah, I can clarify that. I didn't hear that and I hope we didn't say that. We're certainly not making price forecast for 2024. I think what we said we claim volumes for us to be up significantly in 2024.

是的，我可以澄清一下。我沒有聽到，我希望我們沒有那樣說。我們當然不會對 2024 年做出價格預測。我認為我們所說的是我們聲稱 2024 年我們的銷量將大幅增加。

And your next question comes from the line of Pavel Molchanov from Raymond James.

你的下一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Pavel Molchanov。

You alluded rather gently, I suppose, to political risk in some jurisdiction. So let me just ask you about the elephant in the room of Chile. Do you think the industry's response to the proposed nationalization in Chile will encourage other governments to consider the same or discourage them if, in fact, they have been considering something similar?

我想，你相當溫和地提到了某些司法管轄區的政治風險。所以讓我問你關於智利房間裡的大象的問題。您認為該行業對智利擬議國有化的反應是否會鼓勵其他政府考慮同樣的事情或阻止他們，如果他們實際上一直在考慮類似的事情？

I don't think it will do either. I think anybody who's willing to go down the path of nationalization doesn't necessarily care too much about what the industry participants say think or do in response to that. I think you've really got a lot more closely about what are the risks to a country when it comes to taking that approach. It's one thing to nationalize a huge established industry with only two players where you can actually look at and say, I'm going to own a piece of that and a piece of that. That's not the same as looking at a country that either has no production, but loads of resources like Bolivia or Mexico, for example, it's only Bolivia or somebody like Argentina that has just many, many development projects, all of which require private expertise and private capital and private funding to be brought online.

我認為它也不會。我認為任何願意走國有化道路的人都不一定太在意行業參與者對此的看法或行動。我認為在採取這種方法時，您確實更深入地了解了一個國家面臨的風險。將一個只有兩個參與者的龐大成熟行業國有化是一回事，你可以真正看到並說，我將擁有其中的一塊和那塊。這與看一個沒有生產但資源豐富的國家不同，例如玻利維亞或墨西哥，只有玻利維亞或像阿根廷這樣的國家有很多很多開發項目，所有這些都需要私人專業知識和民間資本和民間融資將上線。

And so I don't think when you really get into the detail that we can all get into how Argentina is a completely different federal system, the impact of the provinces, et cetera, et cetera. But even going beyond that, I think there's just what nationalization means when you have a relatively young but very diverse number of participants like Argentina has, probably -- it's probably a bigger barrier than what we all think of what we'll do.

所以我不認為當你真正深入細節時，我們都可以了解阿根廷是一個完全不同的聯邦制度，各省的影響等等。但即使超越這一點，我認為國有化意味著什麼，當你有像阿根廷這樣相對年輕但數量非常多樣化的參與者時，這可能是一個比我們所有人認為我們將要做的事情更大的障礙。

Follow-up about Nemaska, given that you're a 50% holder, can you remind us what will be the accounting for this asset once it starts up in 2025?

關於 Nemaska 的後續行動，鑑於您是 50% 的持有者，您能否提醒我們一旦該資產在 2025 年啟動後的會計核算是什麼？

Yeah, it will be good old-fashioned accounting where it will be accounted for as either. If we control it and plus they can't contest for control, then we will consolidate it. If not, it will be held at the equity accounting. Just look at, we have no offtake agreement with them. It's not like they'll be supplying anything to Livent, there will be no trade between Nemaska and Livent, we own 50% of Nemaska Lithium and we will get 50% of the economics and it will be accounted for accordingly.

是的，這將是很好的老式會計，它將作為其中之一進行會計處理。如果我們控制了它，而且他們無法爭奪控制權，那麼我們將鞏固它。否則，將按權益法核算。看看，我們與他們沒有承購協議。他們不會向 Livent 供應任何東西，Nemaska 和 Livent 之間不會有任何交易，我們擁有 Nemaska Lithium 50% 的股份，我們將獲得 50% 的經濟收益，並將相應地計算在內。

Your next question comes from the line of Ben Isaacson from Scotiabank.

你的下一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Ben Isaacson。

Two questions for you, Paul. First is a macro question and then a portfolio question. So just sticking with this nationalization or increased protectionism that we're seeing, we've heard about this LatAm lithium OPEC or cartel with Argentina's name mentioned as well. Can you just give an update in terms of -- is that still going on in terms of discussions? And what is your personal view on some kind of cartel?

保羅，有兩個問題要問你。首先是宏觀問題，然後是投資組合問題。因此，只要堅持我們所看到的這種國有化或增加的保護主義，我們就听說過這個 LatAm 鋰歐佩克或卡特爾也提到了阿根廷的名字。您能否就有關討論進行更新？您個人對某種卡特爾有何看法？

Cartel, it's a strong word. It carries connotations with it, but on a personal you clearly operating a cartel or being part of a cartel is not something that I think we would be particularly supportive of. I wouldn't overstate the degree of development of any kind of multi-country cooperation with regard to lithium or any other of the battery metals or any other metals to be perfectly honest. I do think that quite -- and this is a perfectly valid process, right? Every country with a large lithium resources looking around saying, what is the right way for us as a country to responsibly develop these resources and make sure that we as a country that owns these resources is appropriately rewarded for them.And in most cases, the general strategy that they all want to go down is to bring more value in country. Quebec is doing this. We just mentioned it earlier. Australia has been trying to do it with some hydroxide plants being built there. But -- but what Argentina, Chile and others have talked about for a while is building a domestic battery industry, that's incredibly difficult to do. And so in the meantime, they're much more focused, particularly in Argentina, of how do we make sure that these resources are developed are brought online, start to export, start to bring dollars into the country. They bring dollars in through capital to actually develop the resources, that's a lot of dollars coming in. And in the future, they'll bring dollars in from export duties and taxes, et cetera.

卡特爾，這是一個很強烈的詞。它帶有內涵，但就個人而言，您顯然經營卡特爾或成為卡特爾的一部分，我認為我們不會特別支持。老實說，我不會誇大任何類型的多國合作在鋰或任何其他電池金屬或任何其他金屬方面的發展程度。我確實這麼認為——這是一個完全有效的過程，對吧？每個擁有大量鋰資源的國家都在環顧四周說，我們作為一個國家負責任地開發這些資源並確保我們作為一個擁有這些資源的國家得到適當回報的正確方法是什麼。在大多數情況下，他們都想走下去的總體戰略是為國家帶來更多價值。魁北克正在這樣做。我們剛才提到過。澳大利亞一直在嘗試通過在那裡建造的一些氫氧化物工廠來做到這一點。但是——但是阿根廷、智利和其他國家一段時間以來一直在談論的是建立一個國內電池產業，這很難做到。因此，與此同時，他們更加關注，尤其是在阿根廷，我們如何確保開發的這些資源上線，開始出口，開始將美元帶入該國。他們通過資本帶來美元來實際開發資源，這是大量的美元。未來，他們將從出口關稅和稅收等方面帶來美元。

And so I tend to think that, that form of development and thinking carefully about the balance between how much of the value is captured in the country and how much is not is really the bigger debate that we do have if given. And I think it's important that it's done in an open and transparent manner between investors, operators and governments and is done in a way that is seen by all parties as being fair.

因此，我傾向於認為，這種發展形式和仔細思考在該國獲得了多少價值與沒有獲得多少價值之間的平衡，如果給出的話，我們確實有更大的爭論。我認為重要的是，它在投資者、運營商和政府之間以公開透明的方式進行，並且以各方認為公平的方式進行。

And then just on the portfolio, can you remind us what percentage of the portfolio or maybe there's a better way of describing it, is up for renegotiation this year and next year?

然後就投資組合而言，您能否提醒我們今年和明年重新談判的投資組合的百分比，或者可能有更好的描述方式？

I'm sorry, so up for what negotiation?

對不起，要進行什麼談判？

For contracts to be renewed or yeah.

對於要續籤的合同或是的。

Yeah, it's a tough one to answer, right, because we only contract today's volumes. And so as new volume comes online, we now say, okay, what are we going to do with this volume? Are we going to keep it open and sell it into sort of short-term markets, are we going to find customers under long-term contracts. So you're going to find us in most years for the next few years, talking to existing or new customers about whether it makes sense to enter into a multiyear contract with them. And so I'd expect, certainly for each of the next few years to be there -- there is to be activity on our behalf doing that.

是的，這很難回答，對吧，因為我們只收縮了今天的銷量。所以當新卷上線時，我們現在說，好吧，我們要用這個卷做什麼？我們是否要保持開放並將其出售給短期市場，我們是否會根據長期合同尋找客戶。因此，在接下來的幾年中，您將在大多數年份找到我們，與現有或新客戶討論與他們簽訂多年合同是否有意義。所以我希望，在接下來的幾年裡，每年都會有這樣的活動——代表我們這樣做的活動。

Can I just ask that in different way, what is the tenure of your portfolio right now? I mean is it on a weighted average basis, is it 1.5 years? Is it two years in terms of the length of the contract terms?

我可以換個方式問一下，你的投資組合現在的期限是多少？我的意思是按加權平均計算，是 1.5 年嗎？合同期限是兩年嗎？

No, it's much longer than that. It's much longer than two years. Where we have a contract, they are now typically -- they never use to be right. I made this point earlier, when we were largely selling contracts and sitting down with the customer and fixing the price for the life of the contract, you really couldn't go more than 2 or 3 years before, look in the past, you never got a long way out of whack, but you just can't do that anymore. But once customers move to market-based pricing and therefore you don't have to really think too much about am I getting the price right or wrong? And then you start to think about how much sense it makes to sort of partner with each other for operating efficiency, for qualification processes for visibility into demand plans, these contracts get longer and longer, I think it's probably safe to say.

不，它比那長得多。它比兩年長得多。在我們有合同的地方，他們現在通常是——他們從來都不是對的。我早些時候提出了這一點，當我們主要銷售合同並與客戶坐下來確定合同期限內的價格時，你真的不能超過 2 或 3 年前，看看過去，你永遠不會擺脫困境還有很長的路要走，但你不能再那樣做了。但是一旦客戶轉向基於市場的定價，那麼你就不必真正考慮太多我的價格是對還是錯？然後你開始考慮相互合作以提高運營效率、獲得需求計劃可見性的資格認證流程有多大意義，這些合同變得越來越長，我認為可以肯定地說。

And that is all the time we have today for questions. Mr. Daniel Rosen, I'll turn the call back over to you for some final closing remarks.

這就是我們今天所有的提問時間。丹尼爾羅森先生，我會把電話轉回給你，讓你做最後的結束語。

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

偉大的。謝謝。這就是我們今天通話的全部時間，但我們將在通話結束後隨時待命，以解決您可能遇到的任何其他問題。謝謝，大家晚上好。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。