利安德巴塞爾 (LYB) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the LyondellBasell Teleconference. At the request of LyondellBasell, this conference is being recorded for instant replay purposes.

您好，歡迎來到利安德巴塞爾電話會議。應利安德巴塞爾的要求，本次會議正在錄製以供即時重播。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Kinney, Head of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係主管 David Kinney 先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Before we begin the discussion, I would like to point out that a slide presentation accompanies today's call and is available on our website at www.lyondellbasell.com/investorrelations. Today, we will be discussing our business results while making reference to some forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures. We believe the forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and the alternative measures are useful to investors.

謝謝你，接線生。在我們開始討論之前，我想指出，今天的電話會議附帶了一張幻燈片演示文稿，可以在我們的網站 www.lyondellbasell.com/investorrelations 上查看。今天，我們將討論我們的業務成果，同時參考一些前瞻性陳述和非公認會計準則財務指標。我們認為前瞻性陳述是基於合理的假設，替代措施對投資人有用。

Nonetheless, the forward-looking statements are subject to significant risk and uncertainty. We encourage you to learn more about the factors that could lead our actual results to differ by reviewing the cautionary statements in the presentation slides and our regulatory filings, which are also available on our Investor Relations website.

儘管如此，前瞻性陳述仍面臨重大風險和不確定性。我們鼓勵您透過查看簡報投影片和監管文件中的警告聲明（也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到）來詳細了解可能導致我們的實際結果有所不同的因素。

Comments made on this call will be in regard to our underlying business results using non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA and earnings per share, excluding identified items. Additional documents on our Investor website provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures, together with other disclosures, including the earnings release and our business results discussion.

本次電話會議的評論將涉及我們使用非公認會計準則財務指標（例如 EBITDA 和每股盈餘）的基本業務成果，不包括已確定的項目。我們的投資者網站上的其他文件提供了非公認會計準則財務指標與公認會計準則財務指標的調節表，以及其他披露信息，包括收益發布和我們的業務業績討論。

A recording of this call will be available by telephone beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time today until March 3 by calling (877) 660-6853 in the United States and (201) 612-7415 outside the United States. The access code for both numbers is 13734290.

本次通話的錄音將於下午 1:00 開始透過電話提供。東部時間今天至 3 月 3 日，美國境內請致電 (877) 660-6853，美國境外請致電 (201) 612-7415。這兩個號碼的接入碼都是 13734290。

Joining today's call will be Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell's Chief Executive Officer; our CFO, Michael McMurray; Ken Lane, our Executive Vice President of Global Olefins and Polyolefins; Kim Foley, our EVP of Intermediates and Derivatives and Refining; and Torkel Rhenman, our EVP of Advanced Polymer Solutions.

利安德巴塞爾執行長 Peter Vanacker 也將參加今天的電話會議。我們的財務長麥可‧麥克默里； Ken Lane，我們的全球烯烴和聚烯烴執行副總裁； Kim Foley，我們的中間體、衍生品和精煉執行副總裁；以及我們先進聚合物解決方案執行副總裁 Torkel Rhenman。

During today's call, we will focus on the fourth quarter and full year 2022 results, current market dynamics and our near-term outlook. With that being said, I would now like to turn the call over to Peter.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將重點關注 2022 年第四季和全年業績、當前市場動態以及我們的近期前景。話雖如此，我現在想把電話轉給彼得。

Thank you, David, and welcome to all of you. We appreciate you joining us today as we discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2022 results. Let's begin with our safety results on Slide #3.

謝謝你，大衛，歡迎大家。感謝您今天加入我們，討論我們的第四季和 2022 年全年業績。讓我們從幻燈片#3 上的安全結果開始。

LyondellBasell's employees and contractors delivered an outstanding safety performance during 2022. Injury rates at our company have consistently been among the lowest for our industry. But last year, we reduced the rate of injuries across our global workforce by roughly 0.5 to 0.12 injuries per 200,000 hours worked.

利安德巴塞爾的員工和承包商在 2022 年表現出色。但去年，我們將全球員工的工傷率降低了約每 20 萬小時 0.5 至 0.12 人受傷。

At our Bayport complex outside of Houston, our team finished 2022 with over 6 million consecutive safe work hours, a new company record. Simply put, a consistent focus on safe work is embedded in our company's DNA and provides a solid foundation for extending that shared focus across other dimensions of the company's culture.

在休士頓郊外的 Bayport 綜合體，我們的團隊在 2022 年完成了連續安全工作超過 600 萬小時的工作，創下了公司的新紀錄。簡而言之，對安全工作的一貫關注已融入我們公司的 DNA，並為將這種共同關注擴展到公司文化的其他方面奠定了堅實的基礎。

Let's now turn to Slide #4 to discuss our financial results. 2022 was a very challenging year characterized by a war in Ukraine, evolving responses to the COVID pandemic, energy volatility, inflation and rapidly changing monetary policies.

現在讓我們轉向第四張投影片來討論我們的財務表現。 2022 年是非常具有挑戰性的一年，其特點是烏克蘭戰爭、對新冠疫情的應對措施不斷變化、能源波動、通貨膨脹和快速變化的貨幣政策。

At LyondellBasell, our portfolio of businesses continued to provide value for our global customers with products and solutions that are essential for modern society. In '22, LyondellBasell delivered earnings of $12.46 per share with EBITDA of $6.5 billion. Cash generation was exceptional and resulted in $6.1 billion of cash from operations; second only to our 2021 results. We ended the year with $6 billion of liquidity supported by a strong investment-grade balance sheet.

在利安德巴塞爾，我們的業務組合繼續透過現代社會必不可少的產品和解決方案為全球客戶提供價值。 22 年，利安德巴塞爾每股收益為 12.46 美元，EBITDA 為 65 億美元。現金生成能力出色，營運現金達 61 億美元；僅次於我們 2021 年的業績。在強勁的投資等級資產負債表的支持下，我們年底擁有 60 億美元的流動性。

Return on invested capital was 16%, far exceeding our cost of capital. In addition to our focus on safety, we are sharpening our strategic focus to maximize value for our customers, shareholders and society under a range of scenarios.

投資資本報酬率為16%，遠超過我們的資本成本。除了專注於安全之外，我們還加強策略重點，以便在各種情況下為客戶、股東和社會實現價值最大化。

On Slide #5, we outlined our progress on delivering value from this strategy over the past year. Our leadership in cost management and operational excellence enabled LyondellBasell to hold fixed costs well below inflation, and quickly adjust operating rates in response to evolving market conditions.

在投影片 #5 中，我們概述了過去一年我們在透過該策略實現價值方面取得的進展。我們在成本管理和卓越營運方面的領先地位使利安德巴塞爾能夠將固定成本控制在遠低於通貨膨脹的水平，並根據不斷變化的市場條件快速調整營運率。

Our diverse global business portfolio provided outstanding cash generation during a challenging year. And at the same time, we positioned the portfolio for changing times with decisions to exit refining and sell our Australian polypropylene business.

我們多元化的全球業務組合在充滿挑戰的一年中提供了出色的現金產生能力。同時，我們決定退出煉油並出售我們的澳洲聚丙烯業務，從而根據時代的變化調整了投資組合。

We established a new business unit, focused on establishing leadership in providing Circular and Low Carbon Solutions for our customers. And we are advancing our supply chains, production capacity and sustainable assets to serve rapidly growing markets for these Circular and Low Carbon products.

我們建立了一個新的業務部門，專注於在為客戶提供循環和低碳解決方案方面建立領導地位。我們正在推動我們的供應鏈、生產能力和永續資產，為這些循環和低碳產品快速成長的市場提供服務。

Last quarter, we announced our increased focus on capturing value as we continue to manage costs. We expect our value enhancement program will generate at least $750 million in recurring annual EBITDA by the end of 2025.

上季度，我們宣佈在繼續管理成本的同時，更加重視捕捉價值。我們預計到 2025 年底，我們的價值提升計畫將產生至少 7.5 億美元的經常性年度 EBITDA。

Our increased focus helped drive a 13 percent point improvement in cash conversion in 2022. That further bolstered our capital structure and supported generous shareholder returns. On Slide #6, I would like to highlight our recent decisions to accelerate progress on our climate targets and create more value by doing so.

我們更加關注，有助於推動 2022 年現金轉換率提高 13%。在投影片 #6 上，我想強調我們最近做出的加快氣候目標進展並創造更多價值的決定。

In order to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, climate scientists believe that global warming should be limited to no more than 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels. In December, we announced our decision to increase LyondellBasell's 2030 targets for reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to 42% and established a new Scope 3 emission reduction target of 30% relative to 2020 levels.

為了實現《巴黎氣候協定》的目標，氣候科學家認為，全球暖化應限制在比工業化前水準高出不超過攝氏1.5度的範圍內。去年 12 月，我們宣布決定將利安德巴塞爾 2030 年範圍 1 和範圍 2 排放量減少目標提高至 42%，並製定了新的範圍 3 排放量相對於 2020 年水準減少 30% 的目標。

Our targets are now aligned with the science-based guidance and the 1.5 degree Celsius scenario. In addition, as we continue to make progress in sourcing, favorably priced renewable electricity, we have increased our 2030 goal to procure at least 75% of our global power generation needs from renewable and low-carbon sources.

我們的目標現在與基於科學的指導和 1.5 攝氏度的情景保持一致。此外，隨著我們在採購價格優惠的可再生電力方面不斷取得進展，我們提高了 2030 年的目標，即從再生能源和低碳能源採購至少 75% 的全球發電需求。

Earlier this week, we announced our first 2 renewable power purchase agreements in Europe and 2 additional agreements in the United States. Altogether, we now have 8 agreements in place for 930 megawatts of renewable power capacity, which represents roughly 1/3 of our global needs.

本週早些時候，我們宣布了在歐洲的首批 2 份再生能源電力購買協議，以及在美國的另外 2 份協議。我們現在總共簽署了 8 項協議，涉及 930 兆瓦的再生能源發電能力，約佔我們全球需求的 1/3。

These agreements will prevent nearly 1 million tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions. All of this work supports our goal to become net zero in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2050. At the same time, we continued to build global businesses that will sell at least 2 million tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers by 2030.

這些協議將每年減少近100萬噸溫室氣體排放。所有這些工作都支持我們在 2050 年實現範圍 1 和範圍 2 排放淨零的目標。

On Slide #7, let's take a look at how we are building our Circulen brands of recycled and renewable-based polymers. During the fourth quarter, we announced progress in developing 4 new plastic waste sorting and recycling facilities in Houston, Germany, India and China.

在投影片 #7 上，讓我們看看我們如何建立回收和可再生聚合物的 Circulen 品牌。第四季度，我們宣佈在休士頓、德國、印度和中國開發 4 個新的塑膠廢棄物分類和回收設施取得進展。

These facilities provide a strong foundation for a robust global supply chain for plastic waste feedstocks. And with our 3 product platforms, CirculenRecover for mechanical recycling, CirculenRevive for advanced recycling, and CirculenRenew for renewable-based feedstocks, LyondellBasell will be able to match both feedstocks and products with the highest value solutions for our customers.

這些設施為塑膠廢棄物原料的強大全球供應鏈奠定了堅實的基礎。憑藉我們的3 個產品平台，即用於機械回收的CirculenRecover、用於高級回收的CirculenRevive 以及用於可再生原料的CirculenRenew，利安德巴塞爾將能夠為我們的客戶提供最高價值的解決方案來匹配原料和產品。

The combination of our focus, detail, technologies and global platforms provides LyondellBasell with powerful advantages to build the world's leading Circular and Low Carbon Solutions business.

我們的專注、細節、技術和全球平台的結合為利安德巴塞爾打造世界領先的循環和低碳解決方案業務提供了強大的優勢。

Now with that, I will turn the call over to Michael first, and then to each of our business leaders who will describe our financial and segment results in more detail.

現在，我將首先將電話轉給邁克爾，然後轉給我們的每位業務領導人，他們將更詳細地描述我們的財務和部門業績。

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to Slide 8, and let me begin by highlighting our excellent cash generation from our business portfolio during 2022. LyondellBasell generated a total of $6.1 billion of cash from operating activities over the past year.

謝謝你，彼得，大家早安。請轉到投影片 8，首先讓我強調一下 2022 年我們業務組合中出色的現金產生能力。

Our cash on hand increased to $2.2 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. During 2022, we achieved cash conversion of 96%, 13 percentage points higher than our 2021 cash conversion. In the fourth quarter, cash conversion reached an outstanding rate of 203%.

截至第四季末，我們的手頭現金增加至 22 億美元。 2022 年，我們實現了 96% 的現金轉換，比 2021 年的現金轉換高出 13 個百分點。第四季度，現金轉換率達203%。

This efficient and robust cash generation allowed the company to return a total of $3.7 billion to LyondellBasell shareholders in 2022. Let's continue with Slide 9 and review the details of our capital allocation over the past year. Our approach remains focused on disciplined capital allocation and strong returns for our shareholders.

這種高效而強勁的現金產生能力使公司能夠在 2022 年向 LyondellBasell 股東總共返還 37 億美元。我們的方法仍然專注於嚴格的資本配置和為股東帶來豐厚的回報。

During 2022, cash from operating activities fully funded dividends, share repurchases and capital expenditures. We returned approximately 60% of the cash from operating activities to shareholders. This included $3.2 billion in quarterly and special dividends and $420 million in share repurchases. In May, we increased our quarterly dividend by 5%.

2022年，經營活動產生的現金全部用於支付股利、股票回購和資本支出。我們將約 60% 的經營活動現金回饋給股東。其中包括 32 億美元的季度股息和特別股息以及 4.2 億美元的股票回購。 5 月份，我們將季度股息提高了 5%。

This represents our 12th consecutive year of annual dividend growth. We continue to invest in maintenance and growth projects with $1.9 billion in capital expenditures. A significant portion of this capital funded the final stages of construction of our world-scale PO/TBA plant.

這代表我們的年度股息連續第 12 年增長。我們繼續以 19 億美元的資本支出投資於維護和成長項目。這筆資金的很大一部分用於資助我們世界級 PO/TBA 工廠建設的最後階段。

Startup activities remain on track for the end of this quarter. Our transformation of is working across our company to rigorously manage and track the progress of our value enhancement program. We look forward to sharing the progress of this program at our Capital Markets Day in March.

本季末的初創活動仍按計劃進行。我們的轉型正在整個公司範圍內進行，以嚴格管理和追蹤我們的價值提升計劃的進度。我們期待在三月的資本市場日分享該計劃的進展。

Now I'd like to provide an overview of the quarterly results for each of our segments on Slide 10. LyondellBasell's business portfolio delivered $865 million of EBITDA during the fourth quarter. Our results reflected margins stabilizing at the low levels seen towards the end of the third quarter.

現在我想在投影片 10 上概述我們每個部門的季度業績。我們的業績反映出利潤率穩定在第三季末的低點。

Moderating energy and feedstock costs provided modest offsets for compressed margins in our Olefins and Polyolefins businesses. Overall, O&P demand remained low, particularly in Europe and China. Intermediates and Derivatives results sequentially declined on lower volumes due to the quarterly timing of oxyfuel vessel shipments.

能源和原料成本的下降適度抵消了我們烯烴和聚烯烴業務利潤壓縮的影響。總體而言，O&P 需求仍然較低，特別是在歐洲和中國。由於富氧船按季度發貨，中間體和衍生性商品業績因銷量下降而連續下滑。

Margins at our oxyfuels and refining businesses remained above historical averages as demand for fuels remained strong due to increasing global mobility. High cost for utilities and raw materials coupled with low seasonal demand negatively impacted our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment.

由於全球流動性增加，燃料需求仍然強勁，我們的富氧燃料和煉油業務的利潤率仍高於歷史平均水準。公用事業和原材料的高成本加上​​季節性需求低對我們的先進聚合物解決方案部門產生了負面影響。

Across the portfolio, a noncash LIFO inventory valuation charge impacts pretax fourth quarter results by approximately $90 million. Fourth quarter LIFO charges were approximately $15 million for O&P Americas segment, $50 million for the O&P EAI segment, $25 million each for the intermediates and derivatives in APS segments, $15 million for the Technology segment and a $40 million benefit for the refining segment.

在整個投資組合中，非現金後進先出庫存估值費用對第四季度稅前業績產生了約 9,000 萬美元的影響。第四季後進先出費用：O&P Americas 部門約1,500 萬美元，O&P EAI 部門為5,000 萬美元，APS 部門的中間體和衍生性商品各為2,500 萬美元，技術部門為1,500 萬美元，煉油部門為4,000萬美元。

As a reminder, volatility in natural gas prices impacts our cost for not only gas, but also steam and electricity. We estimate that a $1 per million BTU change in the price of natural gas impacts the energy cost of our directly operated assets by approximately $175 million per year across the company with 80% of this impact in North America and 20% in Europe.

提醒一下，天然氣價格的波動不僅影響我們的天然氣成本，也影響蒸汽和電力的成本。我們估計，天然氣價格每百萬 BTU 變化 1 美元，每年會對整個公司直接營運資產的能源成本產生約 1.75 億美元的影響，其中 80% 在北美，20% 在歐洲。

These estimates do not include the impact of gas price on feedstock cost. Before I turn the call over to Ken and then to each of our business leaders, who will describe our segment results in more detail, let me address some of your annual modeling questions for 2023 on Slide 11.

這些估計不包括天然氣價格對原料成本的影響。在我將電話轉給 Ken 和我們的每位業務負責人（他們將更詳細地描述我們的細分結果）之前，讓我先回答幻燈片 11 上的一些 2023 年年度建模問題。

As our new world-scale PO/TBA plant ramps up, we expect to produce and sell about half of the asset's nameplate capacity in 2023. We remain confident that our value enhancement program can achieve recurring annual EBITDA of $150 million by the end of 2023 through the execution of about 1,000 projects.

隨著我們新的世界級PO/TBA 工廠的投產，我們預計到2023 年將生產和銷售該資產銘牌產能的約一半。性年度EBITDA透過執行約 1,000 個項目。

In order to achieve this benefit, we expect to incur a similar amount of onetime capital and operational cost of about $150 million, with the majority of these costs allocated to capital. Major planned maintenance for 2023 include a turnaround at one of our Midwest ethylene crackers in the O&P Americas segment, turnarounds at our acetyls assets and 3 propylene oxide plant turnarounds within our I&D segment.

為了實現這一效益，我們預計將產生類似數量的一次性資本和營運成本，約 1.5 億美元，其中大部分成本分配給資本。 2023 年計畫的主要維護包括 O&P 美洲業務部門中西部一間乙烯裂解裝置的檢修、乙醯資產的檢修以及 I&D 部門內 3 座環氧丙烷工廠的檢修。

Based on expected volumes and margins, we estimate that lost production associated with all of this maintenance downtime will impact 2023 EBITDA by approximately $290 million. While routine maintenance costs are expensed, maintenance costs arising from turnarounds of major production units are capitalized and included in our capital expenditure forecast.

根據預期產量和利潤率，我們估計與所有維護停機相關的生產損失將對 2023 年 EBITDA 產生約 2.9 億美元的影響。雖然日常維護成本已計入費用，但主要生產裝置檢修產生的維護成本已資本化並包含在我們的資本支出預測中。

During the fourth quarter, we recognized costs related to the exit from our Refining business, which impacted EBITDA by $73 million. As I mentioned last quarter, we expect the business will incur similar EBITDA impacts during each quarter of 2023. We will also recognize about $55 million each quarter for depreciation charges to reflect cost accrued for asset decommissioning that will be incurred after the asset shuts down.

第四季度，我們確認了與退出煉油業務相關的成本，這對 EBITDA 造成了 7,300 萬美元的影響。正如我上季度提到的，我們預計該業務將在2023 年每季產生類似的EBITDA 影響。應計成本。

We expect that our capital expenditures will decline by about $300 million to approximately $1.6 billion this year with the completion of the PO/TBA plant and disciplined spend resulting from the current business environment. Approximately $500 million of CapEx is targeted towards profit-generating growth projects with the remaining balance supporting sustaining maintenance.

我們預計，隨著 PO/TBA 工廠的竣工以及當前商業環境帶來的嚴格支出，今年我們的資本支出將減少約 3 億美元，至約 16 億美元。大約 5 億美元的資本支出用於獲利成長項目，其餘餘額用於支援持續維護。

We expect that this year's capital requirements for the value enhancement program will be funded within our $1.6 billion CapEx budget. Other financial metrics worth noting include net interest expense, depreciation and amortization, pension-related estimates and tax rates. We expect 2023 net interest expense will be approximately $405 million. Depreciation and amortization charges for 2023 are expected to be $1.4 billion, which includes the $220 million of additional refinery depreciation charges related to asset decommissioning.

我們預計今年價值提升計畫的資本需求將在我們 16 億美元的資本支出預算內滿足。其他值得注意的財務指標包括淨利息支出、折舊和攤提、退休金相關估算和稅率。我們預計 2023 年淨利息支出約為 4.05 億美元。 2023 年的折舊和攤銷費用預計為 14 億美元，其中包括與資產退役相關的 2.2 億美元額外煉油廠折舊費用。

We plan to make regular pension contributions in 2023, totaling about $65 million with approximately $105 million of pension expense for the year. We expect our effective tax rate will be approximately 20% and our cash tax rate will be lower than our ETR. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ken. Ken?

我們計劃在 2023 年定期繳納退休金，總額約 6,500 萬美元，全年退休金支出約 1.05 億美元。我們預計我們的有效稅率約為 20%，我們的現金稅率將低於我們的 ETR。這樣，我就把電話轉給肯。肯？

Thank you, Michael. Let's begin the segment discussions on Slide 12 with the performance of our Olefins and Polyolefins Americas segment. Fourth quarter O&P Americas' EBITDA was $359 million. Prices and margins stabilized at the low levels we saw at the end of the third quarter. Market demand declined, and we also saw customer destocking during the quarter.

謝謝你，麥可。讓我們從幻燈片 12 的美洲烯烴和聚烯烴部門的表現開始進行部門討論。第四季 O&P Americas 的 EBITDA 為 3.59 億美元。價格和利潤穩定在第三季末的低點。市場需求下降，本季我們也看到客戶去庫存。

That, combined with new polymer capacity resulted in well-supplied markets. We operated our assets at approximately 75% of nameplate capacity to match the reduced market demand and manage working capital. During January, we have seen modest improvements in domestic and export demand. Normalization of logistics constraints have facilitated increased export volumes.

再加上新的聚合物產能，市場供應充足。我們以銘牌產能的約 75% 營運資產，以滿足減少的市場需求並管理營運資金。一月份，我們看到國內和出口需求略有改善。物流限制的正常化促進了出口量的增加。

Also, moderating feedstock and energy costs are providing some margin tailwinds. As a result, we expect to operate our O&P Americas asset at an average of approximately 80% during the first quarter. Looking back at 2022, I want to highlight our progress on developing our Circulen business.

此外，原料和能源成本的放緩也為利潤帶來了一些利好因素。因此，我們預計第一季 O&P Americas 資產的平均利用率約為 80%。回顧 2022 年，我想強調我們在發展 Circulen 業務方面的進展。

We Have established projects for plastic waste sorting facilities that will be used to provide feedstock for our CirculenRecover and CirculenRevive product lines. We are also moving phoned our usage of olefins feedstocks produced from renewable sources such as used cooking oil.

我們已經建立了塑膠廢棄物分類設施項目，該項目將用於為我們的 CirculenRecover 和 CirculenRevive 產品線提供原料。我們也正在改變由可再生資源（例如廢食用油）生產的烯烴原料的使用。

During 2022, we processed 15,000 tons of renewable feedstocks at our Channelview, Texas cracker, to produce ethylene, propylene and ultimately, polyethylene and polypropylene that we sold to customers at premium prices under our CirculenRenew brand.

2022 年，我們在德州 Channelview 裂解裝置加工了 15,000 噸可再生原料，生產乙烯、丙烯，最終生產聚乙烯和聚丙烯，並以 CirculenRenew 品牌以高價出售給客戶。

Last year, 4 of our U.S. manufacturing sites attained the ISCC PLUS certification for certain grades of polyethylene and polypropylene. This enables LyondellBasell to offer customers mass balance certificates for these products and serve the market's rapidly growing demand.

去年，我們的 4 個美國生產基地獲得了某些等級聚乙烯和聚丙烯的 ISCC PLUS 認證。這使得利安德巴塞爾能夠為客戶提供這些產品的品質平衡證書，並滿足市場快速成長的需求。

We are delivering these new CirculenRenew products to our customers and proving that polymers can be more sustainable and used in any application where virgin polymer is used. Now please turn to Slide 13 to review the performance of our Olefins and Polyolefins, Europe, Asia and International segment.

我們正在向客戶提供這些新的 CirculenRenew 產品，並證明聚合物可以更具可持續性，並可用於任何使用原始聚合物的應用。現在請到投影片 13，回顧我們的烯烴和聚烯烴、歐洲、亞洲和國際部門的表現。

In Europe, macroeconomic pressures were exacerbated by high inflation and energy costs that curtailed operations at our customers and pressured consumer demand. LyondellBasell operated our O&P assets at rates of approximately 60% during the fourth quarter. LIFO inventory charges were $50 million during the quarter. All of this combined to result in a fourth quarter EBITDA loss of $152 million.

在歐洲，高通膨和能源成本加劇了宏觀經濟壓力，這限制了我們客戶的業務並對消費者需求造成壓力。利安德巴塞爾在第四季度營運我們的 O&P 資產的比率約為 60%。本季的 LIFO 庫存費用為 5,000 萬美元。所有這些加起來導致第四季度 EBITDA 損失 1.52 億美元。

European energy costs have considerably moderated in January, and demand is showing some signs of improvement over the extremely low level seen in December. We have completed repairs and restarted our integrated cracker in France at the end of 2022 and expect to operate our European assets at a rate of 80% during the first quarter.

1 月歐洲能源成本大幅下降，需求較 12 月的極低水準顯示出一些改善跡象。我們已於 2022 年底完成修復並重啟了法國的綜合裂解裝置，預計第一季歐洲資產的運作率將達到 80%。

As in the Americas, we continue to focus on long-term strategies to support our Circular and Low Carbon Solutions business in Europe and Asia. During October, we announced new partnerships for plastic waste sorting facilities in Germany and China, and a fully automated mechanical recycling facility in India.

與美洲一樣，我們繼續專注於長期策略，以支持我們在歐洲和亞洲的循環和低碳解決方案業務。十月份，我們宣佈在德國和中國建立塑膠廢棄物分類設施以及在印度建立全自動機械回收設施的新合作夥伴關係。

These partnerships will allow us to swiftly develop fit-for-purpose plants in each region to supply feedstocks for our Circulen products has serve a rapidly growing market for circular solutions. In November, we announced our decision to move forward with engineering to build our first commercial-scale advanced recycling plant in Germany.

這些合作夥伴關係將使我們能夠在每個地區迅速開發適合用途的工廠，為我們的 Circulen 產品提供原料，服務於快速成長的循環解決方案市場。 11 月，我們宣布決定推進工程建設，在德國建造第一個商業規模的先進回收工廠。

This plant will utilize LyondellBasell's proprietary MoReTec technology to convert plastic waste from our waste sorting facility into pyrolysis oil that can be used as a feedstock to produce new plastic resins in a circular process. We are moving rapidly to build Circular and Low Carbon solutions for our industry at an unmatched scale. With that, I will turn the call over to Kim.

該工廠將利用利安德巴塞爾專有的 MoReTec 技術，將廢棄物分類設施中的塑膠廢棄物轉化為熱解油，該熱解油可用作循環製程中生產新塑膠樹脂的原料。我們正在迅速採取行動，以無與倫比的規模為我們的行業建立循環和低碳解決方案。這樣，我會將電話轉給 Kim。

Thank you, Ken. Please turn to Slide 14 as we take a look at our intermediates and Derivatives segment. Fourth quarter EBITDA was $291 million. Styrene margins improved due to lower feedstock costs. Oxyfuel margins remained well above historical fourth quarter averages.

謝謝你，肯。請參閱投影片 14，我們將了解我們的中間體和衍生性商品部分。第四季 EBITDA 為 2.91 億美元。由於原料成本下降，苯乙烯利潤率提高。富氧燃料利潤率仍遠高於第四季的歷史平均。

Oxyfuel volumes declined as the timing of the vessel sailings resulted in unusually high third quarter volumes. We operated our assets at rates of approximately 75%. Our propylene oxide and styrene joint venture in the Netherlands is expected to restart this month after 3 months of downtime in response to volatile European energy costs and lower demand.

由於船舶航行的時間導致第三季的銷量異常高，富氧燃料銷量下降。我們的資產營運率約為 75%。我們位於荷蘭的環氧丙烷和苯乙烯合資企業因歐洲能源成本波動和需求下降而停工三個月，預計將於本月重新啟動。

We look forward to initial volumes from the new PO/TBA asset in Houston by the end of the quarter. We plan to operate our assets across the I&D segment at approximately 80% in the first quarter. In January, we are encouraged by unseasonably strong oxyfuel margins with low butane feedstock costs and strong oxyfuel blend premiums.

我們期待休士頓新 PO/TBA 資產在本季末達到初始產量。我們計劃第一季將 I&D 部門的資產營運率提高到約 80%。一月份，我們對異常強勁的富氧燃料利潤率、較低的丁烷原料成本和強勁的富氧燃料混合物溢價感到鼓舞。

We expect relatively stable margins for the segment for the first quarter. We developed multiyear maintenance schedules to ensure that our plants can safely and reliably serve our customers. As it works out, 2023 will be a heavy year for maintenance across several of our PO/TBA assets.

我們預計第一季該部門的利潤率相對穩定。我們制定了多年維護計劃，以確保我們的工廠能夠安全可靠地為客戶服務。事實證明，2023 年將是我們多項 PO/TBA 資產維護工作繁重的一年。

Maintenance is scheduled for 2 of our 3 PO/TBA plants at our Bayport, Texas facility in the second and fourth quarters. Our Botlek PO/TBA facility in the Netherlands will also undergo maintenance from September through November. We expect the ramp-up in volumes of our new plant will be partially offset by loss production from this planned maintenance.

德州貝波特工廠的 3 個 PO/TBA 工廠中的 2 個計劃於第二季和第四季進行維護。我們位於荷蘭的 Botlek PO/TBA 工廠也將於 9 月至 11 月進行維護。我們預計新工廠產量的增加將被此次計畫維護造成的生產損失部分抵銷。

Nonetheless, the incremental 2023 PO and TBA volumes should be sufficient to capture typical market growth. In 2024, we expect less scheduled maintenance and the full year of production from our new assets will provide additional volumes to serve market growth.

儘管如此，2023 年 PO 和 TBA 的增量應該足以抓住典型的市場成長。到 2024 年，我們預計定期維護將減少，新資產的全年產量將提供額外的產量來服務市場成長。

Now let's turn to Slide 15 and discuss the results of the Refining segment. Fourth quarter EBITDA included a LIFO inventory valuation benefit of approximately $40 million. Results increased on higher margins and slightly higher volumes following the third of the planned maintenances, offset by the disruptions of the December freeze.

現在讓我們轉向幻燈片 15 並討論 Refining 部分的結果。第四季 EBITDA 包括約 4,000 萬美元的 LIFO 庫存估值收益。在計劃的第三次維護之後，由於利潤率提高和銷量略有增加，業績有所增長，但被 12 月凍結造成的干擾所抵消。

In the fourth quarter, the Maya 2-1-1 spread modestly increased to $48 per barrel, remaining well above historical averages. Despite unplanned downtime, we operated the refinery at 85% of capacity with an average crude rate of 229,000 barrels per day.

第四季度，瑪雅 2-1-1 價差小幅增至每桶 48 美元，仍遠高於歷史平均。儘管發生了計劃外停機，煉油廠仍以 85% 的產能運行，平均原油產量為每天 229,000 桶。

In January, the Maya 2-1-1 spreads have also been unseasonally strong at more than $50 per barrel, driven by strong discounts for heavy crudes. We expect to operate the refinery at approximately 85% of capacity in the first quarter.

1 月份，受重質原油大幅折扣的推動，瑪雅 2-1-1 價差也異常強勁，達到每桶 50 美元以上。我們預計第一季煉油廠產能利用率約為 85%。

Finally, I would like to recognize our team at the refinery for finishing the year with 0 recordable injuries in 2022. This is the first time such a record has been achieved in the 104-year history of this facility. Our team is dedicated to safely and reliably operating these assets until we exit the business. With that, I will turn it over to Torkel.

最後，我要對煉油廠的團隊表示認可，他們在 2022 年實現了零可記錄傷害。我們的團隊致力於安全可靠地運作這些資產，直到我們退出業務。有了這個，我會把它交給托克爾。

Thank you, Kim. Now let's review the results of our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment on Slide 16. Fourth quarter EBITDA declined to $3 million. Margins remain pressured by feedstock and energy costs as well as the $25 million noncash LIFO inventory valuation charge.

謝謝你，金。現在讓我們回顧一下幻燈片 16 上的高級聚合物解決方案部門的結果。利潤率仍然受到原料和能源成本以及 2500 萬美元非現金 LIFO 庫存評估費用的壓力。

Volumes fell on lower seasonal demand, exacerbated by high power prices that impacted our European customers' businesses. In the fourth quarter, we embarked on a journey to transform the APS segment. Our goal is to sharpen our focus on customer service and product development to maximize value for our customers and for LyondellBasell.

由於季節性需求下降，銷售量下降，而高電價影響了我們歐洲客戶的業務，雪上加霜。第四季度，我們開啟了APS業務的轉型之旅。我們的目標是更加重視客戶服務和產品開發，為我們的客戶和利安德巴塞爾創造最大價值。

With increased autonomy and accountability, we are developing a more agile operating model with meaningful regional and segment growth strategies. As part of this transformation, the Catalloy and polybutene businesses will be moved from APS and reintegrated into the O&P segment beginning January 1, 2023.

隨著自主權和責任的增加，我們正在開發更靈活的營運模式，並制定有意義的區域和細分市場成長策略。作為此次轉型的一部分，Catalloy 和聚丁烯業務將從 2023 年 1 月 1 日起從 APS 轉移並重新整合到 O&P 部門。

This move will allow the APS team to sharpen their focus on the compounding business, distinct from the polymer business of Catalloy and polybutene, which serves our O&P value chain. From a portfolio point of view, we estimate APS will shift approximately $200 million of annual EBITDA between O&P Americas and O&P EAI segments fairly equally.

此舉將使 APS 團隊能夠更加專注於複合業務，這與 Catalloy 和聚丁烯的聚合物業務不同，後者服務於我們的 O&P 價值鏈。從投資組合的角度來看，我們估計 APS 將在 O&P Americas 和 O&P EAI 部門之間相當平等地轉移約 2 億美元的年度 EBITDA。

We plan to provide additional information regarding the impact of this change in March. I strongly believe that our APS platform has a lot of potential and I look forward to reporting on our team's progress in delivering on this transformation during our Capital Markets Day in March. With that, I will return the call back to Peter.

我們計劃在三月提供有關此變更影響的更多資訊。我堅信我們的 APS 平台具有巨大的潛力，我期待在三月的資本市場日期間報告我們團隊在實現這一轉型方面的進展。這樣，我會將電話回給彼得。

Thank you, Torkel. And to the entire LyondellBasell team, thank you again for all the hard work in delivering strong results during a challenging year. To close out on the segments, let's turn to Slide 17 and discuss the results for our technology business on behalf of Jim Seward.

謝謝你，托克爾。對於整個利安德巴塞爾團隊，再次感謝你們在充滿挑戰的一年中為取得強勁成果而付出的辛勤工作。為了結束這些部分，讓我們轉向幻燈片 17，並代表 Jim Seward 討論我們技術業務的結果。

During the fourth quarter, reduced global polyolefin industry operating rates resulted in lower catalyst volumes. Licensing revenue moderated due to the timing of milestones for revenue recognition. We estimate that the first quarter results for the Technology segment will be similar to fourth quarter 2022 as catalyst volumes improve, offset by moderating licensing revenue.

第四季度，全球聚烯烴產業開工率下降導致催化劑用量減少。由於收入確認里程碑的時間安排，許可收入有所放緩。我們預計，隨著催化劑產量的增加（被授權收入的放緩所抵消），技術領域第一季的業績將與 2022 年第四季相似。

Our Technology team is hard at work advancing engineering on LyondellBasell's first commercial advanced recycling plant. This plant will leverage on proprietary MoReTec technology to extract value from post-consumer mixed plastic waste by closing the loop and producing feedstocks for our ethylene crackers.

我們的技術團隊正在努力推動利安德巴塞爾首個商業先進回收工廠的工程設計。該工廠將利用 MoReTec 專有技術，透過閉合循環並為我們的乙烯裂解裝置生產原料，從消費後混合塑膠廢物中提取價值。

Our technology provides distinct advantages by reducing energy consumption and improving yields through innovative process designs and catalysis. Let me now summarize our results and first quarter outlook with Slide 18.

我們的技術透過創新的製程設計和催化降低能耗並提高產量，從而提供了獨特的優勢。現在讓我用投影片 18 總結我們的業績和第一季展望。

Despite highly challenging markets, our team is capturing value and moving forward on our strategic priorities. Most importantly, we are sharpening our focus on leveraging the scale of our global portfolio to deliver resilient results. We remain focused on LyondellBasell's core values.

儘管市場充滿挑戰，我們的團隊仍在捕捉價值並推進我們的策略重點。最重要的是，我們正在更加重視利用全球投資組合的規模來提供有彈性的績效。我們仍然專注於利安德巴塞爾的核心價值。

Last year's outstanding safety performance speaks to the depth with which safety is ingrained in our corporate culture. Our goal is to expand our core foundations to encompass a more comprehensive passion for value creation. This week, we welcomed Trisha Conley to our Executive Committee as Executive Vice President, People and Culture.

去年出色的安全表現顯示安全在我們的企業文化中根深蒂固。我們的目標是擴大我們的核心基礎，以包含對價值創造更全面的熱情。本週，我們歡迎 Trisha Conley 加入我們的執行委員會，擔任人力與文化執行副總裁。

Trisha will play a pivotal role in leading LyondellBasell's vision and strategy to enhance the employee experience, elevate our organizational performance and create the best and most inspiring culture in our industry.

Trisha 將在領導利安德巴塞爾的願景和策略方面發揮關鍵作用，以增強員工體驗、提升我們的組織績效並創造行業中最好、最鼓舞人心的文化。

In 2022, our businesses were pressured by the effects of the war, volatile energy costs emergence from the pandemic and monetary policy. We responded by matching our production with changing demand, leveraging our global business portfolio and maximizing cash generation.

2022年，我們的業務受到戰爭影響、疫情造成的能源成本波動以及貨幣政策的壓力。我們的應對措施是使我們的生產與不斷變化的需求相匹配，利用我們的全球業務組合併最大限度地產生現金。

Over the past year, our businesses generated over $6 billion of cash from operations and returned $3.7 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases. LyondellBasell's focus and commitment to shareholder returns remains strong. With our newly formed Circular and Low Carbon Solutions business, we are laser-focused on meeting the needs of our customers, brand owners and society.

去年，我們的企業透過營運產生了超過 60 億美元的現金，並透過股利和股票回購向股東返還了 37 億美元。利安德巴塞爾對股東回報的關注和承諾仍然堅定。憑藉新成立的循環和低碳解決方案業務，我們專注於滿足客戶、品牌所有者和社會的需求。

Our decarbonization goals are now aligned with science-based guidance, and we have made substantial progress towards our 2030 goal to procure 75% of our electricity from renewable and low-carbon sources. The Circular and Low Carbon Solutions business is well positioned to address the challenges of sustainability and plastic waste.

我們的脫碳目標現已與基於科學的指導保持一致，並且我們在實現 2030 年 75% 的電力來自可再生和低碳來源的目標方面取得了實質進展。循環和低碳解決方案業務處於有利地位，可以應對永續發展和塑膠廢物的挑戰。

By building an end-to-end business with robust supply chains, proprietary technology for transforming materials and our global manufacturing and marketing network, we're confident that we can build a large-scale and valuable leadership position in this exciting and expanding market.

透過建立具有強大供應鏈、材料轉化專有技術以及全球製造和行銷網路的端到端業務，我們有信心在這個令人興奮且不斷擴張的市場中建立大規模且有價值的領導地位。

And our focus on sustainability is gaining recognition. In December, we were honored to be awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance with a 91st percentile ranking. The EcoVadis platform is valued by procurement professionals for assisting in the identification and evaluation of sustainable supply solutions. We expect modest improvements in the first quarter from moderating energy and feedstock costs, stable demand and the absence of fourth quarter life LIFO charges.

我們對永續發展的關注正在獲得認可。 12 月，我們因永續發展表現而獲得 EcoVadis 金獎，排名第 91 位。 EcoVadis 平台因協助識別和評估永續供應解決方案而受到採購專業人士的重視。我們預計，由於能源和原料成本放緩、需求穩定以及第四季度沒有後進先出費用，第一季將出現適度改善。

Normalizing supply chains are enabling improved trade flows from our advantaged feedstock positions in North America and the Middle East. Nonetheless, we will continue to maintain focus and discipline to ensure that operating rates across our global portfolio are matched to market conditions.

供應鏈正常化正在改善我們在北美和中東的優勢原料地位的貿易流量。儘管如此，我們將繼續保持專注和紀律，以確保我們全球投資組合的開工率與市場狀況相符。

As the year progresses, we anticipate seasonal demand improvements during the second and third quarter. We're keeping a close eye on China's emergence from COVID and potential benefits from increased economic activity during the second half of 2023.

隨著時間的推移，我們預計第二季和第三季的季節性需求將有所改善。我們正在密切關注中國擺脫新冠疫情的情況以及 2023 年下半年經濟活動增加的潛在好處。

The most exciting challenge during my first 8 months as the CEO of LyondellBasell has been the process of identifying and building a compelling strategy that generates substantial value for our customers, suppliers, employees, communities and shareholders over the next decade. We've shared some initial decisions with you already, but much more is ahead.

在我擔任利安德巴塞爾執行長的前8 個月中，最令人興奮的挑戰是確定和製定一項引人注目的策略，在未來十年為我們的客戶、供應商、員工、社區和股東創造巨大價值。我們已經與您分享了一些初步決定，但未來還有更多決定。

As you will have recognized, we have not waited until the Capital Markets Day, but started moving ahead with great focus and speed in the right direction. On Slide 19, we ask that you save the date for March 14, when we will share more details on our forward strategy at our Capital Markets Day in New York, and we hope that you can all join us virtually or in person. We are now pleased to take your questions.

正如您所認識到的，我們並沒有等到資本市場日，而是開始以高度的專注和速度朝著正確的方向前進。在投影片19 上，我們要求您將日期保留在3 月14 日，屆時我們將在紐約資本市場日分享有關我們前瞻性策略的更多細節，我們希望你們都能以虛擬方式或親自參加我們的活動。我們現在很高興回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from the line of P.J. Juvekar with Citi.

我們的第一個問題來自 P.J. Juvekar 與花旗銀行的聯繫。

Yes. Just had a quick question on China reopening. What do you see in terms of inventory in China at the ports? And then maybe you can make a comment on your China joint venture with Bora and where do you -- what were the operating rates there?

是的。剛剛有一個關於中國重新開放的快速問題。您認為中國港口的庫存如何？然後也許您可以對您與 Bora 的中國合資企業發表評論，您在哪裡 - 那裡的開工率是多少？

Thanks, P.J. This is Peter. Let me take your question first and then eventually Ken can also add something to that. I mean, of course when we talk about China, it's still early stage to say that we see a sustainable recovery.

謝謝，P.J。讓我先回答你的問題，然後肯最終也可以補充一些內容。我的意思是，當然，當我們談論中國時，說我們看到永續復甦還處於早期階段。

We expect -- I mean that, that will take probably another 3, 4 months until we see that recovery is actually happening. So we're still very modest in our expectations on China. But at least, I mean, we know that there has been the opening. So the government has changed their way, I mean, how to look at that -- at COVID.

我們預計——我的意思是，可能還需要 3、4 個月的時間才能看到復甦真正發生。所以我們對中國的期望還是非常溫和的。但至少，我的意思是，我們知道已經有機會了。所以政府改變了他們的方式，我的意思是，如何看待這個問題——新冠病毒。

On Bora, still hanging in there, I would say. Not very positive because of the situation and because of capacity utilization, rates locally in the market being at technical minimums. Ken?

我想說，在博拉島，仍然堅持在那裡。由於目前的情況和產能利用率，市場的利率處於技術最低水平，因此情況並不樂觀。肯？

Yes, that's right. We continue to operate the joint venture of technical minimums. We've seen it's been 2 weeks, we're seeing a little bit of improvement in consumer demand, but it's really far too early to say that that's going to continue. Margins are continuing to be challenged. So we're seeing record-low spreads there still. So even with that improvement of demand, it's not translating yet into improved spreads. So we're watching that very closely, of course, P.J.

是的，沒錯。我們繼續經營技術最低限度的合資企業。我們已經看到已經過去兩週了，我們看到消費者需求略有改善，但現在說這種情況會持續還為時過早。利潤率持續受到挑戰。因此，我們仍然看到價差創歷史新低。因此，即使需求有所改善，它還沒有轉化為利差的改善。當然，我們正在密切關注這一情況，P.J.

And the situation on PO is no different, I mean, than the situation of polyolefins?

我的意思是，PO 的情況與聚烯烴的情況沒有什麼不同？

Correct.

正確的。

Our next question comes from the line of Steve Byrne with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的史蒂夫·伯恩 (Steve Byrne)。

I wanted to just drill into the EAI segment here. Is the EBITDA loss-making a result of just the fixed cost absorption of running at 60% or were cash margins negative in the region in the quarter?

我想在這裡深入探討 EAI 部分。 EBITDA 虧損只是因為吸收了 60% 的固定成本，還是該地區本季現金利潤率為負？

And Ken, you mentioned demand improving. Is that sufficient to drive operating rates from 60% to 80%? Do you think that margins will remain stable? Or do you see risk of that given others may restart with lower energy costs as well?

肯，你提到需求改善。這足以將開工率從 60% 提高到 80% 嗎？您認為利潤率會保持穩定嗎？或者考慮到其他人也可能以較低的能源成本重新啟動，您是否認為有這種風險？

Thank you, Steve. Good question. And the other aspect that I would add, I mean, to what you -- to your question is, of course, also on the energy costs. As you know, I mean, energy costs have also moderated on a still very high level.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。好問題。我要補充的另一個方面，我的意思是，對於你的問題，當然，也是關於能源成本。如您所知，我的意思是，能源成本也已下降到仍然很高的水平。

It's still factor of 8 more expensive versus the United States, but at least, I mean, we're not at that peak anymore also helped I mean by the winter that has been very moderate so far in Europe. So I would hand over -- I mean, to give a bit more color to what is happening in the market to Ken.

與美國相比，它仍然貴八倍，但至少，我的意思是，我們不再處於那個高峰，我的意思是，歐洲迄今為止非常溫和的冬季也有所幫助。所以我會把——我的意思是，把市場上正在發生的事情更多的色彩交給肯。

Yes. Thank you. And just to remind you, we did have that LIFO charge in the fourth quarter of $50 million. So -- but looking at what we see coming out of the fourth quarter, we hit a very low point there because demand was coming off, energy costs were high.

是的。謝謝。提醒您一下，我們在第四季度確實有 5000 萬美元的 LIFO 費用。所以，但看看我們第四季的情況，我們達到了一個非常低的點，因為需求下降，能源成本很高。

They moderated at the end of the quarter, and we're seeing that continue in the first quarter. We also had our Bayer cracker down during the fourth quarter. So that's why our operating rates were lower. Those repairs are complete, the cracker is back up. Similar to what we see in China, we're seeing some improvement in consumer demand. But again, I would say it's still early. Let's not call it a win yet, but we're definitely seeing some early signs of consumer demand improving there. So overall, the margin environment is going to improve mainly because of what Peter had said around the energy costs.

他們在本季末進行了調整，我們看到這種情況在第一季繼續下去。我們的拜耳餅乾在第四季也停產了。這就是我們的開工率較低的原因。這些修復已經完成，破解又恢復了。與我們在中國看到的情況類似，我們看到消費者需求有所改善。但我再說一遍，現在還太早。我們還不能稱之為勝利，但我們確實看到了消費者需求改善的一些早期跡象。因此，總體而言，利潤環境將得到改善，主要是因為彼得關於能源成本的言論。

Our next quarter comes from the line of Christopher Parkinson with Mizuho Securities.

我們的下一個季度來自瑞穗證券 (Mizuho Securities) 的克里斯托弗·帕金森 (Christopher Parkinson)。

Great. Could you just -- give your outlook on various regional operating rates and what's been happening across NGLs and feedstocks? Could you just give us your latest update on the NGL front and what that just generally means for the progression of integrated PE margins throughout the year?

偉大的。您能否對各個地區的開工率以及液化天然氣和原料方面的情況發表一下看法？您能否向我們介紹 NGL 方面的最新動態，以及這對全年綜合 PE 利潤率的進展意味著什麼？

Thank you, Chris. Ken, do you want to?

謝謝你，克里斯。肯，你願意嗎？

Sure. Yes, I'll take that. Listen, NGL production continues to increase. So we expect that to be a tailwind, especially for our position here in North America. The oil and gas ratio is going to be continue -- or continue to be favorable for our portfolio.

當然。是的，我會接受的。聽著，液化天然氣產量持續增加。因此，我們預計這將是一個順風車，特別是對於我們在北美的地位。石油和天然氣的比率將持續下去，或者說繼續對我們的投資組合有利。

We don't see that really changing. We do expect there could be some strengthening in the oil price as we go through the year just as demand potentially comes back with China reopening. So all in all, I would say that the environment today should be better than where we were in the second half of last year around feedstocks and energy costs for our portfolio.

我們認為這種情況並沒有真正改變。我們確實預計，今年油價可能會有所走強，而隨著中國重新開放，需求可能會回升。總而言之，我想說，今天的環境應該比去年下半年我們投資組合的原料和能源成本更好。

I mean, Henry Hub, (inaudible) to $2.40.

我的意思是，Henry Hub（聽不清楚）為 2.40 美元。

That's right. That's right. Back to where it was in the first half of 2021.

這是正確的。這是正確的。回到2021年上半年的水平。

Our next question comes from line of John McNulty from BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 John McNulty。

This is Bhavesh Lodaya for John. You highlighted improving operating rates in North America in the first quarter. As we think about 2023, what type of U.S. domestic demand growth do you expect? And then as we think about like a further recovery in operating rates back to like historical levels, how much of that depends on rising exports and reducing some of those logistic constraints out there?

我是約翰的巴韋什·洛達亞 (Bhavesh Lodaya)。您強調了第一季北美地區營運率的改善。展望 2023 年，您預期美國的內需成長會是什麼樣的？然後，當我們考慮開工率進一步恢復到歷史水準時，其中有多少取決於出口的增加和物流限制的減少？

It's a very broad question, of course. I mean, let me try to digest to put it in different buckets here. I mean, needless to say that when we talk about demand for mature goods with high inflation rates, which are still high, with interest rates that continue to go up, with new house builds and houses being sold still being very -- at very low base, yes, it's clear that we expect that the demand for durable goods will continue to be, at least for the foreseeable future, depressed.

當然，這是一個非常廣泛的問題。我的意思是，讓我試著消化一下，把它放在不同的桶子裡。我的意思是，不用說，當我們談論高通膨率的成熟商品的需求時，通膨率仍然很高，利率繼續上升，新房建造和銷售的房屋仍然非常低是的，很明顯，我們預計耐用品的需求將繼續低迷，至少在可預見的未來是如此。

What we have seen on the other hand side, as we have seen in other cycles, is that demand for nondurable goods is relatively stable, not to say, I mean, in certain areas, even strong. So that has led to the fact that we have given this guidance that we say, I mean, we are now operating in the Americas at 80% utilization. And Ken already talked about the European utilization rates, which was also at 80%.

另一方面，正如我們在其他週期中看到的那樣，對非耐用品的需求相對穩定，並不是說在某些領域甚至強勁。因此，這導致我們給出了這樣的指導，我的意思是，我們現在在美洲的利用率為 80%。 Ken 已經談到了歐洲的利用率，也是 80%。

In the I&D, I mean, you know that we have a start-up of the PO/TBA plans, as we alluded to and Kim said, starting up at the end of this quarter, which will add, I mean, a bit more volumes of propylene oxide, but let's not overreact on that either because we have, of course, our scheduled shutdowns, turnarounds that we have moved to the periods when we are starting up, I mean, the new facilities. So we'll be able to grow a bit, but operating assets currently is at 80%. Also here, a tick higher than it was at the end of last year.

在 I&D 中，我的意思是，我們有一個 PO/TBA 計劃的啟動，正如我們提到的，Kim 說的，在本季度末啟動，我的意思是，這將增加更多環氧丙烷的數量，但我們也不要對此反應過度，因為我們當然有預定的關閉、週轉時間，我們已經將其轉移到啟動期間，我的意思是新設施。所以我們將能夠成長一點，但目前營運資產為 80%。同樣，這裡的價格也比去年年底高了一點。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Zekauskas with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的傑夫‧澤考斯卡斯 (Jeff Zekauskas)。

A two-part question. When you think about the shutdown of your refinery at the end of 2023, does that mean that there are reduced operating rates in the fourth quarter of 2023? That is, do you have to really prepare to shut it down or you get to the end of the year and you shut it down?

一個由兩部分組成的問題。當您考慮您的煉油廠將於 2023 年底關閉時，這是否意味著 2023 年第四季的開工率會降低？也就是說，你是否真的必須做好關閉它的準備，或者到了年底你就將其關閉？

Second question is, you gave a sensitivity to natural gas price changes. You said every dollar per MMBtu is 175 million. And you said 20% is in Europe. So that's roughly 35 million MMBtus. The European gas price today is maybe $17 an MMBtu. And last year, it averaged $37. So it's down $20. So $20 times 35, $700 million. So is that the benefit for 2023 if gas prices in Europe stay where they are relative to last year? Have I done the calculation correctly?

第二個問題是，您對天然氣價格變化給出了敏感度。你說每美元每 MMBtu 是 1.75 億。你說20%在歐洲。約 3500 萬 MMBtus。今天歐洲的汽油價格可能是每 MMBtu 17 美元。去年，平均價格為 37 美元。所以下降了20美元。所以 20 美元乘以 35，就是 7 億美元。那麼，如果歐洲的天然氣價格與去年相比保持不變，這對 2023 年會帶來好處嗎？我的計算正確嗎？

Thank you, Jeff. Very good questions. I mean, talking about the refinery, as we have said, I mean, we want to shut down the refinery in Houston by the end of 2023. So that has not changed in our opinion. The rationale for that has not changed either. And of course, there is some preparation that needs to be done in order to be hydrocarbon free by the end of the year. So Kim, if you want to add something on that question.

謝謝你，傑夫。非常好的問題。我的意思是，談到煉油廠，正如我們所說，我們希望在 2023 年底之前關閉休士頓的煉油廠。這樣做的理由也沒有改變。當然，為了在年底前實現無碳氫化合物，還需要做一些準備。 Kim，如果你想就這個問題補充一些內容。

I would just tell the audience that we're working through the detailed plans of how to do that. As you alluded, you can do that with a slow ramp down or are you going to do that by just pulling the plug on the 31st of the year, and we're working through the different scenarios to make sure that we have the most efficient an effective shutdown in clearing process.

我只想告訴觀眾，我們正在製定如何做到這一點的詳細計劃。正如您所提到的，您可以透過緩慢下降來做到這一點，或者您打算在今年 31 日拔掉插頭來做到這一點，我們正在研究不同的方案，以確保我們擁有最高效的方案清算過程中的有效關閉。

As your second question, of course, I mean, if you just do the math, then you make up to that conclusion. But let's not forget that in Europe, our teams have done an excellent job by also increasing prices on one hand side, on the other hand side, also implementing energy surcharges. So you can't actually net that out the way you did, Jeff.

當然，作為你的第二個問題，我的意思是，如果你只是做數學計算，那麼你就會得出這個結論。但我們不要忘記，在歐洲，我們的團隊做得非常出色，一方面提高了價格，另一方面也實施了能源附加費。所以你實際上不能像你那樣解決這個問題，傑夫。

Our next question comes from the line of Frank Mitsch with Fermium Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Fermium Research 的 Frank Mitsch。

Congrats, Michael and David on the Institutional Investor Magazine recognition, well deserved. Michael, you made good progress on working capital in 2022, and I'm wondering what the expectation is for 2023. And in terms of uses of cash, there was a breather on buybacks here in the fourth quarter. CapEx is coming down in '23. What are your thoughts in terms of a resumption of the buybacks?

恭喜麥可和大衛獲得《機構投資人》雜誌的認可，他們當之無愧。邁克爾，您在 2022 年的營運資本方面取得了良好的進展，我想知道 2023 年的預期是什麼。 23 年資本支出將會下降。您對恢復回購有何看法？

So good question. So I think, first, I mean I just -- I'd point out again that the cash generation in 2022 was extremely strong. Excellent execution by the businesses from a working capital perspective during the year. In the fourth quarter, in particular, where we freed up about $700 million from a working capital perspective.

好問題。所以我認為，首先，我想再次指出，2022 年的現金產生能力非常強勁。從營運資金的角度來看，今年企業的執行力非常出色。特別是在第四季度，我們從營運資金角度釋放了約 7 億美元。

Also, initiatives underway as part of our Polaris project related to working capital from a longer-term perspective as well. Kind of turning to this year and looking forward, I would say that, I think, first and foremost, our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged.

此外，作為我們北極星計畫的一部分，正在進行的舉措也與從長期角度來看的營運資本有關。回顧今年並展望未來，我認為，首先也是最重要的是，我們的資本配置優先事項保持不變。

You all know that we have a reputation for generating strong cash flow and returning significant cash flow to our shareholders, and that expectation has not changed. Thinking specifically about 2023, I would point out that CapEx is going to be down materially. So expectations for capital is about $1.5 billion.

大家都知道，我們以產生強勁的現金流並向股東返還大量現金流而享有盛譽，這種期望並沒有改變。具體到 2023 年，我會指出資本支出將大幅下降。因此，資本預期約為 15 億美元。

It is going to be a tale of 2 halves for this year with an expectation that the second half gets stronger. As we move here into the first quarter, it's my expectation that working capital should be flattish. But as I look towards the balance of the year, I actually hope to consume some working capital with better sales and better pricing.

今年的故事將分為兩個半場，預計下半年會變得更強。當我們進入第一季時，我預計營運資金應該持平。但當我展望今年剩餘時間時，我實際上希望透過更好的銷售和更好的定價來消耗一些營運資金。

And then remember, our growth investments are starting to pay dividends as well, in particular, with the start-up of PO/TBA. And so again, as I think about the full year, it's my expectation, and I'm looking at Peter and he's nodding at me, but we will continue to return meaningful cash to shareholders, including growing our recurring dividend.

請記住，我們的成長投資也開始帶來紅利，特別是隨著 PO/TBA 的啟動。再次，當我想到全年時，這是我的期望，我看著彼得，他向我點頭，但我們將繼續向股東返還有意義的現金，包括增加我們的經常性股息。

Our next question comes from the line of Vincent Andrews with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自文森特·安德魯斯與摩根士丹利的對話。

Shifting back to polyethylene. Could you give us what you anticipate a reasonable range of outcomes is for Chinese polyethylene demand growth during 2023? And how much of that you think will need to be sourced from the ex China market? And if you also had a view on what their demand growth actually turned out to be in 2022, that would be helpful.

轉向聚乙烯。您能否告訴我們您對 2023 年中國聚乙烯需求成長的合理範圍的預期結果是什麼？您認為其中有多少需要向中國以外市場採購？如果您也了解 2022 年他們的需求成長實際情況，那將會很有幫助。

Yes. Thank you, Vincent. Ken is already close to that. So lets...

是的。謝謝你，文森。肯已經接近這個目標了。那麼讓...

Yes, we are very close to that, Vincent, thank you for the question. Look, our view for the last 2 years is the demand for polyethylene in China has been relatively flat. So when you talk about a range of outcomes for 2023, if you look historically, after 2 years like that, you would expect to see a significant snapback in growth, but it doesn't mean that that's a guarantee.

是的，我們已經非常接近了，文森特，謝謝你的提問。看起來，我們認為過去兩年中國對聚乙烯的需求相對穩定。因此，當你談論 2023 年的一系列結果時，如果你回顧歷史，在這樣的兩年之後，你會期望看到成長的顯著回升，但這並不意味著這是保證。

So you could see anything from flat to plus 8%, it's very hard to call. That's why that's one of the markets that we watch very closely just because it is largely the price that are in the market. And will drive the absorption of all the new capacity that has come on. But we'll watch it closely and hope to see some more signs of recovery in the near future and more to come.

所以你可以看到從持平到+ 8% 的任何數字，很難判斷。這就是為什麼這是我們非常密切關注的市場之一，因為它很大程度上是市場上的價格。並將推動吸收所有新增產能。但我們將密切關注，並希望在不久的將來看到更多復甦的跡象。

Our next question comes from the line of Alex Yefremov with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Alex Yefremov。

I have a long-winded question. So U.S. ethylene -- polyethylene capacity has a cost advantage. And there's long-standing thesis that due to cost advantage, U.S. can export to anywhere in the world almost as much as necessary.

我有一個冗長的問題。所以美國乙烯-聚乙烯產能具有成本優勢。長期以來有一個觀點認為，由於成本優勢，美國幾乎可以向世界任何地方出口所需的產品。

It's not what's happening right now, right? You and the rest of the industry has lower capacity utilization. So why is there not an increase in export? Is it not economical or are there logistical limitations that don't allow it?

這不是現在正在發生的事情，對吧？您和業界其他公司的產能利用率較低。那為什麼出口沒有增加呢？是不經濟還是有後勤限制不允許這樣做？

And could this change as we go through 2023 such that your utilization rates go up due to higher exports and there's no imbalance in the domestic market as a result?

隨著 2023 年的到來，這種情況是否會發生變化，使您的利用率因出口增加而上升，國內市場不會因此而失衡？

Aleksey, this is Ken. I'll take that question. We've -- during the quarter, we actually did see both as an industry but as LyondellBasell as well an increase in exports. Some of that was related to some improvement in demand overseas, some less imports coming into some of the closer markets like South America from other regions.

阿列克謝，這是肯恩。我來回答這個問題。在本季度，我們實際上確實看到了利安德巴塞爾作為一個行業以及出口的成長。其中一些與海外需求的改善有關，一些與其他地區進入南美等較近市場的進口減少有關。

But also the relief of some of the logistics constraints that we were dealing with in the first 3 quarters of the year, they really started to free up in the fourth quarter. So I think that you're going to start to see that continue in the first quarter and we'll get back to a more normal level of exports for 2023.

而且我們在今年前三個季度所面臨的一些物流限制也得到了緩解，它們在第四季才真正開始釋放。因此，我認為您將開始看到這種情況在第一季持續下去，我們將在 2023 年恢復到更正常的出口水準。

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Sison with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自邁克爾·西森與富國銀行的對話。

This is Richard on for Mike. Just wanted to touch on the value enhancement program. You've identified $150 million in cost savings for 2023. I know we're probably going to get more details on the Capital Markets Day. But any details early on in terms of what you've able to identify where are the buckets of savings are coming from? And then also just the cadence of the savings through this year would be great.

這是理查替麥克發言。只是想談談價值提升計畫。您已確定 2023 年可節省 1.5 億美元的成本。但是，您是否能夠儘早了解哪些細節可以確定節省的資金來自何處？而且今年的儲蓄節奏也會很棒。

Yes. Thank you, Richard. This is Peter. Good question. The process -- I mean, the value enhancement program is ramping up quite impressively, I must say. We've done the major sites in the United States. And since the beginning of the year -- I mean, the 2 major sites actually in Germany. We're expanding now also to other sites as we speak during the next quarters, both in the United States as well as in Europe.

是的。謝謝你，理查。這是彼得。好問題。我必須說，這個過程——我的意思是，價值提升計畫的進展令人印象深刻。我們已經完成了美國的主要站點。從今年年初開始——我的意思是，兩個主要站點實際上都在德國。正如我們在接下來的幾個季度所說的那樣，我們現在也將擴展到美國和歐洲的其他網站。

Now more than 3,000 projects that have been identified so far. And it goes, I mean, from areas in the manufacturing side to procurements to commercial excellence, supply chain management. So it's a very broad portfolio of different projects. We will give a couple of examples during the Capital Markets Day to make it more tangible.

目前已確定項目3000多個。我的意思是，從製造方面到採購，再到商業卓越、供應鏈管理。所以這是一個非常廣泛的不同項目組合。我們將在資本市場日中舉幾個例子，使其更加具體。

Today, we are mainly focusing on projects that have a very fast payback time, not so much projects that add and increase capacity, which is logical if you look at where the market is, but it is a continuous stage gate process that we have, where we continue to prioritize projects based upon the returns and based upon what we are seeing in the marketplace.

今天，我們主要關注投資回收期非常快的項目，而不是那些增加和增加產能的項目，如果你看看市場在哪裡，這是合乎邏輯的，但這是我們擁有的一個連續的階段門過程，我們繼續根據回報和我們在市場上看到的情況來確定專案的優先順序。

So stay tuned, I would say, to get more specifics on a couple of examples on the 14th of March at the Capital Markets Day.

因此，我想說，請繼續關注 3 月 14 日資本市場日的幾個例子，以了解更多細節。

Our next question comes from the line of Duffy Fischer with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自達菲費雪 (Duffy Fischer) 與高盛 (Goldman Sachs) 的對話。

Two quick questions. One, in the increase in your operating rates across segments, does that contemplate some inventory build for the summer season? Or does that also -- or do you see that as kind of sell-through as well for Q1? And then on the polymers for Americas, what -- or what's your plan, I guess, for the split between U.S. sold and export this year versus next year? Do you have to increase your export percent meaningfully with the new capacity in North America?

兩個簡單的問題。第一，在各部門開工率的提高中，是否考慮到夏季會增加一些庫存？或者這也是——或者你認為這也是第一季的銷售情況嗎？然後，關於美洲的聚合物，我想，對於今年美國銷售和出口與明年之間的分配，您的計劃是什麼？您是否必須利用北美的新產能大幅提高出口百分比？

Thank you, Duffy. I mean, let me split it up in 2 parts on your working capital question, on the inventory question. First of all, Kim will give a bit of an overview on the PO sides. And then Ken can also talk about the olefins, polyolefins.

謝謝你，達菲。我的意思是，讓我將其分為兩部分：營運資金問題和庫存問題。首先，Kim 將簡單介紹一下 PO 方面的情況。然後肯還可以談烯烴、聚烯烴。

Thank you, Peter. So as it relates to the propylene oxide side, yes, we're building a slight bit of working capital as a contingency for the startup. But once the startup is successful, which we have tremendous confidence in that inventory level will come down. And we expect throughout the year to operate at about 85% capacity based on the modest demand we see in propylene oxide right now.

謝謝你，彼得。因此，由於它與環氧丙烷方面有關，是的，我們正在建立少量的營運資金，作為新創公司的應急措施。但一旦啟動成功，我們對此充滿信心，庫存水準將會下降。鑑於目前環氧丙烷的需求不大，我們預計全年產能利用率約為 85%。

Yes. So I talk a little bit about O&P, and I want to just echo what Michael had said. The teams have done an outstanding job in the fourth quarter managing our assets to be able to maximize cash flow and really focus on producing the products that we need to deliver to customers.

是的。所以我談了一些關於 O&P 的事情，我想重複 Michael 所說的話。這些團隊在第四季度的資產管理方面表現出色，能夠最大限度地提高現金流，並真正專注於生產我們需要交付給客戶的產品。

We'll continue to do that going forward as we see markets improve, we will increase our operating rates to match that, and that may end up, as Michael said, with improving markets, increasing our working capital, but that's a good thing because we're going to have a stronger business as a result. But I'm just very proud of the team and everything that they did to manage that during the fourth quarter, which was quite a difficult time.

當我們看到市場改善時，我們將繼續這樣做，我們將提高我們的營運率以匹配這一點，正如邁克爾所說，最終可能會隨著市場的改善，增加我們的營運資本，但這是一件好事，因為因此，我們的業務將會更加強勁。但我對球隊以及他們在第四季所做的一切感到非常自豪，這是一個相當困難的時期。

To your question around increase in exports. We're going to continue to see an increase in exports, I think, in general from the United States market or from the Gulf Coast market, just with all the new capacity coming on. As a company, we have been increasing the portion of exports for us as we ramp up the capacity with the new Hyperzone assets. You're going to continue to see that happen.

關於你關於出口成長的問題。我認為，隨著所有新產能的增加，我們將繼續看到美國市場或墨西哥灣沿岸市場的出口增加。作為一家公司，隨著我們透過新的 Hyperzone 資產提高產能，我們一直在增加出口份額。你將繼續看到這種情況發生。

But clearly, our strategy around channels to market is to find the highest value customers and segments and that tends to be closer to home. So we're always trying to find more business here and we use the exports to really optimize the portfolio.

但顯然，我們圍繞市場通路的策略是尋找最高價值的客戶和細分市場，而且往往離家更近。因此，我們一直試圖在這裡尋找更多業務，並利用出口來真正優化產品組合。

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

我們的下一個問題來自垂直研究合作夥伴的凱文·麥卡錫 (Kevin McCarthy)。

Can you discuss your view of the U.S. polyethylene contract pricing opportunities? Seems as though spot export prices have come up appreciably year-to-date, while producer inventory has been rationalized to some extent. So perhaps you can talk through what you're seeking currently and your level of confidence that will turn the corner and start to see contract prices move higher as the first quarter progresses.

您能談談您對美國聚乙烯合約定價機會的看法嗎？今年迄今為止，現貨出口價格似乎已大幅上漲，而生產商庫存已在一定程度上合理化。因此，也許您可以談談您目前正在尋求的東西以及您對即將扭轉局面並開始看到合約價格隨著第一季的進展而走高的信心程度。

Thank you, Kevin. Well, it's clear that we continue to have price increases out there in the U.S. market. And we're hopeful that these price increases, we see at least there is a good development in the marketplace. Ken?

謝謝你，凱文。嗯，很明顯，我們在美國市場的價格繼續上漲。我們希望這些價格上漲，我們至少看到市場有好的發展。肯？

Yes. So look, I'm confident we've seen strength in the export market that we did not see last year. So that's a good indication. And I think I mentioned this on the third quarter earnings call, we've sort of seen prices come down to all those parity with export pricing. So as you see exports go up, you should see domestic prices moving up, and I'm confident that in the first quarter, we're going to see some increases here.

是的。所以，我相信我們已經看到了去年沒有看到的出口市場的強勁勢頭。所以這是一個很好的跡象。我想我在第三季的財報電話會議上提到了這一點，我們已經看到價格下降到與出口定價持平。因此，當您看到出口上升時，您應該會看到國內價格上漲，我相信在第一季度，我們將看到一些增長。

Our next question comes from the line Josh Spector with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Josh Spector。

Just on APS. I'd just be curious if you're willing to comment on what the normalized earnings of that residual business is. I mean, if you move $200 million over, I think even looking prepandemic, maybe there's $200 million in residual, like $250 million in residual. Schulman used to be about $200 million, and you've got some synergies on top of that. So curious if you could give us some color there.

就在 APS 上。我只是好奇您是否願意評論該剩餘業務的正常化收益是多少。我的意思是，如果你轉移 2 億美元，我認為即使看起來是在大流行之前，也許還有 2 億美元的剩餘，例如 2.5 億美元的剩餘。舒爾曼過去的資產約 2 億美元，除此之外還有一些綜效。很好奇你是否能給我們一些顏色。

Definitely very good question, Josh. And this is one of the reasons why we have repositioned this APS business as well because we are, of course, not happy at all with the results in the APS business. And yes, there are lots of factors that play a roll on market demand and higher costs that we have seen last year, energy cost et cetera and feedstock costs. So therefore, we have decided to completely reposition this business. And almost like run it as a separate company within LyondellBasell. Torkel, do you want to add?

絕對是一個非常好的問題，喬許。這也是我們重新定位 APS 業務的原因之一，因為我們當然對 APS 業務的結果根本不滿意。是的，有許多因素影響市場需求和我們去年看到的更高的成本，例如能源成本等和原料成本。因此，我們決定徹底重新定位這項業務。幾乎就像是在 LyondellBasell 內部作為一個獨立的公司來運作。托克爾，你想補充嗎？

Yes. Peter, first, I just want to say and express that I'm excited to have the opportunity to lead the Advanced Polymer Solutions business through the transformation that we're embarking on.

是的。 Peter，首先，我想說並表示，我很高興有機會領導先進聚合物解決方案業務完成我們正在進行的轉型。

And I see a lot of potential in this business. And I put it in place a team that I think really can deliver. And the steps that we're taking, this Catalloy and PB-1, or polybutene that we're -- we really view as a better fit in the O&P segment. This enables the new, what I call the new APS, to be very focused on our core value-creating model of compounding and customer solutions for brand owners and OEMs.

我看到了這個行業的巨大潛力。我組建了一支我認為真正能夠交付成果的團隊。我們正在採取的措施，即 Catalloy 和 PB-1，或我們的聚丁烯，我們確實認為更適合 O&P 領域。這使得新的（我稱之為新的 APS）能夠非常專注於為品牌所有者和 OEM 提供複合和客戶解決方案的核心價值創造模式。

We did well on the integration and cost reductions, but our APS business needs a much more customer-centric operating model. And this is going to be part of the journey that we are now embarking on it with the transformation. And our focused improvements in customer intimacy, technical support and service levels I think will really allow us to fix this business and grow it in a profitable way. And I'm looking forward to share more about this transformation journey at the Capital Markets Day coming up.

我們在整合和降低成本方面做得很好，但我們的 APS 業務需要更加以客戶為中心的營運模式。這將是我們現在開始的轉型之旅的一部分。我認為，我們在客戶親密度、技術支援和服務水平方面的重點改進將真正使我們能夠修復這項業務並以盈利的方式發展它。我期待在即將到來的資本市場日分享更多有關這次轉型之旅的資訊。

Our next question comes from the line of David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 David Begleiter。

Peter, on your Circulen volumes, what are the price premiums you're receiving and what types of margins are you realizing on these Circulen volumes?

Peter，在您的 Circulen 交易量上，您獲得的溢價是多少？

Yes. Good question, of course. As we go into the markets with an entire portfolio. So we have the renewable part of the portfolio, we have the circular part of the portfolio, which is either mechanical recycled or advanced recycled. We are in the market, I mean, with the entire family. Yvonne will give more insights in our go-to market during the Capital Markets Day also with our aspirations that we have by having set up this strategic business units.

是的。當然，好問題。當我們帶著整個投資組合進入市場。因此，我們有產品組合的可再生部分，我們有產品組合的循環部分，它要么是機械回收的，要么是高級回收的。我的意思是，我們和整個家庭都在市場上。伊馮將在資本市場日期間就我們的市場走向提供更多見解，並闡述我們透過設立這一戰略業務部門所抱持的願望。

Currently, this is a market which is extremely short. Demand is substantially higher than the supply in the market. So we're completely sold out and the products that we have available. The premiums that we are getting are quite attractive, yes.

目前，這是一個極度短缺的市場。需求遠高於市場供應。所以我們現有的產品已經完全售罄。是的，我們獲得的保費非常有吸引力。

I'm not going to put a number on it, as we speak. You've heard numbers, I mean, from other calls. And I can say we are at least on that level. That said, Yvonne will give more insights on the aspirations that we have during the Capital Markets Day.

正如我們所說，我不會給出具體數字。我的意思是，你已經聽過其他電話的號碼。我可以說我們至少處於這個水平。也就是說，伊馮將在資本市場日期間就我們的願望提供更多見解。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our time allowed for questions. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Vanacker for any final comments.

女士們先生們，我們的提問時間到此結束。我將把發言權交還給瓦納克先生，徵求最後的意見。

Thank you very much, and thanks again. Very good questions, very thoughtful questions. And once again, I hope that you will join us on March 14 as we will then share how LyondellBasell will advance on our strategy and unlock substantial value over the coming years.

非常感謝，再次感謝。非常好的問題，非常有想法的問題。我再次希望您能在 3 月 14 日加入我們，屆時我們將分享利安德巴塞爾將如何推進我們的策略並在未來幾年釋放巨大價值。

As we have said in the prepared comments for this call, we have not waited until the Capital Markets Day. We have already put a lot of things into action. And the purpose of the Capital Markets Day is to go deeper into the more specifics on the different pillars of our new strategy. I wish you all a great weekend, and as usual, stay safe.

正如我們在為本次電話會議準備的評論中所說，我們沒有等到資本市場日。我們已經把很多事情付諸行動了。資本市場日的目的是更深入地了解我們新策略不同支柱的更多細節。祝大家週末愉快，並像往常一樣注意安全。

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

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。