Martin Midstream Partners LP (MMLP) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Chris, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the MMLP First Quarter 202 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

早上好。我叫克里斯，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線員。此時，我想歡迎大家參加 MMLP 第一季度 202 財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Sharon Taylor, you may begin.

Sharon Taylor，你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. I'm joined today by Bob Bondurant, CEO, and Randy Tauscher, COO; David Cannon, Controller; and Danny Cavin, Director of FP&A. Before we get started with our comments, I'll remind you that management may be making forward-looking statements as defined by the SEC. Such statements are based on our current judgments regarding the factors that could impact the future performance of Martin, including facts and assumptions related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but actual outcomes could be materially different. You should review the risk factors and other information discussed in our SEC filings and form your own opinions about Martin's future performance.

謝謝接線員，大家早上好。今天，首席執行官 Bob Bondurant 和首席運營官 Randy Tauscher 加入了我的行列；主計長大衛·坎農；和 FP&A 總監 Danny Cavin。在我們開始發表評論之前，我會提醒您，管理層可能會按照 SEC 的定義做出前瞻性陳述。此類陳述基於我們目前對可能影響 Martin 未來業績的因素的判斷，包括與 COVID-19 大流行影響相關的事實和假設，但實際結果可能存在重大差異。您應該查看我們提交給 SEC 的文件中討論的風險因素和其他信息，並對 Martin 的未來表現形成您自己的看法。

We will discuss non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. Please refer to the table in our earnings press release posted in the Investor Relations section of our website to find information regarding those non-GAAP financial measures including a reconciliation of historical non-GAAP financial measures referenced in today's call to their corresponding GAAP measures.

我們將在今天的電話會議上討論非 GAAP 財務措施。請參閱我們網站投資者關係部分發布的收益新聞稿中的表格，以查找有關這些非 GAAP 財務措施的信息，包括今天電話會議中引用的歷史非 GAAP 財務措施與相應 GAAP 措施的對賬。

And now I will turn the call over to Bob for his remarks on our first quarter 2022 results. Bob?

現在我將把電話轉給鮑勃，聽取他對我們 2022 年第一季度業績的評論。鮑勃？

Thanks, Sharon. For the fifth consecutive quarter, Martin Midstream Partners exceeded its EBITDA forecast as our first quarter 2022 adjusted EBITDA was $40 million compared to our published forecast range of $28 million to $30 million. As we began the year, our leadership team had confidence we could beat published guidance, but the extraordinarily strong first quarter performance even exceeded our optimism.

謝謝，莎倫。 Martin Midstream Partners 連續第五個季度超過其 EBITDA 預測，因為我們 2022 年第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 4000 萬美元，而我們公佈的預測範圍為 2800 萬至 3000 萬美元。今年年初，我們的領導團隊有信心我們可以超越公佈的指導方針，但第一季度異常強勁的業績甚至超出了我們的樂觀預期。

Although several of our business lines beat our Q1 forecast, the majority of our outperformance came from our fertilizer and land transportation business lines. Because the fundamentals continue to remain strong in these 2 businesses, along with strong fundamentals in our packaged lubricant and grease business, improving marine transportation fundamentals and increasing sulfur production out of Beaumont area refineries, we have increased our guidance to a new EBITDA range of $110 million to $120 million for 2022.

儘管我們的幾條業務線超出了我們第一季度的預測，但我們的大部分錶現都來自化肥和陸路運輸業務線。由於這兩項業務的基本面繼續保持強勁，加上我們包裝潤滑油和潤滑脂業務的強勁基本面、改善海運基本面以及增加博蒙特地區煉油廠的硫磺產量，我們將我們的 EBITDA 指引提高到 110 美元的新範圍2022 年將增加 1 億至 1.2 億美元。

While this range is less than our trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of approximately $124 million, we wanted to give updated guidance that we feel is comfortably achievable. However, our business segment operating teams continue to be highly motivated to exceed their and ability to beat our new published forecast.

雖然這個範圍低於我們過去 12 個月調整後的 EBITDA 約 1.24 億美元，但我們希望提供我們認為可以輕鬆實現的更新指導。然而，我們的業務部門運營團隊繼續高度積極地超越他們並有能力超越我們新發布的預測。

Now I would like to discuss our first quarter performance in more detail by business segment. As I mentioned earlier, we had adjusted EBITDA of $40 million in the first quarter compared to adjusted EBITDA of $30.9 million in the first quarter of 2021. For the first quarter, our largest cash flow contributor was our Sulfur Services segment, which had adjusted EBITDA of $15.3 million in the first quarter compared to $9.2 million a year ago.

現在我想按業務部門更詳細地討論我們第一季度的業績。正如我之前提到的，我們第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 4000 萬美元，而 2021 年第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 3090 萬美元。第一季度，我們最大的現金流貢獻者是我們的硫磺服務部門，該部門調整了 EBITDA第一季度為 1530 萬美元，而一年前為 920 萬美元。

In this segment, our fertilizer business had adjusted EBITDA of $11.8 million in the first quarter compared to $7.1 million a year ago. Market conditions for our fertilizer group were very strong as pricing for fertilizer rose throughout the quarter due to tight supply. This rising price environment provided for stronger fertilizer margins than were originally forecasted.

在這部分，我們的化肥業務在第一季度將 EBITDA 調整為 1180 萬美元，而一年前為 710 萬美元。由於供應緊張，整個季度化肥價格上漲，我們化肥集團的市場狀況非常強勁。這種上漲的價格環境提供了比最初預測更高的化肥利潤。

Our pure sulfur side of our Sulfur Services segment had adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 million in the first quarter compared to $2.1 million a year ago. The primary reason for the increase in performance was due to the improved refinery utilization and increased sulfur production year-over-year. This year in the first quarter, inbound sulfur volume into our Beaumont system exceeded over 3,000 tons per day compared to less than 2,500 tons per day a year ago.

我們硫磺服務部門的純硫磺方面在第一季度將 EBITDA 調整為 350 萬美元，而一年前為 210 萬美元。業績增長的主要原因是煉油廠利用率提高和硫產量同比增加。今年第一季度，進入我們博蒙特系統的硫磺量超過每天 3,000 噸，而一年前每天不到 2,500 噸。

A year ago, in the first quarter, Gulf Coast refineries were negatively impacted by Winter Storm Uri resulting in significantly reduced sulfur volumes handled by our company. Looking towards the second quarter, we believe fertilizer fundamentals will continue to be favorable and subject to weather conditions fertilizer cash flow performance should also be strong.

一年前，在第一季度，墨西哥灣沿岸的煉油廠受到冬季風暴 Uri 的負面影響，導致我們公司處理的硫磺量大幅減少。展望第二季度，我們認為肥料基本面將繼續有利，受天氣條件影響，肥料現金流表現也應該強勁。

We should also see good performance from our pure sulfur business in the second quarter as PADD 3 refinery utilization has been running around 94% in April and daily sulfur production that we handle has been greater than the first quarter. Our second largest cash flow contributor in the first quarter was our Terminalling and Storage segment which had adjusted EBITDA of $11.6 million compared to $10.6 million a year ago.

由於 PADD 3 煉油廠 4 月份的利用率一直在 94% 左右，我們處理的日硫磺產量高於第一季度，因此我們在第二季度的純硫業務也應該會看到良好的表現。我們在第一季度的第二大現金流貢獻者是我們的終端和存儲部門，該部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,160 萬美元，而一年前為 1,060 萬美元。

The growth in cash flow primarily came from our margin-based packaged lubricants and grease businesses as our fee-based terminal assets generated cash flow of $6.6 million for both periods. Combined, our packaged lubricant and grease business had adjusted EBITDA of $5 million in the first quarter compared to $4 million a year ago. Compared to a year ago, we experienced increased sales volume and margins due to strong fundamentals in both these businesses. Supply remains tight, which continues to lead to stronger margins than a year ago.

現金流的增長主要來自我們以保證金為基礎的包裝潤滑油和潤滑脂業務，因為我們以收費為基礎的終端資產在兩個時期都產生了 660 萬美元的現金流。與一年前的 400 萬美元相比，我們的包裝潤滑油和潤滑脂業務在第一季度將 EBITDA 調整為 500 萬美元。與一年前相比，由於這兩項業務的強勁基本面，我們的銷量和利潤率都有所增長。供應仍然緊張，這繼續導致利潤率高於一年前。

Looking towards the second quarter, our fee-based terminals should have similar cash flow as the first quarter. We also believe our packaged lubricant and grease businesses will also have similar cash flow as the first quarter as strong demand will assist in maintaining current margins.

展望第二季度，我們的收費終端應具有與第一季度相似的現金流。我們還相信，我們的包裝潤滑油和潤滑脂業務也將擁有與第一季度相似的現金流，因為強勁的需求將有助於維持當前的利潤率。

Our third largest cash flow generator was our Transportation segment, which had adjusted EBITDA of $10.5 million compared to $2.7 million a year ago. The land transportation portion of this segment has shown remarkable improvement in cash flow as adjusted EBITDA was $9.5 million in the first quarter compared to $3.7 million a year ago.

我們的第三大現金流產生者是我們的運輸部門，該部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 1050 萬美元，而一年前為 270 萬美元。由於第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 950 萬美元，而一年前為 370 萬美元，該部門的陸路運輸部分在現金流方面表現出顯著改善。

A year ago in the first quarter, our low count averaged only $350 per day compared to $433 per day this year. Strong refinery utilization along with employing 20 more drivers on average than a year ago, has contributed to the increased load count, which drives revenue growth. Additionally, due to the tight supply of trucking services, we have been able to increase our rates, which has helped to significantly improve our driver pay, which has added both growth and stability to our driver pool.

一年前的第一季度，我們的低點平均每天只有 350 美元，而今年是每天 433 美元。煉油廠的高利用率以及平均比一年前多僱用 20 名司機，促進了裝載量的增加，從而推動了收入增長。此外，由於卡車運輸服務供應緊張，我們能夠提高費率，這有助於顯著提高我們的司機薪酬，從而增加我們司機庫的增長和穩定性。

These rate increases have also allowed us to stay ahead of the inflationary cost pressures we have been facing. Looking towards the second quarter, we continue to see strong fundamentals in our truck transportation business and anticipate another strong quarterly performance.

這些加息也使我們能夠領先於我們一直面臨的通脹成本壓力。展望第二季度，我們繼續看到卡車運輸業務的強勁基本面，並預計季度業績將再次強勁。

The second piece of the transportation segment is our Marine Transportation Group, which had adjusted EBITDA of $1 million compared to a negative $1 million a year ago. This $2 million improvement was primarily driven by increased utilization of our inland fleet and full utilization of our one offshore toe. Our average day rate is up only slightly compared to a year ago, but the market supply of vessels relative to demand has become more balanced, and we are beginning to see improving day rates.

運輸部門的第二部分是我們的海運集團，該集團將 EBITDA 調整為 100 萬美元，而一年前為負 100 萬美元。這 200 萬美元的改進主要是由於我們內陸船隊的利用率提高和我們的一個海上腳趾的充分利用。與一年前相比，我們的平均日費率僅略有上升，但船舶市場供求關係更加平衡，我們開始看到日費率有所改善。

Looking towards the second quarter, we see this trend continuing. And with these improving fundamentals, we should see solid cash flow in our marine business in the second quarter.

展望第二季度，我們看到這種趨勢仍在繼續。隨著這些基本面的改善，我們應該會在第二季度看到海事業務的穩健現金流。

Our final business segment to discuss is our Natural Gas Liquids segment, which had adjusted EBITDA of $6.6 million compared to $12.2 million a year ago. The decline was attributable to our butane business as volume was down approximately 600,000 barrels in this year's first quarter compared to a year ago. However, last year was unusual as refineries delayed purchasing butane from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021 due to price backwardation. So effectively, last year's first quarter volume and earnings were unusually high, while this year's first quarter volume and earnings were more in line with our historical norms.

我們要討論的最後一個業務部門是我們的液化天然氣部門，該部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 660 萬美元，而一年前為 1220 萬美元。下降歸因於我們的丁烷業務，因為今年第一季度的銷量與去年同期相比下降了約 600,000 桶。然而，去年是不同尋常的，煉油廠因價格滯後將丁烷採購從 2020 年第四季度推遲到 2021 年第一季度。如此有效，去年第一季度的銷量和收益異常高，而今年第一季度的銷量和收益更符合我們的歷史標準。

Looking toward the second and also the third quarter, our cash flow in this segment will decrease significantly as we begin our butane inventory purchases to be delivered into storage. This will last through the end of August. We should then start to see sales begin again in September as refineries start to purchase butane in order to blend into gasoline so they can then meet relaxed winter vapor pressure rules. This concludes my operating performance discussion for the first quarter and outlook for the second quarter.

展望第二季度和第三季度，隨著我們開始購買丁烷庫存以交付入庫，我們在該領域的現金流量將大幅減少。這將持續到八月底。然後我們應該開始看到銷售在 9 月再次開始，因為煉油廠開始購買丁烷以混合到汽油中，這樣他們就可以滿足寬鬆的冬季蒸汽壓力規則。我對第一季度經營業績的討論和第二季度的展望到此結束。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Sharon to discuss our balance sheet, leverage and capital resources.

現在我想把電話轉給 Sharon 來討論我們的資產負債表、槓桿和資本資源。

Thanks, Bob. I'll begin with a walk-through of the debt components of our balance sheet and bank ratios, discuss capital spending during the quarter, remark on the excess cash flow offer and tender results that were announced during the quarter and conclude with a brief walk-through of our updated 2022 financial guidance.

謝謝，鮑勃。我將首先介紹我們的資產負債表和銀行比率的債務部分，討論本季度的資本支出，評論本季度宣布的超額現金流量報價和投標結果，最後簡要介紹一下-通過我們更新的 2022 年財務指南。

At March 31, 2022, the total of our long-term debt outstanding was $489 million, down from $506 million at the end of the fourth quarter. Outstanding debt consisted of $143 million drawn under our $275 million revolving credit facility, $54 million of secured 1.5 lien notes due 2024 and $292 million of secured second lien notes due 2025.

截至 2022 年 3 月 31 日，我們的未償長期債務總額為 4.89 億美元，低於第四季度末的 5.06 億美元。未償還債務包括根據我們 2.75 億美元的循環信貸額度提取的 1.43 億美元、2024 年到期的 5400 萬美元有擔保的 1.5 留置權票據和 2.92 億美元的有擔保的第二留置權票據在 2025 年到期。

Total available liquidity was approximately $107 million under our revolving credit facility. At quarter end, our adjusted leverage ratio was 3.87x, and our first lien leverage ratio was 1.09x. Both these leverage calculations include our working capital supplement carve-out, which excludes certain debt attributed to our seasonal NGL inventory build when the inventory has been either forward sold or hedged.

我們的循環信貸安排下的可用流動資金總額約為 1.07 億美元。季度末，我們調整後的槓桿率為 3.87 倍，第一留置權槓桿率為 1.09 倍。這兩種槓桿計算都包括我們的營運資本補充分拆，這不包括在庫存已被遠期出售或對沖時歸因於我們季節性 NGL 庫存增加的某些債務。

At March 31, the total debt excluded from the adjusted leverage and first lien leverage calculations was $9.5 million. Importantly, due to the seasonality of our NGL business, we do anticipate that the carve-out will have a more meaningful impact on our leverage ratios during the second and third quarters when our revolving balances are projected to increase due to higher inventory volumes and elevated commodity pricing. Our interest coverage ratio was 2.47x at the end of the quarter, and the partnership was in full compliance with all banking covenants.

截至 3 月 31 日，排除在調整后杠桿和第一留置權槓桿計算之外的債務總額為 950 萬美元。重要的是，由於我們的 NGL 業務具有季節性，我們確實預計分拆將對我們在第二和第三季度的槓桿率產生更有意義的影響，屆時我們的循環餘額預計會因更高的庫存量和更高的價格而增加商品定價。本季度末，我們的利息覆蓋率為 2.47 倍，合夥企業完全遵守所有銀行契約。

Next, let's focus on capital spending during the quarter and update our full year capital expenditures outlook. First, gross capital expenditures were approximately $3.1 million for the quarter which includes approximately $1.6 million for the new Martin Transport terminal in Florida. Due to timing of certain expenditures, the total for the quarter was slightly below guidance but the full year growth CapEx forecast remains approximately $8 million.

接下來，讓我們關注本季度的資本支出並更新我們的全年資本支出展望。首先，本季度總資本支出約為 310 萬美元，其中包括用於佛羅里達州新 Martin Transport 航站樓的約 160 萬美元。由於某些支出的時間安排，本季度的總額略低於指導，但全年資本支出增長預測仍約為 800 萬美元。

Switching to maintenance capital expenditures, from our guidance, we anticipated maintenance capital requirements of approximately $22 million for the year, which included estimated turnaround costs of approximately $4 million. The first quarter, we were slightly below our estimate of $6 million as maintenance capital spending was $5.4 million. Again, most of that from timing differences. However, at this time, we anticipate our maintenance capital spending to be slightly higher for the year as a result of increased material and labor costs. So we are revising guidance from $22 million to $25 million.

轉向維護資本支出，根據我們的指導，我們預計今年的維護資本需求約為 2200 萬美元，其中包括約 400 萬美元的估計周轉成本。第一季度，我們略低於 600 萬美元的估計，因為維護資本支出為 540 萬美元。同樣，大部分來自時間差異。然而，目前，由於材料和人工成本增加，我們預計今年的維護資本支出將略有增加。因此，我們將指導從 2200 萬美元修改為 2500 萬美元。

Concerning the excess free cash flow offer that was announced on March 15 and closed on April 13. As per the covenants in our secured second lien notes, the partnership is required to annually as long as our leverage ratio remains above 3.75x, make a cash tender offer to repurchase notes at par using at least 25% of our calculated free cash flow, which for 2021 was approximately $9.3 million.

關於 3 月 15 日宣布並於 4 月 13 日結束的超額自由現金流要約。根據我們有擔保的第二留置權票據中的契約，只要我們的槓桿率保持在 3.75 倍以上，合夥企業每年都必須兌現要約使用我們計算的自由現金流的至少 25% 按面值回購票據，2021 年約為 930 萬美元。

When the offer expired on April 13, approximately $589,000 in principal amount of notes were tendered. We made payment on the tendered notes along with accrued interest on April 14. The total payment was approximately $600,000. The remaining excess cash flow has been used to reduce borrowings under our revolving line of credit.

當要約於 4 月 13 日到期時，本金約為 589,000 美元的票據被投標。我們於 4 月 14 日支付了投標票據和應計利息。總付款約為 600,000 美元。剩餘的超額現金流已用於減少我們循環信貸額度下的借款。

Turning to the revision to our 2022 guidance. which can be found on Slide 4 of the latest presentation posted to the Investor Relations section of our website. Recall that when I discussed guidance on the last earnings call, management believed we were being conservative with our assumptions and there was more upside than downside risk. We anticipated supply chain issues and inflation to negatively affect demand for our products and services impacting our results early in 2022. We have reworked those assumptions, pushing them later into the year and are revising our adjusted EBITDA guidance to between $110 million and $120 million.

轉向對我們 2022 年指南的修訂。可以在發佈到我們網站投資者關係部分的最新演示文稿的幻燈片 4 上找到。回想一下，當我在上次財報電話會議上討論指引時，管理層認為我們對我們的假設持保守態度，而且上行風險大於下行風險。我們預計供應鏈問題和通貨膨脹會對我們產品和服務的需求產生負面影響，從而在 2022 年初影響我們的業績。我們重新制定了這些假設，將它們推到今年晚些時候，並將調整後的 EBITDA 指引修改為 1.1 億美元至 1.2 億美元。

We still anticipate improvement in our Transportation segment year-over-year as both the land and marine divisions are experiencing favorable conditions, resulting in increased utilization of our assets along with higher market rates. The increase to adjusted EBITDA guidance coupled with the slight rise in maintenance capital spending results in a full year forecast of between $37 million and $47 million in distributable cash flow and between $29 million and $39 million of adjusted free cash flow.

我們仍然預計我們的運輸部門將同比有所改善，因為陸地和海洋部門都在經歷有利的條件，從而提高我們的資產利用率以及更高的市場利率。調整後 EBITDA 指引的增加加上維護資本支出的小幅增加導致全年預測可分配現金流量在 3700 萬美元至 4700 萬美元之間，調整後的自由現金流量在 2900 萬美元至 3900 萬美元之間。

I will now turn the call back to the operator for Q&A.

我現在將把電話轉回接線員進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Selman Akyol with Stifel.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Selman Akyol 和 Stifel。

Congratulations on a very nice quarter. So let me just start with, I guess, on the guidance because I guess I would have thought it would go higher than that. It sounded like you guys are being very conservative, but again, isn't Q2 typically the weakest quarter of the year for fertilizer or Yes, I guess just -- well, just talk a little bit about how that's starting out and then I guess, the weakest quarters third quarter, but can talk a little bit about the dynamics of what you're seeing right now in the second quarter and then as you look out into the third.

祝賀一個非常好的季度。所以讓我從指導開始，我想，因為我想我會認為它會比這更高。聽起來你們非常保守，但是，第二季度通常不是一年中肥料最疲軟的季度嗎，或者是的，我想只是 - 好吧，談談它是如何開始的，然後我猜，第三季度最弱的季度，但可以談談你現在在第二季度看到的動態，然後再展望第三季度。

Specifically to -- Selman, this is Randy. Thank you for the question, and I'll let Sharon get into the guidance, but specific to the fertilizer -- that's correct. The third quarter is traditionally the weakest, sales are slowest during that quarter, and we had a pretty heavy turnaround slate during the third quarter, generally.

特別是——塞爾曼，這是蘭迪。謝謝你的問題，我會讓莎倫進入指導，但具體到肥料——這是正確的。傳統上，第三季度是最疲軟的，該季度的銷售最慢，而且我們在第三季度的周轉率通常很高。

Specific to the second quarter in fertilizer. The macro environment is as good as we've ever seen it. You've seen what's happening with fuel prices and the projections and shortages around the world. We have observe what's happening with fertilizer prices. And we would expect that if we have a good weather during the planning season, and exports materialize after the domestic planning season like we think they will, we think we're going to have very strong fertilizer year.

具體到化肥二季度。宏觀環境一如既往的好。您已經看到了燃料價格的變化以及世界各地的預測和短缺。我們觀察了化肥價格的變化。我們預計，如果我們在計劃季節期間天氣好，並且出口在國內計劃季節之後像我們認為的那樣實現，我們認為我們將有一個非常強勁的化肥年。

And I'll make a comment regarding guidance. In my opening statement, we want to go with guidance. We felt my comment was very comfortable with achieving, but I did make the comment, I feel that there is still optimism to the upside of that. I think to Randy's point, fertilizer remains strong. I think our land transportation remains strong, and we're getting some tailwind now in the marine business. And then also the lubricant packaging business remains tight. So we've got some real tailwinds in our businesses. But what happens in the fourth quarter, we don't have great visibility. There's inflation tamp down the macroeconomic world we live in, unsure. But I would say this, I think we have more tailwinds than headwinds at this point in time.

我將對指南發表評論。在我的開場白中，我們希望得到指導。我們覺得我的評論對實現非常滿意，但我確實發表了評論，我覺得它仍然有樂觀的一面。我認為在蘭迪看來，化肥仍然很強勁。我認為我們的陸路運輸依然強勁，而且我們現在在海運業務中獲得了一些順風。此外，潤滑油包裝業務仍然吃緊。所以我們的業務有一些真正的順風。但是第四季度會發生什麼，我們沒有很好的能見度。不確定的是，通貨膨脹抑制了我們生活的宏觀經濟世界。但我要說的是，我認為此時我們的順風多於逆風。

Got you. And then I guess on the land transportation, have your customers started talking about turnarounds at all. Is there anything from that standpoint that we should be thinking about as we go forward on the land side. I mean, I heard you're getting more expenses. You've got better rates to help offset that. But I'm just wondering, if they go into a turnaround, should we expect volumes to fall off? Or do you see any of that?

明白了然後我想在陸路運輸方面，您的客戶是否開始談論周轉時間。從這個角度來看，我們在陸地方面前進時應該考慮什麼。我的意思是，我聽說你的開支增加了。你有更好的利率來幫助抵消這一點。但我只是想知道，如果他們進入轉機階段，我們是否應該預期銷量會下降？或者你看到了嗎？

No, we haven't been advised as to any turnaround schedule around the refineries on the Gulf Coast for this spring. And with the current -- the 3-2-1 crack, specifically the diesel's impact on that, we think the refineries are going to run as hard as they possibly can as we head to the summer months.

不，我們還沒有被告知今年春天墨西哥灣沿岸煉油廠的任何周轉時間表。鑑於當前 - 3-2-1 裂紋，特別是柴油對此的影響，我們認為煉油廠將在我們進入夏季時盡可能地努力運行。

So the other comment around the land transportation is we have grown in our chemical side and we have grown on the fertilizer side over the last several years. So the refinery customers are very important to our business. The chemical plants and the fertilizer plants are also and they are all running very strong just like the refiners are.

因此，關於陸路運輸的另一個評論是，在過去的幾年裡，我們在化學方面有所發展，在肥料方面也有所發展。因此，煉油廠客戶對我們的業務非常重要。化工廠和化肥廠也是，它們都像煉油廠一樣運轉得非常強勁。

Got you. That's very helpful color. And then I guess just on the Marine, I mean, I know we're coming off of a really low base, but can you talk about sort of maybe magnitude of increases you're seeing there? You said you're seeing, I guess, turning to the market, things are hardening. Any comment you can make about what rate of increase you're seeing in rates?

明白了這是非常有用的顏色。然後我想只是在海軍陸戰隊上，我的意思是，我知道我們的基數非常低，但你能談談你在那裡看到的增長幅度嗎？你說你看到，我猜，轉向市場，事情正在變硬。您可以就利率的增長率發表任何評論嗎？

Yes. You're right. The first quarter last year was a low with refinery utilization in the first quarter a year ago was very low, and therefore, our utilization came off a very low base from 1 year ago. So we had a $2 million improvement approximately in that business, first quarter of 2022 relative to first quarter of 2021, we expect to see continued improvement in utilization.

是的。你說得對。去年第一季度很低，一年前第一季度的煉油廠利用率很低，因此，我們的利用率比一年前的基數很低。因此，與 2021 年第一季度相比，到 2022 年第一季度，我們在該業務中獲得了大約 200 萬美元的改善，我們預計利用率將繼續提高。

And we have already seen continued improvement in the rates. For most of the first quarter, we were $6,600 to $7,000 a day for the day rate for our 2 barge toes. And now we are seeing more on average $75,000 to $76,000 a day. So the rate improvement has been substantial. We're still not where we were pre-COVID where we were $8,000 to $8,500 a day for the rate. So we still think there's room to run on the rates.

我們已經看到利率持續改善。在第一季度的大部分時間裡，我們 2 個駁船腳趾的日費率為 6,600 美元至 7,000 美元。而現在我們看到更多的是平均每天 75,000 到 76,000 美元。因此，利率的提高是可觀的。我們仍然沒有達到 COVID 之前的水平，我們每天的費率是 8,000 到 8,500 美元。因此，我們仍然認為利率仍有上漲空間。

Got you. And then -- and again, I very much appreciate all that. Can you just say when those rates started improving during the first quarter? Was it -- I mean, did you start off sort of January 1, the first couple of weeks of January, at the 7,600 rate or 7,500 rates? Or did that not really happen until like in February, late February? I'm just trying to get sort of a run rate in my mind of how the increases came through?

明白了然後 - 再一次，我非常感謝這一切。你能說說這些利率在第一季度什麼時候開始改善嗎？是——我的意思是，你是從 1 月 1 日開始，即 1 月的前幾週，以 7,600 或 7,500 的利率開始？還是直到二月，二月下旬才真正發生？我只是想在腦海中了解增長是如何實現的？

Sure. The first quarter was largely 6,600 to 7,000 all the way until the very last half of March. In the last half of March is when we started to see the rates improve.

當然。直到 3 月下半月，第一季度基本上是 6,600 到 7,000。在 3 月下半月，我們開始看到利率有所提高。

Thank you very much. And then I guess, the continued -- and it looks like you guys are obviously going to have more cash flow. Is the main goal still just to focus on the balance sheet? Or are there any other small CapEx projects that you're looking at that maybe you could be adding -- maybe buying additional rigs for the transportation business? Just any additional investments in the business that might drive further cash flows?

非常感謝。然後我想，繼續 - 看起來你們顯然會有更多的現金流。主要目標仍然只是關注資產負債表嗎？或者是否有任何其他您正在考慮的小型資本支出項目，也許您可以添加——也許為運輸業務購買額外的鑽井平台？是否有任何額外的業務投資可能會推動進一步的現金流？

Right now, we don't have any additional investments like that even small ones, except for the small growth CapEx that we've talked about. So we continue to look at excess cash flow, paying down debt, continue to have the target of 3.75x leverage. And I think that we're focused on that. That's not saying that if something interesting were to come our way that we wouldn't go ahead and invest. But right at the moment, the numbers that we've provided you are all focused on continued debt repayment.

目前，除了我們談到的小幅增長資本支出外，我們沒有任何額外的投資，即使是小額投資。因此，我們繼續關注過剩現金流，償還債務，繼續設定 3.75 倍槓桿率的目標。我認為我們專注於此。這並不是說如果有什麼有趣的事情發生，我們就不會繼續投資。但就目前而言，我們提供給你們的數字都集中在持續償還債務上。

(Operator Instructions) And it appears that we have no further questions. I'll turn the call over to Bob Bondurant for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明）看來我們沒有其他問題了。我會將電話轉給 Bob Bondurant 以聽取任何結束語。

Thank you, Chris. At the close of our last earnings call, I mentioned my belief that I saw more opportunity than risk to our businesses in 2022 that our intent was to generate value for our unitholders through expanding services, asset utilization and new alliances and continue to strengthen our balance sheet through debt reduction.

謝謝你，克里斯。在上次財報電話會議結束時，我提到我相信我認為 2022 年我們的業務機會多於風險，我們的目的是通過擴大服務、資產利用和新聯盟為我們的單位持有人創造價值，並繼續加強我們的平衡通過債務減免。

Our employees from the business leaders to the operations and admin teams have focused on opportunities to meet those goals. They have optimized and leveraged our assets. They have been cost conscious while offering innovative solutions to our customers and in doing so, delivered cash flows that provide the essential path to delevering. In short, they have solidly executed the plan.

從業務領導到運營和管理團隊，我們的員工都專注於實現這些目標的機會。他們優化並利用了我們的資產。他們在為我們的客戶提供創新解決方案時一直注重成本，並在這樣做的過程中交付了現金流，為去槓桿化提供了必要途徑。總之，他們已經紮紮實實地執行了計劃。

Looking forward, while there are certainly geopolitical uncertainty, combined with inflationary pressures, we are experiencing sustained momentum for our products and services, which affirms my belief in our employees and points to a profitable future for our partnership. As always, thank you for your interest in Martin Midstream.

展望未來，雖然肯定存在地緣政治不確定性以及通脹壓力，但我們的產品和服務正在經歷持續的發展勢頭，這證實了我對我們員工的信心，並為我們的合作夥伴關係指明了有利可圖的未來。一如既往，感謝您對 Martin Midstream 的關注。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

女士們，先生們，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。