MP Materials Corp (MP) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, thank you for attending today's MP Materials First Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，感謝您參加今天的 MP Materials 第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to pass the conference over to your host, Martin Sheehan, with MP Materials. You may proceed.

我現在想將會議轉交給您的主持人 Martin Sheehan，並提供 MP Materials。你可以繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the MP Materials First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. With me today from MP Materials are Jim Litinsky, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Rosenthal, Founder and Chief Operating Officer; and Ryan Corbett, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，大家下午好。歡迎來到 MP Materials 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。今天和我一起來自 MP Materials 的有創始人、董事長兼首席執行官 Jim Litinsky； Michael Rosenthal，創始人兼首席運營官；和首席財務官 Ryan Corbett。

As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation, earnings release and in our SEC filings.

提醒一下，今天的討論將包含與受各種假設和警告約束的未來事件和預期相關的前瞻性陳述。可能導致公司實際結果與這些陳述存在重大差異的因素包括在今天的演示文稿、收益發布和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中。

In addition, we have included some non-GAAP financial measures in this presentation. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in today's earnings release and the appendix to today's slide presentation. Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. Finally, the earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website.

此外，我們在本演示文稿中包含了一些非 GAAP 財務措施。與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標的對賬可以在今天的收益發布和今天幻燈片演示的附錄中找到。在我們今天的討論中提到的任何 EBITDA 都是指調整後的 EBITDA。最後，我們的網站上提供了收益發布和幻燈片演示。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

有了這個，我會把電話轉給吉姆。吉姆？

Thanks, Martin, and thank you all for joining us today. Let me start with an overview of today's call. I will begin with the highlights of the quarter, including a Stage III update. Ryan will then review our financials and KPIs, Michael will then provide an update on our Stage II optimization at Mountain Pass. I will then return with closing comments and then open it up for Q&A.

謝謝 Martin，感謝大家今天加入我們。讓我先概述一下今天的電話會議。我將從本季度的亮點開始，包括第三階段更新。然後 Ryan 將審查我們的財務和 KPI，然後 Michael 將提供我們在 Mountain Pass 的 Stage II 優化的最新情況。然後我將返回結束評論，然後打開它進行問答。

So let's get started on Slide 4. We continue to execute well in our Stage I upstream business. For the eighth consecutive quarter, we produced more than 10,000 metric tons of rare earths in concentrate. Sales volumes were similarly strong, allowing us to generate solid adjusted EBITDA and related margin despite challenging realized price comparisons. I know pricing is a topic on the minds of investors, and I will share some detailed perspective on that later in the call.

那麼讓我們從幻燈片 4 開始吧。我們在第一階段的上游業務中繼續表現良好。連續第八個季度，我們生產了超過 10,000 公噸的精礦。銷量同樣強勁，儘管實現價格比較具有挑戰性，但我們仍能產生可觀的調整後 EBITDA 和相關利潤率。我知道定價是投資者關注的一個話題，我將在稍後的電話會議中分享一些詳細的觀點。

Moving on to Stage II. Commissioning has been making steady progress, and we have begun to process a portion of our roasted concentrate through our leach circuits. This means we are closing in on the even bigger milestone of recommissioning our light rare earth separation circuits. To reiterate what we have said on prior calls, the commissioning process is painstaking, with stops and starts, but we remain on track towards soon producing separated rare earths and reaching run rate production by year-end. Michael will provide a more detailed update in a moment.

進入第二階段。調試一直在穩步推進，我們已經開始通過我們的浸出迴路處理部分焙燒精礦。這意味著我們正在接近重新調試我們的輕稀土分離電路這一更大的里程碑。重申一下我們在之前的電話會議上所說的話，調試過程非常艱苦，有停頓和開始，但我們仍在朝著盡快生產分離稀土並在年底前達到生產率的方向前進。 Michael 稍後會提供更詳細的更新。

Another important development in the quarter relative to our midstream business was the signing of an additional tolling agreement to convert a portion of our NdPr oxide into metal in Vietnam. For those of you unfamiliar with tolling agreements, tolling is a process whereby a third-party processes our materials for a fee, in our case, turning our oxide into a metal for us. Producing and selling NdPr metal, in addition to oxide, ultimately expands the market for our materials, supports our low-cost production profile and expands the direct customer base for our products. Notably, Japan is the largest manufacturer of neodymium magnets outside of China, but Japanese magnet makers have a limited oxide to metal conversion capacity and have historically depended on facilities in China or Southeast Asia. Combined with opportunities afforded by our Sumitomo relationship, this agreement will enable MP to maximize and extract more value from our sales of NdPr products to customers in Japan and other global markets.

本季度與我們的中游業務相關的另一個重要發展是簽署了一項額外的來料加工協議，以在越南將我們的部分 NdPr 氧化物轉化為金屬。對於那些不熟悉收費協議的人來說，收費是一個過程，在這個過程中，第三方有償加工我們的材料，在我們的例子中，為我們將氧化物轉化為金屬。除了氧化物之外，生產和銷售 NdPr 金屬最終擴大了我們材料的市場，支持我們的低成本生產模式，並擴大了我們產品的直接客戶群。值得注意的是，日本是中國以外最大的釹磁鐵製造商，但日本磁鐵製造商的氧化物到金屬的轉化能力有限，並且歷來依賴中國或東南亞的設施。結合我們與住友的關係所提供的機會，該協議將使 MP 能夠最大限度地從我們向日本和其他全球市場的客戶銷售 NdPr 產品中獲取更多價值。

Moving on to Stage III downstream magnetics. Process engineering and long-lead procurement continues to rapidly advance. Our Fort Worth engineering and manufacturing team is gathering talent and getting stronger. The internal structure of the factory is taking shape. We are preparing for the arrival of the first phase of electrowinning and strip casting equipment, which will be needed to meet our goal of delivering alloy flake later this year. We are observing factory acceptance testing of this equipment at key vendors and are also planning the final connections between this equipment and the building infrastructure.

繼續進行 Stage III 下游磁學。工藝工程和長周期採購繼續快速推進。我們的 Fort Worth 工程和製造團隊正在聚集人才並變得更強大。廠區內部結構初具規模。我們正在為第一階段的電積和帶鑄設備的到來做準備，這將需要這些設備來實現我們今年晚些時候交付合金薄片的目標。我們正在觀察主要供應商對該設備的工廠驗收測試，並且還在計劃該設備與建築基礎設施之間的最終連接。

Importantly, our business development pipeline remains robust. Therefore, to summarize for what was within our control, execution, Q1 was a quarter of great success across all streams of our business at MP. In addition, in April, we surpassed 3 years without a lost day due to injury. That's over 2 million work hours. I am very proud of the team for this important achievement that we must continue. I will come back for closing comments and address pricing in the marketplace.

重要的是，我們的業務發展渠道依然強勁。因此，總結一下在我們控制範圍內的執行情況，第一季度是我們在 MP 的所有業務流中取得巨大成功的四分之一。此外，在四月份，我們超過了 3 年沒有因傷缺席一天。那是超過 200 萬個工作小時。我為我們必須繼續取得這一重要成就的團隊感到非常自豪。我會回來發表評論並解決市場定價問題。

For now, let me turn it over to Ryan for the financial and operating metrics. Ryan?

現在，讓我將財務和運營指標交給 Ryan。賴安？

Thanks, Jim. Turning to Slide 6 and starting on the left-hand side of the page, you'll see the consistent level of production Jim mentioned, both in our year-over-year and sequential comparisons, with 10,671 metric tons of REO in concentrate produced in the quarter, plus or minus 1% or 2% of the comparable periods. In addition, we sold 10,215 metric tons of REO, which was 13% below last year and 6% lower than the fourth quarter. These variations are virtually all due to timing of deliveries.

謝謝，吉姆。轉到幻燈片 6，從頁面左側開始，您會看到 Jim 提到的一致的生產水平，無論是在我們的同比比較還是順序比較中，10,671 公噸 REO 精礦生產於該季度，加上或減去可比期間的 1% 或 2%。此外，我們銷售了 10,215 公噸 REO，比去年同期下降 13%，比第四季度下降 6%。這些變化實際上都是由於交貨時間造成的。

As of Q1, we had consumed only a small portion of the nearly 2,000 metric tons of work in process inventory that will be used in commissioning of our refining circuits. With continued progress, we are preparing to feed material into additional refining circuits, which we're very excited about. What that means is that starting in Q2, we would expect to process a significantly greater volume of our concentrate production through our refinery. Some of this inventory build will be an investment in permanent work in process, while some will become separated rare earth oxides available for sale. Meanwhile, as our commissioning teams work tirelessly, we are continuing to make progress improving the stability and performance of our drying and calcining circuits. As such, nearly 30% of our sales in the quarter were comprised of roasted concentrate.

截至第一季度，我們只消耗了近 2,000 公噸在製品庫存中的一小部分，這些庫存將用於我們的煉油迴路調試。隨著不斷的進步，我們正準備將材料送入額外的精煉迴路，我們對此感到非常興奮。這意味著從第二季度開始，我們預計將通過我們的煉油廠處理更多的精礦生產。部分庫存建設將是對永久性在製品的投資，而部分庫存將成為可供出售的分離稀土氧化物。同時，由於我們的調試團隊不懈努力，我們正在不斷取得進展，提高乾燥和煅燒迴路的穩定性和性能。因此，本季度我們近 30% 的銷售額來自烘焙精礦。

Moving on to realized pricing. NdPr recovered a bit from the fourth quarter, resulting in a 10% sequential increase to $9,365 per metric ton of REO. As you know, our realized pricing tends to follow the market price of NdPr oxide with an approximately 1 month lag. So we benefited from the recovery in prices from December to February. Still, compared to Q1 of last year, pricing was down 32%. Recall that NdPr prices hit recent highs in late February to early March of 2022, which boosted both Q1 and Q2 2022 realized pricing. Since this most recent February, however, prices have continued a rapid pullback. Jim will discuss our views on this in a moment, but expect at least a 35% sequential decline in realized pricing in Q2 given the recent softness, assuming current prices hold throughout the quarter.

繼續實現定價。 NdPr 從第四季度開始有所回升，環比增長 10% 至每公噸 REO 9,365 美元。如您所知，我們的已實現定價傾向於跟隨 NdPr 氧化物的市場價格，滯後約 1 個月。因此，我們受益於 12 月至 2 月的價格回升。儘管如此，與去年第一季度相比，定價仍下降了 32%。回想一下，NdPr 價格在 2022 年 2 月下旬至 3 月初觸及近期高點，這推高了 2022 年第一季度和第二季度的實際價格。然而，自最近的 2 月以來，價格繼續快速回落。吉姆稍後將討論我們對此的看法，但假設當前價格在整個季度保持不變，鑑於最近的疲軟，預計第二季度實現價格至少連續下降 35%。

As always, we entered this period of greater pricing volatility with our fortress balance sheet, our low-cost and cash-generative upstream Stage I business and an unwavering conviction in our downstream integration strategy. We have been strategic in how and when we raise capital, and we have remained committed to preserving our conservative balance sheet, specifically because of the leverage inherent in the business from commodity pricing. With nearly $1.2 billion of gross cash and short-term investments and the major lift and cost risk of Stage II construction behind us, our position as a U.S. champion in this critical industry is even more evident.

與往常一樣，我們憑藉穩固的資產負債表、低成本和可產生現金的上游第一階段業務以及對下游整合戰略的堅定信念，進入了這個價格波動更大的時期。我們在籌集資金的方式和時間上一直具有戰略意義，並且我們一直致力於保持我們保守的資產負債表，特別是因為商品定價業務中固有的槓桿作用。憑藉近 12 億美元的總現金和短期投資，以及第二階段建設的主要提升和成本風險，我們在這個關鍵行業作為美國冠軍的地位更加明顯。

Finishing on the far right of the slide, year-over-year production costs totaled $1,978 per metric ton of REO in the quarter, up 24% from last year. The primary driver of the increase was the scale benefits of higher sales volumes in last year's first quarter as well as higher headcount related to the ramp of Stage II head count and, to a much smaller extent, the impact of cost of living adjustments made last year as well as higher materials and supplies costs. Sequentially, cost per metric ton increased 3%. As a reminder, as we move to the back half of the year and begin preparing to migrate to Stage II production, some of these Stage I KPIs will become much less relevant. And as such, we expect to evolve the KPIs we report to you as we transition to separated products and rare earth metal sales.

在幻燈片的最右側，本季度每公噸 REO 的同比生產成本總計為 1,978 美元，比去年增長 24%。增長的主要驅動因素是去年第一季度銷量增加帶來的規模效益，以及與第二階段人數增加相關的員工人數增加，以及上次調整生活成本帶來的影響，但程度要小得多年以及更高的材料和用品成本。隨後，每公噸成本增加了 3%。提醒一下，隨著我們進入今年下半年並開始準備遷移到第二階段的生產，其中一些第一階段的 KPI 將變得不那麼重要。因此，隨著我們過渡到分離的產品和稀土金屬銷售，我們希望改進我們向您報告的 KPI。

Moving to Slide 7. Revenue of $95.7 million in the quarter decreased 42% year-over-year, driven by the 32% decline in realized pricing and the 13% decline in sales volumes discussed on the previous slide. Sequential revenue increased 3% as the 10% increase in quarter-over-quarter realized pricing was partially offset by the decline in sequential shipments. Continued solid cost control allowed us to generate $58.7 million of adjusted EBITDA and related margins of 61% in the quarter, both slightly up from Q4, but down year-over-year due to last year's strong pricing environment. You can also see the flow-through of last year's strong pricing in the adjusted diluted EPS comparison where in last year's first quarter, we earned $0.49 versus $0.27 in this year's first quarter.

轉到幻燈片 7。本季度的收入為 9570 萬美元，同比下降 42%，這是受已實現定價下降 32% 以及上一張幻燈片中討論的銷量下降 13% 的推動。環比收入增長 3%，因為實現價格環比增長 10% 被環比出貨量下降部分抵消。持續穩固的成本控制使我們在本季度產生了 5870 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA 和 61% 的相關利潤率，均略高於第四季度，但由於去年強勁的定價環境而同比下降。您還可以在調整後的攤薄每股收益比較中看到去年強勁定價的流動，在去年第一季度，我們的收益為 0.49 美元，而今年第一季度為 0.27 美元。

And as you will recall that in the fourth quarter, we had a large discrete tax benefit, which helps drive $0.42 of adjusted diluted EPS. Cash from operations in the quarter totaled about $55 million, and our CapEx spend was nearly $75 million. Removing roughly $71 million in growth CapEx, cash flow conversion remained very solid, at $51 million after maintenance CapEx. Similar to the Stage I operating KPIs that will be sunsetting, we expect Stage I free cash flow to be less of a relevant factor in assessing our performance as we turn our production focus to Stage II.

您會記得，在第四季度，我們有大量的離散稅收優惠，這有助於推動 0.42 美元的調整後攤薄每股收益。本季度來自運營的現金總額約為 5500 萬美元，我們的資本支出支出接近 7500 萬美元。除去大約 7100 萬美元的增長資本支出，現金流轉換仍然非常穩健，在維護資本支出後為 5100 萬美元。與將被淘汰的第一階段運營 KPI 類似，我們預計隨著我們將生產重點轉向第二階段，第一階段的自由現金流將不再是評估我們業績的相關因素。

To that end, I would add that we remain on track to spend roughly $300 million in CapEx this year with the very tailwind of Stage II spend and accelerating investments in our heavy separations and Stage III projects. I would add that in the last 2 quarters, we have put over $200 million of assets into service. And as such, we saw a $3 million increase in depreciation compared to a year ago. As the remaining Stage II assets ramp, you should see depreciation continue to increase as more capital assets are put into service throughout this year.

為此，我要補充一點，我們仍有望在今年花費大約 3 億美元的資本支出，這得益於第二階段支出的順風，並加速對我們的重型分離和第三階段項目的投資。我要補充一點，在過去的兩個季度中，我們已經投入使用了超過 2 億美元的資產。因此，與一年前相比，我們看到折舊增加了 300 萬美元。隨著剩餘的第二階段資產的增加，您應該會看到折舊繼續增加，因為今年有更多的資本資產投入使用。

Lastly, we continue to expect to generate NdPr sales in the back half of the year, with sales being quite backloaded given our expectation on the ramp in production. I would also remind you that we expect a lower margin profile on these initial sales, as you'd expect, until we can scale to full run rate production and smooth out our operations.

最後，我們繼續期望在今年下半年產生 NdPr 的銷售，考慮到我們對產量增加的預期，銷售量將大大增加。我還要提醒您，正如您所期望的那樣，我們預計這些初始銷售的利潤率較低，直到我們可以擴展到全速生產並平穩我們的運營。

Before handing the call over to Michael, I'd just like to add a couple of thoughts on our tolling arrangement. Under this tolling arrangement with a Vietnam rare earth company, MP will retain ownership of the product through the metallization process paying a conversion fee for each metric ton of metal produced. Therefore, as we ramp oxide production and utilize this channel, you can expect to see us report revenue generated from NdPr metal with the tolling fee included in our cost of goods sold for our metal products. Note that this sales channel will, in the early stages, come with a little longer working capital cycle as we invest in supply chain inventories in order to maintain stable metal reduction operations. While the oxide material is in transit and being converted, it will remain in our work in process inventory a bit longer through the end-to-end process.

在將電話轉給邁克爾之前，我想就我們的收費安排補充幾點想法。根據與越南稀土公司的這種收費安排，MP 將通過金屬化過程保留產品的所有權，並為生產的每公噸金屬支付轉換費。因此，隨著我們提高氧化物產量並利用此渠道，您可以期望看到我們報告 NdPr 金屬產生的收入，其中通行費包含在我們金屬產品的銷售成本中。請注意，在早期階段，由於我們投資於供應鏈庫存以維持穩定的金屬還原操作，因此該銷售渠道的營運資金周期會稍長一些。雖然氧化物材料在運輸和轉化過程中，但在端到端過程中，它將在我們的在製品庫存中保留更長的時間。

With that, I'll turn it over to Michael to give you an update on operations and Stage II commissioning. Michael?

有了這個，我將把它交給邁克爾，為您提供有關操作和第二階段調試的最新信息。邁克爾？

Thanks, Ryan. It was a busy quarter for commissioning and things have picked up steam into 2Q. Our commissioning, operations and process engineering teams have taken an increasingly active role in checkouts and start-up activities. In the first quarter, much of the focus was on completing the pre-commissioning of the remaining legacy and new circuits. Including equipment checkouts, water runs, instrumentation calibration, tuning loops and trial operations with critical equipment vendors and addressing the findings from these exercises.

謝謝，瑞安。這是一個繁忙的調試季度，事情已經進入第二季度。我們的調試、運營和工藝工程團隊在檢查和啟動活動中發揮了越來越積極的作用。第一季度，大部分重點是完成剩餘舊電路和新電路的預調試。包括設備檢查、水運行、儀器校準、調諧迴路和與關鍵設備供應商的試運行，並處理這些練習的結果。

At the same time, we continue to make progress on improving the consistency and throughput of the drying and roasting assets. During the quarter, we turned these assets over from the commissioning team to our operations team, freeing the former to focus their attention on the next circuits and the flow sheet. The remaining assets of our brine treatment and recycling circuits are in the final stage of commissioning before full commercial operations of the entire system begins. Importantly, we are moving closer to producing finished NdPr oxides. As we enter 2Q, safely advancing through the start-up of leaching and impurity removal and ensuring high purity rare earth solutions to feed separation circuits are our highest commissioning priorities.

與此同時，我們在提高乾燥和烘焙資產的一致性和吞吐量方面繼續取得進展。在本季度，我們將這些資產從調試團隊移交給了我們的運營團隊，使前者能夠將注意力集中在下一個電路和流程圖上。在整個系統開始全面商業運營之前，我們的鹽水處理和回收迴路的剩餘資產正處於調試的最後階段。重要的是，我們正在接近生產成品 NdPr 氧化物。當我們進入第二季度時，安全推進浸出和除雜的啟動並確保進料分離迴路的高純度稀土解決方案是我們調試的最高優先事項。

After that, product finishing encompasses precipitation of purified rare earth from solution filtration and conversion to oxide. It's still difficult to predict the trajectory of our ramp, but there is no doubt we are now on it. I'd like to reiterate that startup will not be a linear process. We expect a lot of ups and downs literally and figuratively. The trajectory of the curve will be determined at the equipment level by reliability and throughput. We expect certain operations to ramp throughput slowly but steadily; others to meet run rate quickly but struggle with reliability; others to operate reliably but struggle with throughput. And occasionally, we will get lucky with a piece of equipment that operates to design on startup with no problems at all. But we expect this to be the exception.

之後，產品精加工包括從溶液過濾和轉化為氧化物中沉澱純化的稀土。預測我們的斜坡軌跡仍然很困難，但毫無疑問我們現在就在斜坡上。我想重申，啟動不會是一個線性過程。我們預計在字面和比喻上都會有很多起伏。曲線的軌跡將由可靠性和吞吐量在設備級別確定。我們預計某些操作會緩慢但穩定地提高吞吐量；其他人可以快速滿足運行速度但在可靠性方面遇到困難；其他人可以可靠地運行，但在吞吐量方面苦苦掙扎。偶爾，我們會很幸運地擁有一台在啟動時就可以毫無問題地運行設計的設備。但我們希望這是例外。

I continue to be extremely impressed with the quality and dedication of our team. Experience in new operators and maintenance staff, engineers and trainers are collaborating to speed or mastery of the new and legacy circuits. So as long as we remain focused on the safety of our employees and on making decisions that are in the best long-term interest of our operation, we are confident that we can achieve our planned run rate production by year-end, while maintaining our low-cost position and industry-leading environmental sustainability. Not to be overlooked and a key part of maintaining our low-cost position, our Stage I operation continues to operate stably. Behind the scenes, we are increasing our R&D to address low-hanging fruits and longer-term growth opportunities.

我仍然對我們團隊的素質和奉獻精神印象深刻。經驗豐富的新操作員和維護人員、工程師和培訓師正在合作，以加快或掌握新舊電路。因此，只要我們繼續關注員工的安全並做出符合我們運營的最佳長期利益的決策，我們就有信心在年底前實現計劃的生產率，同時保持我們的低成本地位和行業領先的環境可持續性。不容忽視的是，作為維持我們低成本地位的關鍵部分，我們的第一階段業務繼續穩定運行。在幕後，我們正在加大研發力度，以應對唾手可得的成果和長期增長機會。

In the first quarter, we began an in-plant pilot of alternative flotation equipment. At the same time, we completed long lead procurement and began construction on a long-awaited project to improve our grinding circuit. We expect this to increase throughput potential and mineral recovery. As I've mentioned previously, we are extremely optimistic about the opportunity to improve the quality, quantity and cost structure of our concentrate production. In addition to the tremendous job that the team is doing in terms of both Stage I production and Stage II commissioning, our focus on safety remains front and center for us. As Jim mentioned, but I think it's important to reiterate, in April, we surpassed 3 years or over 2 million work hours without a lost time injury. I think this is a testament to our safety-first, owner-operator culture. So I just want to thank the team for all their hard work and their focus on doing it safely.

第一季度，我們開始了替代浮選設備的廠內試點。與此同時，我們完成了長期採購併開始建設一個期待已久的項目，以改進我們的研磨迴路。我們預計這將增加吞吐量潛力和礦物回收率。正如我之前提到的，我們對提高精礦生產質量、數量和成本結構的機會非常樂觀。除了團隊在第一階段生產和第二階段調試方面所做的大量工作外，我們對安全的關注仍然是我們的首要任務和中心。正如吉姆提到的，但我認為有必要重申，在 4 月份，我們超過 3 年或超過 200 萬個工作小時沒有失時工傷。我認為這證明了我們安全第一、所有者經營者文化。所以我只想感謝團隊的辛勤工作以及他們對安全進行的關注。

With that, I'll turn it back to Jim. Jim?

有了這個，我會把它轉回給吉姆。吉姆？

Thanks, Michael. Before Q&A, I would like to cover a few topics that are on the minds of many investors, including pricing trends, product substitution and the potential for Chinese export restrictions around rare earth processing and magnet-making technologies. On pricing, NdPr began the year around $102, which was down from a 2022 peak of $175. The declines continued throughout the first quarter, with pricing now in the low 60s. To put it bluntly, I'm surprised. I would say I'm actually very surprised but not shocked. As you all have heard me say many times before, commodities do almost anything in the short run. After all, oil even traded to a negative price in 2020.

謝謝，邁克爾。在問答之前，我想談談許多投資者關心的幾個話題，包括定價趨勢、產品替代以及中國對稀土加工和磁體製造技術出口限制的可能性。在定價方面，NdPr 在年初約為 102 美元，低於 2022 年的峰值 175 美元。整個第一季度都在持續下降，目前價格處於 60 美元的低位。坦率地說，我很驚訝。我會說我真的很驚訝但並不震驚。正如你們之前多次聽我說過的那樣，商品在短期內幾乎無所不能。畢竟，石油在 2020 年的交易價格甚至為負值。

Some of the price action may be explained by recent economic lows for what I would call legacy sectors like hard disk drives or ICE autos. Recall that nearly 80% of the market for rare earths today still comes from uses within these kinds of products. Moreover, global EV sales for Q1 2023 were weaker than expected due to the expiration of certain subsidies in China and Europe and combined with higher interest rates, likely had a significant impact. Sales in China appear to be rebounding strongly since March, however. Despite this recent blip, global EV sales penetration is still only in the low teens percentage. So the long-term demand trend remains explosive. We believe the compounding effect of high growth in electrification will far outweigh any legacy or other short-term weakness and then some over even a moderate amount of time.

一些價格走勢可能是由於我稱之為傳統行業（如硬盤驅動器或內燃機汽車）的近期經濟低谷所致。回想一下，如今近 80% 的稀土市場仍然來自這些產品中的使用。此外，由於中國和歐洲的某些補貼到期以及更高的利率，2023 年第一季度的全球電動汽車銷量弱於預期，可能產生重大影響。然而，自 3 月以來，中國的銷售似乎強勁反彈。儘管最近出現了這種現象，但全球電動汽車的銷售滲透率仍處於較低的十幾歲百分比。因此，長期需求趨勢仍然是爆炸性的。我們認為，電氣化高速增長的複合效應將遠遠超過任何遺留問題或其他短期疲軟，甚至會在適度的時間內產生一些影響。

What is interesting, perplexing and quite likely bullish for the medium- to long-term outlook is that with NdPr where it is now, we believe that the Chinese rare earth industry will be unprofitable at current prices. Chinese data is admittedly quite opaque, but our analysis as well as industry discussions suggest this to be the case. Moreover, at these price levels, it is hard to see positive economics for any greenfield project in the West, and it is very likely that anything in progress now can expect significant capital destruction.

有趣、令人困惑且很可能看好中長期前景的是，以镨镨目前的價格，我們認為中國稀土行業將無利可圖。誠然，中國數據相當不透明，但我們的分析和行業討論表明情況確實如此。此外，在這樣的價格水平下，西方的任何綠地項目都很難看到積極的經濟效益，而且很可能現在正在進行的任何項目都可能遭受重大的資本損失。

I would remind you of 2 important things to consider from MP's perspective. First, from the beginning of our public life, we made clear that MP would have an owner-operator culture where we would sacrifice near-term opportunism to maintain a capital structure with a fortress balance sheet. As I like to say, we want the leverage in the commodity price, not on our balance sheet. A company's capital structure must reflect the underlying volatility of its industry. Second, we believe that MP is on track to being the world's low-cost producer of NdPr oxide. Our balance sheet, operational execution and long-term focus give us the runway to ride through pricing cycles.

我想提醒您從 MP 的角度考慮兩件重要的事情。首先，從我們的公共生活開始，我們就明確表示 MP 將擁有一種所有者經營者文化，在這種文化中，我們將犧牲短期機會主義來維持具有堡壘資產負債表的資本結構。正如我想說的，我們想要的是商品價格的槓桿，而不是資產負債表上的槓桿。公司的資本結構必須反映其行業的潛在波動性。其次，我們相信 MP 有望成為全球低成本的 NdPr 氧化物生產商。我們的資產負債表、運營執行和長期關注為我們提供了穿越定價週期的跑道。

I also want to reiterate the point about capital formation. In my estimation, with NdPr anywhere lower than around $120 per kilogram, new projects with realistic assumptions are simply uneconomic. And that is before one considers the significant time, risk and human capital it requires to be successful. Put simply, our industry has a very high cost of capital for new entrants right now. This means the long-term upside volatility for MP to benefit from demand trends across the various electrification categories remains very significant.

我還想重申關於資本形成的觀點。據我估計，如果 NdPr 低於每公斤 120 美元左右，那麼採用現實假設的新項目根本不經濟。那是在考慮成功所需的大量時間、風險和人力資本之前。簡而言之，我們行業目前對新進入者的資金成本非常高。這意味著 MP 從各種電氣化類別的需求趨勢中受益的長期上行波動仍然非常顯著。

This leads me to my next topic, substitution. If you listen to our call a quarter ago, you heard me talk about NdPr supply-demand imbalance as the world electrifies. I cited estimates suggesting that the demand for NdPr potentially seeing a 200% increase over the next decade or so or 3x today's current demand. To meet that demand, I highlighted how that was the equivalent of needing 15 Mountain Passes to come online over that same time period. We know this is not going to happen. For all the reasons we previously outlined, we made clear, it likely would not happen with NdPr at virtually any price. After all, even getting one new mine of globally relevant scale over a decade is no small task. Consider all the human, financial, environmental, permitting and political challenges to do so. And that, of course, assumes as project table stakes, the discovery of an economic ore body that would make all that worthwhile. The idea of that happening with 15 projects within 10 years is not realistic.

這引出了我的下一個主題，替代。如果你在一個季度前聽過我們的電話，你會聽到我談論隨著世界電氣化，镨镨供需失衡。我引用的估計表明，在未來十年左右，對 NdPr 的需求可能會增長 200%，或者是目前需求的 3 倍。為了滿足這一需求，我強調了這相當於在同一時期需要 15 個山口才能上線。我們知道這不會發生。由於我們之前概述的所有原因，我們明確表示，幾乎任何價格的 NdPr 都不會發生這種情況。畢竟，即使在十年內獲得一個具有全球相關規模的新礦山也不是一件容易的事。考慮這樣做的所有人力、財務、環境、許可和政治挑戰。而且，當然，假設作為項目賭注，發現經濟礦體將使所有這一切都變得有價值。 10 年內有 15 個項目發生這種情況的想法是不現實的。

So we were not surprised when Tesla at their Investor Day highlighted their concern over rare earth supply and environmental challenges around mass market adoption of electric vehicles. It should not shock anyone that they aspire to produce a vehicle without a rare of magnet motor. The issue has been and remains what are the size, performance, efficiency and pricing trade-offs of utilizing a rare earth magnet motor versus another solution. For some applications, like an aspirational mass-market EV priced under $30,000 that does not yet have a factory, substitution must occur because the math, particularly the supposed volumes, suggests it is likely not realistic otherwise.

因此，當特斯拉在投資者日強調他們對稀土供應和大眾市場採用電動汽車的環境挑戰的擔憂時，我們並不感到驚訝。他們渴望生產一種沒有罕見磁電機的車輛，這不會讓任何人感到震驚。問題一直是並且仍然是使用稀土磁體電機與其他解決方案相比在尺寸、性能、效率和價格方面的權衡是什麼。對於某些應用，例如價格低於 30,000 美元且尚未建廠的理想大眾市場電動汽車，必須進行替代，因為數學，尤其是假定的數量，表明否則可能不現實。

For most other EV applications, like those involving performance, luxury, SUVs, full-size sedans or consumer trucks and certainly with other electrified motion applications like robotics, offshore wind turbines, drones or other military uses, there is virtually no way material substitution will occur at any price, given the constraints. When you add all that up, we believe, as even Tesla and many others have pointed out, that the demand picture for rare earth magnets remains exceptional. I would also add that my team spent significant time with a number of OEMs as well as other producers of a variety of products that utilize rare earth magnets, and virtually all have rare earth magnets on their production road maps for the foreseeable future. And production road maps are not easily changed overnight.

對於大多數其他電動汽車應用，例如涉及性能、豪華、SUV、全尺寸轎車或消費卡車的應用，當然還有其他電氣化運動應用，例如機器人、海上風力渦輪機、無人機或其他軍事用途，材料替代幾乎無法實現在給定約束的情況下，不惜任何代價發生。當你把所有這些加起來時，我們相信，正如特斯拉和許多其他人所指出的那樣，對稀土磁鐵的需求情況仍然非常出色。我還要補充一點，我的團隊花了大量時間與許多原始設備製造商以及使用稀土磁鐵的各種產品的其他生產商打交道，在可預見的未來，幾乎所有製造商的生產路線圖上都有稀土磁鐵。而且生產路線圖也不是一朝一夕就能輕易改變的。

With that, let me briefly touch on the recent news that the Chinese commerce and technology ministries have drafted a list of amendments, which would either ban or restrict exports of certain magnet manufacturing technology. We will see if these ultimately go into effect as they are evaluating comments from Chinese industry. Needless to say, we get questions about this potential change. As you can imagine, given that the Chinese dominate the magnetics industry, they similarly dominate magnetics tooling and equipment production. But we have purposely avoided major buys of equipment and technology from China for our Texas facility for this express reason. So we do not expect any issues from this.

至此，讓我簡單介紹一下最近有消息稱，中國商務部和科技部起草了一份修正案清單，將禁止或限制某些磁鐵製造技術的出口。我們將在評估中國工業界的評論時看看這些最終是否生效。不用說，我們對這種潛在的變化有疑問。可以想像，鑑於中國人主導了磁性行業，他們同樣也主導了磁性工具和設備的生產。但出於這個明確的原因，我們有意避免從中國為我們的德克薩斯工廠購買大量設備和技術。因此，我們預計不會出現任何問題。

Additionally, NdFeB permanent magnets have been manufactured for roughly 40 years. The process itself is well understood and approximately 10% of world supply is made in Japan. Such limited Japanese share is not due to access to Chinese process technology or equipment. It is primarily due to challenged access to separated rare earth oxides and metals. Therefore, MP, with our upstream and midstream supply chain, is in a good position regardless. The real bottom line of the potential Chinese ban on technology exports is that it further highlights the critical importance of the American magnetics champion we are building in MP as well as the significant overall long-term value of our asset portfolio irrespective of spot prices.

此外，製造 NdFeB 永磁體已有大約 40 年的歷史。這個過程本身是眾所周知的，世界上大約 10% 的供應是在日本製造的。如此有限的日本份額並不是因為獲得了中國的工藝技術或設備。這主要是由於難以獲得分離的稀土氧化物和金屬。因此，MP 與我們的上游和中游供應鏈，無論如何都處於有利地位。中國可能禁止技術出口的真正底線是，它進一步凸顯了我們在 MP 中建立的美國磁學冠軍的至關重要性，以及我們資產組合的重要整體長期價值，無論現貨價格如何。

With that, let's open it up for questions. Operator?

有了這個，讓我們打開它來提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) The first question is from the line of Corinne Blanchard with Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Corinne Blanchard。

The first one would be maybe more on the financial side. There was few adjustment to the EBITDA this quarter. Is that a trend that we can expect in the coming quarter? And then on that thematic as well, could you comment a little bit about the cost, like (inaudible) that we can expect in the next quarter?

第一個可能更多是在財務方面。本季度EBITDA幾乎沒有調整。這是我們可以在下一季度預期的趨勢嗎？然後在這個主題上，你能否評論一下成本，比如我們可以在下一季度預期的（聽不清）？

Yes. Corinne, it's Ryan. I can take that. In terms of the EBITDA adjustments, I assume primarily what you're looking at would be start-up costs, which is a category that we've had for the last couple of quarters as we've gotten into the depths of commissioning of Stage II. I would say as we get further, and Michael gave some color on how that activity is picking up pretty rapidly in this quarter, I would expect to see those costs pick up a little bit, certainly in Q2. And I'd expect them likely to start to come down over the course of the year as we move into what we call more run rate or commercial production of separated products.

是的。科琳，是瑞安。我可以接受。就 EBITDA 調整而言，我假設您主要關注的是啟動成本，這是我們在過去幾個季度進入 Stage 調試深度時所擁有的類別二。我想說的是，隨著我們走得更遠，邁克爾對本季度該活動如何迅速增加給出了一些顏色，我預計這些成本會有所增加，當然是在第二季度。而且我預計，隨著我們進入我們所謂的更高運行率或分離產品的商業生產，它們可能會在這一年中開始下降。

In terms of your question on the cost per metric ton, as I talked about in my prepared remarks, the primary driver there is the continued growth in head count as we get ready for these circuits to be in service. As you can imagine, we're going from operating effectively a milling and flotation facility and ancillary support facilities to adding multiple more facilities into service. So the burden from maintenance facilities, utilities, things like that, have started to pick up ahead of entering into commercial production of these products. And so that's primarily the items that you're seeing.

關於你關於每公噸成本的問題，正如我在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，隨著我們為這些電路投入使用做好準備，主要的驅動因素是人數的持續增長。正如您所想像的那樣，我們正在從有效運營研磨和浮選設施以及輔助支持設施轉變為增加更多設施投入使用。因此，在這些產品進入商業化生產之前，維護設施、公用事業等的負擔已經開始增加。所以這主要是你看到的項目。

And so those items that are not specifically related to commissioning activities tend to flow through the cost of goods sold of our existing product. Those items that are specifically related to commissioning and not related to a salable product find their way into the start-up cost category. As we look out over the course of this year, I'd expect a similar trend in cost per metric ton, as I mentioned, on the start-up costs. As we bring these things online, certainly, there'll be an initial margin profile that will certainly look a lot different than when we hit escape velocity and hit run rate production. So hopefully, that gives you a sense.

因此，那些與委託活動沒有具體關係的項目往往會流經我們現有產品的銷售成本。那些與調試特別相關但與可銷售產品無關的項目會進入啟動成本類別。正如我們在今年的過程中所看到的那樣，正如我提到的那樣，我預計每公噸成本在啟動成本方面也會出現類似的趨勢。當我們把這些東西放到網上時，當然，會有一個初始的利潤率曲線，它看起來肯定會與我們達到逃逸速度和達到運行率生產時有很大不同。所以希望這能給你一種感覺。

Yes. That's very good. And maybe as a follow-up and shifting gears a little bit here more to like the broader market. But any view on the current NdPr metal processing capacity that is in Southeast Asia, maybe outside of China and Japan, that would be helpful to get a view there.

是的。這是非常好的。也許作為後續行動和換檔在這裡更喜歡更廣泛的市場。但任何對東南亞（可能在中國和日本之外）當前 NdPr 金屬加工能力的看法，都有助於了解那裡的情況。

Sure, yes. I think one of the items that we talked a bit about in the prepared remarks is our tolling arrangement for some metal capacity. There's a variety of potential options for metallization in Southeast Asia, maybe 6 or 7 in different facilities out there. We're obviously very pleased with our ability to get dedicated capacity. As you can imagine, with the Japanese magnet industry and the growth that they expect, they are seeking the ability to purchase both metal and oxide. So with the ability to do tolling of oxide into metal that just broadens our market opportunity for our products.

當然，是的。我認為我們在準備好的評論中談到的其中一個項目是我們對一些金屬產能的收費安排。東南亞有多種金屬化的潛在選擇，可能有 6 或 7 個在不同的設施中。我們顯然對我們獲得專用容量的能力感到非常滿意。可以想像，隨著日本磁鐵行業的發展和他們預期的增長，他們正在尋求購買金屬和氧化物的能力。因此，能夠將氧化物加工成金屬，這只會拓寬我們產品的市場機會。

And so I would expect that this announcement we had this quarter is hopefully the beginning of many. We continue to evaluate other metal tolling facilities through our Sumitomo relationship and otherwise. And of course, this is in addition to our downstream strategy in the United States. And so putting all of that together, we're excited about the potential for a significant amount of our oxide to make its way through that sales channel, which, again, is just a great way for us to continue to broaden our market opportunity.

因此，我希望我們在本季度發布的這一公告有望成為許多公告的開始。我們繼續通過住友關係和其他方式評估其他金屬收費設施。當然，這是我們在美國的下游戰略的補充。因此，將所有這些放在一起，我們對大量氧化物通過該銷售渠道的潛力感到興奮，這再次是我們繼續擴大市場機會的好方法。

The next question is from the line of Carlos De Alba with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自 Carlos De Alba 與摩根士丹利的合作。

So just in terms of the headcount ramp up, as you expand the operations in Stage II and Stage III, where are you on that process? You're maybe trying to calibrate from the prior question also what the cost will look like in the coming quarters. That will be my first question.

因此，就員工人數增加而言，當您擴大第二階段和第三階段的業務時，您在這個過程中處於什麼位置？您可能正在嘗試根據先前的問題來校準未來幾個季度的成本情況。這將是我的第一個問題。

And then my second question is just coming back a little bit to the prepared remarks on inventory, I just wanted to make sure that I understood. Two-thirds of your sales will comprise of roasted concentrate in the second quarter already or more like in the second half of the year? And then the level of inventories that you currently have, is it around 2,000 tons of inventories that will be consumed in the coming quarters in the separation circuit?

然後我的第二個問題只是稍微回到準備好的關於庫存的評論，我只是想確保我理解。您三分之二的銷售額將在第二季度或今年下半年由焙燒精礦組成？然後是您目前的庫存水平，未來幾個季度分離迴路將消耗大約 2,000 噸庫存？

All right. Carlos, it's Ryan. Let me take the second part of that first, and then I'll flip it to Michael to talk about staffing. What we mentioned on the inventory and thinking about how we consume our current product into the downstream circuits, I'd note that the point we're trying to make is, this quarter, you did not see a significant departure of production versus sales. As we move into Q2 and into Q3, we'll see an increasing amount of our production of REO being consumed into the downstream circuit.

好的。卡洛斯，是瑞安。讓我先談談第二部分，然後我會把它交給邁克爾來談談人員配置。我們在庫存中提到並思考我們如何將當前產品消耗到下游電路中，我要指出的是，我們試圖說明的一點是，本季度，您沒有看到生產與銷售的顯著差異。隨著我們進入第二季度和第三季度，我們將看到越來越多的 REO 產量被消耗到下游電路中。

I think the other question that you asked is that -- is about the amount of roasted concentrate that's going to get sold or was sold. And just to clarify, I think you might have had the numbers backwards, it was about 30% of our sales this quarter was of roasted concentrate. The rest was our standard concentrate product.

我想你問的另一個問題是——關於將要出售或已經出售的烘焙濃縮物的數量。澄清一下，我想你可能把數字倒過來了，本季度我們大約 30% 的銷售額是烘焙濃縮物。其餘的是我們的標準濃縮產品。

As you know, what we plan to feed the downstream circuits with is the roasted concentrate. And so I think the 2 things to keep in mind that we wanted everyone to be sure to understand as they model the business over the rest of this year is you will start to see that detachment of REOs sold versus REO produced as we consume that over the next couple of quarters, and we flagged up to about 2,000 metric tons of REO that will find its way into the downstream circuits. And certainly, that 2,000 tons will be made up of roasted concentrate.

如您所知，我們計劃為下游迴路提供的是焙燒精礦。因此，我認為要記住的兩件事是我們希望每個人在今年餘下時間為業務建模時一定要理解的是，您將開始看到銷售的 REO 與我們消耗的 REO 生產的分離在接下來的幾個季度中，我們標記了大約 2,000 公噸的 REO，它們將進入下游迴路。當然，這 2,000 噸將由焙燒精礦組成。

Hopefully, that answers your question. Mike, do you want to jump in on staffing?

希望這能回答您的問題。邁克，你想參與人員配置嗎？

Thanks, Ryan. We've had a significant number of the Stage II staff on our payroll already for several months, or for more than several months, in training, in cross-training, in cleaning up, working on commissioning activities, recommissioning activities. So we've gotten probably through at least three-quarters of the total hiring, perhaps even a little bit more. We will see a slight increase in some of the staff over the next quarter or 2, that may be offset by some third-party contractors, which will be -- not including the construction but third-party contractors, which will come off. So I think overall, the cost structure already includes a significant portion of that burden.

謝謝，瑞安。我們已經有相當數量的第二階段員工在我們的工資單上工作了幾個月，或者超過幾個月，在培訓、交叉培訓、清理、調試活動、重新調試活動中工作。因此，我們可能至少完成了總招聘人數的四分之三，甚至可能更多。我們將在下個季度或第二個季度看到一些員工人數略有增加，這可能會被一些第三方承包商所抵消，這將是 - 不包括建築，但第三方承包商將會關閉。所以我認為總的來說，成本結構已經包含了很大一部分負擔。

The next question is from the line of Matt Summerville with D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 Matt Summerville 和 D.A.戴維森。

This is Will Jellison on for Matt Summerville. I wanted to start out by asking you about Stage III. Looking a bit further into the future, do you expect to use a building block approach to further capacitization beyond Texas? Or will the success build-out potentially be considerably larger than what you're starting out with in Fort Worth today?

這是 Will Jellison 的 Matt Summerville。我想先問你關於第三階段的問題。展望未來，您是否期望使用積木式方法在德克薩斯州以外進一步實現能力化？或者，成功的擴建可能會比您今天在沃思堡開始的規模大得多？

Sure, I'll take that. So as you know, with Fort Worth, Fort Worth really represents below 10% of our current expected output out of Mountain Pass. And so we really view that as the initial magnetics facility. We're obviously working, we've made clear from the beginning that we're -- we're really taking a buy-build and/or JV approach here. We're maniacally thinking about return on capital in the most creative, thoughtful, lowest-risk ways we can build out that business. And so that's a long-winded way of saying that anything and everything is on the table as we build out that business.

當然，我會接受的。因此，如您所知，對於沃思堡，沃思堡實際上占我們目前預期的芒廷帕斯產量的 10% 以下。因此，我們真的將其視為最初的磁學設施。我們顯然在努力，我們從一開始就明確表示我們 - 我們真的在這裡採取購買構建和/或合資方式。我們正在瘋狂地考慮以最具創造性、最周到、風險最低的方式來建立該業務的資本回報率。因此，這是一種冗長的說法，即在我們建立該業務時，任何事情都擺在桌面上。

But the -- you can certainly expect that, that business should grow substantially because the current forward facility will really only represent a small percentage of our upstream output. And we obviously want to make sure that we focus in the near term on executing that well. And we do expect to have some good lessons from that experience that will help dictate how we pursue the continued downstream build-out.

但是——你當然可以預期，該業務應該會大幅增長，因為目前的遠期設施實際上只占我們上游產出的一小部分。而且我們顯然希望確保我們在短期內專注於執行得很好。我們確實希望從這次經歷中吸取一些很好的教訓，這將有助於決定我們如何繼續進行下游擴建。

Understood. And then as a follow-up, I wanted to ask about capital deployment. To the extent that there is capital available to do so, and I certainly understood if there isn't, but given the stock where it is today, I'm wondering how you think about potential for share buybacks as being an opportunity to deploy capital for shareholders. Just curious about that given where the stock is today.

明白了。然後作為後續行動，我想詢問有關資本部署的問題。在一定程度上有可用的資金，如果沒有，我當然理解，但考慮到今天的股票，我想知道你如何看待股票回購的潛力作為配置資本的機會為股東。鑑於今天的庫存情況，我只是對此感到好奇。

Sure. I thought I might get that question. Well, I'll give you the really short version, but then I'll give you a longer extended version. I'm the largest shareholder of the company. We have set up an owner-operator culture. We're very focused on creating value for shareholders. It's in our DNA. We think about return on capital and capital allocation. I mean that really drives everything that we do in the business. So you can imagine that I'm spending pretty much every waking hour thinking about that.

當然。我想我可能會得到那個問題。好吧，我會給你最短的版本，然後我會給你一個更長的擴展版本。我是公司最大的股東。我們已經建立了所有者經營者文化。我們非常專注於為股東創造價值。它存在於我們的 DNA 中。我們考慮資本回報率和資本配置。我的意思是，這確實推動了我們在業務中所做的一切。所以你可以想像我幾乎每個醒著的時間都在思考這個問題。

So when and if we do something, we'll certainly do it. We wouldn't telegraph it. But let me give you sort of a longer view into my psychology, which is we really believe that -- I really think of the world in probabilistic terms. I think it's pretty clear if you look at the enterprise value of our business and what we expect to be doing over the next decade that it wouldn't shock me if our business is earning more than our enterprise value today and a handful of years out there. So certainly, there's an enormous amount of value.

因此，當我們做某事時，如果我們做某事，我們一定會去做。我們不會電報它。但是讓我給你一個更長遠的觀點來了解我的心理，我們真的相信——我真的從概率的角度來思考這個世界。我認為，如果你看看我們業務的企業價值以及我們在未來十年內期望做的事情，就會很清楚，如果我們的業務今天和幾年後的收入超過我們的企業價值，我不會感到震驚那裡。所以當然，有巨大的價值。

That said, it's also a probabilistic world. I've made clear that the capital structure really has to reflect the underlying volatility of the business as well as the stage of the business. We are in the early growth stage. And lastly, we really -- and I think we've made this clear, so I don't think this will surprise any shareholders. And certainly, for our long-term shareholders, they should think of it this way or we're not the right company for you. But we're really country-first capitalist. This is a very unique set of assets. We think there's an enormous opportunity. There's -- this is also something important that has to happen. And so we really want to make sure that we take a conservative and thoughtful approach to make sure that this platform has the firepower to do the variety of things that we want to do over time.

也就是說，這也是一個概率世界。我已經明確表示，資本結構確實必須反映業務的潛在波動性以及業務所處的階段。我們正處於早期成長階段。最後，我們真的 - 我認為我們已經明確了這一點，所以我認為這不會讓任何股東感到驚訝。當然，對於我們的長期股東來說，他們應該這樣想，否則我們不適合你。但我們真的是國家至上的資本主義。這是一組非常獨特的資產。我們認為這是一個巨大的機會。還有——這也是必鬚髮生的重要事情。所以我們真的想確保我們採取保守和深思熟慮的方法來確保這個平台有足夠的火力來做我們想做的各種事情。

And so when you add all of that up, that's kind of what's going on in our heads as we think about these things. It doesn't necessarily serve us to do something small that create some single value, we're long-term focused folks around here. And so when we do something, we're going to -- we want to think about it. As you've heard me say on these calls before, we really want to take a Henry Singleton-type approach here. And so hopefully, that gives you kind of some window into how I'm thinking about it.

因此，當您將所有這些加起來時，這就是我們思考這些事情時腦子裡正在發生的事情。做一些創造單一價值的小事不一定對我們有用，我們是這裡的長期關注者。因此，當我們做某事時，我們會——我們要考慮一下。正如你之前在這些電話會議上聽到我所說的那樣，我們真的想在這裡採用 Henry Singleton 式的方法。因此，希望這能讓您了解我的想法。

The next question is from the line of George Gianarikas with Canaccord Genuity.

下一個問題來自 George Gianarikas 與 Canaccord Genuity 的合作。

I'd like to start, maybe just focusing on -- I guess focusing on Fort Worth and just trying to understand any update there. You do, do start production there by the end of the year. Wondering how the hiring is going, how the early indications on production are going, and any kinks you need to continue to work out of the system to get to production by the end of 2023.

我想開始，也許只是關注——我想關注沃思堡，只是想了解那裡的任何更新。你做到了，一定要在年底前在那裡開始生產。想知道招聘情況如何，生產的早期跡像如何，以及您需要繼續解決系統問題以在 2023 年底之前投入生產的任何問題。

Sure. Well, I think, George, probably you saw the -- we recently twitted a picture of the facility, the sort of the April 2022 versus April 2023 where we essentially broke ground there. I mean this was a bare piece of land a little over a year ago and now the shell of the factory is done, and we're already at work on the inside. I would say that in this past quarter, there's been a lot of work, not just in the facility, but also with the team. I mean we have a really impressive team, and that team continues to grow by the day. We've made a lot of progress on that front. And -- and so I would say that it continues to go really well. This is not easy stuff. I mean we are building a magnet-making business from scratch. So I certainly don't want to downplay the scale of the challenge that we've taken on.

當然。好吧，喬治，我想你可能看到了——我們最近在推特上發布了一張該設施的照片，類似於 2022 年 4 月和 2023 年 4 月我們在那裡破土動工的照片。我的意思是，一年多前這裡還是一片光禿禿的土地，現在工廠的外殼已經完成，我們已經在裡面施工了。我要說的是，在過去的這個季度裡，我們做了大量工作，不僅是在設施方面，還有團隊方面。我的意思是我們有一個非常令人印象深刻的團隊，而且這個團隊每天都在繼續成長。我們在這方面取得了很大進展。而且 - 所以我會說它繼續非常順利。這不是一件容易的事。我的意思是我們正在從頭開始建立磁鐵製造業務。所以我當然不想低估我們所面臨的挑戰的規模。

But certainly, we have an incredible foundational customer in GM, and we continue to have a lot of great customer conversations, and we're hopefully taking a methodical, risk-managed approach to this process. And I guess that's a lot of qualitative ways of telling you that we continue to work really well on that front, and we're -- we think we're on track and just continuing to execute.

但可以肯定的是，我們在通用汽車有一個令人難以置信的基礎客戶，我們繼續進行很多很棒的客戶對話，我們希望在此過程中採取有條不紊、風險管理的方法。而且我想這是很多定性的方式告訴你我們在這方面繼續做得很好，而且我們 - 我們認為我們正在走上正軌並且只是繼續執行。

And as a follow-up, you're going through this transition this year moving to Stage II. And just as luck would have it, we've seen a massive reduction in the spot price. And you talked about allocating some of your production to inventory to Stage II. But how do you manage profitability in that scenario? I guess my question also is we're getting close to a point, I think, where you might be hitting the edge of being -- dipping into EBITDA negativity as opposed to profitability. So how do you manage that scenario? Do you -- is it your goal to stay EBITDA positive even if the spot price reduces further? And you maybe don't allocate some of that -- some of your volume to inventory. Or do you just kind of focus on the task at hand and continue to move to Stage II throughout the year despite what's going on at spot?

作為後續行動，您今年將經歷這一轉變，進入第二階段。幸運的是，我們看到現貨價格大幅下跌。你談到將你的一些生產分配到第二階段的庫存。但是在這種情況下您如何管理盈利能力呢？我想我的問題也是我們正在接近一個點，我認為，你可能會觸及存在的邊緣——陷入 EBITDA 消極而不是盈利能力。那麼你如何管理這種情況呢？你 - 即使現貨價格進一步下跌，你的目標是保持 EBITDA 為正嗎？你可能不會分配其中的一些 - 你的一些數量到庫存。或者你只是專注於手頭的任務，並在全年繼續進入第二階段，不管現場發生了什麼？

Well, first and foremost, we wake up and pray for higher prices every morning. No, I'm kidding. But it's a challenge. We're -- we are -- as we sort of the theme of this call, as you know, we believe in both fronts of our business on -- well, in Stage I, certainly, and all Stages II and III. We're executing really well. Those are the things that we can control. It's tough being in a commodity business, unlike some other businesses where you can make a lot of great progress and maybe 80% of that converts into the financial result, whereas in the commodity business, you can do an incredible job and maybe 20% converts and the rest is sort of the inherent volatility of prices that maybe make you look not so smart in down price times and probably much smaller than you deserve in up price times.

好吧，首先也是最重要的是，我們每天早上醒來並祈禱更高的價格。不，我在開玩笑。但這是一個挑戰。我們是——我們是——就像我們這次電話會議的主題一樣，正如你所知，我們相信我們業務的兩個方面——嗯，當然，在第一階段，以及所有第二和第三階段。我們執行得非常好。這些是我們可以控制的事情。從事大宗商品業務很艱難，不像其他一些業務，你可以取得很大的進步，其中 80% 可能會轉化為財務結果，而在大宗商品業務中，你可以做得非常出色，也許 20% 會轉化為財務結果其餘的是價格固有的波動性，這可能使您在價格下跌時看起來不那麼聰明，並且在價格上漲時可能比您應得的要小得多。

But the reality is that we -- there really is not much change in the sense that we're always focused on capital allocation. I mean we're thinking about these things every step of the way. And when prices are high or higher than here, not necessarily as high as we think they're going, we're always aware that prices could be much lower, right? That's why we set up the capital structure the way we did. And when prices are very low, we're -- if you look back to some of the comments that I made, I mean, we -- that, of course, plants the seeds for the next huge price spike. And so we try not to be too impacted by that volatility and just focus on the things that we can control.

但現實是，我們始終專注於資本配置，從這個意義上說，確實沒有太大變化。我的意思是我們在每一步都在考慮這些事情。當價格高或高於這裡時，不一定像我們認為的那樣高，我們總是知道價格可能低得多，對嗎？這就是為什麼我們按照我們的方式建立資本結構。當價格非常低時，我們——如果你回顧一下我發表的一些評論，我的意思是，我們——當然會為下一次價格飆升埋下種子。因此，我們盡量不要受到這種波動的太大影響，而只關注我們可以控制的事情。

But Michael, if you want to touch on any aspects of what you see at Mountain Pass and kind of how you're thinking about commissioning. If you want to chime in here, fire away.

但是邁克爾，如果你想談談你在芒廷帕斯所看到的任何方面，以及你是如何考慮調試的。如果你想在這裡插話，開火吧。

Thanks, Jim. And thanks for the question. I think we're very prudent in how we're going about commissioning, and we always have been thinking of this as a maximizing value to shareholders as well as our long-term success of our operation in our ore body. Particularly in this period of time with lower prices, we want to be especially careful to avoid any major mistakes, obviously, any safety issues. But also think about how and when we optimize the ramp for maximizing efficiency of the circuits as we commission them versus the speed of commissioning. And so we'll probably be a little bit more -- even more thoughtful about that as we proceed. So obviously, our Stage I business still is a very low-cost producer, and we'll look to keep that stable and profitable and see where we can eke out additional profitability from that.

謝謝，吉姆。謝謝你的提問。我認為我們在調試方面非常謹慎，我們一直認為這是股東價值最大化以及我們在礦體運營的長期成功。特別是在這個價格較低的時期，我們要特別小心，避免任何重大錯誤，顯然，任何安全問題。但也要考慮我們如何以及何時優化斜坡以在我們調試電路時最大限度地提高電路效率，而不是調試速度。因此，在我們繼續進行的過程中，我們可能會考慮得更多——甚至考慮得更多。很明顯，我們的第一階段業務仍然是一個成本非常低的生產商，我們將尋求保持穩定和盈利，看看我們可以從哪裡獲得額外的利潤。

The next question is from the line of David Deckelbaum with Cowen.

下一個問題來自 David Deckelbaum 和 Cowen。

I was curious, just one on the tolling arrangement with a Vietnamese rare earth toller. I guess -- the Sumitomo, I guess, was responsible for negotiating some of this. But I guess in terms of qualifying your own NdPr oxide, should we think about it as the -- I suppose you haven't had any of your NdPr oxide to work with you either qualify. But is the assumption that, that would be like a fairly seamless process to convert the oxide to the metal?

我很好奇，只是關於與越南稀土收費商的收費安排。我猜——住友，我猜，負責談判其中的一些。但我想就合格的 NdPr 氧化物而言，我們是否應該將其視為 - 我想您沒有任何 NdPr 氧化物可以與您一起工作。但是假設，這就像一個將氧化物轉化為金屬的相當無縫的過程嗎？

Yes, David, it's Ryan. Just to clarify, this opportunity with a Vietnam rare earth company is separate from our Sumitomo relationship. But we certainly view Sumitomo as an incremental outlet where we expect to do very similar things. So this is just a further broadening of our market opportunity. In terms of qualification, I think certainly, we feel very confident in what our specifications of our product will be in order to properly convert them in an efficient way in electrowinning for metal-making.

是的，大衛，是瑞安。需要澄清的是，與越南稀土公司的這個機會與我們住友的關係是分開的。但我們當然將 Sumitomo 視為一個增量出口，我們希望在其中做非常相似的事情。所以這只是進一步擴大了我們的市場機會。在資格方面，我認為當然，我們對我們的產品規格非常有信心，以便在金屬製造的電解沉積中以有效的方式正確轉換它們。

I think importantly, in this tolling arrangement, we will maintain title to the product throughout the process. And so through that, we will maintain responsibility, frankly, for the quality of the end product as we interface directly with our end customers. And so we're deeply involved in the requisite conversations to ensure that we're making a quality product at this tolling facility. So we feel good about that.

我認為重要的是，在這種收費安排中，我們將在整個過程中保持對產品的所有權。因此，坦率地說，當我們直接與最終客戶打交道時，我們將對最終產品的質量負責。因此，我們深入參與了必要的對話，以確保我們在這個收費設施生產優質產品。所以我們對此感覺很好。

Appreciate that. Jim, I go back to one of the conversations earlier about substitute products, you raised, obviously, the conversation around Tesla's aspirations for building a non-rare earth magnet. In your conversations with other OEMs, we read it too as a sort of like ringing the alarm for a constrained supply chain. Are you seeing the same sort of concerns from some of the other domestic OEMs, obviously, of a partnership or arrangement or customer arrangement already. But is there a palpable concern around the supply chain for installing rare earth magnets and EV deliveries in the future?

感謝。吉姆，我回到早些時候關於替代產品的談話之一，你顯然提出了圍繞特斯拉製造非稀土磁鐵的願望的談話。在您與其他原始設備製造商的對話中，我們也將其解讀為一種對受限供應鏈敲響警鐘。您是否看到其他一些國內原始設備製造商對合作夥伴關係或安排或客戶安排的同樣擔憂？但是，未來安裝稀土磁鐵和電動汽車交付的供應鍊是否存在明顯的擔憂？

Yes, David. Well, you hit a really good point about ringing the alarm. It was, in a sense, kind of like a commercial for this issue to a very broad audience of just sort of the scale of what is unfolding here and how much more material is going to be needed. As far as sort of sense of urgency, I would tell you that we've really sensed a sense of urgency with the OEMs at least going back a couple of years. This -- the -- if you kind of rewind probably pre-COVID, there was less of a sense of urgency. Everything was sort of theoretical. And then when people saw the health care stuff and the semis, and that was like sort of the big wake-up call where all of a sudden this became sort of something down the road to existential.

是的，大衛。好吧，關於拉響警報，你說得很對。從某種意義上說，這有點像這個問題的商業廣告，面向非常廣泛的受眾，這些受眾只是了解這裡正在發生的事情的規模以及需要多少材料。至於某種緊迫感，我會告訴你，至少在幾年前，我們真的感受到了原始設備製造商的緊迫感。這個——那個——如果你有點倒帶可能是在 COVID 之前，那麼緊迫感就會減少。一切都是理論上的。然後當人們看到醫療保健的東西和半決賽時，這就像是一個巨大的警鐘，突然間這變成了某種存在主義的道路。

And I would say that, that's maintained. I don't think I've seen that much different. Although what's interesting, I mean there's -- here and there, we still hear of the supply chain things that pop up. I think Ford had an issue the other day, and so I would say that across the industry, and it's not just the autos, I mean, it's in other areas, sort of other standard industry areas that people focus on this. So I would say, I wouldn't necessarily say it's increased or decreased in the last couple of months. It's been pretty intense for the last sort of 2 years, almost 3 years now. It's really just -- the one thing I would say, though, is you probably over the next year or 2, has a lot more, at least in the EV space, a lot more models are coming on to market. And so even though the planning has happened, the physical build haven't yet happened, right? And so I think you're going to see -- and then again, I think that goes back to kind of this past quarter with spot. Anything can happen in the very short term, but as these -- as this stuff really starts to come online, maybe there'll be a sense of urgency.

我要說的是，它得到了維護。我不認為我見過那麼多不同。雖然有趣的是，我的意思是 - 在這里和那裡，我們仍然聽說突然出現的供應鏈事情。我認為福特前幾天遇到了一個問題，所以我想說的是整個行業，不僅僅是汽車，我的意思是，它在其他領域，人們關注的其他標準行業領域。所以我會說，我不一定會說它在過去幾個月裡增加或減少了。在過去的 2 年裡，它一直非常緊張，現在快 3 年了。這真的只是 - 我要說的一件事是，你可能在未來一兩年內擁有更多，至少在電動汽車領域，更多車型將上市。因此，即使計劃已經發生，實際構建還沒有發生，對嗎？所以我認為你會看到 - 再一次，我認為這可以追溯到上個季度的現貨。任何事情都可能在短期內發生，但隨著這些——隨著這些東西真正開始上線，也許會有一種緊迫感。

And again, you've -- David, you've heard me say this a bunch. Going back a couple of years now, I still believe -- I think we will see at least one, but probably a number of household name global OEMs fail or meet a bailout due to supply chain issues around critical materials or critical items. And so I still think that, that is all ahead of us. But admittedly, the last quarter or so, China has been a lot weaker than I think people expected. And so that sort of works its way through the system, but the macro trends remain very strongly intact on that front.

再一次，你——大衛，你已經聽我說過很多次了。現在回頭幾年，我仍然相信——我認為我們至少會看到一個，但可能有許多家喻戶曉的全球原始設備製造商因關鍵材料或關鍵項目的供應鏈問題而倒閉或遇到救助。所以我仍然認為，這一切都在我們面前。但不可否認，上個季度左右，中國的表現比我認為人們預期的要弱得多。因此，這種方式在整個系統中發揮作用，但宏觀趨勢在這方面仍然非常完好。

I appreciate the color on that, Jim. Just the last one, I'm just curious, have you guys tested the functionality of every part of the separation circuit or the Stage II circuits at this point? I know like as you described the commissioning process, we're moving from one part of the flow sheet to the next. But I guess, are there still elements that have not been tested to date?

吉姆，我很欣賞它的顏色。只是最後一個，我很好奇，你們有沒有在這一點上測試分離電路或Stage II電路的每個部分的功能？我知道就像您描述的調試過程一樣，我們正在從流程圖的一部分轉移到下一部分。但我想，是否還有沒有經過測試的元素？

The vast majority have been tested in one way or another. Certainly, they've all been touched in some sort of precommissioning. Not all of them have flown a material through them. But that answer will change quite quickly.

絕大多數已經以一種或另一種方式進行了測試。當然，它們都在某種預調試中被觸動過。並非所有人都讓材料流過它們。但這個答案會很快改變。

The next question is from the line of Lawson Winder with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Lawson Winder。

I wanted to ask about -- I have a couple of questions on costs. One, you spoke to costs during your prepared remarks. And I wanted to get your view on where you think the global cost curve is relative to the pricing now in the low $60. Like what percentage of NdPr oxide production now is underwater?

我想問 - 我有幾個關於成本的問題。第一，你在準備好的發言中談到了成本。我想了解一下您認為全球成本曲線相對於目前 60 美元低位定價的看法。比如現在水下生產的 NdPr 氧化物的百分比是多少？

Well, the data in China is really tough. So -- and remember that the industry -- it's not necessarily consolidated. You can have miners, refiners, and so depending on -- and a lot of them are affiliated -- they're all affiliated. So depending on the month, the money can move around to different buckets. But as I said in the prepared remarks, I -- every indication that we see, I think it's fair to say that at these prices, I think we'll see Chinese industry is just not profitable. And so I think that, that's obviously something that we view to be a bullish dynamic at current prices.

嗯，中國的數據真的很難看。所以——記住這個行業——它不一定是整合的。你可以有礦工、精煉商等等，這取決於——他們中的很多人都是附屬的——他們都是附屬的。因此，根據月份的不同，這筆錢可以轉移到不同的桶中。但正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我——我們看到的每一個跡象，我認為可以公平地說，以這些價格，我認為我們會看到中國工業是無利可圖的。所以我認為，這顯然是我們認為以當前價格看漲的動態。

Yes. And so my question gets to the fact, do you mean like the entire industry?

是的。所以我的問題是事實，你的意思是像整個行業一樣嗎？

Pretty much, I mean, the industry is -- maybe I can expand on it. And again, this is just our guess from reading the tea leaves, the data is always opaque. So I mean I'm trying to be caveat this as much as I possibly can, but -- and remember that this is all consolidated ultimately into a couple of players. And so certainly, money can move from various buckets of the up and downstream, if you will, and things can show profitability or losses or whatnot. But that's kind of roughly what we believe.

差不多，我的意思是，這個行業——也許我可以擴展它。再一次，這只是我們閱讀茶葉的猜測，數據總是不透明的。所以我的意思是我盡可能多地警告這一點，但是 - 請記住，這一切最終都會整合到幾個玩家中。所以當然，如果你願意的話，錢可以從上游和下游的各個桶中轉移，事情可以顯示盈利或虧損或諸如此類的東西。但這大致就是我們所相信的。

Okay. Well, that's a big statement. And very helpful color. I wanted to ask about...

好的。好吧，這是一個重要的聲明。非常有用的顏色。我想問一下...

We're surprised we're here.

我們很驚訝我們在這裡。

Yes. Yes. It's very helpful. And I wanted to ask about one cost item of yours, and that would be nat gas. And to start off with, could you remind us just what percentage of your overall cost is nat gas? And then have your nat gas costs fallen in line with Henry Hub? Or is there still a pretty significant premium for West Coast nat gas? And then thinking about the hedges that you guys put on, how effective have those been? And then for how long are those going to be in place before they roll off?

是的。是的。這非常有幫助。我想問問你們的一個成本項目，那就是天然氣。首先，您能否提醒我們天然氣佔總成本的百分比？然後，您的天然氣成本是否與 Henry Hub 保持一致？還是西海岸的天然氣仍有相當可觀的溢價？然後想想你們設置的對沖，效果如何？然後，在它們下線之前，它們會在原位放置多長時間？

Sure. What I'd note is certainly the -- and this is Ryan, by the way, the proportion of our cost structure that's natural gas is going to change as we bring the rest of the circuits online and obviously have an incremental power draw from our CHP. But I'd say we haven't given specifics on exactly the percentages, but let's call it, single digits. We have seen certainly our hedges that we've put in place be quite effective this quarter. You can actually see that manifest, Lawson. And when you look at the proportion of the cost that we call out specifically related to incremental Stage II costs in our cost per metric ton framework and then KPI in the deck, you can see that, that went down sequentially. That's primarily due to effective hedging.

當然。我要注意的當然是 - 順便說一句，這是瑞安，隨著我們將其餘電路上線並且顯然我們的電力消耗增加，天然氣在我們成本結構中的比例將會發生變化熱電聯產。但我想說我們沒有給出具體的百分比，但我們稱之為個位數。我們肯定已經看到我們在本季度實施的對沖非常有效。你真的可以看到那個清單，勞森。當您查看我們在每公噸成本框架中特別提到的與增量第二階段成本相關的成本比例以及甲板上的 KPI 時，您可以看到，它是按順序下降的。這主要是由於有效的對沖。

We have hedges close to similar levels that start to roll off in 12 months and then will roll off in 24 months. And we're constantly sort of looking at potential opportunities to continue to lock that in. Given where we are in California, we don't very closely follow Henry Hub. There are very specific transportation dynamics in terms of where we sit. And so I would say NYMEX or Henry Hub is probably not a great proxy for us. I would be looking at the California delivery point certainly to give you a sense. And you see when certain storms happen or certain parts of the transportation infrastructure are offline, that tends to get quite volatile, which is why in certain -- just like our commodity price on the revenue side, in certain quarters, we're going to feel like geniuses, in certain quarters, we won't feel quite as smart. But overall, we're trying to approach this very methodically to minimize volatility in our cost structure.

我們有接近於在 12 個月內開始滾動然後將在 24 個月內滾動的類似水平的對沖。而且我們一直在尋找潛在的機會來繼續鎖定它。鑑於我們在加利福尼亞州的位置，我們並沒有密切關注 Henry Hub。就我們坐的地方而言，有非常具體的交通動態。所以我想說 NYMEX 或 Henry Hub 可能不是我們的好代理。我肯定會查看加利福尼亞的交貨點，以便讓您有所了解。你會看到當某些風暴發生或交通基礎設施的某些部分離線時，往往會變得非常不穩定，這就是為什麼在某些方面——就像我們在收入方面的商品價格一樣，在某些季度，我們將感覺自己像天才，在某些方面，我們不會覺得自己很聰明。但總的來說，我們正試圖有條不紊地處理這個問題，以盡量減少成本結構的波動。

The final question is from the line of Abhishek Sinha with Northland Capital Markets.

最後一個問題來自 Northland Capital Markets 的 Abhishek Sinha。

This is [Kailash Harianabi]. I was just wondering about your outlook for permanent magnet generators and wind turbines since Tesla's recent announcement on EV is not requiring rare earth metals. I was just wondering about your outlook on wind turbines and where you see that going.

這是[神山哈里亞納比]。我只是想知道你對永磁發電機和風力渦輪機的前景，因為特斯拉最近宣布電動汽車不需要稀土金屬。我只是想知道您對風力渦輪機的看法以及您對它的看法。

Sure. So we covered quite a bit of that on the call. So -- but I'll just -- maybe I'll -- again, on the first part of the question, we're very confident in the demand outlook for our industry, for our products. I mean it's -- rare earth magnet motors will continue to be the most powerful and efficient option. So in the variety of categories, you asked about wind turbines specifically, offshore wind turbines?

當然。所以我們在電話會議上討論了很多內容。所以 - 但我會 - 也許我會 - 再次，在問題的第一部分，我們對我們行業和產品的需求前景非常有信心。我的意思是——稀土磁鐵電機將繼續成為最強大和最高效的選擇。那麼在各種類別中，您特別詢問了風力渦輪機，海上風力渦輪機？

Yes.

是的。

Everything that we see remains extraordinarily intact. I mean there's really been no change. The key thing with offshore turbines, if you go with an alternative option, is there's a dramatic change in your maintenance because you might have to replace earlier. And so when people look at the total cost of ownership of an offshore wind turbine, the math of a big difference in your maintenance cycle is enormous relative to the cost of a permanent magnet. So the -- I don't have the exact number in front of me, but it's above -- just like EVs, it's above 90% for offshore. And we've seen no indication other than that remaining intact. And those are very long lead production items. So even if you saw something change, it wouldn't -- it probably wouldn't impact demand for several years, but we've seen nothing but increased demand on that front.

我們所看到的一切都完好無損。我的意思是真的沒有變化。海上渦輪機的關鍵是，如果您選擇替代方案，則維護工作會發生巨大變化，因為您可能需要提前更換。因此，當人們查看海上風力渦輪機的總擁有成本時，維護週期的巨大差異相對於永磁體的成本而言是巨大的。所以 - 我面前沒有確切的數字，但它高於 - 就像電動汽車一樣，離岸超過 90%。除了完好無損之外，我們沒有看到任何跡象。這些都是很長的鉛生產項目。因此，即使你看到某些變化，也不會——它可能不會影響幾年的需求，但我們只看到這方面的需求增加。

That concludes our Q&A session. I'd like to turn the call back over to Jim Litinsky, CEO, for concluding remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給首席執行官 Jim Litinsky，以作總結髮言。

Well, thank you, everyone, for the call today, and we will get back to work and look forward to seeing you next quarter. Have a good night.

好吧，謝謝大家今天的來電，我們將恢復工作，期待下個季度與您見面。祝你晚安。

This concludes today's MP Materials first quarter earnings call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的 MP Materials 第一季度財報電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。