MP Materials Corp. (MP) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the MP Materials second-quarter 2024 earnings call and webcast. My name is Harry, and I'll be your operator today. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎收聽 MP Materials 2024 年第二季財報電話會議與網路直播。我叫 Harry，今天將擔任會議接線員。（接線員指示）

I would now like to hand the conference over to Martin Sheehan, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

現在我想把會議交給投資人關係主管 Martin Sheehan。謝謝。請開始。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the MP Materials second-quarter 2024 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 Corbette, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，接線員，大家下午好。歡迎參加 MP Materials 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的 MP Materials 團隊成員包括：創辦人、董事長兼執行長 Jim Litinsky；創辦人兼營運長 Michael Rosenthal；以及財務長 Ryan Corbette。

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.

提醒各位，今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述，涉及對未來事件與預期的看法，並受各種假設與保留條件所限制。可能導致公司實際結果與這些陳述出現重大差異的因素，已載於今天的簡報、新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 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.

此外，我們在本次簡報中也包含部分非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節表，可於今天的財報新聞稿以及投影片簡報的附錄中查閱。

Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA and tons means metric tons. Finally, the earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website.

今天討論中任何提及 EBITDA 皆指調整後 EBITDA，而「tons」皆指公噸（metric tons）。最後，財報新聞稿與投影片簡報已公布於我們的網站。

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

接下來我把電話交給 Jim。Jim？

Thanks, Martin. Hello, everyone. As is our usual program, I will review the quarter at a high level. Ryan will then cover our financial performance and operating KPIs. Michael will follow with an overview and updates on Mountain Pass operations, and I will then return with closing remarks before Q&A.

謝謝，Martin。各位好。依照我們一貫的流程，我會先從較高層次回顧本季表現。接著 Ryan 會說明我們的財務表現與營運 KPI。之後 Michael 會概述並更新 Mountain Pass 的營運狀況，最後我會回來做結語，然後進入問答。

So let's get to it on slide 4. This was a very challenging quarter operationally and financially. Production in our upstream business was hindered by rig damage in a [thickener] that impacted operations for about three weeks. This was our biggest disruption in seven years.

那我們直接看投影片第 4 頁。本季在營運與財務上都非常具挑戰性。我們上游業務的產量受到一座[濃密機]（thickener）內部耙臂（rake）損壞影響，導致營運約三週受阻。這是我們七年來最大的中斷事件。

Michael and Brian will provide a lot more detail later in the call. But suffice to say, the unanticipated downtime impacted REO production as well as our financial performance in the quarter. In about an hour, though, when we finish this call, this tough quarter will be completely behind us as the team responded to the recent adversity in our usual unwavering fashion.

Michael 和 Brian 稍後會在電話會議中提供更多細節。但簡而言之，這次意外停機影響了 REO 產量，也影響了本季的財務表現。不過大約一小時後，當我們結束這通電話時，這個艱難的季度就會完全成為過去，因為團隊以我們一貫堅定不移的方式回應了近期的逆境。

Production momentum coming out of Q2 and into Q3 has been very strong. In Q2, we actually achieved our second-best quarter of upstream productivity measured by REO produced per hour of uptime. In other words, when the upstream was operating, the team ran at about as efficiently as ever, and we are building on that momentum going into Q3.

從第二季末到第三季初，我們的產量動能非常強勁。第二季我們其實達成了上游生產力的歷史第二佳季度，以每小時正常運轉時間所產出的 REO 來衡量。換句話說，只要上游在運轉，團隊的效率幾乎與以往同樣出色，我們也將帶著這股動能進入第三季。

So while it is still early, Q3 appears on track for record levels of upstream production. Some of this production growth is from early results in our upstream 60K optimization efforts. Through these efforts, we are already seeing higher recoveries out of the upstream, which is promising and bodes well for the future.

因此，雖然目前仍為時尚早，第三季的上游產量看起來有望達到創紀錄水準。部分產量成長來自我們上游 60K 最佳化工作的初步成果。透過這些努力，我們已看到上游回收率提高，這令人振奮，也為未來帶來正面訊號。

So unfortunately, our Q2 results today reflect the financial impact of repair costs and loss deficiencies in one of our most challenging operating periods to date, as well as a continued weak pricing environment. But we are confident that beneath those headlines, the silver lining of this quarter is that we responded well to an unanticipated challenge and accomplished a lot in the upstream that should position us well going forward.

因此很遺憾，今天公布的第二季結果反映了維修成本與損失缺口所帶來的財務影響，這段期間也是我們迄今最具挑戰的營運時期之一，同時價格環境仍然疲弱。但我們有信心，在這些標題之下，本季的正面之處在於：我們對突發挑戰反應得宜，並在上游完成了許多工作，將有助於我們未來的發展定位。

Moreover, and despite all the upstream challenges, we more than doubled NdPr production in the quarter to over 270 tons. This is the best midstream result we have achieved to date, and we expect another 50% increase in NdPr production in Q3.

此外，儘管上游面臨各種挑戰，我們本季 NdPr 產量仍較前期增加逾一倍，超過 270 公噸。這是我們迄今最佳的中游成果，我們預期第三季 NdPr 產量將再增加 50%。

Over the past two months, we have seen improvements which will continue to drive down NdPr production costs in the coming quarters. We are not where we want to be yet, but we expect per-unit cost to materially improve as production ramps. This progress is well aligned with customer development activities.

過去兩個月，我們已看到改善，並將在未來幾季持續推動 NdPr 生產成本下降。我們距離理想狀態仍有差距，但隨著產量爬坡，我們預期單位成本將顯著改善。這項進展也與客戶開發活動高度一致。

In the quarter, we signed an agreement for a substantial commitment of NdPr oxide with a new customer, a household name global automaker. We expect to begin delivering NdPr to them later this year, ramping into 2025.

本季我們與一位新客戶簽署協議，對 NdPr 氧化物做出相當可觀的承諾；該客戶為全球知名的汽車製造商。我們預期將於今年稍晚開始向其交付 NdPr，並在 2025 年逐步放量。

We also were awarded a contract to supply NdPr to the Department of Defense in addition to our existing contract to provide lanthanum. Finally, in our downstream business, as we mentioned last quarter, we achieved important milestones in producing magnet precursor products, unlocking a $50 million prepayment in the quarter.

我們也獲得一份合約，除既有供應鑭（lanthanum）的合約外，另向美國國防部供應 NdPr。最後，在我們的下游業務方面，如同上季所提，我們在生產磁材前驅產品方面達成重要里程碑，使我們於本季解鎖 5,000 萬美元的預付款。

I would also like to add that we expect to earn approximately $190 million of incremental cash sources from additional customer prepayments and tax credits by the end of 2025. This means we still expect to maintain our strong balance sheet even as we complete the remaining investments in our magnetics facility, ramp up our midstream production at Mountain Pass, and navigate a weak pricing environment.

我也想補充，我們預期在 2025 年底前，將透過額外的客戶預付款與稅額抵減，取得約 1.9 億美元的增量現金來源。這表示，即使我們完成磁材工廠剩餘投資、在 Mountain Pass 擴增中游產量，並在疲弱的價格環境中前行，我們仍預期能維持強健的資產負債表。

Installation and commissioning activities at the factory are progressing, and we remain on track to begin commercial production of NdPr metal later this year. In support of product development, we have commissioned our prototype production line and analytical labs.

工廠的安裝與試車（commissioning）作業正持續推進，我們仍按計畫於今年稍晚開始 NdPr 金屬的商業化生產。為支援產品開發，我們已啟用原型生產線與分析實驗室。

The prototype line has all the equipment needed to transform metal into a finished magnet, which enables us to produce prototype magnet precursor materials and finished magnets and optimize our processes at the kilogram scale using equipment similar to and, in many cases, manufactured by the same vendors as our commercial scale equipment.

該原型線具備將金屬轉換為成品磁鐵所需的全套設備，使我們能在公斤級規模上生產原型磁材前驅材料與成品磁鐵，並使用與商業規模設備相似、且在許多情況下由相同供應商製造的設備來最佳化製程。

In recent weeks, we made our first magnet from powder to finished magnet and made significant progress on our grain boundary diffusion process. In our accompanying in-house laboratories at Fort Worth, which we commissioned in the quarter, we are now able to validate magnet and magnet precursor materials without enduring lengthy third-party turnaround times. These are critical steps on the road to producing high-quality magnets for our customers.

近幾週，我們完成了第一顆從粉末到成品的磁鐵，並在晶界擴散（grain boundary diffusion）製程上取得重大進展。在位於 Fort Worth、並於本季啟用的配套自有實驗室中，我們現在能夠驗證磁鐵與磁材前驅材料，而無需承受第三方檢測冗長的交付時間。這些都是為客戶生產高品質磁鐵道路上的關鍵步驟。

With that, let me turn it over to Ryan to run through our KPIs and our financials for the quarter. Ryan?

接下來我把時間交給 Ryan，請他帶大家檢視本季的 KPI 與財務表現。Ryan？

Thanks, Jim. Moving to slide 6, you will see the impact of the extended downtime on our production in the quarter. We produced 9,084 metric tons of REO and concentrate, about 16% less than a year ago and 19% lower than last quarter, which was the second-highest quarter of production in our history. This unplanned downtime was on top of our usual planned downtime of about one week for plant maintenance.

謝謝，Jim。看投影片第 6 頁，你會看到延長停機對本季產量的影響。我們生產了 9,084 公噸的 REO 與精礦，較去年同期約少 16%，也較上季下降 19%；而上季是我們史上產量第二高的季度。這次非計畫性停機之外，我們還有約一週的例行計畫性停機，用於工廠維護。

So as Jim mentioned, we had significant damage to the rigs in one of our thickeners soon after we completed our planned maintenance shutdown. Unfortunately, without these rigs operating, the whole upstream operation had to shut down. The lower production volumes, some impact of shipment timing, as well as more concentrate been refined to NdPr all combined to reduce REO sales volumes to 5,839 metric tons.

因此，如 Jim 所提，我們在完成計畫性維護停機後不久，其中一座濃密機（thickener）的耙臂（rake）就出現嚴重損壞。不幸的是，沒有這些耙臂運轉，整個上游作業就必須停工。較低的產量、部分出貨時點的影響，以及更多精礦被精煉為 NdPr 等因素共同作用，使 REO 銷售量降至 5,839 公噸。

To give you a sense of the drivers of the sequential sales volume decline of roughly 3,500metric tons, approximately 60% of the decline was due to the lower upstream production. About 30% was due to higher consumption of concentrate into the midstream circuits as NdPr production ramped up. While the remainder was due to shipment timing.

為了讓各位了解約 3,500 公噸的連續銷售量下滑之驅動因素，約 60% 的下滑是由於上游產量較低所致。約 30% 則是因 NdPr 產量爬坡，使精礦投入中游迴路的內部消耗增加所致。其餘則與出貨時點有關。

The temporarily lower upstream sales volume, along with one-time repair costs, combined to drive rapid descaling in the upstream business and, therefore, much higher than normal production costs in the quarter. As Jim stated, we returned to strong efficient production in June and July.

上游銷售量暫時偏低，加上一次性維修成本，共同導致上游業務快速去規模化，因此本季生產成本遠高於正常水準。如 Jim 所述，我們在 6 月與 7 月已恢復強勁且高效率的生產。

In fact, we expect Q3, if current production trends remain intact, may be one of our best upstream quarters ever. Finishing off the discussion on the upstream, realized pricing in the quarter was approximately $4,183 per metric ton, in line with the guidance we provided back in early May.

事實上，若目前的生產趨勢得以維持，我們預期第三季可能會是我們史上表現最佳的上游季度之一。結束上游部分的討論，本季實現價格約為每公噸 4,183 美元，與我們在 5 月初提供的指引一致。

Moving to our midstream KPIs, NdPr production more than doubled to 272 metric tons in the quarter, while sales of NdPr were in line with the prior quarter's production at 136 tons. NdPr realized pricing in the quarter was roughly $48 per kilogram. All of these metrics were in line with our guidance provided in May.

轉到中游 KPI，本季 NdPr 產量增加逾一倍至 272 公噸，而 NdPr 銷量則與前一季的產量一致，為 136 公噸。本季 NdPr 實現價格約為每公斤 48 美元。上述指標皆符合我們在 5 月提供的指引。

Looking forward to Q3, as of today, we would expect concentrate production volumes slightly above our typical levels in a non-shutdown quarter. Sales volumes will benefit from the higher production, but will be partially offset by the higher pull-through of concentrate into the midstream circuits as we ramp NdPr production volume, which, as Jim mentioned, we expect at least a 50% sequential increase in Q3, while sales volumes are expected to be approximately in line with Q2's production of 272 metric tons.

展望第三季，截至今日，我們預期精礦產量將略高於非停產季度的典型水準。銷售量將受惠於較高的產量，但會部分被精礦投入中游迴路的拉動量增加所抵銷，因我們正提升 NdPr 產量；如 Jim 所提，我們預期第三季 NdPr 產量至少較前一季成長 50%，而銷售量預期大致與第二季的產量 272 公噸相當。

Recall, as we discussed in May and as you saw this quarter, NdPr sales volumes will lag production volumes by about one quarter on average, partially due to the metallization process and the initial build-out of our separated product sales channels. As for pricing, we would expect Q3 pricing to be down low-single-digit percentages sequentially for both REO and concentrate and NdPr oxide sales.

請回想我們在 5 月的討論以及本季所見，NdPr 銷售量平均將落後產量約一個季度，部分原因在於金屬化流程，以及我們分離產品銷售通路的初期建置。至於價格，我們預期第三季 REO 與精礦，以及 NdPr 氧化物銷售的價格，將較前一季下滑低個位數百分比。

Moving to slide 7. On the far-left side, you can see the impact of the lower concentrate sales volumes to lower NdPr pricing and a longer sales cycle for NdPr sales on our revenue trends. It is important to remember that as we transition from upstream concentrate sales to NdPr oxide and metal sales, the concentrate sales will initially decline more quickly than our NdPr sales will ramp up.

請看投影片第 7 頁。在最左側，您可以看到精礦銷售量較低、NdPr 價格較低，以及 NdPr 銷售週期較長，對我們營收趨勢的影響。重要的是要記住，當我們從上游精礦銷售轉向 NdPr 氧化物與金屬銷售時，精礦銷售起初下滑的速度會快於 NdPr 銷售爬坡的速度。

We are in the heart of this transition period, a critical juncture we have long warned investors about, as we evolve into fully integrated miner and refiner. Unfortunately, the financial impacts of this transition were compounded by additional unplanned downtime and repair costs this quarter, alongside what would have already been a significant investment period.

我們正處於這段轉型期的核心階段，這是我們長期提醒投資人注意的關鍵轉折點，因我們正演進為完全整合的礦商與精煉商。不幸的是，本季轉型的財務影響又因額外的非計畫性停機與維修成本而加劇，而這本來就已是一段顯著的投資期。

Moving to the middle and right of the slide, we posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $27.1 million and adjusted diluted loss per share of $0.17 in the quarter due to several factors. First, as we have discussed over the last few quarters, our midstream operation is currently subscale as we ramp production of NdPr and other separated products.

再看投影片中間與右側，由於多項因素，本季我們錄得調整後 EBITDA 虧損 2,710 萬美元，以及調整後稀釋每股虧損 0.17 美元。首先，如我們在過去幾個季度所討論的，我們的中游營運目前規模仍偏小，因我們正提升 NdPr 與其他分離產品的產量。

This quarter, we absorbed the impact of higher-than-target variable costs as we optimize production as well difficult fixed cost absorption at these lower production levels. This temporary period of subscale production resulted in us taking an inventory reserve of $11.8 million in the quarter. This relates to the currently elevated cost of production versus the continued pressure on market prices.

本季，在我們優化生產的過程中，承擔了高於目標的變動成本影響，同時在較低產量水準下也面臨固定成本吸收不易的問題。這段暫時性的規模不足生產期，導致我們本季提列 1,180 萬美元的存貨備抵。這與目前生產成本偏高、同時市場價格持續承壓有關。

The second major impact in the quarter was the unplanned downtime, which showed up in the loss production and revenue and also combined to create both higher per-unit production costs and one-time repair expenses hitting the P&L. The concentrate unit cost of production was impacted by inefficiencies in the start-stop, lower fixed cost absorption, and higher repair and maintenance expenses from our planned maintenance shutdown.

本季第二個主要影響是非計畫性停機，反映在產量與營收的損失上，並且共同造成單位生產成本上升，以及一次性維修費用計入損益表。精礦單位生產成本受到啟停造成的效率不彰、固定成本吸收較低，以及我們計畫性維護停機所帶來較高的修繕與維護費用影響。

This impacts both the concentrate cost of goods sold directly, but also found its way into are separated product production costs in the quarter, given the interconnectedness of our operation. Further, this quarter's earnings were impacted by several million dollars of costs associated with the repair of the thickener rigs, including for equipment, labor, and contractor costs. This impact, of course, we expect to be one-time in nature.

這不僅直接影響精礦銷貨成本，也因我們營運的相互連結性，進一步反映在本季分離產品的生產成本中。此外，本季獲利亦受到與濃縮機（thickener）設備維修相關的數百萬美元成本影響，包括設備、人工與承包商費用。當然，我們預期此影響屬一次性。

Lastly, recall that even at these low prices at normal production levels, our concentrate business generates $2,000 to $3,000 of gross margin per ton of REO in concentrate sold. As we ramp the refining operation, we are temporarily trading some level of profitable concentrate sales for temporarily unprofitable NdPr sales in the subscale state.

最後，請記得，即便在這些低價格下、於正常產量水準時，我們的精礦業務每銷售一噸精礦中的 REO 仍可產生 2,000 至 3,000 美元的毛利。隨著我們提升精煉營運，我們在規模不足的狀態下，暫時以部分原本有利可圖的精礦銷售，換取暫時仍不具獲利性的 NdPr 銷售。

We are also investing working capital dollars into the transition as our sales and tolling channels for separating product is built. But as we have highlighted for the last few quarters, this is why we are being methodical in our midstream production ramp and we remain confident that over the long term, this is an investment we will be happy to have made.

我們也在轉型過程中投入營運資金，因我們正建置分離產品的銷售與代工（tolling）通路。但如我們在過去幾個季度所強調，這也是為何我們在中游產量爬坡上採取審慎有序的方式；我們仍然有信心，長期而言，這將是一項我們會很高興做出的投資。

Recently, we have made very good progress in optimizing the incremental variable costs we are seeing and, importantly, see a clear path to further optimization of variable costs and rightsizing of fixed cost absorption as we push forward in our ramp over the coming quarters. Importantly, we expect that the combination will reduce our per-unit production costs materially.

近期，我們在優化目前所見的增量變動成本方面已取得非常良好的進展；更重要的是，隨著未來幾個季度持續推進爬坡，我們清楚看到進一步優化變動成本、並使固定成本吸收更貼近適當規模的明確路徑。重要的是，我們預期這兩者的結合將大幅降低我們的單位生產成本。

I want to reemphasize what Jim pointed out. Over the last 8 to 10 weeks, we have returned the upstream to its high-production, low-cost profile you are all used to seeing. We have also made significant progress in midstream optimization, both in terms of cost and production levels.

我想再次強調 Jim 所指出的重點。在過去 8 到 10 週，我們已讓上游恢復到各位熟悉的高產量、低成本特性。我們在中游優化方面也取得顯著進展，無論是在成本或產量水準上皆然。

While our midstream cost structure won't be at target for several more quarters as we continue to ramp and react to bottlenecks, we see very clear signs of early success that will bear fruit over time. I would also point out that despite a challenging quarter financially, our balance sheet remains in great shape.

雖然我們的中游成本結構在未來幾個季度仍不會達到目標，因我們持續爬坡並因應瓶頸，但我們看到非常明確的早期成功跡象，將隨時間開花結果。我也要指出，儘管本季財務表現具挑戰性，我們的資產負債表仍維持在非常良好的狀態。

Again we received a $50 million customer prepayment for magnet precursor materials in April and expect another $100 million of additional prepayments over the next year. In addition, we'll earn and, for the majority, expect to receive cash for the various IRA tax credits approaching another $90 million through 2025.

我們在 4 月再次收到 5,000 萬美元、用於磁材前驅體材料的客戶預付款，並預期未來一年還會再收到額外 1 億美元的預付款。此外，針對各項 IRA 稅收抵免，我們將取得收益，且就其中大部分，我們預期在 2025 年前可收到接近 9,000 萬美元的現金。

This provides a further buttress to an already strong balance sheet as we complete Fort Worth and invest in the separated product transition. Following which, we expect operating cash flows to meaningfully improve.

這在我們完成 Fort Worth 專案並投資於分離產品轉型之際，為原本已相當強健的資產負債表提供進一步支撐。其後，我們預期營運現金流將顯著改善。

With that, let me turn it to Michael to give you some of the technical details and updates on the operations. Michael?

接下來，我把時間交給 Michael，請他為各位提供一些技術細節與營運更新。Michael？

Thanks, Ryan. On slide 8, we have a drone shot from above the pit. You could see the upper rim of the pit in the foreground, with the separations pad on the right side. For those of you who haven't seen it before, the very long building on the right is our light rare earths separation facility where we separate NdPr from lanthanum and any remaining [series].

謝謝，Ryan。在投影片第 8 頁，我們有一張從礦坑上方拍攝的無人機照片。您可以在前景看到礦坑的上緣，右側則是分離作業平台。對於之前沒看過的各位，右側那棟非常長的建築是我們的輕稀土分離設施，我們在那裡將 NdPr 與鑭以及任何剩餘的[series]分離。

Moving to our operations. Second-quarter performance was severely impacted by rig damage in one of our thickeners that Jim and Ryan described. This issue impacted production for approximately three weeks on top of the planned one week semi-annual maintenance outage during the quarter.

接著談我們的營運。第二季的表現因 Jim 與 Ryan 所描述、我們其中一座濃密機發生的耙架損壞而受到嚴重影響。除本季原定的一週半年度維護停機外，該問題另使產線受影響約三週。

Our teams, supported by certain contractors and service providers, worked tirelessly and around the clock to restore full operation. We resumed partial operations with some concentrate production only 10 days after the incident. Though for the duration of the repairs and improvements, concentrate quantity, grade, and stability were meaningfully impacted.

在部分承包商與服務供應商的支援下，我們的團隊不分晝夜、全力以赴地恢復全面運轉。事故發生後僅 10 天，我們便恢復了部分運轉並開始生產部分精礦。然而在維修與改善期間，精礦的數量、品位與穩定性都受到顯著影響。

The reduction in upstream production, reduced concentrate sales, and curtailed feedstock for midstream operations for several weeks ran mid-May into early June. This was easily the biggest disruption our operation has sustained in the past seven years.

上游產量下降、精礦銷售減少，以及中游營運原料供應受限的情況，從 5 月中旬延續到 6 月初，為期數週。這是我們營運在過去七年中遭遇的最大一次中斷。

While we are not happy about the incident, the creative and coordinated efforts of our team through this challenge were remarkable and inspiring. And we finished the quarter having produced more than 9,000 tons of REO and concentrate.

雖然我們對這起事件並不滿意，但團隊在這項挑戰中展現的創意與協同努力令人驚豔且深受鼓舞。而我們在本季結束時，已生產超過 9,000 噸的 REO 與精礦。

Once normal operations were restored, we accelerated the progress we have been making on all fronts. And it's quite satisfying to see the momentum we are building in many areas.

一旦恢復正常運轉，我們便加速推進各方面已取得的進展。看到我們在許多領域累積的動能，確實令人相當滿意。

Concentrate production per operating hour improved, and June represented one of our best months ever with higher production at higher grade. In addition, we are beginning to realize some of the efficiency gain in our midstream business that I discussed on previous calls.

每運轉小時的精礦產量有所提升，而 6 月更是我們歷來表現最佳的月份之一，在更高品位下達成更高產量。此外，我們也開始實現我在先前電話會議中提到的中游業務效率提升。

Notwithstanding the extra downtime that impacted feedstock for the midstream operations into June, we were able to approximately double NdPr oxide production quarter over quarter. NdPr outside quality has been very good, as is the quality of NdPr metal that is now being consistently delivered to our magnet maker customers.

儘管額外停機使中游營運的原料供應一路受影響至 6 月，我們仍成功使 NdPr 氧化物產量較上一季約翻倍。NdPr 氧化物的品質一直非常好，而目前也能穩定向磁材製造客戶交付高品質的 NdPr 金屬。

Mechanical reliability of our new assets remains one of the biggest challenges in the midstream operation. But we are seeing noticeable improvement, largely corresponding to process maturity and that certain supply chain impediments are resolved.

我們中游營運中新資產的機械可靠度仍是最大的挑戰之一。但我們已看到明顯改善，主要與製程成熟度提升以及部分供應鏈障礙解除相呼應。

As I look ahead to the balance of the year, we will remain focused on uptime and executing certain projects in our upstream business and balancing uptime, process optimization, and production costs in our midstream circuits. Strong concentrate production has continued into Q3.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們將持續聚焦於提升稼動率、推進上游業務的特定專案，並在中游迴路中兼顧稼動率、製程最佳化與生產成本。強勁的精礦產量已延續至第三季。

We are optimistic that non-capital-related optimizations we have implemented this year have moved out grade recovery curve favorably. These optimizations may free up real estate in our concentrator facility for future improvements and/or growth.

我們樂觀認為，今年已實施的非資本性最佳化措施，已使我們的品位回收曲線朝有利方向移動。這些最佳化可能為未來改善及／或擴產，釋放濃縮廠設施內的可用空間。

Separately, we have to upstream 60K-related capital projects that will begin commissioning this quarter. So we wouldn't count on any benefits until next year.

另外，我們有兩項與上游 60K 相關的資本專案將於本季開始試車投運。因此，我們不會預期在明年之前看到任何效益。

The first is a large-scale pilot of alternative flotation equipment. The second is the more sizable investment in our grinding circuit that we hope will ensure a tighter and more favorable grind distribution that should improve recovery and throughput potential.

第一項是替代浮選設備的大規模試點。第二項是對磨礦迴路更大規模的投資，我們希望能確保更緊密且更有利的粒度分布，進而提升回收率與處理量潛力。

In the midstream circuits, with improved mechanicals stability, we are starting to achieve higher availability. As our teams gain experience and confidence, our execution is improving and we are able to work through issues that previously slowed production.

在中游迴路方面，隨著機械穩定性改善，我們開始達成更高的可用率。隨著團隊累積經驗並建立信心，我們的執行力正在提升，也能處理過去會拖慢產量的問題。

However, as we have done so, we have identified a handful of process bottlenecks, and have straightforward plans to address many of these through the balance of the year. Our processes to recycle our wastewater is a good example.

然而，在此過程中我們也辨識出少數製程瓶頸，並已制定明確計畫，將在今年剩餘時間內解決其中多數。我們的廢水回收製程就是一個很好的例子。

These circuits remove impurities similar process wastewater, allowing us to recycle the water and to minimize or eliminate the need for freshwater in our midstream processes. They are therefore critical circuits for water balance, environmental sustainability, and operating cost.

這些迴路可去除製程廢水中的雜質，使我們能回收用水，並將中游製程對淡水的需求降至最低或完全消除。因此，它們對水量平衡、環境永續與營運成本而言都是關鍵迴路。

We're not running to their potential. They have proved a modest impediment to higher throughput and uptime. In recent weeks, we have greatly improved their performance in all operating environments, allowing for greater uptime in the rest of the plant in subsequent periods.

我們目前尚未讓它們發揮應有的潛力。它們已被證明是提高處理量與稼動率的一項小幅阻礙。近幾週，我們已在各種操作環境下大幅改善其表現，使後續期間工廠其他部分能有更高的稼動率。

We are also laser focused on improving the NdPr recoveries in the leach circuit, where, despite success in cerium rejection, we see a huge opportunity for improved NdPr recovery and even better cerium rejection. Incremental progress will be a major contributor to better leverage of our reagent consumption site-wide.

我們也高度聚焦於提升浸出迴路中的 NdPr 回收率；儘管在鈰的去除方面已取得成功，我們仍看到大幅提升 NdPr 回收率、並進一步改善鈰去除效果的巨大機會。逐步的進展將大幅有助於我們在全廠更有效地運用藥劑消耗。

The impact of this is material, as reagents represents our largest production cost category. Another opportunity was realized in late Q2 and early Q3.

其影響相當重大，因為藥劑是我們最大的生產成本類別。另一項機會在第二季末與第三季初得以實現。

We completed the replacement of both turbines in our power plant that had reached the end of operating life. This was completed with less interruption to operations than feared and allows us greater power production capability at lower cost.

我們完成了電廠兩部已達使用年限終點的渦輪機更換。實際對營運造成的中斷比原先擔心的更少，並使我們能以更低成本取得更高的發電能力。

We now expect to be able to sustain our current operations on one turbine for a larger portion of time, even as we ramp the chemical plant further, resulting in lower heat rate and better than previously assumed cost performance. We are very pleased with the outcome and congratulate our utilities, E&I, process controls, and commissioning teams on the excellent job.

我們現在預期，即使化工廠進一步爬坡，我們仍能在更長的時間比例內以單部渦輪機維持目前營運，從而降低熱耗率，並帶來優於先前假設的成本表現。我們對成果非常滿意，並祝賀公用事業、電氣與儀控（E&I）、製程控制與試車團隊的出色表現。

Summing up the above and assuming the continuation of current trends, we are expecting a strong quarter of concentrate production and at least 50% quarter over quarter NdPr oxide production growth in Q3 versus Q2. July results put us on this path.

綜合以上並假設目前趨勢延續，我們預期第三季精礦產量將表現強勁，且 NdPr 氧化物產量相較第二季至少季增 50%。7 月的結果讓我們正朝此方向前進。

With that, I will turn it back to Jim.

接下來我把時間交回給 Jim。

Thank you, Michael. Let's turn to slide 9 with the recent shot of the magnetics facility at dusk. To wrap up, this was undoubtedly our worst financial performance quarter as a public company. I hope I have always been clear that these kinds of quarters can happen once in a while.

謝謝你，Michael。我們來看第 9 頁投影片，這是一張磁材設施在黃昏時分的近照。總結來說，這無疑是我們成為上市公司以來財務表現最差的一季。我希望我一直都很清楚地表達，這類季度偶爾是可能發生的。

But as I said earlier, beyond the surface results, we made a substantial amount of progress. Our team is spectacular and relentless. Notwithstanding MP's unwavering nature, pricing conditions remain outside our control.

但如我先前所說，撇開表面結果不談，我們取得了大量實質進展。我們的團隊非常出色且鍥而不捨。儘管 MP 一貫堅定，定價環境仍非我們所能控制。

We do know that no producers are thriving at these prices, not even in China. These market conditions have now destroyed most of the [hope for] projects from just a couple of years back. Despite the efforts and investments of many governments, Chinese control over the vast majority of the supply chain remains.

我們確知，在這樣的價格下，沒有任何生產商能過得很好，即便在中國也是如此。這些市場狀況如今已摧毀了僅僅兩年前那些專案的大部分「希望」。儘管許多政府投入努力與資金，中國對供應鏈絕大多數環節的控制仍然存在。

Rare earths, therefore, continue to be at the center of a highly charged geopolitical environment. In June, China tightened regulations over its domestic industry. Meanwhile, in the West, leaders pursue new protective measures have their own.

因此，稀土仍處於高度緊張的地緣政治環境核心。6 月，中國收緊了對其國內產業的監管。同時，在西方，各國領導人也在推動各自的新保護措施。

And with an election season in full swing, the criticality of our supply chain is one of the very few things upon which politicians in Washington agree. How this shakes out over a quarter or two is always uncertain. But what remains certain is the strategic, irreplaceable value of the platform we are building in MP.

而在選舉季全面展開之際，我們供應鏈的關鍵性是華盛頓政界少數能達成共識的議題之一。這在一兩個季度內會如何發展總是充滿不確定性。但可以確定的是，我們在 MP 正在打造的平台具有戰略性且不可替代的價值。

In recent weeks, our team has turned a corner at Mountain Pass both on cost structure and ramp, and we are now positioned to scale volumes and complete our evolution as a fully integrated producer of refined rare earths. The timing aligns well with the customer development activities.

近幾週，我們的團隊在 Mountain Pass 的成本結構與爬坡進度上都已跨過一道關卡，如今我們已具備擴大量能、並完成轉型為完全垂直整合的精製稀土生產商的條件。時點也與客戶開發活動相當契合。

As I mentioned at the outset, we recently added another household name automaker to our growing client list. Between this new agreement and new and expanded agreements tied to our Sumitomo distributorship, a significant portion of our anticipated NdPr production at full capacity is now committed.

如我在開場時提到的，我們最近又將一家家喻戶曉的汽車製造商新增至我們持續擴大的客戶名單中。在這項新協議以及與我們住友經銷權相關的新訂與擴增協議之間，我們在滿載產能下預期的 NdPr 產量中，已有相當大一部分完成承諾。

With our products now qualified by some of the most scrupulous end-use manufacturers and magnet makers outside of China, MP's position as the American champion is now cemented. Our downstream magnetics business is approaching a similar inflection point and, later this year, will return large scale rare earth metal production to the United States for the first time in many decades.

隨著我們的產品已通過中國以外一些最嚴苛的終端製造商與磁材製造商的認證，MP 作為美國冠軍的地位如今已然鞏固。我們的下游磁性材料業務也正接近類似的拐點，並將於今年稍晚把大規模稀土金屬生產帶回美國——這將是數十年來的首次。

In July, Michael and I celebrated the seventh anniversary of the acquisition of the Mountain Pass mine and the founding of MP Materials. We are incredibly proud of the team we've built, the progress we have made, and even more excited about the future. In a geopolitically charged, increasingly electrified world with billions of AI-enabled robots whether on wheels or legs, MP's products, technology, and platform matters. I believe our long-term success is necessary and inevitable.

7 月，Michael 和我共同慶祝了收購 Mountain Pass 礦山以及創立 MP Materials 的第七週年。我們對所打造的團隊與取得的進展感到無比自豪，對未來更是倍感振奮。在一個地緣政治緊張、電氣化程度日益提高的世界裡，數十億具備 AI 的機器人——無論是有輪子的或有腿的——MP 的產品、技術與平台都至關重要。我相信我們的長期成功既必要也不可避免。

With that, we are happy to take your questions. Operator?

接下來，我們很高興回答各位的提問。接線員？

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) David Deckelbaum, TD Cowen.

謝謝。(接線員指示) TD Cowen 的 David Deckelbaum。

Thanks, Jim, Ryan, and Michael. Thanks for taking my questions and thanks for all those details. I'm glad to see you guys put this quarter behind you.

謝謝，Jim、Ryan 和 Michael。謝謝讓我提問，也謝謝提供這麼多細節。很高興看到你們把這一季拋在腦後。

I'm curious, Michael, if you can talk a little bit about just this first upstream 60K milestone with the pilot testing around a flotation. That test, I think, is anticipated to begin this quarter in the third quarter. How do you think about that in relation to the impact on your current operations?

我想請教一下，Michael，你能否談談第一個上游 6 萬（60K）里程碑，也就是圍繞浮選（flotation）的試點測試？我認為該測試預計會在本季第三季開始。你如何看待它對目前營運的影響？

Thanks for the question. In terms of this initial test, we don't expect it to have any material impact on the operation. We'd be running a midstream through this equipment to see the performance, but we do expect it to ultimately lead to additive results even as a pilot, and then we can look to scale that if the results are successful.

謝謝你的問題。就這項初始測試而言，我們預期不會對營運造成任何重大影響。我們會讓中間流程（midstream）通過這套設備以觀察其表現，但我們確實預期即使作為試點也最終會帶來增量成果，若結果成功，之後我們就能考慮擴大規模。

We've already tried similar equipment, slightly smaller scale, and have been very pleased with the results. The grinding circuit investment that I mentioned is slightly bigger (inaudible) the potential for more temporary interference with the current operation. But like I said, I'm very excited about that one, particularly, next year.

我們先前已試過類似設備、規模稍小，且對結果非常滿意。我提到的粉磨迴路（grinding circuit）投資規模稍大，（聽不清）對現有營運可能會有更多暫時性的干擾。但如我所說，我對那一項特別感到非常興奮，尤其是明年。

Appreciate the color. Ryan, I'm curious just as we navigate this year of weak prices. I think you guys highlighted still a robust cash position even with the downtime this quarter. I'm just talking about, I think, the $150 million or so of prepayment and I guess some tax receipts that you anticipate. Can you just rehash the timeline and the conditions that you have to meet in order to receive those payments?

感謝補充說明。Ryan，我想問的是，在我們度過今年價格疲弱的情況下，我想你們提到即使本季有停工，仍維持強勁的現金部位。我指的是大約 1.5 億美元的預付款，以及我猜還有一些你們預期會收到的稅款退回。你能否再說明一下時間表，以及你們需要滿足哪些條件才能收到這些款項？

Yeah. Sure, David. Happy to. As you saw this quarter, we received the first $50 million of that $150 million set of prepayments for the downstream business. The way to think about the upcoming $100 million is that is unlocked by further operational progress on the downstream business as we move towards commercial production of metal in Fort Worth and continue to build up our metalmaking capabilities to support magnet making there.

好的。當然，David。很樂意說明。如你本季所見，我們已收到下游業務 1.5 億美元預付款中的第一筆 5,000 萬美元。至於接下來的 1 億美元，可以這樣理解：隨著我們在下游業務上取得進一步的營運進展、朝向在 Fort Worth 進行金屬的商業化生產邁進，並持續建置金屬製造能力以支援當地的磁材製造，這筆款項就會被解鎖。

And so we expect to receive the totality of that over the next 12 months. In terms of the incremental dollars that we flagged that are part of the various tax credits that we intend to receive, you saw, actually in Q4 of last year, a receivable of nearly $20 million, which relates to a 45X tax credit which we expect to receive in the not-too-distant future here or upon filing of our 2023 tax return. So that's a pretty near-term receipt.

因此，我們預期在未來 12 個月內收到全部款項。至於我們提到的、屬於各項稅額抵減（tax credits）的一部分的額外資金，你其實在去年第四季看到一筆接近 2,000 萬美元的應收款，這與 45X 稅額抵減有關；我們預期在不久的將來，或在申報 2023 年報稅表時收到。所以那是一筆相當近期的入帳。

The other elements of 45X relate to the ongoing 45X credits that we'll earn via production over the course of this year and next. In addition to that, as we announced, I guess it was last quarter, is the $58.5 million of 48C tax credit for our investment in Fort Worth.

45X 的其他部分則與我們今年及明年在生產過程中持續取得的 45X 抵減有關。此外，正如我們宣布的——我想是在上一季——我們針對 Fort Worth 投資取得了 5,850 萬美元的 48C 稅額抵減。

We expect to likely receive about $30 million of that in cash next year. And the remainder of that is also available for us to monetize in a variety of different fashions earlier in 2025 time frame. Or we can allow that to play out over a longer period of time on. But suffice to say, we've got a lot of opportunity to continue to support really healthy liquidity and the balance sheet as we invest here.

我們預期明年可能會以現金形式收到其中約 3,000 萬美元。其餘部分也可讓我們在 2025 年前後以多種不同方式提前變現。或者我們也可以讓它在更長的期間內逐步實現。但總之，我們有很多機會在投資的同時，持續支撐非常健康的流動性與資產負債表。

Thanks, guys.

謝謝各位。

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

Jefferies 的 Laurence Alexander。

Hi. Good evening. This is Kevin (inaudible) on for Laurence. Thank you for taking my questions. I'm not sure if you can answer the specifics around this. I guess I just wanted to get a sense of maybe the size of the commitment that you have with the automaker that you announced today or maybe the length of time of the agreement? And really, the same for the Department of Defense supply contracts. I mean, just any specifics that you can offer would be helpful. Thank you.

你好。晚安。我是 Kevin（聽不清），代 Laurence 發言。謝謝讓我提問。我不確定你們是否能回答其中的具體細節。我想了解一下你們今天宣布的那家汽車製造商承諾的規模，或協議期限大概多長？以及國防部（Department of Defense）的供應合約也是同樣的問題。我是說，任何你們能提供的具體資訊都會很有幫助。謝謝。

Yeah, sure. It's Ryan; I'll take that. In terms of the OEM commitment, that is a multi-year commitment with deliveries starting this year and ramping through '25 in the following year. We expect over the medium term that this commitment will represent a double-digit percentage of our total targeted output. So it's a pretty significant commitment for us, which we're very excited about.

好的，當然。我是 Ryan，我來回答。就 OEM 的承諾而言，這是一項多年期承諾，交付將從今年開始，並在 2025 年及其後一年逐步爬坡。我們預期在中期內，這項承諾將占我們總目標產出的一個雙位數百分比。因此，這對我們而言是相當重大的承諾，我們也非常興奮。

And I think stepping back and taking both this commitment and the DoD purchase agreement -- I mean, contracts, which I'll give you some details about in a moment, I think it really is emblematic of some of the comments that Jim made about the importance of what we're doing.

我想退一步看，把這項承諾與國防部的採購協議——也就是合約——一起看，我稍後會提供一些細節；我認為這確實體現了 Jim 對我們所做事情重要性的部分評論。

I think we're winding to many, many years ago when we started on this mission. The thought that a global automotive OEM would be reaching all the way upstream to directly make this type of commitment was unheard of.

我想回到很多很多年前，當我們開始這項使命時。當時的想法是：一家全球汽車 OEM 會一路往上游延伸，直接做出這類承諾，這是前所未聞的。

And so I think that that speaks to the progress that we've made both as MP and the increasing importance of our industry and what we produce. The DoD agreement is a pretty modest agreement. So that was announced by them as well.

因此，我認為這反映了我們作為 MP 所取得的進展，也反映了我們產業以及我們所生產產品的重要性日益提升。國防部的協議是一項相當小規模的協議。所以那也由他們對外宣布了。

It's about $11 million commitment from them for the National Defense stockpile. But again, emblematic of continued support from Department of Defense, which were very happy to see.

他們對國家國防儲備（National Defense stockpile）的承諾約為 1,100 萬美元。但同樣地，這象徵國防部持續的支持，我們很高興看到這一點。

Certainly. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I guess as my last question, I guess in terms of the Chinese economy and the weakness there, possible stimulus or puts and takes. Obviously, there's a flow through into pricing. I guess, just curious to get what you guys' take on the economy. Your outlook in the Chinese economy would be helpful. Thank you.

當然。謝謝。我很感謝這些說明。我想作為最後一個問題，關於中國經濟及其疲弱狀況、可能的刺激措施或利弊權衡。顯然這會傳導到價格上。我想了解你們對經濟的看法。你們對中國經濟的展望會很有幫助。謝謝。

Sure, yeah. The Chinese economy is still pretty challenging. I think we've been seeing writ large around earnings season this year across corporate America. We see that to property. Everything related to it is very weak. It's really just an overall negative environment with respect to industrial production and consumer spending.

當然，是的。中國經濟仍然相當具挑戰性。我想我們今年在美國企業整體的財報季中，已經廣泛看到這一點。我們也在房地產上看到。所有與之相關的事情都非常疲弱。就工業生產與消費支出而言，整體環境確實偏負面。

So we don't really have any different views than what you've been hearing around the board with respect to what's going on in China. I would say, though, as it relates to the underlying NdPr demand. Anecdotally, we do see Chinese industry growing abroad, particularly in the global South, in South America, sub-Saharan Africa.

所以，關於中國正在發生的事情，我們其實沒有什麼不同於你在各方聽到的看法。不過我會說，就基礎的 NdPr 需求而言。從一些軼聞觀察來看，我們確實看到中國產業在海外成長，特別是在全球南方、南美洲、撒哈拉以南非洲。

So when you think about the pace of what's happening in the Chinese economy, I would say that one mitigant is that Chinese industry is attempting to make up for that with growth around the world, particularly in our space. And so I do think that -- and again, as you know, I always try to caveat these answers with respect to commodity prices.

所以當你思考中國經濟發展的速度時，我會說其中一個緩衝因素是，中國產業正試圖透過在全球、特別是在我們這個領域的成長來彌補。因此我確實認為——而且如你所知，我一向會就大宗商品價格對這些回答加以保留。

We don't know. But I do think that in the medium to long term, the things that we're seeing continue to show that the medium and long term demand picture is very bright from China all the way around the world.

我們不知道。但我確實認為，從中長期來看，我們持續看到的各種跡象都顯示，從中國到全球各地的中長期需求前景非常亮眼。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Sure.

當然。

Matt Summerville, D.A. Davidson.

Matt Summerville，D.A. Davidson。

Yeah, thanks. A couple of questions. Just back to -- Jim, I'd like to just pick your brain a little bit. What was the criteria you used to make the strategic decision to align yourself with this particular automotive OEM for this agreement?

是的，謝謝。有幾個問題。回到——Jim，我想請教你一下。你用什麼標準來做出策略性決策，選擇與這家特定汽車 OEM 在這份協議上結盟？

And to Ryan's comment, double digits can mean a lot. Is there a way that you can maybe narrow that down a bit? And more so, also curious as to whether or not this is causing -- panic's maybe too strong a word, but causing other OEMs to come knocking on the door, so to speak, or lining up at the door to [fund you]?

另外呼應 Ryan 的評論，兩位數可以代表很多。你是否能把範圍再縮小一點？更進一步，我也好奇這是否正在造成——恐慌也許太強烈，但是否讓其他 OEM 也開始上門敲門，或者說在門口排隊[為你提供資金]？

Sure, Matt. I'll steal that one from Jim quickly. You're right, double digit is pretty broad. I can narrow that down to, say, low double digits. And obviously, we want to respect our customers' wishes and not get into specific details on any individual contract.

當然，Matt。我先從 Jim 那邊把這題搶過來快速回答。你說得對，「兩位數」範圍確實很廣。我可以把它縮小到例如「低兩位數」。而且很明顯，我們希望尊重客戶的意願，不去談任何單一合約的具體細節。

But I think that as we look around the world, we certainly are seeing a lot of interest in our commodity, as I mentioned. And I think that what we are most focused on is maximizing the realized price that we receive for a product that we believe is incredibly important. And obviously, as we look at contract structure or pricing and all those things that go together, we are going to prioritize customers that are thoughtful over the long term and are looking at this as partners.

但我認為，當我們放眼全球時，正如我提到的，我們確實看到市場對我們這項大宗商品有很高的興趣。而我們最專注的是，將我們所收到的實現價格最大化，因為我們相信這是一項極其重要的產品。當然，當我們看合約架構或定價以及所有相關事項時，我們會優先考量那些具長期思維、並把這視為夥伴關係的客戶。

And so that's certainly what we did with General Motors with the downstream business. That's absolutely what we're doing with other OEM partners on the midstream business. And so it's something that we're certainly very pleased about.

因此，這正是我們在下游業務與通用汽車所做的。這也絕對是我們在中游業務與其他 OEM 夥伴正在做的事。所以這件事我們確實非常滿意。

In terms of other automakers panicking, I wouldn't put it quite at panic at this point. But certainly, there's a whole host of things that we've seen over the course of the last several months that really, I think, reenergized despite all of the headlines and the Wall Street (inaudible) on the electric vehicle trend. We've seen a lot of activity.

至於其他車廠是否恐慌，我不會說目前到了恐慌的程度。但可以肯定的是，過去幾個月我們看到一整套的事情，我認為這些確實重新點燃了動能，儘管電動車趨勢有各種新聞標題以及華爾街（聽不清）相關的說法。我們看到很多活動。

Certainly, the tariff announcement by the current administration, that maybe caused a little bit of -- maybe you can call it panic and in terms of automakers really being interested in what we're doing from the magnetic side on. But overall, we're really pleased to continue to build up our book of customers with blue-chip automakers.

當然，現任政府宣布關稅，或許引發了一點——也許你可以稱之為恐慌——使得車廠對我們在磁材端所做的事情非常感興趣。但整體而言，我們很高興能持續擴充我們的客戶名單，納入一流的車廠客戶。

Thank you. And then maybe for Michael, is there any way to talk about, based on the progress you're seeing or you saw in Q2 , where you're tracking thus far in Q3 in your goal relative to that 50% production output increase of NdPr oxide? Is there any way to talk about where you hope to exit the year on a run rate basis in terms of NdPr production?

謝謝。接著可能問 Michael，基於你在第二季看到的進展，或你在第二季所看到的狀況，你們目前在第三季的進度如何，相對於 NdPr 氧化物產量提升 50% 的目標？能否談談你們希望年底在 NdPr 產量的運轉率（run rate）大概會到哪裡？

It's still early, so it's hard to give a clear answer in that. I'd rather not. But I would say that whereas in the past, we saw greater bottlenecks to production, we're now really working on optimizing and balancing the throughput -- sorry, availability of equipment and getting that up and then pushing the throughput further. Whereas in the past, we may have seen more bottlenecks to availability, those are being released. And we expect to see significant improvement.

現在還早，所以很難給出明確答案。我寧可先不要。但我會說，過去我們看到生產有較多瓶頸，現在我們真正著力於最佳化並平衡產能吞吐——抱歉，是設備可用性——把可用性提升，然後再進一步推高吞吐量。過去我們可能看到更多是可用性方面的瓶頸，現在這些正在解除。我們預期會看到顯著改善。

The data that July puts us on that path to the 50% growth is probably where I'll leave it, but I do believe there's significant opportunity for continued growth in the fourth quarter. Jim might have (inaudible) that. .

7 月的數據讓我們走在達成 50% 成長的路徑上，我大概就先說到這裡，但我確實相信第四季仍有顯著的持續成長機會。Jim 可能有（聽不清）補充。.

Yeah. The one thing I'd add is I think the reason you're probably sensing a little bit of a shift in tone from us on this is, I think, where we've progressed on understanding and getting our arms around the various moving pieces on increment variable cost. We're at the point, from a cost structure perspective, in the midstream business where getting to our targeted cost structure at this point is more a denominator issue.

是的。我想補充的一點是，我認為你之所以可能感覺到我們語氣有些轉變，是因為我們在理解並掌握增量變動成本的各個變動因素方面已經有所進展。就中游業務的成本結構而言，我們目前已經到了這樣的階段：要達到我們的目標成本結構，更多是一個分母的問題。

So this is more about pushing forward on our volume ramp up will effectively have the cost structure take care of itself. And so, obviously, Michael talked through some of the steps along the way. But we're very, very pleased to see that progress. And so I think that enables us to be even more tactical in how we approach the ramp here over the course of the year.

所以這更關乎推動我們的產量爬坡；只要量上來，成本結構就會有效地自行改善。當然，Michael 已經說明了過程中的一些步驟。但我們非常、非常高興看到這些進展。因此我認為，這也讓我們能在今年的爬坡推進上採取更具戰術性的做法。

And so as Michael said, it's early to give specific numbers on volume because there are so many different ways to get to a particular volume number. We want to get there in the most efficient way possible, which is consistent with what we told you over the last couple of quarters.

因此如 Michael 所說，現在還早，難以就產量給出具體數字，因為達到某個特定產量數字有很多不同的路徑。我們希望以最高效率的方式達成，這也與我們過去幾季告訴各位的一致。

And then I'll just add since -- to do the trifecta here, so you hear from all three of us on this one. I think -- obviously, this tough quarter numbers aside, to see the scale of this ramp happening in the -- ordinarily, if you just look at our industry or similar industries, when you're ramping up a multi-billion-dollar refinery, these things take time. And ordinarily, if you were looking at this with respect to another business that might not have an existing operation within it, you'd obviously see numbers in ramp and you wouldn't think much of it.

另外我再補充一下——為了湊齊三人組，讓你在這題上聽到我們三位的看法。我認為——撇開這一季艱難的數字不談——看到這次爬坡的規模正在發生；通常如果你看我們的產業或類似產業，當你在拉升一座數十億美元的精煉廠產能時，這些事情需要時間。而通常如果你把這放在另一個可能沒有既有營運基礎的業務來看，你會看到爬坡中的數字，並不會覺得太意外。

And so the fact that the scale of this ramp is happening as impressively as it is, with Michael on the team and Mountain Pass, I think, is -- I'm very pleased of what's happening out there. And I really do I think, again, tough quarters number aside -- and obviously, we have to keep executing. But this is a really, really impressive ramp that is happening. And obviously, hopefully, we expect that to remain the case throughout the rest of the year.

因此，這次爬坡的規模能以如此令人印象深刻的方式推進，加上 Michael 在團隊中、以及 Mountain Pass 的表現，我認為——我對那邊正在發生的事情非常滿意。而且我真的認為，再次撇開艱難的季度數字不談——當然我們必須持續執行——但這是一個非常、非常令人印象深刻的爬坡。而且很明顯，我們希望並預期在今年剩餘時間都能維持這樣的狀態。。

Great. Thank you, guys.

太好了。謝謝各位。

George Gianarikas, Canaccord Genuity.

George Gianarikas，Canaccord Genuity。

Hi, everyone. Good afternoon and thank you for taking my questions. I guess I just want to start with -- I was wondering if the song choice was intentional during the waiting period. I assume -- I'm old enough to know what it was. And hopefully, things will only get better. So my first question --

各位好。下午好，謝謝讓我提問。我想我先從這個開始——我在想，等待期間的選曲是刻意的嗎？我想——我年紀夠大，知道那首歌是什麼。也希望接下來只會越來越好。所以我的第一個問題——

I'll take that real quick. Just so you know, that's -- I appreciate you recognizing the song. That is a song about resilience and powering forward. And so we're very methodical about our song selection, as you know, every quarter.

我很快回應一下。先讓你知道，那個——我很感謝你認出那首歌。那是一首關於韌性與持續向前的歌。所以如你所知，我們每一季在選歌上都非常有章法。

So I think one of these days, we'll have to put together a Spotify list of all of our pre-quarter songs so you have them in one place. But that was a deliberate selection.

所以我想改天我們得把每季會前播放的歌曲整理成一份 Spotify 清單，讓你可以一次都放在同一個地方。但那次確實是刻意挑選的。

Nice, nice. So maybe to focus on the OEM decision for oxide. I'm curious as to what -- if you are the ones who drove the decision around oxide sales versus magnets sales or is that something that the OEM chose?

不錯，不錯。那也許聚焦在氧化物（oxide）的 OEM 決策。我很好奇——關於氧化物銷售相對於磁鐵銷售的決定，是你們主導的，還是 OEM 那邊選擇的？

Sure, George. It's Ryan. That's something that is mutual, I would say. The reality, though, is that with our current design capacity in Fort Worth, we're fully committed there at this point. And so to bring another significant automotive OEM on would entail incremental capital investment there, which is something that we do look very hard at.

當然，George。我是 Ryan。我會說這是雙方共同的決定。不過現實是，以我們目前在 Fort Worth 的設計產能來看，現在已經完全承諾滿載。因此若要再導入另一家重要的汽車 OEM，將需要在那裡追加資本投資，而這是我們會非常審慎評估的事情。

But obviously, our focus at this point is delivering for GM. I think the thing to think about is the size of our upstream business, at least for the near and medium term, is many, many multiples of the size of the downstream business. And so what we're focused on is ensuring, as I said, aligning ourselves with partners that may be long-term partners across all pieces of the business over the course of time.

但很明顯，我們目前的重點是為 GM 交付。我認為要思考的一點是，至少在短期到中期，我們上游業務的規模是下游業務的許多、許多倍。因此我們專注的是確保——如我所說——隨著時間推進，在業務各個環節都能與可能成為長期夥伴的對象對齊合作。

But certainly, we need to prioritize -- given we've done a great job on the downstream in terms of sales, we need to prioritize continuing to one push forward in line with the right partners on the midstream.

但當然，我們必須優先排序——鑑於我們在下游端的銷售做得很出色，我們需要優先持續推進，並與中游端合適的夥伴一起往前走。

And do you know, perchance, who will be making the magnets for that OEM partner?

那你是否剛好知道，會由誰來替那家 OEM 夥伴製造磁鐵？

I wouldn't want to comment specifically. I think what I'd say about that in general, though, is we have seen some continued development in the market for ex-China magnet production in broader Southeast Asia. And so that opens up opportunities for us, both to sell directly to those existing and future magnet makers as well as, of course, these types of agreements where we're providing the material directly to the end customer.

我不想針對個別對象做具體評論。不過一般來說，我們確實看到在更廣泛的東南亞地區，非中國（ex-China）的磁鐵生產持續發展。因此這為我們帶來機會：我們既可以直接銷售給那些現有與未來的磁鐵製造商，當然也包括這類協議——由我們直接向終端客戶提供材料。

Thank you. Maybe as the last question, someone asked a previous question the state of Chinese demand. But I'm curious if you could share your thoughts around Chinese supply. Clearly, some of the major refiners are losing money at current levels.

謝謝。也許最後一個問題，先前有人問到中國需求的狀況。但我想請你分享一下你對中國供給的看法。很明顯，一些主要精煉商在目前的價格水準下正在虧損。

Just curious as to, Jim, what your thoughts on the sustainability of that and whether or not we could see a little bit of a supply -- at least less growth or a supply reduction going forward. What are your thoughts on what exactly is happening there? Thank you.

我只是好奇，Jim，你對這種情況的可持續性有何看法？以及我們是否可能看到供給端——至少是成長放緩或未來供給縮減。你對那邊到底發生了什麼有何看法？謝謝。

Sure, sure. Well, with my usual caveat that it is always very difficult to read the tea leaves in China, what I would say is that it's very clear that there's losses and, I think, there's a struggle in the supply chain there. Because nobody is doing well in this environment with prices where they are. That is very clear.

當然，當然。先照我一貫的提醒：解讀中國的動向總是非常困難。但我會說，很明顯目前存在虧損，而且我認為供應鏈正面臨掙扎。因為在目前這樣的價格水準下，沒有人能在這個環境中表現得好。這點非常清楚。

I do think that -- there were some recent headlines about China cracking down on illegal production. And I think that there's intent of the government to continue with, frankly, what's been going on for the last few years to crack down on illegal behavior inside and outside the country.

我確實認為——最近有一些新聞標題提到中國打擊非法生產。我認為政府有意延續過去幾年一直在做的事情：打擊國內外的非法行為。

And I do think that, when you think about having a fully burdened cost of production, when you get a lot of that out, that is constructive for pricing and competence and, frankly, better for the environment. And so I think in the backdrop of what is clearly a challenge to macro environment, there are a lot of good trends that suggest that when we see the upcycle, that it should be good.

而且我也認為，當你把完全負擔成本（fully burdened cost of production）納入考量，把那些因素排除之後，對價格與競爭力是有建設性的，坦白說，對環境也更好。因此在明顯充滿挑戰的總體環境背景下，仍有許多良好趨勢顯示，當我們看到景氣循環回升時，應該會是不錯的。

And then lastly and just going back to what I said earlier, we do continue to see substantial international investment from major Chinese downstream producers. I think we don't see those -- in the US, we see a lot of headlines, obviously, about our OEMs and our market. But let's not forget, obviously, China is the largest auto market in the world. But then there's the rest of the world, and you're seeing real penetration there from the Chinese OEMs and around factories and localized production.

最後，再回到我先前提到的，我們確實持續看到主要中國下游生產商進行大量的國際投資。我想在美國，我們當然看到很多關於我們 OEM 與我們市場的新聞標題。但別忘了，中國顯然是全球最大的汽車市場。但除此之外還有世界其他地區，而你正看到中國 OEM 在那裡的實質滲透，包括建廠與在地化生產。

And so I do think when we think about the upstream supply, the Chinese industry has to continue to supply its producers going around the world. But at some point, you do cross that threshold where they're not going to want to have big upstream losses to be supplying local competitors sitting next to them in factories that they have.

因此我確實認為，當我們思考上游供給時，中國產業必須持續供應其在全球各地布局的生產商。但在某個時間點，你會跨過那個門檻：他們不會想承受巨額上游虧損，去供應那些就在他們工廠旁邊、成為在地競爭者的對手。

So I do think again, with, always, the caveat that nobody knows about prices, I do think that the pendulum -- which, obviously, was very excited a couple of years ago one way has swung too far the other way. And it should recover at some point.

所以我再次認為——當然，仍要加上沒有人能準確預測價格的前提——我確實覺得這個擺盪（pendulum）在幾年前明顯往一個方向過度興奮後，如今又往另一個方向擺得太遠了。而它應該會在某個時點回復。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Lawrence Winder, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Lawrence Winder，美國銀行美林（Bank of America Merrill Lynch）。

Yeah. Thanks, operator. It's Lawson Winder at Bank of America. Thanks very much and thanks for the presentation today. I wanted to ask just to get your thoughts on the magnetic business. And with commercial production being targeted for the end of this year, how do you think about becoming EBITDA positive?

是的。謝謝接線員。我是美國銀行的 Lawson Winder。非常感謝，也謝謝今天的簡報。我想請教你們對磁材業務的看法。在商業化生產目標訂在今年年底的情況下，你們如何看待達到 EBITDA 轉正？

Is that something that will happen this year? Do you think about that happening in '25? And then, what's the ramp on the EBITDA contribution from the magnetic business?

這會在今年發生嗎？你們認為會在 2025 年發生嗎？另外，磁材業務對 EBITDA 的貢獻提升（ramp）會是怎樣的節奏？

Hi. Sure, this is Ryan. I'll take that. We do expect, once we are producing product in the downstream business -- and just to clarify in terms of the production targets, we aim to be in production with precursor products with metal at the end of this year. We're still targeting production of magnets in the end of 2025.

你好。當然，我是 Ryan。我來回答。我們確實預期，一旦我們在下游業務開始生產產品——另外就生產目標再澄清一下：我們的目標是在今年年底開始生產含金屬的前驅體（precursor）產品。我們仍以 2025 年底開始生產磁鐵為目標。

But in the downstream business, when we do start production -- and so I think the fair read through is for 2025. We absolutely do expect a positive EBITDA contribution from that business nearly immediately as we bring it on. Certainly, we've been investing in that business over the last several years and several quarters.

但就下游業務而言，當我們開始生產時——我認為合理的解讀是落在 2025 年。我們絕對預期，該業務在導入後幾乎會立即帶來正向的 EBITDA 貢獻。當然，我們在過去幾年、以及過去幾個季度都持續對這項業務進行投資。

And you've seen, within some of our G&A and R&D type of line items on the P&L, increased investments there. But we do expect, as we start making commercial product there, to be both gross profit and nicely EBITDA positive in that business.

而且你也看到，在我們損益表（P&L）中部分 G&A 與 R&D 類型的科目裡，我們在那裡加大了投資。但我們確實預期，隨著我們開始在那裡製造商業化產品，該業務將同時具備毛利，並且 EBITDA 也會漂亮地轉正。

In terms of your question on ramp and timing, we haven't gotten into specific details there. As you'd imagine, with any type of launch of a new product and new process not too dissimilar to the midstream operation, we will take time to reach our full targeted throughput. And so we expect to embark on that very methodically as well.

就你關於爬坡與時程的問題而言，我們尚未提供具體細節。如你所想，任何新產品與新製程的導入（與中游營運並沒有太大不同）都需要時間才能達到我們的完整目標產能。因此我們也預期會非常有步驟、很有系統地推進。

And so that will be -- of course, reaching our targeted throughput of 1,000 tons at (inaudible)magnets on will be over a multi-year period.

因此——當然，達到我們目標的 1,000 噸（聽不清）磁體的吞吐量，將會是在多年期間逐步實現。

And I would just add -- let me just add, particularly, given our tough quarter that hopefully is now behind us after this call. But as a reminder, given that question that -- when we think about Fort Worth, a little over two years ago, that was a grassy field. And this is a highly complex product.

我再補充一下——特別是考量到我們這一季表現艱難，希望在這通電話之後已經成為過去。但提醒一下，針對剛才那個問題——當我們想到 Fort Worth 時，兩年多前那裡還只是一片草地。而這是一個高度複雜的產品。

And so the team has been executing really well. And to think that now, we're in this place where, yeah, we're going to be EBITDA positive so quickly, building something from scratch going into some business that is brand new for us and, frankly, the West is really remarkable. So we're moving as quickly as we can on that front.

因此團隊的執行其實非常到位。而想到現在我們已經走到這一步——是的，我們能這麼快就做到 EBITDA 轉正，從零開始打造一個全新的事業，對我們而言、坦白說對西方世界而言，都非常了不起。所以在這方面我們正以最快速度推進。

Yeah. Great point, Jim. Thanks for that. And then also thinking about that 2025 from a CapEx point of view, obviously, it's early and I know you guys probably aren't prepared to provide specific guidance. But just directionally thinking about what you provided for guidance for '24, can you perhaps speak to the rough magnitude and direction of the CapEx move, like for '24 to '25?

是的。說得很好，Jim。謝謝你的補充。另外再從 2025 年的資本支出（CapEx）角度來看，顯然現在還早，我也知道你們可能還沒準備好提供具體指引。但若以你們對 2024 年提供的指引作為參考，能否就方向性談談 2024 到 2025 年 CapEx 變動的大致幅度與方向？

Yeah. I think it's early for us to get into any 2025 discussion. Obviously, as you would expect, we are laser focused on return on invested capital and ensuring that we've got a robust and healthy balance sheet. But at this point, it's early to talk about 2025.

是的。我認為現在談 2025 年還太早。如你所預期，我們非常聚焦於投資資本報酬率（ROIC），並確保我們擁有穩健健康的資產負債表。但就目前而言，談 2025 年還言之過早。

We're halfway through '24. And you've seen our results from a capital deployment perspective there. And what I would say is that we gave a range of [200 to 250] in CapEx for 2024. And just looking at the progress to date, we're likely coming in at the low end of that, certainly with our focus on trying to be as capital efficient as possible in the current pricing environment.

我們已經走完 2024 年的一半。你也看到我們在資本配置方面的成果。我想說的是，我們對 2024 年 CapEx 給出的區間是 [200 到 250]。而從目前進度來看，我們很可能會落在區間下緣，尤其是在目前的價格環境下，我們專注於盡可能提高資本效率。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

Bill Peterson, JPMorgan.

JPMorgan 的 Bill Peterson。

Yeah, good afternoon. Thanks for providing all the details. A few questions. So first, coming to the -- back to the magnet discussions. So discussed commissioning the prototype production. I guess, can you provide additional color on the progress thus far?

是的，下午好。謝謝你們提供所有細節。我有幾個問題。首先回到——回到磁體的討論。你們提到原型產線的試車（commissioning）。我想問的是，你們能否就目前進展提供更多說明？

Have you been producing material that are meeting any initial customer specifications or expectations? And then maybe perhaps you could shed some light on the next steps for the next few quarters in terms of optimizing performance in manufacturing scale-up?

你們是否已經生產出符合任何初步客戶規格或期待的材料？另外，或許你們也可以談談未來幾季在製造擴產（scale-up）過程中、優化製程表現的下一步是什麼？

Sure. I'll try to give you some color there. I think I would split the discussion on progress and process development into a conversation around metal versus a conversation around magnets. We discussed, I think it was last quarter or quarter before, a successful commercial scale pilot of our metal making technology, energy and equipment in a pilot facility.

當然。我會盡量提供一些說明。我認為可以把進展與製程開發分成兩個面向來談：金屬，以及磁體。我們之前提過——我想是上一季或前一季——我們在試點設施中，以商業規模成功完成了金屬製造技術、能源與設備的試點運行。

That is what we're bringing to bear in the Dallas, Fort Worth, facility by the end of this year. And so we feel very good about that, given the fact that we proven out our approach to that.

而這正是我們在今年底前要導入達拉斯—Fort Worth 設施的技術。因此我們對此感到非常有信心，因為我們已經驗證了我們的方法。

As it relates to magnets specifically, I think the beauty of building this business from scratch is that we've been able to engage with our customer, I think, in a very thoughtful way to think about commercialization of this from the very get-go. And so from our perspective, thinking about the types of magnets that we'll produce, the mix of magnets, the number of SKUs, the performance characteristics, et cetera.

至於磁體本身，我認為從零開始打造這個事業的好處在於，我們能夠從一開始就以非常周全的方式與客戶合作，思考如何將其商業化。因此就我們而言，我們會思考要生產哪些類型的磁體、磁體組合、SKU 數量、性能特性等等。

And we've been focused on ensuring that we are biting off what we expect to be able to chew here in the near term. And so we are absolutely not approaching this from the perspective of taking on 100 different SKUs. We're thinking about this absolutely from being able to commercialize rapidly.

而我們一直專注於確保在短期內，我們只做我們預期能夠消化與完成的範圍。因此我們絕對不是以要承接 100 種不同 SKU 的角度來做。我們的思路完全是以能夠快速商業化為核心。

What we've seen from the pilot production facility so far is -- and again, I don't really want to pat ourselves on the back too much on this. But we have gone from metal to a finished magnet at performance characteristics that we're pretty happy with already in this plant.

到目前為止，我們從試點生產設施看到的是——再次強調，我不太想過度自我稱讚。但我們已經在這座工廠裡，從金屬一路做到成品磁體，而且其性能特性我們目前已經相當滿意。

And so when we talk about being in production with magnets at the end of 2025, we get this question a lot. How are you going to be able to do that? Are you going to be bidding spec? And so if we're already making magnets at the pilot plant, clearly, we're working on dialing in all of those processes, our process development, and technology starting now through the end of next year to be sure that we're ready to produce at commercial scale for GM.

因此當我們談到在 2025 年底開始量產磁體時，我們常被問到這個問題：你們要怎麼做到？你們會不會只是投標規格（bidding spec）？所以，如果我們在試點工廠就已經在做磁體了，很明顯地，我們現在起到明年年底都在持續把所有製程、製程開發與技術調校到位，確保我們準備好為 GM 進行商業規模生產。

It's not lost on us that the automotive supply chain is not the easiest to qualify into. And so that also explains part of the significant hiring that we've had done in Fort Worth to ensure that we're ready for qualification, feedback, et cetera.

我們也很清楚，汽車供應鏈並不是最容易通過認證導入的。因此這也部分解釋了我們在 Fort Worth 進行的大量招募，以確保我們能夠準備好應對認證、回饋等事項。

Yeah, thanks for that. Next question is on robotics. And I know -- I think your entry song last quarter was around robotics. But you have discussed on a few quarters of just being an area for growth. But I guess, have you begun direct discussions with any companies in the robotics value chain or magnet suppliers in that space?

好的，謝謝你的說明。下一個問題是關於機器人。我知道——我想你們上一季的開場曲是談機器人。但你們已經連續幾季提到這是成長領域。不過我想問的是，你們是否已經開始與機器人價值鏈中的任何公司，或該領域的磁體供應商，進行直接討論？

I guess, thinking about potential supply agreement, given you spoke to the OEM one earlier and you also spoke earlier that some of your -- I guess, a large chunk of your volumes are going to eventually be spoken for. Just thoughts around what could happen in that space.

我想從潛在供應協議的角度來看，因為你們先前提到一家 OEM，也提到你們的——我想是相當大一部分的產量最終會被預先承諾（spoken for）。想請教你們對這個領域可能發展的看法。

Sure. And great question. I spend a lot of time thinking about this because as we look around at all the headlines and investment that are going into AI and now, in robotics, what they call physical AI, there's no question that there's a lot of excitement in this area.

當然。而且這是個很好的問題。我花了很多時間思考這件事，因為當我們看到所有關於 AI 的新聞標題與投資，現在又延伸到機器人、他們所稱的「實體 AI」（physical AI），毫無疑問這個領域非常令人振奮。

And so we expect this to be a gamechanger demand stream. Obviously -- and I hope I've said this thoughtfully the last couple of quarters when we've discussed this, obviously, this a few years down the line as far as something that is of scale. I mean -- but I would say that this is all happening so fast.

因此我們預期這會成為改變遊戲規則的需求來源。當然——我希望我在過去幾季討論這點時表達得夠周全——就形成規模而言，這顯然還要再過幾年。我的意思是——但我會說，這一切發展得非常快。

The advancements that we're seeing out there -- and obviously, you can follow a lot of this stuff yourself. It's pretty remarkable. And without mentioning whether or not we've had discussions with a particular robotics company or producer or whatever, certainly, you can look at who the leaders are. And obviously, I would say one of the most notable leaders out there that is talking about this is certainly Tesla with Optimus.

我們在外面看到的這些進展——而且很明顯，你自己也可以追蹤很多這類資訊。相當令人驚嘆。在不提及我們是否曾與某家機器人公司或製造商等進行過討論的情況下，你當然可以看看誰是領導者。而且很明顯，我會說目前談論這件事最引人注目的領導者之一，肯定是特斯拉的 Optimus。

And if -- we've seen discussion that Musk believes that that will lead to $30 trillion of Tesla market cap. And we're talking about 10 billion or 20 billion humanoid robots. And what I would say is if you believe that that is one-tenth directionally correct, one-twentieth directionally correct, it is a gamechanger for rare earth magnetics, multiples to what EVs were.

而且如果——我們也看到相關討論，馬斯克相信那將帶動特斯拉市值達到 30 兆美元。而我們談的是 100 億或 200 億台人形機器人。我想說的是，如果你相信這個方向性判斷哪怕只有十分之一正確、二十分之一正確，這對稀土磁材而言就是改變遊戲規則的因素，其影響倍數將遠超電動車所帶來的。

Because there's typically two to five times the amount of rare earth magnet content in a humanoid robot than there would be in an EV. And then we're talking about many multiples of potential production. Again, this is all long term, but this is happening so fast that it's really exciting. But again, I caveat it with this is something that is a few years out.

因為一般而言，人形機器人所含的稀土磁體用量，通常是電動車的兩到五倍。接著我們談的是潛在產量的多倍成長。再次強調，這些都是長期的，但發展速度如此之快，真的令人興奮。不過我也要補充，這件事還需要幾年時間才會到來。

Understood. Thanks again.

了解。再次感謝。

Thank you. Benjamin Kallo, Baird.

謝謝。Baird 的 Benjamin Kallo。

Hey, guys. Good afternoon. This is David Sunderland on for Ben. Thank you for sneaking me in here at the end. Just to rewind and maybe at all the way back to beginning. Jim, in your prepared remarks, you talked about NdPr production costs coming down materially over the next couple of quarters.

嗨，各位。下午好。我是 David Sunderland，代替 Ben 發言。謝謝你們在最後把我插進來。我想回顧一下，甚至回到一開始。Jim，在你準備好的發言中，你提到 NdPr 的生產成本在接下來幾個季度會顯著下降。

I'm just wondering if you or Michael could give some color as to what materially means, maybe if we should expect a linear decline or step changes, and anything you can say qualitatively about the levers for this cost improvement. Thanks, guys.

我想請問你或 Michael 能否補充一些細節，所謂「顯著」是指什麼意思——例如我們應該預期線性下降，還是階梯式的變化；以及你們能否從定性角度談談推動成本改善的槓桿有哪些。謝謝，各位。

I am going to hand that one to my CFO. I'll tap out of that.

我把這題交給我的財務長。我就先不回答了。

Yeah, no. I'm happy to take it. We made a couple of comments on this. And I think the important thing to think about in terms of our progression on the cost structure or is that we talked about, for the last couple of quarters, really getting our arms around the incremental variable costs and the items that were driving that, and ensuring that we were not ramping in the face of very suboptimal incremental variable costs.

好的，沒問題。我很樂意回答。我們對此做過幾點評論。我認為在我們成本結構的演進上，重要的是：過去幾個季度我們一直在真正掌握新增的變動成本，以及驅動這些成本的項目，並確保我們不會在新增變動成本非常不理想的情況下仍然加速爬坡。

One important thing that we've found over the last quarter or so is really getting our arms around that. And so we're not where we want to be. But I think about it as -- when we started to ramp the plan, it was trying to figure out where the pins are. Now, we know exactly where the pins are; we just need to knock them down.

過去一個季度左右，我們發現一個重要的事情，就是確實把這些問題掌握住了。所以我們還沒到想要的狀態。但我會這樣比喻——當我們開始推進爬坡計畫時，是在試著找出「瓶頸」在哪裡。現在，我們已經非常清楚瓶頸在哪；接下來只需要把它們逐一排除。

And so we know what we need to execute on. And the team is working tirelessly to execute on them as it relates to the variable costs. And so what that really leaves us with is -- with the data that we've seen on a circuit-by-circuit basis over the last several months, what this becomes is a denominator thing.

因此我們知道需要執行哪些事項。團隊正不懈地推進執行，特別是與變動成本相關的部分。而這真正留給我們的——根據過去幾個月我們在逐一迴路（circuit-by-circuit）的層級所看到的數據——接下來就變成一個「分母」的問題。

This is really about ensuring that we are able to maintain the proper uptime. And then as we check that box, continue to push throughput and rinse and repeat and bring more denominator into that equation. Because that's going to be really what gets us to our targeted cost structure. And so a lot of it really depends on exactly what the volumes are and exactly how we get there.

這主要是要確保我們能維持適當的稼動率（uptime）。然後在達成這一點之後，持續推升產出（throughput），反覆循環，讓這個等式中的「分母」變得更大。因為那才會真正把我們帶到目標成本結構。所以其中很大一部分，確實取決於實際的產量，以及我們如何達到那個水準。

And so it's tough to give you a ton of specifics other than in all the scenarios that we've modeled out, we absolutely, from what we see now, believe that as we drive volume towards our targeted throughput, we will get to our targeted cost structure. It's just a matter of us continuing to execute over the next several quarters.

因此很難給你非常多的具體細節；但就我們建模的所有情境而言，根據我們目前所看到的情況，我們絕對相信：當我們把產量推向目標產能（throughput）時，就能達到我們的目標成本結構。接下來只是我們在未來幾個季度持續執行到位的問題。

Thank, Ryan. Appreciate it, guys.

謝謝，Ryan。感謝各位。

Thank you. And I would now like to hand the call back over to Mr. Litinsky for any final comments.

謝謝。接下來我想把電話交回給 Litinsky 先生，請他做最後的補充。

Yes. Thank you, and thank you, everyone. And I guess I will officially say good riddance to this Q2. And I would say for those of us who spend a lot of time on these things, I would say there are quarters that are -- there are bad quarters that are bad, and then there are bad quarters have a lot of good in them.

好的。謝謝，也謝謝各位。我想我可以正式地說：這個第二季總算結束了，真是謝天謝地。我想對於我們這些在這些事情上花很多時間的人來說，有些季度是——有些糟糕的季度就是很糟；但也有些糟糕的季度裡其實包含了很多好的東西。

And I would put this in the latter category. We really responded extraordinarily well to some unanticipated downtime, and things are really humming. And we feel very good about the progress that we made last quarter, that we're making this quarter, and that we're excited to talk to you next quarter . So thanks, everyone.

我會把這一季歸類在後者。我們對一些未預期的停機時間做出了非常出色的應對，而現在各項運作真的非常順暢。我們對上季取得的進展、這一季正在取得的進展都感到非常良好，也很期待在下個季度與各位交流。所以謝謝大家。

Thank you. This will conclude the MP Materials second-quarter 2024 earnings call and webcast. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。以上為 MP Materials 2024 年第二季財報電話會議與網路直播的結束。您現在可以掛斷電話。