MP Materials Corp (MP) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the MP Materials third-quarter 2024 earnings call.

您好，歡迎參加 MP Materials 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Also, as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

（操作員指示）另外，提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。

If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time.

如果您有任何異議，請此時斷開連接。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Martin Sheehan, Head of Investor Relations.

說到這裡，我想將電話轉給投資人關係主管馬丁希恩 (Martin Sheehan)。

Mr. Sheehan, you may begin.

希恩先生，您可以開始了。

Welcome to the MP Materials third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call.

歡迎參加 MP Materials 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

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.

今天和我在一起的是 MP Materials 的創辦人、董事長兼執行長 Jim Litinsky；麥可‧羅森塔爾，創辦人兼營運長；瑞安‧科貝特 (Ryan Corbett)，財務長。

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.

提醒一下，今天的討論將包含與未來事件和預期相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到各種假設和警告的影響。

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.

可能導致公司實際結果與這些聲明有重大差異的因素包含在今天的簡報、收益發布和我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。

In addition, we have included some non-GAAP financial measures in this presentation.

此外，我們也在本簡報中納入了一些非公認會計準則財務指標。

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.

與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標的調節可以在今天的收益發布和今天幻燈片演示的附錄中找到。

Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA and tons means metric tons.

我們今天討論中提到的 EBITDA 均指調整後的 EBITDA，噸指公噸。

Finally, the earnings release and the slide presentation are available on our website.

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.

這樣，我就把電話轉給吉姆。

Hello, everyone.

大家好。

It's been an incredibly exciting week in America.

這是美國令人難以置信的激動人心的一周。

And regardless of how you voted, we are all on the same team now.

無論您如何投票，我們現在都在同一個團隊中。

Put simply, I am extremely proud of the MP team's execution this quarter.

簡而言之，我對 MP 團隊本季的執行力感到非常自豪。

We achieved a new upstream production record of 13,742 metric tons of contained REO.

我們創下了上游 REO 產量 13,742 噸的新紀錄。

That is nearly 15% or over 1,700 metric tons higher than our previous best quarter.

這比我們之前最好的季度高出近 15% 或超過 1,700 噸。

Let me repeat that.

讓我重複一遍。

We produced 15% more REO this quarter than our previous best quarter ever.

本季我們生產的 REO 比上一個有史以來最好的季度多了 15%。

Michael will get into more detail shortly, but we believe this signifies material progress towards the significant step function change in potential we have recently discussed for our upstream business.

麥可很快就會詳細介紹，但我們相信這標誌著我們最近討論的上游業務潛力的重大階躍功能變化取得了實質進展。

Upstream 60K optimizations drove improved recoveries.

上游 60K 優化提高了回收率。

And alongside those higher recoveries, we maintained solid productivity with consistency in reliability and uptimes.

除了更高的回收率之外，我們還保持了穩定的生產力以及可靠性和正常運行時間的一致性。

As we have previously stated, our path towards Upstream 60K will be lumpy, but these results clearly underscore the world-class technical capabilities of our team, the vast potential of our upstream operations and our confidence in achieving upstream 60K.

正如我們之前所說，我們邁向上游60K的道路將是坎坷的，但這些結果清楚地凸顯了我們團隊的世界級技術能力、我們上游業務的巨大潛力以及我們對實現上游60K的信心。

Needless to say, record production this quarter translated into strong concentrate sales volumes despite pushing much more volume through the midstream circuits.

不用說，儘管中游迴路的銷售量大幅增加，但本季創紀錄的產量轉化為強勁的精礦銷售。

Speaking of the midstream and as significantly, we achieved record production of 478 metric tons of NdPr oxide in the quarter.

說到中游，同樣重要的是，我們在本季實現了 478 噸镨镨氧化物的創紀錄產量。

This represents a 76% increase from the second quarter, well above our guidance for 50% sequential growth.

這比第二季度增長了 76%，遠高於我們 50% 的環比成長預期。

I would remind you all that we completed an extended planned maintenance outage in October.

我想提醒大家，我們在 10 月完成了延長的計​​畫維護中斷。

We are also beginning to commission additional Upstream 60K projects throughout the quarter.

我們也開始在整個季度委託額外的上游 60K 專案。

Given these planned disruptions, we expect Q4 NdPr oxide production to be roughly flat with Q3's 478 tons.

鑑於這些計劃中的中斷，我們預計第四季度 NdPr 氧化物產量將與第三季的 478 噸大致持平。

We then expect a more significant acceleration in midstream production in Q1 of next year.

我們預計明年第一季中游生產將出現更顯著的加速。

The strong Q4 production allowed us to nearly triple our sales volume sequentially, highlighting strong momentum in the sell-through of our oxide and metal production.

第四季的強勁產量使我們的銷售量環比增長了近三倍，凸顯了我們的氧化物和金屬生產的強勁銷售勢頭。

I would like to point out that we have seen a recent notable uptick in customer inquiries for samples and potential orders.

我想指出的是，我們最近發現客戶對樣品和潛在訂單的詢問顯著增加。

Assuming we meet our production targets and NdPr pricing holds at current levels, we expect to generate positive midstream gross margins as we exit Q1.

假設我們達到生產目標並且 NdPr 定價保持在當前水平，我們預計在第一季退出時將產生正的中游毛利率。

Naturally, this comes with all the usual caveats of a complex ramp-up, but we are very pleased to have line of sight to profitability in our refining operations, complementing the continued strong profitability of our upstream.

當然，這伴隨著複雜的產能提升的所有常見警告，但我們非常高興能夠在煉油業務中實現盈利，補充我們上游持續強勁的盈利能力。

We also received positive news in late October when the Treasury Department issued the final rules for the 45x advanced manufacturing production tax credit, which grants a 10% credit on costs related to producing critical minerals, including NdPr oxide.

我們也在10 月底收到了好消息，當時財政部發布了45 倍先進製造業生產稅收抵免的最終規則，該規則對與生產關鍵礦物（包括氧化镨镨）相關的成本給予10% 的抵免。

Initially, the proposed rules excluded extraction costs and both direct and indirect material costs, limitations that would have reduced the policy's impact for companies like MP.

最初，擬議的規則排除了開採成本以及直接和間接材料成本，這些限制可能會減少該政策對 MP 等公司的影響。

However, the final rules now allow vertically integrated US minor refiners such as MP to include these extraction and material costs.

然而，最終規則現在允許 MP 等垂直整合的美國小型煉油廠將這些開採和材料成本納入其中。

This change is particularly significant for rare earth producers as chemical reagents make up a substantial portion of our overall cost structure.

這項變更對於稀土生產商來說尤其重要，因為化學試劑占我們整體成本結構的很大一部分。

Moving on to our downstream magnetics business.

繼續我們的下游磁性業務。

We have begun commissioning our electrolysis cells for metal production in Fort Worth.

我們已開始在沃斯堡調試用於金屬生產的電解槽。

By the way, we refer to the Fort Worth magnet facility internally as Independence named for the road that it sits on and the mission that we strive to facilitate.

順便說一句，我們在內部將沃斯堡磁鐵設施稱為“獨立”，以它所在的道路和我們努力促進的使命命名。

Our team there is now about 100 people, and we are on track to deliver metal by year-end.

我們的團隊現在約有 100 人，我們預計在年底前交付金屬。

We will start externally using the official name Independence going forward.

今後我們將開始對外使用正式名稱「獨立」。

In addition, we also expect first production of on-spec magnets in our integrated prototyping facility at Independence by year-end.

此外，我們也預計到年底，我們位於獨立城的整合原型製造工廠將首次生產符合規格的磁鐵。

This will allow us to begin the customer qualification process, another critical milestone on the path towards commercial magnet production by the end of next year.

這將使我們能夠開始客戶資格審查流程，這是明年底實現商業磁鐵生產道路上的另一個重要里程碑。

So in summary, this was just a tremendous quarter of execution across our business.

總而言之，這只是我們整個業務執行情況出色的一個季度。

We have a lot of work to do, but I am particularly proud of our team's resilience this year.

我們還有很多工作要做，但我對我們團隊今年的韌性感到特別自豪。

I am further encouraged by the significant momentum we are building as we head into 2025.

當邁向 2025 年時，我們正在形成的巨大勢頭讓我進一步受到鼓舞。

With that, I'll turn it over to Ryan to review our KPIs and financial performance.

這樣，我會將其交給 Ryan 來審查我們的 KPI 和財務績效。

Ryan?

瑞安？

Thanks, Jim.

謝謝，吉姆。

Moving to slide 6.

轉到投影片 6。

On the far left of the slide, you can see that REO production of 13,742 metric tons, increased 28% compared to last year and over 50% versus our more challenging Q2.

在幻燈片的最左側，您可以看到 REO 產量為 13,742 噸，與去年相比增加了 28%，與更具挑戰性的第二季度相比增加了 50% 以上。

As Jim mentioned, this led to very strong sales volumes as we sold 9,729 metric tons of REO, a 6% increase over last year and a 67% increase sequentially.

正如 Jim 所提到的，這帶來了非常強勁的銷量，我們售出了 9,729 噸 REO，比去年增長 6%，比上一季增長 67%。

On the middle left, you can see realized pricing remains pressured as average realized price for REO in concentrate was $4,425 per metric ton in the quarter, a 23% decline from last year, but a 6% increase sequentially.

在中左，您可以看到已實現的定價仍然面臨壓力，因為本季精礦 REO 的平均已實現價格為每噸 4,425 美元，比去年下降 23%，但比上一季增長 6%。

We saw some positive movement in market prices in September, which had a slight positive impact on our upstream realized pricing versus our guidance from last quarter.

我們看到 9 月份市場價格出現了一些積極的變化，與我們上季度的指導相比，這對我們的上游實現定價產生了輕微的積極影響。

Moving to the midstream KPIs on the right side of the page.

前往頁面右側的中游 KPI。

As Jim also mentioned, we produced 478 metric tons of NdPr oxide, a 76% increase over Q2 and nearly 10 times last year's initial production levels.

正如 Jim 也提到的，我們生產了 478 噸 NdPr 氧化物，比第二季度增加了 76%，幾乎是去年初始產量水準的 10 倍。

NdPr sales volumes totaled 404 metric tons, nearly triple Q2's volumes.

镨镨銷售量總計 404 噸，幾乎是第二季銷售量的三倍。

I would point out that most of the higher sales than originally expected is simply due to timing.

我想指出的是，銷售額高於最初預期的大部分只是由於時機。

Given the still relatively low production volumes, timing of shipping schedules and deliveries will potentially have a large impact on our relative sales volumes, particularly as we continue to ramp up our metal tolling channels.

鑑於產量仍然相對較低，運輸時間表和交貨時間可能會對我們的相對銷售產生重大影響，特別是在我們繼續擴大金屬來料加工管道的情況下。

Looking year-over-year, production of refined products had just begun in last year's Q3 with our first sales not until Q4.

與去年同期相比，去年第三季成品油生產才剛開始，直到第四季才首次銷售。

Pricing this quarter came roughly in line with our expectations, down about $1 per kilogram compared to last quarter.

本季的定價大致符合我們的預期，比上季每公斤下降約 1 美元。

Moving to slide 7.

轉到投影片 7。

The impact of NdPr oxide and metal sales as well as strong concentrate sales volumes generated a 20% year-over-year increase in revenues despite negative year-over-year compares in realized pricing.

儘管價格同比下降，但镨氧化物和金屬銷售以及強勁精礦銷售的影響使收入年增 20%。

In addition, strong gross profit contribution from our concentrate sales as well as continued cost reductions in NdPr oxide production led to a $15.9 million sequential improvement in EBITDA results in Q3.

此外，精礦銷售帶來的強勁毛利貢獻以及 NdPr 氧化物生產成本的持續降低，導致第三季 EBITDA 業績連續改善 1,590 萬美元。

Our improving cost profile as we benefit from fixed cost leverage, resulting in us reducing our inventory reserve by $2.7 million in the quarter.

由於我們受益於固定成本槓桿，我們的成本狀況得到改善，導致我們在本季減少了 270 萬美元的庫存儲備。

The cumulative lower of cost or market inventory reserve at the end of Q3 now stands at $15.1 million.

截至第三季末，成本或市場庫存儲備的累計下降額目前為 1,510 萬美元。

On the far right of the slide, the improving sequential EBITDA flowed through to adjusted diluted EPS, where we saw a $0.05 improvement versus Q2.

在幻燈片的最右側，連續 EBITDA 的改善反映了調整後的稀釋每股收益，與第二季度相比，我們看到了 0.05 美元的改善。

As we have discussed over the last few quarters, our midstream operation continues to be subscale as we ramp production of NdPr and other separated products.

正如我們在過去幾季所討論的那樣，隨著我們提高镨镨和其他分離產品的產量，我們的中游業務繼續縮小規模。

That said, and as Jim highlighted, we have a line of sight to generating positive gross margin on our NdPr oxide sales as we exit Q1 of next year, driven in large part by the continued ramp in production volumes and as we make further headway in fine-tuning and lowering the cost of our processes.

也就是說，正如吉姆所強調的那樣，隨著我們退出明年第一季度，我們的目標是在 NdPr 氧化物銷售上實現正毛利率，這在很大程度上是由於產量的持續增長以及我們在微調並降低我們的流程成本。

I would note, however, that as we look forward to Q4, sequential concentrate production volumes will be down and NdPr production will be roughly flat.

然而，我要指出的是，當我們展望第四季時，連續精礦產量將下降，镨镨產量將大致持平。

This is due to an extended planned outage we held in early October and the introduction of some upstream 60K initiatives and equipment, which in the very short term will likely result in additional downtime and unstable performance.

這是由於我們在 10 月初進行了延長的計​​劃停電，以及​​引入了一些上游 60K 計劃和設備，這在很短的時間內可能會導致額外的停機時間和不穩定的性能。

This would also result in lower concentrate and NdPr sales volumes next quarter.

這也將導致下一季精礦和镨镨銷售下降。

And as for realized pricing, assuming current market prices hold for the remainder of Q4, we would expect concentrate prices to grow just under 10% sequentially, while NdPr pricing should increase approximately 5%, given the longer lag versus market pricing on NdPr.

至於實現定價，假設當前市場價格在第四季度剩餘時間內保持不變，我們預計精礦價格將環比增長略低於10%，而镨镨價格應上漲約5%，因為镨镨市場定價與市場定價相比存在較長的滯後期。

Moving to CapEx and the balance sheet.

轉向資本支出和資產負債表。

We have reduced our expectations for 2024 CapEx to be approximately $200 million, primarily due to the timing of cash costs.

我們將 2024 年資本支出的預期降低至約 2 億美元，主要是由於現金成本的時間安排。

We are starting to do a deeper dive on our 2025 CapEx expectations, and we will provide a more precise outlook on our 2024 Q4 call.

我們開始更深入探討 2025 年資本支出預期，並將對 2024 年第四季的電話會議提供更精確的展望。

But overall, I would expect much of the $50 million of lower 2024 spend to roll over into 2025.

但總體而言，我預計 2024 年減少的 5,000 萬美元支出中的大部分將延續到 2025 年。

With this quarter as a prime example, we continue to find high-return projects across our portfolio of assets, but remain steadfastly committed to maximizing long-term free cash flow while maintaining a fortress balance sheet.

以本季為例，我們繼續在資產組合中尋找高回報項目，但仍然堅定地致力於最大化長期自由現金流，同時維持堡壘資產負債表。

Importantly, we ended Q3 with approximately $866 million of cash and equivalents and approximately $94 million of net debt.

重要的是，在第三季結束時，我們擁有約 8.66 億美元的現金和等價物以及約 9,400 萬美元的淨債務。

This was after opportunistically repurchasing $24.3 million of MP shares in the quarter at an average price of $10.86. This brings our year-to-date repurchases to $225.1 million or approximately 8.6% of the company.

這是本季以平均價格 10.86 美元機會性回購 2,430 萬美元 MP 股票之後的結果。這使得我們今年迄今的回購額達到 2.251 億美元，約占公司股份的 8.6%。

Moreover, along with buying back 8.6% of the company so far this year, we also enhanced our capital structure by extending the vast majority of our debt maturities to 2030.

此外，除了今年迄今回購公司 8.6% 的股份外，我們還透過將絕大多數債務期限延長至 2030 年來增強我們的資本結構。

I would also remind investors that last quarter we shared that we expect to earn approximately $190 million in customer prepayments and tax credits by the end of 2025.

我還要提醒投資者，上個季度我們曾表示，預計到 2025 年底，我們將在客戶預付款和稅收抵免方面賺取約 1.9 億美元的收入。

In Q3, we received the first tranche of $20 million of tax credits, and we expect to receive most, if not all of the remaining $170 million over the coming five quarters.

在第三季度，我們獲得了第一筆 2000 萬美元的稅收抵免，我們預計在未來五個季度內將獲得剩餘 1.7 億美元的大部分（即使不是全部）。

With that, let me turn it over to Michael to give you updates on the operations.

接下來，讓我將其轉交給邁克爾，為您提供有關操作的最新資訊。

Michael?

麥可？

Thanks, Ryan.

謝謝，瑞安。

Turning to slide 8, you can see an overhead shot of our midstream assets and site utilities.

轉向投影片 8，您可以看到我們的中游資產和網站實用程式的俯視圖。

We made tremendous progress throughout the operation in Q3, delivering all-time production records in both our upstream and midstream circuits and continuing to advance our downstream development.

我們在第三季的整個營運中取得了巨大進展，在上游和中游線路上創造了歷史生產記錄，並繼續推動我們的下游發展。

We are very pleased with the upstream performance where our recent optimization initiative achieved better-than-expected results.

我們對上游表現非常滿意，我們最近的優化措施取得了好於預期的結果。

Remarkably, our 28% year-over-year growth was achieved almost entirely from improved recovery with no change in feed rate, while uptime increased slightly year-over-year and was just above normal for a non-outage quarter.

值得注意的是，我們 28% 的同比增長幾乎完全歸功於恢復率的提高，且進給率沒有變化，而正常運行時間同比略有增加，略高於非停電季度的正常水平。

I'd like to recognize our metallurgists, metallurgy technicians and mill operations teams whose work and creativity led to this incredible performance.

我要表彰我們的冶金學家、冶金技術人員和工廠營運團隊，他們的工作和創造力帶來了這令人難以置信的表現。

We believe that the results are generally sustainable though I would advise against immediately annualizing this.

我們相信，結果總體上是可持續的，儘管我建議不要立即將其年度化。

In particular, the more rapid improvement puts some pressure on other parts of the operation that may create intermittent uptime challenges.

特別是，更快速的改進給營運的其他部分帶來了一些壓力，可能會帶來間歇性的正常運作時間挑戰。

We will certainly overcome these.

我們一定會克服這些。

We continue to experiment with additional optimizations that may also result in temporary setbacks.

我們繼續嘗試其他優化，但這也可能導致暫時的挫折。

But I believe we have achieved a step change improvement in our baseline upstream performance, which reinforces our confidence in our ability to sustainably unlock incremental value from the Mountain Pass ore body and assets.

但我相信，我們的上游基準性能已經實現了階躍式改進，這增強了我們對可持續釋放帕斯山礦體和資產增量價值的能力的信心。

In the third quarter, we commissioned the first modest capital investment project of the Upstream 60K initiative.

第三季度，我們啟動了上游 60K 計畫的第一個適度資本投資項目。

This flotation equipment enhancement had a slight positive impact on production in Q3.

此次浮選設備的改進對第三季的生產產生了輕微的正面影響。

However, it is not yet operating stably, full time or at full scale.

然而，它尚未穩定、全職或全面運作。

To prepare for continuous operation, we will implement improvements to the unit in Q4 that will, over time, enhance its availability and its benefit.

為了準備持續運營，我們將在第四季度對設備進行改進，隨著時間的推移，將提高其可用性和效益。

In Q3, we also began pre-commissioning a significant improvement to our grinding circuit.

在第三季度，我們也開始預調試，對研磨迴路進行重大改進。

As of today, some of this equipment has been placed into service and trial production has begun for additional components.

截至目前，部分設備已投入使用，其他零件的試生產也已開始。

As I mentioned last quarter, while we have very high expectations for this investment, it may initially cause instability and negatively impact the operation before driving incremental recovery in 2025.

正如我上季度提到的，雖然我們對這項投資抱有非常高的期望，但它最初可能會導致不穩定並對營運產生負面影響，然後在 2025 年推動增量復甦。

Our midstream business accelerated performance in the quarter as well.

我們的中游業務在本季也加速了業績成長。

Improved availability again accounted for most of the improvement and nearly all the outperformance versus our prior directional guidance.

與我們先前的方向指導相比，可用性的提高再次佔了大部分改進和幾乎所有的優異表現。

Particularly in those circuits where mechanical or operational reliability had lagged, we saw a meaningful improvement in uptime.

特別是在那些機械或操作可靠性滯後的電路中，我們看到正常運作時間有了顯著的改善。

We remain pleased with our NdPr oxide quality as well as that of our NdPr metal, which saw a large increase in customer deliveries in the quarter.

我們對 NdPr 氧化物以及 NdPr 金屬的品質仍然感到滿意，本季客戶交付量大幅增加。

With uptime and product quality as a foundation, we feel increasingly optimistic about our ability to further increase throughput and efficiency.

以正常運作時間和產品品質為基礎，我們對進一步提高吞吐量和效率的能力越來越樂觀。

Every day, as one would expect, we encounter our share of operational challenges and setbacks.

正如人們所預料的那樣，我們每天都會遇到一些營運挑戰和挫折。

While these can be frustrating at times, overcoming them showcases the significant potential of our team and operation.

雖然這些有時可能令人沮喪，但克服它們展示了我們團隊和營運的巨大潛力。

As we address these issues one by one, we have more time to optimize reagent use and labor, enabling us to drive production costs downward towards world-class levels.

當我們一一解決這些問題時，我們有更多的時間來優化試劑的使用和勞動力，使我們能夠將生產成本降低到世界一流水平。

As Ryan discussed, in the first half of October, we executed our semiannual maintenance outage.

正如 Ryan 所討論的，在 10 月上半月，我們執行了半年一次的維護中斷。

Typically, we experience an uneven path to stability coming out of an outage, and this quarter was no different.

通常情況下，我們會經歷中斷後的穩定之路，本季也不例外。

But this is well behind us now.

但現在這一切已經過去了。

We do not expect to match Q3 concentrate production in Q4 due to lower uptime and the investments for future growth discussed earlier.

由於正常運作時間較短以及前面討論的未來成長投資，我們預計第四季的精礦產量不會達到第三季的水準。

But behind the headline figures, we do expect that the strong fundamentals will continue.

但在整體數據背後，我們確實預期強勁的基本面將持續下去。

In the midstream operation, we expect Q4 NdPr production to be roughly flat sequentially with much stronger performance in the first quarter of 2025.

在中游營運方面，我們預計第四季度 NdPr 產量將與上一季大致持平，但 2025 年第一季的表現將更加強勁。

Our magnetics team continues to make incredible strides too.

我們的磁性團隊也繼續取得令人難以置信的進步。

The expanded capital projects group is doing an excellent job driving design and execution on schedule and budget.

擴大後的資本項目小組正在出色地推動按計劃和預算進行設計和執行。

There is enormous excitement and stress in the air as we transition from a design and construction project into the construction and operations phase.

當我們從設計和施工項目過渡到施工和營運階段時，空氣中瀰漫著巨大的興奮和壓力。

We are currently commissioning our first full-scale metal reduction furnaces and look forward to delivering quality metal by the end of the year.

我們目前正在調試第一台全尺寸金屬還原爐，並期待在今年年底前交付優質金屬。

While not at full commercial scale, our prototype facilities operate at a representative scale and possess capability to process metal ingots into alloy flake, magnet powder, sintered block and grain boundary diffusion or GBD, machined and magnetized finished magnets.

雖然尚未達到完全商業規模，但我們的原型設施已具有代表性規模，並具有將金屬錠加工成合金片、磁粉、燒結塊和晶界擴散或 GBD、機械加工和磁化成品磁鐵的能力。

On slide 9, you can see examples of unfinished sintered NdFeB magnet block produced in Independence's prototype facility.

在投影片 9 上，您可以看到 Independence 原型工廠生產的未完成的燒結 NdFeB 磁鐵塊的範例。

The quality of these magnets, while not yet perfect, is already well on the way to satisfying the current EV traction motor and other target application standards.

這些磁鐵的品質雖然尚不完美，但已足以滿足目前的電動車牽引馬達和其他目標應用標準。

Importantly, this facility gives us the opportunity to experiment, iterate, learn from mistakes and ultimately succeed at a manageable scale and with rapid turnaround and feedback.

重要的是，該設施使我們有機會進行試驗、迭代、從錯誤中學習，並最終以可管理的規模、快速週轉和反饋取得成功。

With that, I will turn it back to Jim.

有了這個，我會把它轉回給吉姆。

Thanks, Michael.

謝謝，麥可。

Turning to slide 10.

轉到投影片 10。

This is a nice shot outside our corporate offices in Las Vegas.

這是我們位於拉斯維加斯的公司辦公室外拍攝的漂亮照片。

In summary, I am proud to say that the MP team delivered an outstanding quarter across all aspects of our business.

總而言之，我很自豪地說 MP 團隊在我們業務的各個方面都交付了出色的季度業績。

Today's results highlight our expanding upstream profit potential, the rapid scaling of our midstream operations with an anticipated shift to positive gross margin contribution and our downstream operations at Independence, which are poised for near-term transformative milestones.

今天的業績凸顯了我們不斷擴大的上游利潤潛力、我們中游業務的快速擴張以及預計將向正毛利率貢獻轉變的情況，以及我們在Independence 的下游業務，這些業務有望在短期內實現變革性的里程碑。

Additionally, we have significant near-term sources of cash outside our day-to-day operations, so we will remain well positioned for opportunities even amid a challenging pricing environment.

此外，我們在日常營運之外擁有大量的短期現金來源，因此即使在充滿挑戰的定價環境中，我們也將保持良好的地位以抓住機會。

Lastly, I anticipate some questions about the transformative political shift we witnessed in America this week, and I look forward to sharing my perspective.

最後，我預計會有一些關於我們本週在美國目睹的變革性政治轉變的問題，我期待分享我的觀點。

But here's the quick preview.

但這裡是快速預覽。

Tuesday's results should translate into continued strong support for MP.

週二的結果應該會轉化為對議員的持續強有力的支持。

Our mission to onshore one of America's critical supply chains aligns with the clear mandate from the American people.

我們將美國關鍵供應鏈之一陸上的使命與美國人民的明確授權一致。

Companies like MP are crucial to our nation's future.

像 MP 這樣的公司對我們國家的未來至關重要。

And now at this pivotal moment, our work really matters.

現在在這個關鍵時刻，我們的工作確實很重要。

With that, we're ready for Q&A.

至此，我們就可以進行問答了。

Operator?

操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Laurence Alexander, Jefferies.

勞倫斯·亞歷山大，杰弗里斯。

Good evening.

晚安.

This is Kevin Estok on for Laurence.

我是勞倫斯的凱文·埃斯托克。

Are you able to hear me okay?

你聽得到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Hey, Kevin.

嘿，凱文。

Okay.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

Yeah, I just wanted to know a little bit about what you're seeing or hearing in terms of demand for new robotics applications and maybe the level of interest from downstream customers and any magnetic offtake agreements and maybe whether there's any price points that would really -- you would need to really spark discussions?

是的，我只是想了解一下您在新機器人應用的需求方面所看到或聽到的情況，也許下游客戶的興趣程度和任何磁性承購協議，也許是否有任何價格點真的會——你真的需要引發討論嗎？

Thanks.

謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

This is Jim.

這是吉姆。

So on robotics, what I would say is we are seeing a ton of action in company formation and venture capital and what I would say is prototyping initial design.

因此，在機器人技術方面，我想說的是，我們在公司組建和風險投資方面看到了大量行動，我想說的是原型設計。

As far as mass production, it's still a bit early.

就量產而言，現在還為時過早。

If you've heard me kind of in the last couple of quarters, we've been talking about this is really heating up.

如果您在過去幾個季度中聽說過我的話，我們一直在談論這確實很激烈。

And I really view this as sort of a few years out kind of thing where it's really going to create a step function change.

我真的認為這是幾年後才會發生的事情，它確實會產生階梯功能變化。

But what I would say is that what we see is really accelerating.

但我要說的是，我們看到的情況確實正在加速。

I think if you had asked us two years ago about robotics, we would have said, this is a huge piece of demand that is coming in our space, but it's sort of out there.

我想如果你兩年前問我們有關機器人技術的問題，我們會說，這是我們領域的巨大需求，但它確實存在。

We don't know when.

我們不知道什麼時候。

Post sort of the AI revolution, some of the advancements that we're seeing -- and obviously, you see it all out there yourself, I'm sure, are pretty incredible, and it seems to be accelerating.

在人工智慧革命之後，我們所看到的一些進步——顯然，我確信你自己也看到了這一切，這是相當令人難以置信的，而且它似乎正在加速。

There was actually -- the other day, we tweeted a really good, if you get a chance, a good YouTube video with Marc Andreessen talking about the robotics and the robotic supply chain and how much this is accelerating.

事實上，前幾天，我們在 Twitter 上發布了一段非常精彩的 YouTube 影片（如果你有機會的話），其中 Marc Andreessen 談論了機器人技術和機器人供應鏈，以及它正在加速發展的程度。

And so anyway, that's a long-winded way of saying, we see it developing a lot.

無論如何，這是一種冗長的說法，我們看到它發展了很多。

As far as when it will start to have a material impact on demand, that's still a little bit unknown.

至於它何時開始對需求產生實質影響，目前仍然未知。

But what I would say is I do think that you'll start to see real change in the supply chain probably 18 months to 2 years before that inflection point because people will need to get their supply chains ready.

但我想說的是，我確實認為您可能會在拐點之前 18 個月到 2 年開始看到供應鏈的真正變化，因為人們需要讓他們的供應鏈做好準備。

And the scale of demand for robotics, you may have heard me kind of talk about this before.

對於機器人技術的需求規模，您可能之前聽過我談論過這個問題。

But if you look at the actuators in humanoid robotics in particular, our estimation is anywhere from 2 to 5 times the amount of magnetic content versus an EV.

但如果您特別關注人形機器人中的執行器，我們估計磁性含量是電動車的 2 到 5 倍。

And so if you do believe sort of the musk, et cetera, view of billions of robots, what you realize is that this market is substantially larger than the EV market and the content per unit is substantially larger.

因此，如果您確實相信馬斯克等人對數十億機器人的看法，您就會意識到這個市場比電動車市場大得多，而且每單位的內容也大得多。

So we think it's a huge theme for us.

所以我們認為這對我們來說是一個巨大的主題。

And then the last thing I would just say, particularly given the fact that robots are in our homes and our factories, the national security element to this is pretty huge.

然後我要說的最後一件事，特別是考慮到機器人在我們的家庭和工廠中，國家安全因素是相當巨大的。

And so -- and in fact, that video, that webcast that we tweeted a few days ago from Andresen talks a lot about this.

事實上，安德烈森幾天前在推特上發布的影片、網路廣播討論了很多關於這一點的內容。

But when we think about EVs and how much of that supply chain we lost in robotics, I think that there's a big push from people in the node to make sure that we have this supply chain here because of the national security importance.

但是，當我們考慮電動車以及我們在機器人技術中損失了多少供應鏈時，我認為由於國家安全的重要性，節點中的人們大力推動確保我們在這裡擁有這條供應鏈。

And so I think it will -- as this heats up over the next year, I think it's going to really highlight the importance of what we're doing.

所以我認為，隨著明年這種情況的升溫，我認為這將真正凸顯我們正在做的事情的重要性。

Understood.

明白了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And this is Ryan.

這是瑞安。

One thing I'd add on that, that I think is interesting is when we think about robotics, obviously, there's commercial applications.

我想補充的一件事是，我認為有趣的是，當我們考慮機器人技術時，顯然，它有商業應用。

But as we think about national security implications as well and applications, an important element to the development of the domestic market in the US is DFARS compliance.

但當我們考慮國家安全影響和應用時，美國國內市場發展的一個重要因素是 DFARS 合規性。

So a necessity for those that are in the defense supply chain to be purchasing magnets all the way back basically to the mine site that have been manufactured in the United States.

因此，對於國防供應鏈中的那些人來說，有必要從美國製造的礦場一直購買磁鐵。

And so there are very few companies that are positioned to execute on that the way that we are.

因此，很少有公司能夠像我們一樣以這種方式執行。

And on top of that, I think the thing that we've seen develop across robotics and national defense applications is one of the benefits of our structure is we don't have sort of this innovator's dilemma where we've got off-the-shelf product mixes that we need to sell into.

最重要的是，我認為我們所看到的機器人技術和國防應用的發展是我們結構的好處之一，就是我們不會遇到這種創新者的困境，我們已經擺脫了-我們需要銷售的貨架產品組合。

We can work with the actuator and motor designers to maximize manufacturability and minimize cost of the magnets.

我們可以與執行器和馬達設計人員合作，最大限度地提高可製造性並最大限度地降低磁鐵的成本。

And those are conversations that we have ongoing as we speak that I think position us very well to execute on this.

這些是我們在發言時正在進行的對話，我認為我們非常有能力執行此任務。

Okay.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And just my second question, I just wanted to get a sense of your team's maybe read on the political landscape.

我的第二個問題是，我只是想了解您的團隊對政治格局的解讀。

I mean just after this week's election, any change in the mix of Senators or Congress people that are more likely or less likely to engage in maybe critical materials and potentially a magnet Bill after this week's election?

我的意思是，就在本週的選舉之後，參議員或國會議員的組合是否有任何變化，他們更有可能或不太可能在本週的選舉後參與可能是關鍵材料和潛在的磁石法案？

Sure.

當然。

This is Jim.

這是吉姆。

What I would say is, I think this week's election, it's a really overwhelming mandate.

我想說的是，我認為本週的選舉確實是壓倒性的授權。

I mean, I think the key takeaway from the election is that, obviously, the America First agenda is very focused on the American worker on bringing -- on helping support the people who really build this stuff in this country.

我的意思是，我認為這次選舉的關鍵收穫是，顯然，「美國優先」議程非常關注美國工人的貢獻——幫助支持在這個國家真正建立這些東西的人。

And so I think it was not only a sort of a very broad spectrum of people who've come together to really form what is now this America First approach.

因此，我認為，不僅僅是一群非常廣泛的人聚集在一起，真正形成了現在的「美國優先」方針。

And I think it's really -- historically, both sides of the aisle are focused on jobs and onshoring.

我認為，從歷史上看，兩黨都專注於就業和外包。

But I think now we have sort of the next piece of this, which is an overwhelming mandate from the American people.

但我認為現在我們已經有了下一個部分，這是美國人民壓倒性的授權。

And so I think -- and particularly given that it was a Red wave, and so it is sort of the House, the Senate and President Trump will be able to really drive an agenda.

所以我認為——特別是考慮到這是一場紅色浪潮，因此眾議院、參議院和川普總統將能夠真正推動議程。

And I think it's hard to know what shape it's going to come in because particularly with President Trump, he's very effective at negotiating these things and getting to an outcome, but you never know sort of where that's going to go.

我認為很難知道它會採取什麼形式，因為特別是對於川普總統，他在談判這些事情並取得結果方面非常有效，但你永遠不知道事情會走向何方。

And so we don't know if it's going to be via tariffs.

所以我們不知道是否會透過關稅來實現。

We don't know if it's going to be via tax policy.

我們不知道這是否會透過稅收政策來實現。

But there's absolutely no doubt that industry champions like ours, which are in the critical materials, national security supply chain, bringing jobs back to America, we are sort of in the center of exactly the type of companies that people want to support in.

但毫無疑問，像我們這樣的產業冠軍，在關鍵材料、國家安全供應鏈中，將就業機會帶回美國，而我們正是人們想要支持的那種公司的中心。

And what I would say is also we operate in -- we have three main sites of operation.

我想說的是，我們的營運地點也是——我們有三個主要營運地點。

We operate in a blue state, we operate in a red state and in a purple state.

我們在藍色狀態下運行，我們在紅色狀態下運行，在紫色狀態下運行。

And so our people are operators, electricians, maintenance workers, engineers.

我們的員工包括操作員、電工、維修工、工程師。

I mean it really is sort of the center of what we're trying to get help.

我的意思是，這確實是我們尋求幫助的中心。

And then the last point I'll make on this is we've sort of said repeatedly over the last few years, we really -- we like to compete against China.

我要說的最後一點是，我們在過去幾年反覆說過，我們真的——我們喜歡與中國競爭。

We think they're an incredibly tough competitor.

我們認為他們是一個非常強大的競爭對手。

We want to compete against them, but we want a level playing field.

我們想與他們競爭，但我們想要一個公平的競爭環境。

And I think the thing that has been missed in certain industries like ours specifically is that we don't have that.

我認為在像我們這樣的某些行業中，我們所忽略的就是我們沒有這樣的東西。

So this is not an academic argument about whether tariffs are good or not or this is we don't currently compete in a level playing field.

因此，這不是關於關稅是否好或不好的學術爭論，也不是我們目前沒有在公平的競爭環境中競爭。

And so to the extent that policy is driven to leveling that playing field for companies like us.

因此，政策的驅動力是為像我們這樣的公司創造公平的競爭環境。

It's -- I think it's going to be particularly awesome for our opportunity set in the coming few years.

我認為這對我們未來幾年的機會來說將是特別棒的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Matt Summerville, DA Davidson.

馬特·薩默維爾，檢察官戴維森。

Hey.

嘿。

Can you hear me okay, guys?

夥計們，你們聽得到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Yeah, we hear you.

是的，我們聽到了。

Okay.

好的。

Cool.

涼爽的。

Sorry, it's the first time I've done a call in this format.

抱歉，這是我第一次以這種格式撥打電話。

Anyways, you mentioned some gross margin positivity, I believe, out of the refining business in Q1.

無論如何，我相信您提到了第一季煉油業務的一些毛利率。

Any sort of prognostication on when that business can become EBITDA positive, assuming a sort of similar pricing environment today?

假設今天的定價環境類似，何時該業務能實現 EBITDA 正值有什麼預測嗎？

Yeah, Matt, it's a great question.

是的，馬特，這是一個很好的問題。

I think the thing to think about is when you're comparing our results on a consolidated basis, for the Mountain Pass assets.

我認為需要考慮的事情是，當您在綜合基礎上比較帕斯山資產的結果時。

Obviously, the faster we go on the midstream, the more we're pulling away high gross margin concentrate from sales, right, and obviously, significant gross profit that we generate from those sales.

顯然，我們進入中游的速度越快，我們就越能從銷售中撤出高毛利率的集中，顯然，我們從這些銷售中產生的顯著毛利。

And so there is sort of the push-pull, right?

所以存在某種推拉關係，對吧？

And the faster you go, you're sacrificing those margins.

你走得越快，你就會犧牲這些利潤。

I think the important thing that we saw this quarter with the growth in production and continued progress on cost structure is this line of sight that we guided to.

我認為本季我們看到的重要事情是我們所引導的視線，即產量的成長和成本結構的持續進步。

Certainly, if we're sort of messaging confidence in positive gross profit in exiting Q1, I would expect that positive EBITDA for that business is not too far behind it, but it just depends on all of the different factors that go into driving production growth and driving cost out of the system.

當然，如果我們對第一季的正毛利充滿信心，我預計該業務的正 EBITDA 不會太遠，但這僅取決於推動產量成長的所有不同因素並將成本從系統中剔除。

If you look at our EBITDA in totality, looking out for 2025, certainly, if we're hitting our targets here for gross margin positive on the separation side, we obviously will continue to have some amount of concentrate sales that continue to be very profitable.

如果你從整體上看我們的EBITDA，展望2025 年，當然，如果我們在分離方面實現了毛利率為正的目標，那麼我們顯然將繼續擁有一定量的濃縮物銷售，這些銷售將繼續非常有利可圖圖。

And then we will move into profitability on magnetics.

然後我們將轉向磁性材料的獲利能力。

And so you put all of that together and you look at a full year period, and we're pretty excited about the compares that we'll have in '25 versus '24.

所以你把所有這些放在一起，看看全年，我們對 25 年與 24 年的比較感到非常興奮。

Got it.

知道了。

And then as a follow-up, I want to make sure I understand, on a sequential basis, it sounds like there's going to be a pause or a flattish sort of quarter-on-quarter level of NdPr production.

然後，作為後續行動，我想確保我理解，按順序來看，镨镨產量似乎會出現暫停或季度環比水平持平。

I want to make sure I understand what's driving that.

我想確保我明白是什麼推動了這一點。

And then similarly, what's going to drive what Michael described as kind of a nice jump then in Q1?

同樣，什麼會推動邁克爾所說的第一季的良好跳躍？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sure, Matt.

當然，馬特。

I'll do the finance side of it, and I'll let Michael explain the operations.

我將負責財務方面的工作，然後讓麥可解釋營運情況。

But the simple answer is it's really about uptime.

但簡單的答案是，這確實與正常運作時間有關。

We had one of our longest shutdowns in October, as Michael referenced.

正如麥可所提到的，十月是我們停工時間最長的月份之一。

And so as we continue to hit our stride throughout the quarter in Q3, we necessitated a pause as we do our maintenance shutdown in October.

因此，當我們在第三季度整個季度繼續取得進展時，我們需要暫停一下，因為我們在 10 月進行了維護關閉。

And then, of course, when you come out of that and in that shutdown process, we introduce optimizations, new pieces of equipment, et cetera, et cetera, into the operation.

當然，當你走出困境並在關閉過程中時，我們會在操作中引入最佳化、新設備等等。

As we ramp back up, we introduce a bit of instability.

當我們恢復成長時，我們會引入一些不穩定因素。

And so it's one of those issues where again, taking a snapshot in time of just a quarter always is difficult in a ramp like this.

因此，這是其中一個問題，在這樣的斜坡上，在四分之一的時間內拍攝快照總是很困難。

But I think behind those headline numbers are going to be real proof points of progress, and that will show itself through much better in Q1, obviously.

但我認為這些標題數字背後將是真正的進步證據，顯然，這將在第一季表現得更好。

But Mike, any other specifics you'd add on to that?

但是麥克，您還有其他細節要補充嗎？

There's one other thing to add is just as part of some of the shutdowns we have to de-inventory part of the circuit.

還有一件事要補充，就是作為一些停工的一部分，我們必須去庫存部分電路。

So we have to rebuild that, that WIP to some extent when we restart.

因此，當我們重新啟動時，我們必須在某種程度上重建該 WIP。

Overall, we're seeing better uptime, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we expect that to continue.

總體而言，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們看到正常運行時間更長，我們預計這種情況將持續下去。

And as we sort of stabilize that, we'll look to increase the throughput.

當我們穩定這一點時，我們將尋求增加吞吐量。

And I expect that to take more effect in the first quarter.

我預計這將在第一季產生更大的效果。

As we address one issue previously underappreciated other challenges emerge and we address those.

當我們解決一個以前未被充分重視的問題時，就會出現其他挑戰，我們會解決這些挑戰。

But we're very confident that as we enter into the new year, we'll see a new highs.

但我們非常有信心，隨著進入新的一年，我們將看到新高。

Thanks, Michael.

謝謝，麥可。

Greg Jones, BMO.

格雷格瓊斯，BMO。

Hi, good afternoon, everyone.

嗨，大家下午好。

Can you hear me?

你聽得到我嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Great.

偉大的。

So I had two questions.

所以我有兩個問題。

The first is regarding the 45x production tax credit.

第一個是關於 45 倍生產稅收抵免。

Obviously, understanding the finalized rules were just recently announced.

顯然，了解最終規則是最近才宣布的。

But do you have a view on what the potential annual dollar amount of the credit could be as you move into next year and beyond?

但是，當您進入明年及以後時，您是否對潛在的年度信貸金額有什麼看法？

Sure, Greg.

當然，格雷格。

I'll take that.

我會接受的。

The short answer is significant.

簡短的回答很重要。

But the details are important, obviously, of the new final regs.

但顯然，新的最終法規的細節很重要。

And most importantly, one of the critical elements of this, that is a bit unique is we need to utilize our tax cost of goods sold in the calculation, not our book cost of goods sold.

最重要的是，其中一個有點獨特的關鍵要素是我們需要在計算中使用我們的銷售商品的稅務成本，而不是我們的銷售商品的帳面成本。

And there are a tremendous number of nuances that often are not always calculated until a certain period of time, et cetera, et cetera.

並且存在大量的細微差別，通常直到某一段時間才被計算出來，等等。

I think the high level is as follows.

我認為高層次如下。

You've sort of seen the impact over the last couple of quarters in our filings on what the benefit has been.

您已經在我們的文件中看到了過去幾季對收益的影響。

At a high level, we were estimating that the impact with the preliminary regs would effectively cut the impact in half versus what the ultimate sort of 10% of production cost should look like.

在較高層面上，我們估計初步法規的影響將有效地將影響減少一半，而最終的生產成本應為 10%。

And so since we're not providing a COGS estimate or outlook right now, I think the simple answer is we expect it to be just about 10% of our cost of goods sold for the fully integrated operations of products that are qualifying, i.e., NdPr oxide.

因此，由於我們現在沒有提供 COGS 估計或展望，我認為簡單的答案是，我們預計它僅為符合資格的產品的完全集成運營所售商品成本的 10% 左右，即，氧化镨镨。

So a really important and beneficial change.

這是一個非常重要且有益的改變。

Our view has always been on this type of production tax credit.

我們的觀點一直是這種類型的生產稅收抵免。

It is something that I think works to really incentivize a lot of the things that Jim spoke about a few moments ago and so as we move into new Congress, we're hopeful that as these things get looked at, frankly, we think there should be more.

我認為這確實可以激勵吉姆剛才談到的很多事情，因此當我們進入新國會時，我們希望當這些事情得到考慮時，坦率地說，我們認為應該有更多。

The best way to incentivize new production is to continue to drive these sorts of things that reward scaled producers like us and incentivize continued growth in the business.

激勵新生產的最佳方式是繼續推動此類活動，獎勵像我們這樣的規模生產商，並激勵業務持續成長。

That's great.

那太棒了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And then the second question, more of a macro one.

然後是第二個問題，更多的是宏觀問題。

There's been some media reports around events that are happening in Myanmar and some of the issues that are going on in the country there that seem to be impacting supply chains and exports from the country.

有一些媒體報告了緬甸正在發生的事件以及該國正在發生的一些問題，這些問題似乎正在影響該國的供應鏈和出口。

Do you see or experience any impact on your business or the potential for higher prices or increased demand for MP's products as a result?

您是否看到或經歷過對您的業務產生任何影響，或者由此可能導致價格上漲或對 MP 產品的需求增加？

Sure, Greg.

當然，格雷格。

So just to level set, so everyone knows, Myanmar does represent a significant amount of supply that goes from the border region of Myanmar into China.

因此，就水平而言，眾所周知，緬甸確實代表著從緬甸邊境地區進入中國的大量供應。

There have been reports that some of the mining there has been shut down.

有報道稱，那裡的一些採礦業已被關閉。

There's an opposition group to the military that now controls that territory.

現在有一個反對軍方的組織控制著那片領土。

There's obviously a lot of noise around that, and any supply impact can certainly create volatility.

顯然，這方面存在著許多噪音，任何供應影響肯定會造成波動。

I think something that is sort of more medium and longer term associated with that because, of course, when it comes to kind of near-term prices, I'm always going to give you my answer of it's commodities prices, who knows.

我認為與此相關的是更中長期的事情，因為當然，當談到短期價格時，我總是會給你我對大宗商品價格的回答，誰知道呢。

But I do think that given that the -- that area of the country is more in the control of people from that area of the country, there is going to be a greater push for more environmental production because -- and you can certainly Google this, the production in that area is particularly bad, has caused particularly big health problems and there's not much oversight there.

但我確實認為，考慮到該國的那個地區更多地受到來自該國該地區的人們的控制，將會更大程度地推動更多的環境生產，因為——你當然可以在谷歌上搜索到這個，那個地區的生產特別糟糕，造成了特別大的健康問題，而且那裡沒有太多的監管。

And so to the extent that people of that area are getting more control of that, I do think that, that will be a natural restriction on supply, particularly just illegal bad for the world kind of supply that hurts people.

因此，如果該地區的人們對此有更多的控制權，我確實認為，這將是對供應的自然限制，特別是對世界範圍內傷害人民的非法供應。

And so I think it is a -- certainly without a clue of kind of how that impacts markets in the short term, in the medium and long term, I do think it will create some upward pressure on pricing to be more normalized for what is the cost of real production.

因此，我認為這當然不知道短期內如何影響市場，但從中長期來看，我確實認為這會給定價帶來一些上行壓力，從而使價格更加正常化。

And the last thing I would say is pricing in these markets does tend to -- it's not like oil where there's essentially a 24/7 market.

我要說的最後一件事是，這些市場的定價確實傾向於——它不像石油，本質上是一個 24/7 的市場。

This is somewhat of an esoteric market.

這是一個有點深奧的市場。

And so sometimes you will see things like that.

所以有時你會看到類似的事情。

And actually, the price reaction can occur in one month or two or three or never.

實際上，價格反應可能會在一個月、兩個月或三個月內發生，也可能永遠不會發生。

But the point is, I think actually that my guess is that if there is sort of a material impact, it's not -- certainly not in the price yet.

但重點是，我認為實際上我的猜測是，如果存在某種實質影響，那麼肯定還沒有體現在價格中。

And so that could be something in the near term that creates a lot of upward volatility or it may be -- it may not, I have no clue.

因此，這可能會在短期內造成很大的上行波動，也可能——也可能不會，我不知道。

But I think in the medium term, it's a bullish development for the space.

但我認為從中期來看，該領域的發展是樂觀的。

And lastly, obviously, it highlights the importance of supply chain security once again.

最後，顯然，它再次凸顯了供應鏈安全的重要性。

Great.

偉大的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Bill Peterson, JPMorgan.

比爾彼得森，摩根大通。

Yeah.

是的。

Hi, good afternoon.

嗨，下午好。

Thanks for taking my questions.

感謝您回答我的問題。

Maybe on the flip side of supply, I'm wondering if you can walk us through some of what you're seeing on the end markets in terms of demand against the backdrop that pricing on NdPr has kind of been flat for about two months now.

也許在供應的另一面，我想知道您是否可以向我們介紹一下您在終端市場上看到的一些需求情況，背景是镨镨的定價近兩個月來一直持平。

We've heard of some green shoots and then restocking, destocking.

我們聽說出現了一些復甦，然後重新進貨、去庫存。

Trying to get a sense of where you're seeing in terms of the end market demands?

想了解您對終端市場需求的看法嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Just as a reminder, when we think about demand in the space, remember that roughly 30% of demand is sort of high-growth electrification, EVs, hybrids.

提醒一下，當我們考慮該領域的需求時，請記住大約 30% 的需求是高成長的電氣化、電動車和混合動力車。

And then the other 70% is our sort of standard old line correlated with Chinese manufacturing industries, power tools, HVAC, et cetera.

另外70%是我們與中國製造業、電動工具、暖通空調等相關的標準舊線。

What I would say is, certainly, over the last 18 months, the Chinese macro situation has been very tough.

我想說的是，當然，過去18個月裡，中國的宏觀情況非常嚴峻。

We've mentioned in very recent months, certainly, it is stable.

我們最近幾個月已經提到過，當然，它是穩定的。

I mean if you look at -- prices have been stable for a while.

我的意思是，如果你看一下——價格已經穩定了一段時間。

I think in our parlance, it's been kind of bouncing around the bottom for a number of months now.

我認為用我們的話來說，幾個月來它一直在底部反彈。

I think the big wildcard will be in recent weeks, there's an enormous amount of stimulus that has been announced in China.

我認為最大的通配符將是最近幾週，中國宣布了巨額刺激措施。

Obviously, it's too soon to tell what the real impact of that will be.

顯然，現在判斷其真正影響還為時過早。

But again, not seeing it in the price yet, I don't think it's determinant of whether or not it's a material impact because I think that these things do tend to happen on a lag, and you may have heard us say this before, but -- with respect to rare earth prices, the joke in the industry is they're either going up or they're going down.

但同樣，還沒有在價格中看到它，我不認為它是是否產生實質性影響的決定因素，因為我認為這些事情確實往往會滯後發生，你可能以前聽我們說​​過這一點，但是，就稀土價格而言，業內的一個笑話是它們要么上漲，要么下跌。

Of course, we've been stable for about a year.

當然，我們已經穩定了大約一年。

But my guess is that if there is some Chinese stimulus that works its way through the system over the coming months, there will be a moment where there's just sort of a volatile upward reaction, but who knows?

但我的猜測是，如果中國的一些刺激措施在未來幾個月透過整個系統發揮作用，那麼某個時刻就會出現波動性的上行反應，但誰知道呢？

And then lastly, I would say, and I referenced this, if you caught this remark in the prepared remarks, but we have seen -- and it's tough for me.

最後，我想說，如果你在準備好的發言中註意到這句話，我引用了這一點，但我們已經看到了——這對我來說很難。

I can't be too specific, but I would say there's been a few sort of recent reach-outs, et cetera, that lead us to believe that there is kind of an uptick coming.

我不能說太具體，但我想說最近有一些接觸，等等，這讓我們相信會有某種程度的上升。

But again, it's anecdotal, and we wait, and I guess, for lack of a better way to say it, pray for higher prices, of course, but that's pretty much the background.

但同樣，這只是軼事，我們等待，我想，由於缺乏更好的方式來表達，當然，祈禱更高的價格，但這幾乎是背景。

Yeah.

是的。

Thanks for that.

謝謝你。

And I wanted to kind of double-click on a comment you were talking about earlier about the number of customers requesting products from your midstream side.

我想雙擊您之前談論的有關從中游方面請求產品的客戶數量的評論。

Is there any way to kind of quantify where these customers are requesting samples, what geographies are coming from?

有什麼方法可以量化這些客戶索取樣品的地點、來自哪些地區？

What markets they represent?

他們代表什麼市場？

And I guess maybe importantly, are most of these engagements are customers outside of China?

我想也許重要的是，這些業務中的大部分都是中國以外的客戶嗎？

So great question.

很好的問題。

You may have heard us mention this, but it's worth repeating for sure.

您可能已經聽我們提到過這一點，但確實值得重複一遍。

We now sell effectively directly to three of the five largest OEMs in the world, non-Chinese.

我們現在有效地直接向全球五家最大的原始設備製造商中的三家（非中國製造商）進行銷售。

So think of household names that you know, OEMs, and that was a really interesting development for us in sort of in the recent, call it, past six months or year, where if you recall kind of a few years ago, back when we went public, we -- there was a lot of talk of, gee, we'll -- when we were sort of in the height of the COVID supply chain issues, are the OEMs going to care?

因此，想想你所知道的家喻戶曉的名字，原始設備製造商，這對我們來說是一個非常有趣的發展，在最近，稱之為過去六個月或一年，如果你還記得幾年前，當我們上市後，我們——有很多討論，哎呀，我們——當我們正處於新冠供應鏈問題最嚴重的時候，原始設備製造商會關心嗎？

Are they going to reach up the supply chain?

他們會向供應鏈上游延伸嗎？

And we're seeing that.

我們也看到了這一點。

That is a real thing that -- it's not just a real thing.

這是一個真實的事情——它不僅僅是一個真實的事情。

It has happened, right?

它已經發生了，對吧？

And so now we have direct relationships with the largest OEMs that you would know.

因此，現在我們與您所知道的最大的原始設備製造商建立了直接關係。

And what I would say is those are material.

我想說的是，這些都是物質的。

And so I think that particularly given that we've been sort of bouncing around a down cycle in our space, the fact that those relationships have commenced is a good thing if we expect demand in electrification, hybrids and ultimately, robotics to pick up eventually or just basic Chinese macro, power tools are nice, too.

因此，我認為，特別是考慮到我們的領域一直在下降週期中徘徊，如果我們預計電氣化、混合動力以及最終機器人技術的需求最終會回升，那麼這些關係已經開始是一件好事或只是基本的中文宏，電動工具也不錯。

So it's a good development, and that's already occurred.

所以這是一個很好的發展，而且已經發生了。

Ben Kallo, Baird.

本卡洛，貝爾德。

Hi.

你好。

Congratulations on all the progress.

祝賀所有的進展。

Jim, when you talk about your initial production at the magnet facility and then be able to provide samples, I might be confused, but I thought everything was sold to GM.

吉姆，當你談到你在磁鐵工廠的最初生產，然後能夠提供樣品時，我可能會感到困惑，但我認為所有東西都賣給了通用汽車。

Is it going to others or just samples of several different types of magnets going to GM?

是送給其他人還是只是將幾種不同類型磁鐵的樣品送給通用汽車？

Or are you looking for other customers as well?

還是您也在尋找其他客戶？

Yeah, I think we've been clear the preponderance of our volumes are spoken for at this point.

是的，我想我們已經很清楚，我們的大部分銷量都已經在這一點上得到了體現。

And so our main focus, of course, is executing for our foundational customer, which is General Motors.

因此，我們的主要重點當然是為我們的基本客戶（通用汽車）執行任務。

What I think is important, though, is some of the conversations that I mentioned earlier, in various industries, not just automotive, continue to go on.

不過，我認為重要的是我之前提到的一些對話，在各個行業，而不僅僅是汽車行業，仍在繼續進行中。

I think Jim said it many times before, we are not demand constrained.

我想吉姆之前已經說過很多次了，我們不受需求限制。

We are supply constrained.

我們的供應有限。

And so from that perspective, we continue to have, I think, very healthy dialogue across industries.

因此，從這個角度來看，我認為我們將繼續在各行業之間進行非常健康的對話。

In terms of qualification and metal deliveries, et cetera, our focus is certainly on General Motors for the moment, but we continue to engage with a lot of potential other customers.

在資格和金屬交付等方面，我們目前的重點當然是通用汽車，但我們將繼續與許多潛在的其他客戶合作。

And Ben, this is Jim, just adding on to that.

本，這是吉姆，只是補充一下。

I mean, if you look, given that we get essentially no credit for the business currently, obviously, our first and foremost focus is on executing for GM as it would be regardless.

我的意思是，如果你看一下，考慮到我們目前基本上沒有從這項業務中獲得任何榮譽，顯然，我們的首要重點是為通用汽車執行任務，因為無論如何。

But longer term, some of these trends that we talked about, specifically around robotics and national security items, which I think are going to head into a fever pitch next year, particularly given the new mandate in government.

但從長遠來看，我們討論的一些趨勢，特別是圍繞機器人技術和國家安全項目的趨勢，我認為明年這些趨勢將變得狂熱，特別是考慮到政府的新任務。

I think what you'll see is that our facility is well positioned to kind of -- and hopefully, you'll come see it sometime soon.

我想您會看到我們的設施位置優越，希望您很快就能來參觀。

But we'll be -- we're well positioned there to be able to produce for a variety of customers over time to the extent that we want to grow the business.

但我們會——我們在那裡處於有利地位，能夠隨著時間的推移為各種客戶生產，達到我們希望發展業務的程度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And Jim, on the policy front, you mentioned not being on a level playing field.

吉姆，在政策方面，你提到沒有處於公平的競爭環境。

As you talk to representatives and the administration, what is kind of on your wish list?

當您與代表和政府交談時，您的願望清單上有什麼？

Or how do you want to try to get on a level playing field if you had your wish?

或者，如果您有願望，您想如何嘗試進入公平的競爭環境？

Sure.

當然。

Yes, sure.

是的，當然。

I mean, that's a tough question because regardless of the wish, I think that this -- there'll be a lot of iterations to how this plays out with respect to tariff and tax credits and however it shakes out, obviously.

我的意思是，這是一個棘手的問題，因為無論願望如何，我認為這——在關稅和稅收抵免方面如何發揮作用以及如何產生影響，顯然都會有很多迭代。

But to more directly answer your question, for example, we -- if we're competing against a competitor else on the other side of the world that doesn't have a cost of capital, right?

但為了更直接地回答你的問題，例如，如果我們正在與世界另一端沒有資本成本的競爭對手競爭，對嗎？

That's a challenge.

這是一個挑戰。

If it's in rare earth separation, we're competing against a competitor that doesn't have a cost of reagents, that's a challenge.

如果是在稀土分離領域，我們正在與沒有試劑成本的競爭對手競爭，這是一個挑戰。

It depends on sort of where in the stream that you are to specifically target.

這取決於您要具體定位的流中的位置。

But I think that whether it's an enhancement of tax credits or tariff-related policy or simply what Ryan mentioned earlier with defense policy starting Jan 1 of '27, we're going to be -- we are effectively probably the only or if not the only, one of the only sources for a lot of the defense supply chain under the new requirements.

但我認為，無論是加強稅收抵免或關稅相關政策，還是瑞安之前提到的從 27 年 1 月 1 日開始的國防政策，我們實際上可能是唯一的，或者如果不是唯一的只是，在新要求下，許多國防供應鏈的唯一來源之一。

And so there's a variety of things that I think are going to accelerate our business.

因此，我認為有很多事情將加速我們的業務發展。

My guess is, though, that there's going to be some grand bargain of some kind that will drive something that will help our business.

不過，我的猜測是，將會有某種重大的討價還價，這將推動一些有助於我們業務的事情。

I just don't know what it is.

我只是不知道那是什麼。

So I don't even know what specifically to wish for.

所以我甚至不知道具體想要什麼。

Okay.

好的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes the question-and-answer portion of today's call.

今天電話會議的問答部分到此結束。

I will now hand the call back to Mr. Litinsky for closing remarks.

我現在將把電話轉回給利廷斯基先生做總結發言。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Well, thank you, everyone.

嗯，謝謝大家。

Obviously, as the execution results show, this was just an outstanding quarter across the business.

顯然，正如執行結果所示，這是整個業務表現出色的季度。

I'm really proud of the team.

我真的為這個團隊感到自豪。

And so we will get back to work and look forward to seeing you all next quarter.

因此，我們將重新開始工作，期待下個季度與大家見面。