MP Materials Corp. (MP) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the MP Materials First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

各位好，感謝您稍候。歡迎參加 MP Materials 2022 年第一季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）

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

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人——投資人關係主管 Martin Sheehan。請開始。

Thank you, operator, and good day, everyone. Welcome to MP Materials First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. With me today from MP Materials are Jim Litinsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Rosenthal, Chief Operating Officer; and Ryan Corbett, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，接線員，各位好。歡迎參加 MP Materials 2022 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的 MP Materials 團隊成員包括：董事長兼執行長 Jim Litinsky；營運長 Michael Rosenthal；以及財務長 Ryan Corbett。

Before we get to our opening remarks, 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.

在進入開場致詞之前，提醒各位，今天的討論將包含與未來事件及預期相關的前瞻性陳述，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存在重大差異的因素，已載於今日簡報、財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 the appendix to today's presentation and earnings release. Any reference to our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA.

此外，我們在本次簡報中納入了一些非 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，可在今日簡報與財報新聞稿的附錄中找到。今天討論中任何提及 EBITDA 之處，均指調整後 EBITDA。

Finally, the earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

最後，財報新聞稿與投影片簡報已公布於我們的網站。接下來我把電話交給 Jim。Jim？

Thanks, Martin, and thank you all for joining us this afternoon. We had a great first quarter. I'll get to the highlights in just a moment, followed by Ryan's review of the financial and KPI details. I'll come back to update you all on our progress on Stages 2 and 3, and then we'll open it up to Q&A.

謝謝，Martin，也感謝各位今天下午加入我們。我們第一季表現非常出色。我稍後會先說明重點，接著由 Ryan 檢視財務與 KPI 細節。我會再回來向各位更新第二階段與第三階段的進度，然後開放問答。

So let's get started on Slide 4. In the quarter, we produced more than 10,800 metric tons and sold more than 11,700 metric tons of REO. That represents a year-over-year growth in production and sales volumes of 10% and 20%, respectively.

那我們從投影片第 4 頁開始。本季我們生產超過 10,800 公噸，並銷售超過 11,700 公噸的 REO。這分別代表產量與銷量年增 10% 與 20%。

Operational execution, cost management and market pricing are what drive our financial performance. We executed well throughout the quarter, maintained cost discipline and benefited from higher realized prices. This resulted in record financial performance.

營運執行、成本管理與市場定價是驅動我們財務表現的關鍵。我們整季執行到位、維持成本紀律，並受惠於較高的實現價格，因而創下創紀錄的財務表現。

Revenue was up 177% year-over-year to $166.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA was up 301% to $132.3 million. Our adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 23 points to 80%, and we earned $0.50 per share in adjusted diluted EPS, an increase of 285%.

營收年增 177% 至 1.663 億美元。調整後 EBITDA 年增 301% 至 1.323 億美元。我們的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴張 23 個百分點至 80%，調整後稀釋每股盈餘為 0.50 美元，成長 285%。

These are exceptional results, particularly when we consider the global and industry backdrop. We have seen wide reporting this earnings season of companies in our sector having challenges around production and costs. Our team continues to focus on consistency and continuous improvement in our flotation process while keeping uptimes at world-class levels. We do not take logistics for granted. We continue to overcome challenges with suppliers, shipping and labor. All these efforts combined with strict cost discipline means we are positioning MP to improve per ton economics over time.

這些都是非常卓越的成果，尤其是在考量全球與產業大環境之下。本次財報季我們廣泛看到同業在產量與成本方面面臨挑戰。我們團隊持續專注於在維持世界級開工率的同時，提升浮選流程的一致性並持續改善。我們不會把物流視為理所當然；我們持續克服供應商、航運與勞動力方面的挑戰。上述努力再加上嚴格的成本紀律，意味著我們正讓 MP 得以隨時間推進而改善每噸經濟效益。

We also certainly benefited from strong market prices for NdPr in the quarter. In February, NdPr exceeded $170 a kilogram. With our rare earth distribution of nearly 16% NdPr, our realized pricing for concentrate is highly correlated to the market price of NdPr oxide as it is the vast majority of the contained REO value.

我們在本季也確實受惠於 NdPr 的強勁市場價格。2 月時，NdPr 價格曾超過每公斤 170 美元。由於我們的稀土組成中 NdPr 佔比接近 16%，我們精礦的實現價格與 NdPr 氧化物的市場價格高度相關，因為 NdPr 佔所含 REO 價值的絕大部分。

Putting it all together, we generated significant cash from operations during the quarter. Our Stage I business generated over $133 million in normalized free cash flow. After completing our offtake agreement and making substantial investments towards our downstream expansion, we still generated $71 million in free cash flow during the quarter.

綜合來看，我們本季由營運產生了可觀的現金。我們第一階段業務創造超過 1.33 億美元的常態化自由現金流。在完成包銷（offtake）協議並對下游擴張進行大量投資之後，我們本季仍創造了 7,100 萬美元的自由現金流。

MP is in an attractive economic position. We are generating free cash flow and strengthening our balance sheet while investing in high return on capital growth opportunities that will transform our business.

MP 目前處於具吸引力的經濟位置。我們在投資高資本報酬的成長機會、推動業務轉型的同時，也持續創造自由現金流並強化資產負債表。

I should note, though, for those not following us closely, recent NdPr pricing has pulled back from the February highs. Recent geopolitical developments are an obvious primary driver of the current macro market concerns, specifically the Russian invasion of Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China. We do not see much of a direct idiosyncratic connection between the Ukraine situation and the rare earth industry, but I can provide some insights into impacts from the COVID lockdowns in China.

不過我也要提醒一下，對於沒有密切關注我們的朋友，近期 NdPr 價格已自 2 月高點回落。近期地緣政治發展顯然是當前總體市場疑慮的主要驅動因素，特別是俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭以及中國的 COVID 封控。我們不認為烏克蘭局勢與稀土產業之間存在太多直接的特定關聯，但我可以就中國 COVID 封控的影響提供一些看法。

There are 2 ways that COVID countermeasures implemented in China could potentially impact our business. The first is potential congestion or bottlenecks in global transportation. While the Shanghai port was recently closed, we generally do not ship significant volumes through Shanghai as there are no major rare earth refiners in the province. Should other ports become more congested as ships transit through Shanghai or divert from Shanghai to offload or pick up products. It could ultimately cause delays in ports that we do use more regularly. We have not experienced any significant issues on this to date. We will continue to monitor this situation, as you would expect.

中國實施的 COVID 防疫措施可能透過兩種方式影響我們的業務。第一，是全球運輸可能出現擁塞或瓶頸。雖然上海港近期曾關閉，但我們通常不會經由上海出貨大量貨物，因為該省並無主要稀土精煉商。若其他港口因船舶經由上海轉運，或自上海改道以卸貨或裝載產品而變得更為擁塞，最終可能導致我們較常使用的港口出現延誤。到目前為止，我們尚未在此方面遇到任何重大問題。我們將如各位所預期般持續監控此情況。

Secondly, as you may have heard, certain major EV manufacturing facilities in China have shut down or significantly slowed production at times. This and other resulting supply chain issues in China are clearly disruptions that might be impacting near-term NdPr pricing. But as this dynamic unfolds, shipping bottlenecks or shutdown issues are ultimately short term in nature.

第二，如各位可能聽說的，中國某些主要電動車製造基地曾一度停工或大幅放緩生產。這點以及中國其他衍生的供應鏈問題，顯然可能正在影響 NdPr 的短期定價。但隨著此動態發展，航運瓶頸或停工問題本質上終究是短期的。

I would also add that there were some reports a couple of months back that the Chinese government was encouraging rationality in the market, likely trying to address inflationary pressures on downstream businesses, including magnetics companies, component manufacturers and OEMs. What we have historically seen with this kind of rhetoric is a short-term blip with limited transactions at lower prices, followed by a return to the forces of supply and demand.

我也補充一下，幾個月前曾有報導指出中國政府鼓勵市場保持理性，可能是試圖緩解下游企業的通膨壓力，包括磁材公司、零組件製造商與 OEM。我們過去在這類措辭下所看到的情況是：短期出現小幅波動、以較低價格成交的交易有限，之後又回到供需力量所主導。

In fact, according to Morgan Stanley Research, 4 of the top 10 OEMs in year-to-date market share for global battery electric vehicle sales are Chinese OEMs. This means that the Chinese industry needs to incentivize a lot more materials production just as Western industry does, in the coming years.

事實上，根據摩根士丹利研究（Morgan Stanley Research），今年迄今全球純電動車銷售市占前十大 OEM 中，有 4 家是中國 OEM。這意味著在未來幾年，中國產業與西方產業一樣，都需要激勵更多材料產出。

As I have said many times, prices will do what they will do in the short term, but we are in the early innings of the transition to electrification across the global economy. This is very bullish for rare earths demand and MP's prospects, even as real global growth appears to be retreating amidst a very challenging geopolitical and economic landscape.

我已多次提到，短期內價格會如何變動就讓它變動，但我們仍處於全球經濟電氣化轉型的早期階段。這對稀土需求與 MP 的前景非常利多，即便在極具挑戰的地緣政治與經濟環境下，全球實質成長似乎正在退卻。

Speaking of transitions, we continue to make parallel progress across Stages II and III during the quarter. Stage II construction is ramping and on track and construction of our initial magnet facility in Texas is also underway. I'm going to cover Stages II and III in more detail after Ryan's remarks.

談到轉型，本季我們在第二階段與第三階段也持續並行推進。第二階段建設正在加速推進且進度如期，而我們在德州的首座磁材工廠也已動工。我會在 Ryan 發言後，更詳細說明第二階段與第三階段。

So with that, I will turn it over to Ryan to discuss our financials and KPIs in more detail. Ryan?

那麼接下來我把時間交給 Ryan，請他更詳細地說明我們的財務與 KPI。Ryan？

Thanks, Jim. Turning to Slide 6. I'll provide some extra color on some of our key metrics. Starting with production volumes, which is on the bottom left of the chart, as Jim mentioned, this was another really strong result for the company. We've seen a general upward trend in the percentage of rare earths we are recovering through technology, reagent testing and plenty of trial and error. Importantly, we believe that there are additional process improvements and equipment upgrades we can make to continue to drive those recovery percentages higher over the long term, but these improvements are never in a straight line. And as we've discussed previously, the priority remains our preparation for Stage II.

謝謝，Jim。請看投影片第 6 頁。我會就幾項關鍵指標補充一些說明。先從產量開始，也就是圖表左下角。如 Jim 所提，這又是公司非常強勁的成果。我們看到透過技術、藥劑測試以及大量試錯，我們回收的稀土比例呈現整體上升趨勢。重要的是，我們相信仍有額外的製程改善與設備升級可在長期持續推升回收率，但這些改善從來不會是一條直線。如同我們先前討論過的，當前優先事項仍是為第二階段做準備。

Moving to shipments. The team did a great job getting some of the inventory from prior quarters to the port in addition to the majority of what we produced in the quarter, driving a roughly 20% increase in both the year-over-year and the quarter-over-quarter shipment volumes.

接著看出貨。團隊做得非常好，除了將前幾季的部分庫存運至港口外，也運出了本季生產的大部分產品，帶動出貨量無論年增或季增皆約提升 20%。

With regards to realized pricing on the top right of the chart, Jim covered this well in his opening remarks, I would just point out that our realized pricing is generally closely correlated to the spot price of NdPr per metric ton in RMB adjusted downwards for the 13% Chinese VAT impact.

至於圖表右上角的實現價格，Jim 在開場致詞已說明得很完整；我只想指出，我們的實現價格通常與以人民幣計價、每公噸 NdPr 現貨價格高度相關，並會向下調整以反映中國 13% 增值稅（VAT）的影響。

There is also roughly a 1-month lag due to the timing of the contracts and actual shipments, but that lag can move around based on both domestic logistics and the situation overseas. As Jim mentioned, NdPr pricing hit a recent high in late February, so we expect to see the impact of lower recent pricing flowing through to our Q2 realized price.

由於合約簽訂與實際出貨時點的關係，另外也大約存在 1 個月的滯後期，但該滯後會因國內物流以及海外情勢而有所變動。如 Jim 所提，NdPr 定價在 2 月下旬觸及近期高點，因此我們預期近期較低的價格將在第二季反映到我們的實現售價上。

And lastly, our production costs remained solid in the quarter, this graph is on the bottom right of the slide. These costs associated with Stage I continue to be very consistent in the $1,300 to $1,400 per metric ton range. And we're actually down about 5% versus last year's first quarter and roughly equal sequentially when excluding the investments we are making in future growth that hit our P&L.

最後，本季我們的生產成本維持穩健，該圖表位於投影片右下角。與第一階段（Stage I）相關的成本持續非常一致，約落在每公噸 1,300 至 1,400 美元的區間。若排除我們為未來成長所做、並計入損益表的投資，實際上相較去年第一季約下降 5%，且與前一季大致持平。

Given the inflation in the marketplace, we are really pleased with the team's ability to offset higher costs with increased efficiencies. On a reported basis, including the costs associated with advanced hiring and commissioning for Stage II, reported production costs were up about 8% year-over-year and 5% quarter-over-quarter. These costs associated with Stage II totaled about $290 per metric ton in the quarter. This compares to roughly $120 in the prior year period. The $290 per metric ton includes the incremental cost of operating our combined heat and power plant as well as Stage II-related hiring ahead of commissioning.

考量市場通膨，我們對團隊能以效率提升來抵銷成本上升感到非常滿意。以報表口徑計算，包含與第二階段（Stage II）提前招募與試車（commissioning）相關的成本後，報告生產成本年增約 8%、季增 5%。本季與第二階段相關的成本合計約為每公噸 290 美元；相較之下，去年同期約為 120 美元。每公噸 290 美元包含我們熱電共生（combined heat and power）電廠的增量營運成本，以及在試車前為第二階段所進行的相關招募成本。

As we've talked about on prior calls, the combined heat and power plant is critical for Stage II because of the significant increase in power needed for processes like roasting, leaching and separations. Having our own natural gas fed plant will significantly reduce our per unit power costs once Stage II is operational as well as ensure a more stable source of power.

如同我們在先前電話會議中提到的，熱電共生電廠對第二階段至關重要，因為焙燒、浸出與分離等製程所需電力將大幅增加。擁有自有的天然氣供應電廠，將在第二階段投產後顯著降低我們的單位用電成本，並確保更穩定的電力來源。

Bringing the power plant and associated water treatment plant online early were strategically important to ensure we have plenty of time to troubleshoot the equipment, hone our processes and give our employees invaluable time and experience in operating the plant prior to Stage II commissioning. Right now, the CHP plant has to run at certain minimum power output for operational improvement compliance and as such, is currently generating excess power versus Stage I needs, which we are primarily dissipating to our load banks.

提前讓電廠及其配套的水處理廠上線，在策略上非常重要，能確保我們有充足時間排除設備問題、精進流程，並讓員工在第二階段試車前獲得寶貴的操作時間與經驗。目前，熱電共生（CHP）電廠為符合營運改善的合規要求，必須以一定的最低出力運轉，因此目前相較第一階段需求產生了多餘電力，我們主要透過負載箱（load banks）將其消耗掉。

The excess cost from this temporary inefficiency represents a little less than half of the $290 impact in the quarter, which will, of course, continue for the next few quarters until the Stage II separation facilities are commissioned. This type of investment in our processes ahead of Stage II commissioning minimizes operational risks, and the strong execution of our team in integrating two new complex operations further highlights our capabilities in recommissioning site infrastructure, which will be essential as we bring Stage II online at the end of the year. As I mentioned, the other portion of the $290 per metric ton impact is related to advanced hiring in preparation for Stage II.

這種暫時性低效率所造成的額外成本，占本季每公噸 290 美元影響的略少於一半；當然，在第二階段分離設施完成試車前，這種情況將在未來幾季持續。這類在第二階段試車前對流程的投資可降低營運風險，而團隊在整合兩項新的複雜作業上的強勁執行力，也進一步凸顯我們在重新啟用場址基礎設施方面的能力；這將在我們於年底讓第二階段上線時至關重要。如我所提，另一部分每公噸 290 美元的影響，與為第二階段做準備的提前招募有關。

I'll turn to Slide 7 and just focus on 2 points that we haven't already discussed. First, we achieved 80% adjusted EBITDA margins in the quarter, a truly impressive number, thanks to the strong production volumes and cost discipline, allowing us to continue to benefit from the leverage in our business model from strong market pricing. The strength of our margins speaks to our enviable position on the cost curve.

我將切到投影片 7，並只聚焦在我們尚未討論的兩點。第一，本季我們達成 80% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率，這是非常令人印象深刻的數字，得益於強勁的產量與成本紀律，使我們能在市場價格強勢時，持續受惠於商業模式的營運槓桿。我們利潤率的強勁表現，反映出我們在成本曲線上的優勢地位。

And second, on the chart on the bottom right, we now show adjusted diluted earnings per share instead of adjusted net income like in prior quarters. We'll show it this way going forward. Either way highlights the same thing: MP's impressive progression and profitability over the past year.

第二，在右下角的圖表中，我們現在改為呈現調整後稀釋每股盈餘，而非如前幾季呈現調整後淨利。未來我們將持續以此方式呈現。無論採用哪種方式，所凸顯的重點相同：MP 在過去一年令人印象深刻的成長軌跡與獲利能力。

As a reminder, we issued a convert in Q1 of 2021. Our average diluted share count, therefore, includes the impact of the shares underlying these bonds as if converted into common stock. For Q1 of this year, our diluted GAAP share count totaled 193.49 million shares, which includes approximately 15.6 million shares from the assumed conversion of the convert.

提醒一下，我們在 2021 年第一季發行了可轉換公司債。因此，我們的平均稀釋股數包含這些債券所對應、假設轉換為普通股的股份影響。今年第一季，我們的 GAAP 稀釋股數合計為 1.9349 億股，其中包含約 1,560 萬股，係假設該可轉債轉換所致。

With this, I will remind analysts and investors making enterprise value calculations, utilizing our diluted GAAP share count that they must also remember to reduce our debt by the gross $690 million in convertible notes as those notes are assumed to be fully converted into common shares as we report it under GAAP.

因此，我要提醒以 GAAP 稀釋股數來計算企業價值的分析師與投資人：既然在 GAAP 下我們假設這些票據已全數轉換為普通股，你們也必須記得將我們的負債減少可轉換票據的總額 6.90 億美元。

Turning to the cash flow discussion on Slide 8. You can see that when we adjust for the growth CapEx as well as make the adjustment for the offtake paydown, we generated roughly $133 million of normalized Stage I free cash flow in the quarter. That's an impressive 80% of our revenues.

接著看投影片 8 的現金流討論。你可以看到，當我們就成長資本支出（growth CapEx）進行調整，並同時調整承購（offtake）償還的影響後，本季我們產生約 1.33 億美元的第一階段（Stage I）常態化自由現金流。這相當於我們營收的約 80%，表現相當亮眼。

I would point out that our maintenance capital for Stage I operations remains very modest with the preponderance of maintenance costs flowing through our P&L. And regarding the offtake, as of the end of February, we had completed the paydown of the balance under our prior offtake agreement. And as we briefly mentioned on our last call, we did look at several other potential offers both via direct purchases and via distributors to most effectively market our significant volume of concentrate.

我想指出，我們第一階段營運的維護性資本支出仍然非常有限，絕大多數維護成本會直接反映在損益表中。至於承購安排，截至 2 月底，我們已完成先前承購協議項下餘額的償還。並且如我們在上次電話會議中簡要提到的，我們也評估了其他幾個潛在方案，包括直接採購以及透過經銷商，以便最有效地行銷我們可觀的精礦出貨量。

In balancing the significant in-place logistics and our desire to both maximize realized pricing and minimize operational risk, we decided to enter into a follow-on arrangement with Shenghe to distribute our current products to end customers in China as we simultaneously work to complete Stage II. Under this new contract, Shenghe will remain the exclusive reseller of our concentrate in China although we will maintain our direct relationships with certain third-party customers who we currently sell to directly, including certain Japanese customers who process our material in China. We will continue to foster our direct sales relationships as we prepare for the transition to Stage II oxide sales but maintain the flexibility to distribute separated products via this arrangement should we choose to.

在權衡既有且成熟的物流體系，以及我們希望同時最大化實現售價並將營運風險降至最低的目標後，我們決定與盛和（Shenghe）簽訂後續安排，由其在我們同步完成第二階段（Stage II）的期間，將我們目前的產品分銷給中國的終端客戶。依據新合約，盛和仍將是我們精礦在中國的獨家轉售商；不過，我們將維持與部分第三方客戶的直接關係，這些客戶目前由我們直接銷售，包括部分在中國加工我們材料的日本客戶。我們將持續深化直接銷售關係，為第二階段氧化物銷售的轉換做準備；同時也保留彈性，若我們選擇如此，仍可透過此安排分銷分離後產品。

And with that, I'll turn it back over to Jim. Jim?

接下來我把時間交還給 Jim。Jim？

Thanks, Ryan. Let's turn to Slide 10 to discuss our parallel progress on downstream expansion in the quarter.

謝謝，Ryan。我們來看投影片 10，討論本季我們在下游擴張方面的並行進展。

The Stage II work has reaccelerated on site. We have substantially completed engineering and procurement for the light rare earth separation's portions. Our EPC is entering the peak of construction with a ramp in craft labor on site, including iron workers, pipe fitters, millwrights and electricians. They've also recently implemented a night shift to further accelerate work. We are also making progress on heavy rare earth separations.

第二階段（Stage II）的現場工作已重新加速。我們已基本完成輕稀土分離部分的工程設計與採購。我們的 EPC 正進入施工高峰期，現場技工人力正在增加，包括鋼構工、配管工、機械安裝工（millwrights）與電工。他們近期也導入夜班以進一步加快進度。我們在重稀土分離方面也持續取得進展。

These processes will leverage existing facilities and significant shared infrastructure with other parts of our operation. The existing light-heavy separation line will be expanded to include certain individual separations, and the retired cracking building will be used for additional separation and product finishing. We have begun to demo the existing interior equipment, particularly in the legacy leaching and cracking building in preparation for the installation of new separations and finishing equipment.

這些製程將利用既有設施，並與我們營運的其他部分共享大量基礎設施。現有的輕重稀土分離線將擴增，以納入部分單一元素分離；而已退役的裂解（cracking）廠房將用於額外的分離與產品精製。我們已開始拆除既有的室內設備，特別是在傳統的浸出與裂解廠房內，為安裝新的分離與精製設備做準備。

Moving on to Stage III. The picture on the right is a nice overhead of the grounds being prepared to build our initial magnetics facility in Fort Worth. Last month, we held a formal ceremony at the site to celebrate the beginning of construction with more than 100 government and civic leaders. We are grateful for the strong bipartisan showing of support from local, state and federal officials.

接著談第三階段（Stage III）。右側照片是正在整地、準備在沃斯堡（Fort Worth）興建我們首座磁材工廠的場地俯瞰圖。上個月，我們在現場舉行正式典禮，與超過 100 位政府與地方領袖共同慶祝動工。我們感謝地方、州與聯邦官員展現強而有力的跨黨派支持。

General Motors also joined us at the ceremony so we could share the great news that we had executed our definitive long-term supply agreement, making them our foundational automotive customer. GM also brought a GMC Hummer EV, which looks awesome. We look forward to supplying magnets for it as well as many other GM models across the Ultium platform.

通用汽車（General Motors）也出席了典禮，讓我們能分享已簽署具約束力的長期供應協議這項好消息，使其成為我們汽車領域的基礎客戶。GM 也帶來一輛 GMC Hummer EV，看起來非常出色。我們期待為它以及 Ultium 平台上的許多其他 GM 車型供應磁體。

We have commenced procurement for Stage III long lead equipment and are also accelerating hiring for the facility. We have a number of job openings in Fort Worth currently, most of which are technical opportunities. So if anyone listening is interested or knows of someone who might be interested in helping us bring this supply chain home, please get in touch.

我們已啟動第三階段（Stage III）長交期設備的採購，也正在加速該設施的人才招募。目前我們在沃斯堡有多個職缺，其中多數為技術類職位。若有任何正在收聽的人有興趣，或認識可能有興趣協助我們把這條供應鏈帶回國內的人，請與我們聯繫。

As you've heard me say before, talent begets talent, scale begets scale. We are building an integrated magnetics national champion that should make all Americans proud. So join us. And on that note, I am very proud of the culture we continue to build at MP. Our operational results this quarter in such a challenging landscape are further evidence of our maniacal focus on execution.

如同你們之前聽我說過的：人才帶來人才，規模帶來規模。我們正在打造一個整合式的磁材國家級領軍企業，應該能讓所有美國人感到自豪。所以加入我們。也藉此機會，我對 MP 持續打造的企業文化感到非常自豪。在如此具挑戰的環境下，我們本季的營運成果進一步證明了我們對執行力近乎偏執的專注。

This past month marked 2 years without a lost time injury. To celebrate our team for this fantastic and critical milestone, we just issued a special onetime safety appreciation bonus to all nonexecutive employees at MP. Keeping people safe and building the right culture requires long-term commitment. We've been at this for a while now, and we hope that our passion for our mission is infectious. We believe that the work we are doing is important to all of us. And as we look around the world, we could not feel more conviction.

過去一個月標誌著我們已連續 2 年未發生導致停工的工傷事故。為了慶祝團隊達成這項卓越且關鍵的里程碑，我們剛向 MP 所有非主管級員工發放了一次性的安全感謝獎金。確保人員安全並建立正確的文化需要長期承諾。我們已經投入一段時間了，也希望我們對使命的熱情能夠感染他人。我們相信我們正在做的工作對我們所有人都很重要。而當我們放眼全球時，我們的信念只會更加堅定。

Just like the semiconductor issue before it, the tragedy in Ukraine is another bold reminder of the risks of capturing short-term savings in exchange for enormous and sometimes even existential long-term liabilities. Several countries in Europe are seeing the severe consequences of relying on Russia for so much of their natural gas needs. We should all heed these warnings, especially as the stakes seem to be rising. A single-sourced outside region for an entire supply chain is a significant risk.

就像先前的半導體問題一樣，烏克蘭的悲劇再次強烈提醒我們：以換取短期節省為代價，可能會承擔巨大的、甚至攸關存亡的長期負債風險。歐洲多國正看到過度依賴俄羅斯供應其大量天然氣需求所帶來的嚴重後果。我們都應該引以為戒，尤其是在風險似乎不斷升高之際。整條供應鏈若依賴單一來源且位於外部地區，將是重大風險。

The good news is that the evolution of the electrification economy offers enormous opportunity. The pie is growing across the globe. Even in challenging times, we can build and benefit for years to come. And I am hopeful that this is one of the areas where it does not need to be a zero-sum between adversaries. We can succeed while also helping bring about more security and sustainability.

好消息是，電氣化經濟的演進帶來了巨大的機會。全球市場的「餅」正在變大。即使在充滿挑戰的時期，我們仍能打造並在未來多年受益。我也希望這會是其中一個不必在對立方之間進行零和競爭的領域。我們可以在成功的同時，也協助帶來更高的安全性與永續性。

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

那麼，接線員，讓我們開放提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Matt Summerville.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Matt Summerville。

Maybe a couple on production and production costs. So with production costs, Ryan, how should we be thinking about that $290 a ton number as we're now sitting here in Q2? And then how should we think about how that ramps in Q3 and Q4 if it is indeed going to ramp further from here? And then I have a follow-up.

我想問幾個關於產量與生產成本的問題。關於生產成本，Ryan，我們現在在第二季，應該如何看待每噸 290 美元這個數字？如果確實會從現在起進一步爬升，那麼在第三季與第四季應該如何看待它的上升幅度？我還有一個追問。

Ryan, go ahead.

Ryan，你先請。

Matt, on the $290, I think that at this point what that represents, as I called out, is some of the incremental costs that we experienced for running the combined heat and power plant at its current level, which is in excess of the power requirements for Stage I. So certainly, I would expect that portion to hang around in a relatively similar fashion throughout the rest of the year.

Matt，關於 290 美元，我認為目前這個數字所代表的，如我先前提到的，是我們在目前水準運行熱電共生（CHP）電廠所產生的一些增量成本，而該運行水準高於第一階段（Stage I）的用電需求。因此，我預期這一部分在今年剩餘時間會以相對類似的方式持續存在。

And then as we continue to build the team for Stage II ahead of commissioning, I would say that the levels that we're at will probably slightly increase throughout the year. These folks that we're talking about that are embedded in our P&L at this point are -- represent, for example, a much increased maintenance crew and all the things that you would expect us to be bringing on ahead of commissioning of these assets.

另外，隨著我們在投產（commissioning）前持續為第二階段（Stage II）擴編團隊，我會說我們目前的水準在今年內可能會略有上升。我們現在已經反映在損益表（P&L）中的這些人員——例如，代表著大幅擴充的維修團隊，以及你會預期我們在這些資產投產前需要陸續增補的各項人力。

There are specific members of the team that we'll be bringing on, for example, operators for certain circuits that won't fall into our COGS measure immediately if they're not actively participating in the shared infrastructure of the site. And so I'd expect you to see an increase in those folks as well as a slight increase over the period of this year going into the start of production at the end of the year and early next year, both in the production number and outside of the production number.

我們也會增補團隊中的特定成員，例如某些迴路（circuits）的操作員；如果他們尚未實際參與場址的共用基礎設施運作，則不會立刻計入我們的銷貨成本（COGS）衡量中。因此，我預期你會看到這些人員增加，並且在今年期間、直到年底及明年初開始投產之前，無論是在產量指標內或產量指標之外，相關人力都會略為增加。

Got it. And then as a follow-up, I think, Ryan, in your remarks, you had mentioned that long-term production out of Stage I still has room for upside via upgrades, some of the investments you could be making. Maybe give a little bit more detail on how we should be thinking about that timing and otherwise, bearing in mind that you're laser-focused on Stage II now, and I certainly understand that.

了解。接著追問一下，我想 Ryan，在你的發言中你提到第一階段的長期產量仍有透過升級、以及你們可能進行的一些投資來提升的空間。能否再多提供一些細節，讓我們理解在時程等方面應該如何看待？我也理解你們現在非常專注在第二階段。

And then I'd be curious as to -- as we sit here today, where are the biggest Stage I bottlenecks that would keep you from really pushing that envelope further?

另外我也想了解——以目前來看，第一階段最大的瓶頸在哪裡，會讓你們無法把產能再往上推到更高的極限？

Yes, you want to have Michael take Stage I and then you can finish up, Ryan?

是的，你要讓 Michael 先回答第一階段的部分，然後你再補充嗎，Ryan？

Exactly. Mike, you're probably best positioned to give some color there.

沒錯。Mike，你應該最適合在這裡提供一些說明。

Sure. Thanks for the question. The law of diminishing marginal returns certainly applies to our concentrate operation, as with anything else. But I think as we've said in the past, or I have said maybe, I'm increasingly optimistic about the opportunity to apply known technology and additional automation to improve our recovery, our grade and our throughput potential. Some of these more game-changer opportunities are not likely to be implemented this year. This year we'll be more focused on incremental improvements.

好的。謝謝你的問題。邊際報酬遞減法則當然也適用於我們的精礦（concentrate）作業，就像任何事情一樣。不過我想，正如我們過去所說——或許是我說過——我對於運用既有成熟技術與更多自動化來提升回收率、品位（grade）以及處理量（throughput）潛力的機會，越來越樂觀。其中一些更具顛覆性的機會，今年不太可能落地；今年我們會更專注於漸進式改善。

In terms of where the bottlenecks are, mining is certainly not a bottleneck. So it is in the processing operations. We continue to increase the throughput slightly in order to see if we can identify where those is. I would say, right now more in the grinding circuit is where we anticipate initial bottlenecks, although we haven't reached there yet. But we see opportunities to do things that will open that up.

至於瓶頸在哪裡，採礦當然不是瓶頸，所以瓶頸在選礦／處理作業。我們持續小幅提高處理量，以便找出瓶頸所在。我會說，目前我們預期最先出現瓶頸的地方更可能在磨礦迴路（grinding circuit），雖然我們還沒真正到達那個點。但我們看到有一些機會可以採取措施來打開那個限制。

So long term, I see pretty tremendous opportunity to improve the quality and quantity of our concentrate production.

因此從長期來看，我認為提升精礦產量的品質與數量都有相當可觀的機會。

And then I would just add, Matt, you kind of said this in your question, but as you can imagine, as we gear up in preparation for the rest of the year for getting Stage II online, obviously, that's our primary focus. And there'll be a lot of activity on the site for that. And of course, getting that done properly and safely is our primary focus as the year unfolds.

我再補充一下，Matt，你在問題裡其實也提到了：如你所想像，隨著我們在今年剩餘時間為第二階段上線做準備，顯然那是我們的首要重點。現場也會因此有大量活動。當然，隨著今年推進，最重要的是把這件事做對、並且安全地完成。

Got it. And then I'm just going to sneak one more in real quick. Any change in timing for this year's Stage I maintenance outages, normal scheduled maintenance, are we still looking at Q2 in Q4 or has that changed at all?

了解。那我再快速塞一個問題。今年第一階段的維修停機（maintenance outages）、例行排程維護的時點有沒有變動？我們仍然是看第二季與第四季嗎？還是有任何改變？

No change. But Ryan, if you want to cover anything on that from an operating standpoint or financial standpoint, but no change.

沒有變動。不過 Ryan，如果你想從營運或財務角度補充也可以，但時程沒有變。

Yes. that's right. And we actually just completed a very successful turnaround here last week and no change to the schedule versus last year. So the year-over-year compares will be lined up as opposed to how they looked in 2021.

是的，沒錯。而且我們其實在上週剛完成一次非常成功的大修（turnaround），排程相較去年沒有變動。因此，與去年同期的比較會對齊，而不像 2021 年那樣。

And our next question is from Carlos De Alba.

下一個問題來自 Carlos De Alba。

Good quarter. I just had a question -- some questions. But the first one maybe is related to the inventory situation that you currently have. You shipped a little bit more than you could use. You're going to have the maintenance -- or you had the maintenance outage already in the second quarter. How should we -- what should we look for in terms of production maybe, what color you can give us, production and shipments for the fourth quarter, given those 2 situation?

這一季表現不錯。我有一個問題——其實是幾個問題。第一個可能跟你們目前的庫存狀況有關。你們出貨量比你們能使用的稍多一些。你們在第二季將有維修——或者你們已經在第二季完成維修停機。就這兩個情況而言，我們在第四季的產量方面應該如何看待？你們能否提供一些說明，關於第四季的生產與出貨？

And then coming back to your comments about the potential disruption on port and logistics that is happening in China. What are the ports or the key ports that -- to where you ship your material? If you can share that, that would be awesome.

另外回到你們提到中國港口與物流可能出現的干擾。你們主要把材料運到哪些港口、或關鍵港口是哪些？如果你能分享，那就太好了。

Yes. Sure. Ryan, why don't you take the first part? And then, Michael, you take the second part about the ports, and then I'll come back at the end.

好的，當然。Ryan，你先回答第一部分；然後 Michael，你回答第二部分關於港口；最後我再做補充。

Sure. Carlos, good to hear from you. On thinking about production, obviously, we don't give specific production guidance. I think what Matt just asked applies here in terms of the timing of the maintenance outages and then comparing year-over-year. Q2 last year had a similar maintenance outage. And so I would look to sort of the cadence of production from last year as indicative in terms of the impact from a maintenance turnaround.

好的。Carlos，很高興聽到你的提問。談到產量，顯然我們不提供具體的產量指引。我想 Matt 剛才問的問題也適用於此，也就是維修停機的時點以及與去年同期的比較。去年第二季也有類似的維修停機。因此，我會把去年的產量節奏視為維修大修對產量影響的參考。

And then from an inventory perspective, obviously, we were able to get some of the slight inventory that had built up in transit to the port over the course of the quarter in addition to the preponderance of our production. The shipping situation, as you can imagine, continues to evolve. I think we were pleased with our ability to get material to port this quarter, but it is always in fits and starts. And so I don't think there's anything really specific at this point that I would call out, just sort of the typical trends that we've seen. So nothing really there to call out in particular.

至於庫存方面，很明顯地，除了本季大部分的產量之外，我們也能把在本季期間、運往港口途中累積的一些小幅在途庫存一併處理掉。如你所想像，航運情況仍在持續變化。我想我們對本季將材料運到港口的能力感到滿意，但整體仍是時好時壞。因此，目前我沒有什麼特別具體需要點出的，只能說大致上仍是我們所見到的典型趨勢，所以沒有特別要強調的。

Mike, do you want to take the rest of it?

Mike，你要把剩下的部分接著說嗎？

Sure. Yes. In terms of ports that we ship to, the primary ones are in Tianjin, Qingdao, [Liaodong], occasionally, Luzhou. Those are the biggest ones.

當然。是的。就我們出貨的港口而言，主要是在天津、青島、[遼東]，偶爾也會到瀘州。這些是最大的幾個。

And maybe Michael since we have you there, more or less, roughly, could you comment as to when do you expect to start trials in the concentrate of the dry and the calciner of Stage II? And can you give us a rough idea of the physical progression of completion of the Stage II project?

另外，既然 Michael 你也在，能否大致評論一下：你們預計何時開始第二期（Stage II）乾燥機與煅燒爐的精礦試運轉？以及能否給我們一個第二期專案在實體工程完成度上的大致進度？

Ryan on dates, or Ryan or Jim on dates. I can touch on the physical progress, though, in generalities. So the progress is moving along nicely. As Jim said the number of craft on-site has increased, and we're starting to add a night shift to the schedule. A lot of the civil work is complete, and steel erection -- structural steel is wrapping up in the next couple of months, we hope. That leaves piping and electrical, which are always sort of at the latter end of the project, along with the ancillary equipment. A lot of the primary equipment is installed already.

日期方面讓 Ryan 說，或 Ryan 或 Jim 來說日期。我可以就實體進度做一些概括性的說明。整體而言，進度推進得很順利。如 Jim 所說，現場工種人力已增加，我們也開始把夜班納入排程。許多土建工程已完成，鋼構吊裝——結構鋼預計在接下來幾個月內收尾。接下來是管線與電氣，這些通常都在專案後段進行，還有附屬設備。許多主要設備已經完成安裝。

And then in broad strokes, we do hope that the calciner and dryer will begin trial operations ahead of the commissioning of the rest of the facility. It's also -- sequentially in the process it comes first. So we're hoping to have that prior to commissioning the rest of the circuit, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll run it continuously at that point.

再概括來說，我們確實希望煅燒爐與乾燥機能在整體設施其餘部分正式投產（commissioning）之前先開始試運轉。這也是——在流程順序上它本來就排在前面。因此我們希望在其餘回路投產前先完成這部分，但這不一定代表屆時就會連續運轉。

Yes. Carlos, it's Jim. I believe we said on the last call that we expect to be mechanically complete by year-end and hit run rate normalized production sometime in 2023, and that remains on track. So we've made a lot of progress in the quarter.

是的，Carlos，我是 Jim。我記得我們在上次電話會議提到，預期在年底達到機械完工（mechanically complete），並在 2023 年某個時間達到常態化的滿載產能（run rate normalized production），目前仍按計畫進行。本季我們已取得很大進展。

Sounds great. And maybe one last for Ryan. Now that you have paid down the prepayment with Shenghe that you have with Shenghe -- the offtake agreement that you had with Shenghe. But you renewed the agreement, is there anything -- how do your cash flow in operations in particular is going to change now that you paid down the offtake?

聽起來很棒。最後可能再問 Ryan 一題。現在你們已償還與盛和（Shenghe）的預付款——也就是你們與盛和的承購（offtake）協議中的預付款。但你們也續約了該協議；在你們償還了承購預付款之後，營運現金流（特別是營運活動現金流）會有哪些改變？

Sure. Yes, that's one of the key benefits of transitioning into this new agreement is we do not have that balance that would result in sort of the noncash revenue portion that you had seen sort of the roughly $0.15 of every dollar that was effectively a debt paydown, but from our GAAP treatment came through operating cash flow as an offtake paydown. So that portion will go away.

當然。是的，轉換到這份新協議的一個關鍵好處是：我們不再有那個餘額，因而不會再出現你之前看到的那種「非現金收入」部分——大約每 1 美元中有約 0.15 美元實際上是在還債，但依我們的 GAAP 會計處理，會在營運現金流中以承購款償還（offtake paydown）的形式呈現。所以那一部分會消失。

The broad economics of the agreement are not dissimilar, and sort of whatever commission fees that are built into it are shown primarily on a net basis. So that's already accounted for in our realized price. And so from that perspective, the entirety of that portion of the cash flow that we have that negative impact from will go away. So all else equal, a real benefit to operating cash flow.

該協議的整體經濟條件並沒有太大差異，而其中包含的各種佣金費用主要是以淨額方式呈現，所以已反映在我們的實現價格（realized price）中。從這個角度看，我們現金流中那一段造成負面影響的部分將完全消失。因此在其他條件不變下，對營運現金流是實質利多。

Our next question is from David Deckelbaum.

下一個問題來自 David Deckelbaum。

I just wanted to confirm, Jim and Ryan. With the addition of the night shift on the construction crew, I guess is this -- was this part of the original plan? Does this result in any incremental cost? Or is this one part of the steel structural installations? Or is there assumption that you'd be having 2 crews running through the remainder of the year?

我想跟 Jim 和 Ryan 確認一下。施工團隊新增夜班後，我想問：這原本就在最初計畫內嗎？這會帶來任何額外成本嗎？還是這只是鋼構安裝的一部分？或者你們假設在今年剩餘時間會有兩組班次持續運作？

Well, I'll chime in with some thoughts and then Ryan, feel free to finish. As you can imagine, this has been -- this is a huge project. And if we kind of think back over the last few quarters, as we sort of said, we've been handling all sorts of issues in the supply chain in the world as pretty much everyone has. And so we've been kind of managing day-to-day. And certainly, as you can imagine, with so many moving parts with construction schedules. If one thing gets out of whack, you can have -- that can have repercussions on the rest of the job. And we sort of made clear that we're going to manage this in real time and make sure that we get this job done effectively on time and economically, and so we've been doing that.

我先補充一些想法，然後 Ryan 也可以再補充。你可以想像，這是一個非常龐大的專案。回顧過去幾季，我們也提過，和幾乎所有人一樣，我們一直在處理全球供應鏈的各種問題。因此我們一直在日常層面做管理。當然，如你所想，施工排程有很多變動因素；只要其中一件事偏離，就可能對其餘工作造成連鎖影響。我們也已明確表示，會即時管理，確保專案能有效率地按時、且以經濟的方式完成，我們一直在這樣做。

So it's hard to say how much of a night shift was in the original plan because it's sort of like all battle plans, good until the first shot's fired, I would say that the original plan there was -- it moves over time. But obviously, the lion's share of what you're doing is the same. And so we've been working at it.

所以很難說夜班在原始計畫中占了多少，因為就像所有作戰計畫一樣——我會說，在第一槍打響之前都很好，但之後就會隨時間調整。不過顯然，你們正在做的大部分工作本質上是一樣的，所以我們一直在推進。

So I couldn't tell you exactly if we kind of think back how much of a night shift we might have anticipated. But certainly, the night shift is helpful. And -- so we're trying to get this work done as quickly as possible.

因此我無法精確告訴你，若回頭看我們原先預期會安排多少夜班。但夜班確實有幫助——所以我們正努力盡快把工作完成。

I think we also mentioned on prior calls, we've utilized DPAS because we're a DPAS-rated project. And -- so we're trying to utilize all the levers. And then as far as budget, we remain on track with -- in the last call, we kind of gave an outline of what our expectations where you can kind of see our CapEx in the quarter, and so we feel good about where we are with respect to the project financially.

我想我們在先前的電話會議也提過，我們已運用 DPAS，因為我們是 DPAS 評級的專案——所以我們正嘗試動用所有可用的槓桿。至於預算方面，我們仍按計畫進行；在上次電話會議我們概述了預期，你也可以從本季的資本支出（CapEx）看出來，因此就專案的財務面而言，我們對目前狀況感到放心。

Appreciate that, Jim. And maybe just the renewed agreement with Shenghe for concentrate sales. I guess does it cover just concentrate sales going forward? Or would you be using Shenghe for any residual last month's sales? Or certainly, I understand you're going to be stockpiling the heavies once the NdPr separation circuit is up and running. But for, I guess, the remaining lights, would those be marketed by Shenghe?

謝謝你，Jim。再問一下與盛和續簽的精礦銷售協議。我想確認：它是否只涵蓋未來的精礦銷售？還是你們也會透過盛和處理上個月剩餘的銷售？另外我理解一旦 NdPr 分離回路啟動，你們會把重稀土先行堆存。但就剩下的輕稀土而言，是否會由盛和來行銷？

Yes. So you're right on the heavies. Ryan, why don't you address the agreement, and then I'll finish.

是的。你對重稀土的理解沒錯。Ryan，你先說明一下協議內容，然後我再補充。

Sure. So the agreement is time-based, so it's an initial term with a renewal option at the company's option. And with that, the focus obviously primarily and the take-or-pay obligation on the part of Shenghe is for the concentrate sales. As I mentioned in my remarks, we continue to distribute directly to certain customers of ours, and we'll continue to focus on building up our direct sales relationships particularly in Japan and Southeast Asian markets as well as, of course, in the U.S. and obviously continue to focus on ultimate sell-through via our downstream strategy. This particular agreement does give us the flexibility, again, at our option of distributing separated products through Shenghe into the Chinese market should we so desire.

好的。這份協議是以期間為基礎，包含一個初始期限，以及由公司選擇是否續約的選項。在此之下，重點當然主要在精礦銷售，且盛和方面的 take-or-pay（照付不議）義務也主要針對精礦。如我在發言中提到，我們仍會直接供貨給部分客戶，並將持續強化我們的直銷關係，特別是在日本與東南亞市場，當然也包括美國；同時也會持續聚焦透過我們的下游策略來實現最終銷售（ultimate sell-through）。這份協議也讓我們保有彈性——同樣由我們自行決定——若我們希望的話，可以透過盛和將分離後產品銷往中國市場。

Appreciate that. Maybe if I could lob in another one also around just contracts, but this time with GM around magnetics products and magnetic flake and Stage III. Is there a -- there is a timing target around first production or first sales there. But is there a timing element to your contractual relationship with GM as an anchor customer?

謝謝。若可以我再加問一題，也與合約相關，但這次是關於與 GM 在磁性產品、磁性薄片（magnetic flake）以及第三期（Stage III）方面的合作。你們有一個關於首次生產或首次銷售的時間目標；那麼在你們與 GM 作為錨定客戶（anchor customer）的合約關係中，是否也有時間上的條款或節點？

So great question, David. I can't get into the specifics of the contract relative to what we've disclosed, but I'll rehash that and maybe give you some extended color and go from there. But we've stated that there's sort of 2 main product components. We expect late '23 to be selling alloy to GM, and so that will come online late next year, and then 2025 is when we'll start delivering magnets to them.

David，這問題問得很好。我無法就我們已披露內容以外的合約細節多談，但我可以重申已公開的資訊，並補充一些背景說明。我們已表示主要有兩個產品組成：我們預期在 2023 年底開始向 GM 銷售合金（alloy），也就是明年年底上線；然後在 2025 年開始向他們交付磁鐵（magnets）。

You can imagine that as we -- I'll sort of step back in general terms, so I don't get very specific on single customer details, if you will. But we made very clear that we viewed the Stages II and III businesses as separate businesses. We would not rob Peter to pay to Paul, so to speak, and that we need to make the downstream investments, we need to have a setup that is an attractive return on capital for what we're undertaking and the strategic nature of our supply.

你可以想像，當我們——我先退一步用較一般性的說法，避免過度具體談單一客戶細節。我們已非常清楚地表示，我們把第二期與第三期視為兩個獨立的業務。我們不會拆東牆補西牆（so to speak），我們必須進行下游投資，並且需要一個在資本回報（return on capital）上具吸引力的配置，來匹配我們所要推動的事項以及我們供應的策略性。

So you can imagine that any agreement that we would do that fits, what I sort of very clearly stated we would do, would be long term in nature. And so I'll sort of leave you with that, but we haven't disclosed sort of specific time lines. But of course, as GM has publicly stated and has said in its press release, this is covering across the LTM platform. And so you can look at all the cool models that they have coming out and the scale of what's to come. And so there's quite a bit of demand to come as they grow their business.

因此你可以想像，任何符合我剛才非常清楚所述原則的協議，都會是長期性質。這部分我就先說到這裡；我們尚未披露具體時間表。不過，正如 GM 已公開說明並在新聞稿中提到，這涵蓋其 LTM 平台的相關布局。你可以看看他們即將推出的各種很酷的車款，以及未來的規模，因此隨著他們業務成長，後續需求相當可觀。

So I don't know, Ryan, you want to add anything on that?

所以我不知道，Ryan，你還想補充什麼嗎？

No. I completely agree with all your comments, Jim. I think you hit it. Certainly, we continue to see a lot of strong demand across the board from a variety of industries. And so I think that, to Jim's point of having the separate businesses and being sure that we are setting up contracts that certainly are meeting our customers' needs, but protecting us given the significant capital that we're putting into the ground, that's obviously something that we focus very closely on balancing.

沒有。我完全同意你所有的評論，Jim。我覺得你說到重點了。確實，我們持續看到來自各行各業的強勁需求。所以我認為，呼應Jim提到的把不同業務區隔開來，並確保我們所簽訂的合約既能滿足客戶需求，同時也能在我們投入大量資本、把資本真正投到地面上的情況下保護我們，這顯然是我們非常密切關注並努力取得平衡的事情。

The next question is from Sathish Kasinathan.

下一個問題來自Sathish Kasinathan。

My first question is actually on Stage III again. So clearly, Stage III has significant expansion potential up to 10x the current plan. So I was wondering if you could provide more color on your growth strategy. Is the priority here to first commission the Texas plant with 1,000 tons capacity, meaning any growth is more 2026 and beyond story? Or would you simultaneously consider expanding and the capacity is more of a moving target?

我的第一個問題其實又是關於第三階段（Stage III）。很明顯，第三階段具有顯著的擴張潛力，最高可達目前計畫的10倍。因此我想請你們多談一些你們的成長策略。這裡的優先順序是先讓德州工廠以1,000噸產能投產，也就是任何擴張都會是2026年及以後的故事嗎？還是你們會同時考慮擴建，使產能目標更像是一個會變動的目標？

Yes. Sathish. Well, I just want to correct one thing, which is I do not believe that just 10x of what we've stated as sort of the initial Fort Worth facility is the kind of capacity of where we can go. I think it's actually quite a bit larger than that. Certainly, our output from Mountain Pass would -- goes 10x. But I think that this industry is so dynamic. We are working in parallel. We made clear from the very beginning that we'll buy, build and/or JV to continue to grow this business. And we think we're in such an attractive area. And I would say, I mean, kind of to restate the obvious, but just given what's going on in the world, I think that the importance -- the strategic nature of what we're doing is -- just continues to strengthen by the day. So you can imagine that we're having lots of conversations.

是的，Sathish。不過我想先更正一點：我不認為我們所說的初期沃斯堡（Fort Worth）設施的10倍就是我們能達到的產能上限。我認為實際上可以比那大得多。當然，我們從Mountain Pass的產出會是10倍成長。但我認為這個產業非常動態。我們是並行推進的。我們從一開始就講得很清楚，我們會透過收購、興建和／或合資（JV）來持續擴大這項業務。我們認為我們所處的領域非常有吸引力。而且我想說，某種程度上是在重申顯而易見的事：就目前世界正在發生的事情而言，我認為我們所做事情的重要性——其戰略性——每天都在增強。所以你可以想像，我們正在進行很多對話。

And I think the main thing here is that I want to make sure that we do this in a thoughtful way. We don't want to just sign deals. We want to execute and get this done right for our customers. So I would just say that I believe that the -- if you look out longer term that the magnetics business, as we kind of see the scale of the growth opportunity exceeds sort of the 10x, which would be the next step for our existing ore body. And so we are years and billions ahead of anybody in the West.

我認為這裡最主要的是，我想確保我們以審慎的方式來做。我們不想只是簽協議；我們想要執行並把事情做對，為我們的客戶把它做好。所以我會說，我相信——如果把時間拉長來看——磁材（magnetics）業務，當我們看到成長機會的規模時，會超過所謂的10倍；而10倍其實只是我們現有礦體的下一步擴張。因此在西方，我們在時間與資本投入上都領先任何人好幾年、好幾十億。

And as I said in the prepared remarks, we believe -- if we look around at our team, we believe we are creating a Western national champion, a fully integrated national champion of magnetics, and it's a huge growth opportunity. There's a lot to execute, but we are focused on that. So...

而且如我在事先準備的發言中所說，我們相信——如果看看我們的團隊——我們相信我們正在打造一個西方的國家級冠軍，一個在磁材領域完全垂直整合的國家級冠軍，這是一個巨大的成長機會。要執行的事情很多，但我們正專注於此。所以……

And actually, it ties down to my next question. So you said that the expansion potential is even more than 10x. So it all depends on probably the third-party feedstock and recycling opportunities.

而且其實這也連到我的下一個問題。你提到擴張潛力甚至超過10倍。所以這可能都取決於第三方原料供應（feedstock）以及回收的機會。

Yes.

是的。

So any color you can provide in terms of what -- or quantify the opportunity from third-party feedstock and recycling? Or is it too early?

那你能否就第三方原料供應與回收帶來的機會提供一些說明或量化？還是現在還太早？

Yes. Well, you're right. And so when we think about the recycling and third-party capability, the whole goal with that, and that's why we have a variety of work that we've taken on in parallel, and the reason is because we believe that, that positions us both, obviously, to internally consume magnetics (inaudible) for waste from the production process, if you will, so that we can kind of have a loop for our -- closed loop for our process as well as third-party feed.

是的。你說得對。所以當我們思考回收與第三方處理能力時，整個目標——這也是為什麼我們並行推進多項工作——原因在於我們相信，這能讓我們同時具備：一方面，當然可以在內部消化磁材（inaudible）以及生產過程中的廢料（如果你這麼說的話），讓我們的流程形成一個迴圈——封閉式迴圈（closed loop）；另一方面也能處理第三方供料。

And what I would tell you is, I think as we look around, there's just so much more capital that needs to come into the space. And I think having been at this for a while, that these are hard things to bring online. And I think that there's going to be attractive opportunities for us to, frankly, provide other parties. We want to see the supply chain grow. And so I think that we can provide other parties a solution to sell an intermediate product to us.

我想告訴你的是，當我們環顧四周，這個領域還需要投入更多資本。而且以我在這個產業耕耘一段時間的經驗，這些事情要上線其實很難。我認為對我們而言，會有很有吸引力的機會，坦白說，去為其他參與者提供方案。我們希望供應鏈能夠成長。因此我認為，我們可以為其他方提供一個解決方案，讓他們把中間產品賣給我們。

Right now, obviously, the only real alternative is into China. And so to the extent that people want to build out of Western supply chain, our ability to take third-party feed is a source of competitive advantage and then frankly, to the extent that there are people who have put together a project and have underestimated the cost and the timing, we'll be there to lend a helping hand, of course. But obviously, our shareholders will demand a benefit, as we should. And so we just think it positions us really well.

目前很明顯，唯一真正的替代選項就是賣到中國。因此，只要有人想建立西方供應鏈，我們能夠接收第三方原料供應就是一項競爭優勢。坦白說，如果有人已經組建了一個專案，卻低估了成本與時程，我們當然也會在那裡伸出援手。但顯然，我們的股東會要求獲得相應的利益，這也是應該的。所以我們認為這讓我們處於非常有利的位置。

And when I say the opportunity is bigger than 10x, I just mean that the magnetics business is growing. Of course, there'll be competition out there. There needs to be a lot more. And we just think that there's a lot of opportunity. And so I just wouldn't cap the growth at what is our existing output today is the concept.

當我說機會大於10倍時，我的意思只是磁材業務正在成長。當然，市場上會有競爭；也確實需要更多供給。而我們認為機會很多。所以我不會把成長上限鎖定在我們今天既有的產出水準——概念就是如此。

Congrats on a great quarter.

恭喜你們交出一個很棒的季度。

Yes, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

And our next question is from George Gianarikas.

下一個問題來自George Gianarikas。

So maybe to start, just when you think about the landscape, and you've discussed lots of opportunities that you're working through with various third parties, is it possible for you to have a direct deal, given your Stage III ambitions for just NdPr. Is that something you'd sign a deal for? Or are you more leaning like the firm towards becoming a full magnet maker and therefore, only looking for deals for the third parties that want to buy your magnets eventually over long term?

也許先從這裡開始：當你們思考整體格局時，你們談到正在與各種第三方推進許多機會。考量你們第三階段的雄心是針對NdPr，你們是否可能簽一個直接的交易？這是你們會簽的合約類型嗎？還是你們更傾向於公司要成為完整的磁鐵製造商，因此只會尋找那些第三方最終想在長期購買你們磁鐵的交易？

Sure, George. I would say that we're opportunistic, right? We come at this originally as investors, and we think about what is sort of the most thoughtful return.

當然，George。我會說我們是機會主義的，對吧？我們最初是以投資人的角度切入，我們會思考什麼樣的回報才是最審慎、最合理的。

What I would say though is that -- and kind of just again rehashing what I said earlier, but as we think about the world today, the strategic nature of what we have is so critical that we want to grow our downstream business, right? That's just more total dollars of profit. It transforms the business. And -- so over a very long period of time, we want to just maximize the opportunity set for ourselves, but we certainly will do NdPr. We would do -- we'll do anything that makes sense. And so you could certainly see something like that from us.

不過我想說的是——也算是再重申一次我先前講的——當我們看今天的世界，我們所擁有的東西在戰略上非常關鍵，因此我們希望擴大我們的下游業務，對吧？那代表更多的總獲利美元，會改變公司的樣貌。所以在非常長的時間尺度上，我們希望把我們自己的機會集合最大化，但我們當然也會做NdPr。我們會做——我們會做任何合理的事情。所以你確實可能會看到我們做那樣的事。

And then moving on to the recent comments from the industries in China, it's -- the fall of the price of NdPr from about $170 to -- I don't know where it is now, $130, seems to have been timed and correlated perfectly with those comments. So I'm curious as to what you think the mechanism was through which that happened?

接著談到最近中國產業界的評論：NdPr價格從大約170美元跌到——我不知道現在是多少，130美元——似乎與那些評論在時間上完全同步且高度相關。所以我很好奇，你認為這背後是透過什麼機制發生的？

And second, a question we get a lot is about supply and particularly from China, that is somewhat opaque in terms of its capacity. How quickly can supply turn on -- how quickly can it turn off? I'm just curious as to whether you can share, first thing, I said about the dynamics that led to that price decline. And second, what your assessment is of the landscape in China and how quickly supply could come on the market?

第二個問題是，我們常被問到供給，特別是來自中國的供給；在產能方面相對不透明。供給能多快開出來——又能多快關掉？我想請你分享：第一，你剛才提到導致那次價格下跌的動態；第二，你對中國市場格局的評估，以及供給能多快進入市場。

Sure. Great question, George. So what I would say is this, and I touched on the kind of typically what happens, and I think this is probably an imperfect analogy, but I think we saw it about 6 months earlier in iron ore. There was a lot of speculation and the government talked it down. And then what happens is, obviously, in China, when the government says do X, there's -- we'll put it this way, there's a much higher adoption of X than there might be in the West.

當然。很好的問題，George。我會這麼說，我也提到過通常會發生什麼。我認為這可能是一個不完美的類比，但我覺得我們在大約6個月前的鐵礦石上看過類似情況。當時有很多投機，政府把價格「說下來」。接著會發生的是，顯然在中國，當政府說要做X時——我們這麼說吧——對X的採納程度會遠高於西方。

And so you typically will have a reaction where people will want to show that they're following that policy. And so you'll see some transactions happen at lower prices, but they'll typically be small amounts, and it will sort of freeze up the system, if you will, a little bit. And then a little time will go by and supply and demand will kind of come back into play. And so -- because ultimately, that's what has to happen.

所以你通常會看到一種反應：人們會想要表現出自己在遵循那項政策。因此你會看到一些以較低價格成交的交易，但通常量都不大，並且會讓整個系統在某種程度上有點「凍結」。然後過一段時間，供需會重新開始發揮作用。因為——最終必須回到供需來決定。

And so I think that this is similar in the sense that prices have moved quite a bit. There's concerns over there about inflation as there is here. And so I think that there was an attempt by some people to just demonstrate tighter pricing.

因此我認為這在某種意義上是相似的，因為價格已經大幅波動。那邊也像這邊一樣，對通膨有所擔憂。所以我認為，有些人試圖只是展現更緊的定價。

What I would say, and again, this is our -- this is the MP house perspective on this, but I said in the remarks, the 4 of the top 10 global market share battery electric vehicle producers, OEMs are Chinese OEMs. And ultimately, the Chinese need to have the material. And so there needs to be a lot more -- we need a lot more supply, right? Just if you look at the U.S. auto market alone, for example, we need -- and forget wind turbines, drones, all that stuff. Forget the rest of the world, we need 3 more Mountain Passes, right?

我想說的是，而且再次強調，這是我們——這是 MP 這邊的觀點，但我在發言中提到，全球市占前十大純電動車（BEV）生產商中，有 4 家 OEM 是中國 OEM。歸根結底，中國需要取得原料。因此必須有更多——我們需要更多供給，對吧？就算只看美國汽車市場，例如，我們需要——先不談風力發電機、無人機等那些東西。也先不談世界其他地方，我們就需要再多 3 個 Mountain Pass，對吧？

So there's just -- and I think that, that's the bigger long-term trend. And I still think the world doesn't yet fully appreciate it, especially as we now kind of head into this period of obviously, the global economy is severely challenged geopolitically given everything that's happening. I don't need to rehash that, but when we look around at these commodities in the electrification supply chain and again, whether it's copper or aluminum or any of these things, they're just -- the capital that needs to come in to expand the output and the time that it takes, there just isn't enough.

所以這就是——而且我認為，那才是更大的長期趨勢。我仍然認為世界還沒有完全理解這一點，尤其是當我們現在某種程度上進入這個時期：顯然，鑑於正在發生的一切，全球經濟在地緣政治上受到嚴重挑戰。我不需要再重述那些，但當我們環顧這些電氣化供應鏈中的大宗商品時，再次，不論是銅、鋁或任何這些東西，它們就是——需要投入以擴大產出的資本，以及所需的時間，都顯示供給根本不夠。

And I think you're seeing a lot of that in the rhetoric out of the downstream now, right? You've heard it from some of the major OEMs. And I think in our space, obviously, that is the same. And I don't expect -- it would seem illogical to me to expect the Chinese government to push to subsidize the OEM competitors of their national champion OEMs. And so if their OEMs need product and the Western world needs product, and there isn't going to be enough for everyone, then you'd imagine that it wouldn't make sense to push the prices of material down to a level where the Chinese economy was essentially subsidizing Western producers. And I think that, that is sort of the change, if you will.

而我認為你現在在下游的言論中看到了很多這種情況，對吧？你已經從一些主要 OEM 那裡聽到了。我想在我們這個領域，顯然也是一樣。我不預期——在我看來，期待中國政府去推動補貼其國家冠軍 OEM 的競爭對手，是不合邏輯的。因此，如果他們的 OEM 需要產品，而西方世界也需要產品，而且不可能每個人都夠用，那你會想像，把材料價格壓到一個等於讓中國經濟在補貼西方生產商的水準，是沒有道理的。我認為那就是某種程度上的改變。

A lot of people have trouble kind of thinking about the forward decade versus the last decade. And I think that when you think about the forward decade, this new cycle, that is sort of going to be the new dynamic is that the Chinese are not going to destroy their own environment and subsidize their competition. They've moved downstream and they're going to make sure that their OEMs have what they need.

很多人在思考未來十年相對於過去十年時會有困難。我認為當你思考未來十年、這個新週期時，新的動態大概就是：中國不會摧毀自己的環境，並補貼競爭對手。他們已經往下游移動，並且會確保他們的 OEM 擁有所需的一切。

And so anyway. Add all that up and our belief that this is a brief pause. Certainly, the world is backed up, if you will, in production shut down. But I believe it's a temporary pause. And yes, I don't know how long it is, but I do believe that prices will go materially higher from here still.

所以總之，把這些加總起來，我們相信這只是短暫的停頓。當然，可以說全球在停產方面出現積壓。但我相信這是暫時的停頓。是的，我不知道會持續多久，但我確實相信價格從這裡起仍會顯著走高。

One more, if I may, if that's okay.

如果可以的話，我再問一個，可以嗎？

Of course, yes.

當然，可以。

Just on talent. You said a plenty of time that you're trying to build a magnetics chain in the U.S. that hasn't really been done. And so how do you feel about the talent pool? I mean you have a lot of [reps], you mentioned that at the end of your talk. Are there people that you think could fill the role that you need to operate both Stages II and particularly Stage III?

就人才方面。你多次提到你正在美國打造一條以前其實沒有真正做成的磁材供應鏈。那你對人才庫的感受如何？我的意思是你有很多的 [reps]，你在演講最後也提到了。你覺得有沒有人能填補你所需要的角色，來同時運營第二階段（Stage II），尤其是第三階段（Stage III）？

Yes. There's no -- first, there's no question that there are -- there's a struggle for talent all over the place, right? We're seeing that -- I mean, pretty much every company is talking about that. But what I would say is the advantage we have is our mission really motivates people, right? And that is -- that, frankly, is a differentiating factor.

是的。首先，毫無疑問，各地都在——都在為人才而苦戰，對吧？我們也看到了——我的意思是，幾乎每家公司都在談這件事。但我想說的是，我們的優勢在於，我們的使命真的能激勵人們，對吧？而那——坦白說——是一個差異化因素。

And it's -- frankly, it's nonpolitical, right? I was at a thing -- you may have seen where the President announced our DoD contract for heavies, and we said we're going to hire a few -- actually people we're going to hire in both Mountain Pass and in Fort Worth. And so we've got a lot of hiring to do. But what we see is as what we're doing gain speed, we have a lot of talent that wants to join us because, again, whether you are on the left side of the political spectrum or the right side of the political spectrum, everybody wants more American jobs.

而且——坦白說——這是非政治性的，對吧？我之前在一個活動上——你可能看過——總統宣布了我們的國防部（DoD）重稀土合約，我們說我們將會雇用一些——其實我們會在 Mountain Pass 和 Fort Worth 兩地都招人。所以我們有很多招募要做。但我們看到的是，隨著我們正在做的事情加速推進，有很多人才想加入我們，因為再次，不論你在政治光譜的左邊或右邊，每個人都希望有更多美國工作機會。

Everybody wants to get some diversity in the supply chain. Everybody is in support of a producer that is doing things sustainably. Clearly, we don't need to rehash all of the environmental attributes of what we're doing relative to other production. And so we continue to find that there are a lot of people attracted to our mission. And so in that sort of struggle for talent out there, I think it's a source of advantage. And we just obviously want to spread the word and get as much talent as we can, but we think we'll be able to get the people that we need and we have incredible people been joining us all the time.

每個人都希望供應鏈能更具多元性。每個人都支持一個以永續方式做事的生產商。顯然，我們不需要再重述相較於其他生產方式，我們所做的一切在環境屬性上的優勢。因此我們持續發現，有很多人被我們的使命所吸引。所以在外面那種人才爭奪戰中，我認為這是一個優勢來源。我們當然希望把訊息傳得更廣、吸引盡可能多的人才，但我們認為我們能找到所需的人，而且一直都有非常優秀的人才加入我們。

Our next question is from Subhasish Chandra.

下一個問題來自 Subhasish Chandra。

This question might have been asked and it might have been answered. If it was, it went over my head. Just curious, is the structure pretty well settled now to get to Stage III with the existing GM contract? Or are you still open for additional joint ventures or partnerships to get to that point?

這個問題可能已經問過也可能已經回答過。如果是的話，我沒聽懂。只是好奇，現在要推進到第三階段（Stage III），在既有的 GM 合約下，架構是否已經相當確定了？還是你們仍然對額外的合資或合作夥伴關係持開放態度，以達到那個目標？

Well, I'm not sure I -- you want to say that one more time?

嗯，我不確定我——你能再說一次嗎？

Yes, sure. So I think you've talked about you can build by a joint venture your way to growth. I was just curious if the GM deal right now, the $700 million Stage III, the way you have it structured right now where you're bringing that pretty much on a sole basis to first production, if that is settled at this point? Or are you still open for additional joint venture?

好的，當然。所以我想你談到過，你可以透過合資一路建到成長。我只是好奇，目前這筆 GM 交易，也就是 7 億美元的第三階段（Stage III），以你現在的架構——你基本上以單獨方式把它帶到首次投產——在這個時間點是否已經定案？還是你們仍然對額外的合資持開放態度？

Yes. So -- sure. So -- well, a few things on that. The -- they are the foundational automotive customer of the Fort Worth facility, but they're not the only customer, and it's not an exclusive. And so you should expect us to want to grow -- we're here to build a magnetics business. And frankly, for them, for us, it's -- they want us to be successful. So we expect to have additional customers in that facility.

是的。所以——當然。關於這點有幾件事。——他們是 Fort Worth 設施的基礎汽車客戶，但他們不是唯一的客戶，而且也不是獨家。因此你應該預期我們會想要成長——我們來這裡是要打造一個磁材業務。坦白說，對他們、對我們而言——他們希望我們成功。所以我們預期該設施會有更多客戶。

And then as you can imagine, we're thinking about, over time, 10x and beyond, right? And so the answer is all of the above. There's nothing exclusive about that, and I think you could see additional customers. You will see additional customers in automotive as well as other verticals and in that facility and in future facilities.

然後如你所想，我們也在思考，隨著時間推進，做到 10 倍甚至更多，對吧？所以答案是以上皆是。那並沒有任何獨家性，我想你可能會看到更多客戶。你將會看到更多客戶，涵蓋汽車以及其他垂直領域，無論是在該設施或未來的設施。

So the magnetics business will be a 100% organic business for you, not interested in joint venturing in the magnetics business?

所以磁材業務對你們而言會是 100% 有機成長的業務，不打算在磁材業務上做合資？

Well, I wouldn't say that. I mean, I would say that -- I mean, certainly, as it stands today, we have an outstanding team. We're growing that team. We're building that facility. As we said on the call, we're already building that facility. But to the extent that there are interesting partnerships and other things, again, as we go back to kind of our original mission, we'll buy, build and/or JV to create value. I mean, ultimately, if we think we can execute well for our customers and create value for shareholders, we'll consider it for sure.

嗯，我不會這麼說。我的意思是，我會說——我的意思是，當然，就目前而言，我們有一支很出色的團隊。我們正在擴充那支團隊。我們正在建那座設施。正如我們在電話會議上說的，我們已經在建那座設施了。但如果有有趣的合作夥伴關係或其他事情，再次回到我們最初的使命，我們會透過收購、建置和／或合資（JV）來創造價值。我的意思是，最終如果我們認為能為客戶良好執行並為股東創造價值，我們肯定會考慮。

Okay. Got it. And then just an update, so the $700 million, you talked quite a bit about inflation, and it certainly seems like a game of inches every quarter. But how does the $700 million feel right now to you?

好的，了解。那再請你更新一下，這 7 億美元，你談了不少通膨，而且看起來每一季都是寸進。那你現在對這 7 億美元的感覺如何？

Yes. Well, what I would say is if you go back, I think I said this sometime last year, I'm forgetting. I believe it was in August kind of after our Q2 call, but it was some time about a year ago. Our expectation was that the -- I used the 1973 oil crisis analogy. And when you have a supply chain disruption -- at the time people were kind of talking about transitory. And I can tell you that internally at MP, we were very focused as we've been about making sure that we're positioning (inaudible) has been that we are in for a number of years of reverberating supply chain shocks and other. And obviously, sort of the world continues to play out that way.

是的。嗯，我想說的是，如果你回頭看，我想我在去年某個時候說過這件事，我忘了。我相信是在 8 月、我們第二季電話會議之後的某個時間點，但大概是一年前左右。我們的預期是——我用了 1973 年石油危機的類比。當你遇到供應鏈中斷——當時人們還在談「短暫的」。我可以告訴你，在 MP 內部，我們一直非常專注，就像我們一直以來那樣，確保我們在定位上（inaudible）我們將面臨數年之久、持續回響的供應鏈衝擊以及其他影響。而且顯然，世界也持續以那樣的方式發展。

What I would say is we will not be immune to inflation, right? Our employees need to have and I would demand it. We have an incredible team. We've tried to build an owner-operator culture. I want to make sure that people's real incomes grow, right, because it doesn't help if your nominal income is growing a little, but you're getting destroyed by inflation.

我想說的是，我們不可能對通膨免疫，對吧？我們的員工需要（而且我也會要求）如此。我們有一支非常出色的團隊。我們一直努力打造一種「業主—經營者」的文化。我想確保大家的實質收入能夠成長，對吧，因為如果你的名目收入只小幅增加，但卻被通膨嚴重侵蝕，那也沒有幫助。

So when people join MP, we want them to grow and do well, all of them, every single employee. And so we won't be immune to inflation. But what I would tell you is that it just actually grows our competitive advantage because our in-place assets, the scale of capital and time, again, if you even had all the stuff that we have, it just gets that much harder and that much more expensive.

因此，當人們加入 MP 時，我們希望他們都能成長並且做得很好，每一位員工都是如此。所以我們不會對通膨免疫。但我想告訴你的是，這其實會擴大我們的競爭優勢，因為我們既有資產、資本規模以及時間的累積——再說一次，即使你擁有我們所有的一切，事情也只會變得更難、成本也更高。

So I believe that if we continue in this inflationary environment, right now, I think the talk is kind of (inaudible) at peak inflation. Who knows? But I think that misses the bigger question, which is whether 8% was the -- I would argue it's probably not peak over the coming years. But even if we stabilize at 5% for a while, that's still a lot more inflation than we've had over the last several years. And so what that means is that the value of the in-place assets that we have will continue to grow, particularly because we sell into the largest growth story for the next decade, which is electrification. Again, if those time lines get thrown off a little bit, it still is a great growth story.

所以我相信，如果我們持續處在這樣的通膨環境中，現在我想市場上的說法有點像（聽不清）已經到達通膨高峰。誰知道呢？但我認為那忽略了更大的問題，也就是 8% 是否是——我會主張，未來幾年可能不是高峰。但即便我們在一段時間內穩定在 5%，那仍然比過去幾年高出許多的通膨。因此，這意味著我們既有資產的價值將會持續成長，尤其是因為我們銷售所面向的是未來十年最大的成長故事——電氣化。再說一次，即使那些時間表稍微被打亂，這仍然是一個很棒的成長故事。

So what I would tell you is we will not be immune, but we will be able to be a beneficiary in an inflationary environment. And on the 700, yes, we feel good about that. We've planned and so we feel good about that number as we see it today. And so it's not like there's anything that we've seen in the last few months that would change that number. I mean we feel really good that we'll get that done, at that or within that. But to the extent that we're growing beyond that and doing other things, of course, if we thought -- if 6 months ago, we thought something would cost 1x, it could cost 2x. But I think the bigger, broader picture is we are in the space, the mining material space, this is a space that in this kind of environment will do well, right? If you're -- this is a space that will grow on a real basis in an inflationary disruptive world.

所以我想告訴你的是，我們不會免疫，但在通膨環境中我們將能成為受益者。至於 700（的目標），是的，我們對此感覺良好。我們已經做了規劃，所以以今天所見，我們對這個數字很有信心。因此，並不是說過去幾個月我們看到什麼會改變這個數字。我是說，我們非常有信心能完成，達到那個水準或在那個範圍內。但如果我們要在此之外擴張、做其他事情，當然，如果我們認為——如果 6 個月前我們以為某件事成本是 1 倍，現在可能變成 2 倍。但我認為更大、更廣的圖景是：我們所在的是礦業材料領域，在這種環境下會表現良好，對吧？如果你——這是一個在通膨且具破壞性的世界中，能以實質基礎成長的領域。

Our next question is from Matt Summerville.

我們的下一個問題來自 Matt Summerville。

I just have a really quick follow-up. I know the call is running over a little bit. With respect to Stage II, at what point do you think you'll start looking at transacting with third parties for your outbound Stage II material? Is that something you start to do immediately after start-up? Is that something you start to do a year after being up and running? How should we be thinking about the cadence of that cutover to non-Chinese customers is basically what I'm asking, Jim?

我只有一個很快的追問。我知道這通電話稍微超時了一點。關於第二階段（Stage II），你認為你們會在什麼時點開始考慮，將第二階段的外銷材料與第三方進行交易？是啟動後立刻就開始做嗎？還是運轉一年後才開始？我想問的基本上是，我們應該如何看待切換到非中國客戶的節奏與時程，Jim？

Well, we -- yes, sure, Matt. I mean we've been looking at that since day 1. If we go back to 2017, when all of a sudden we had this site and we had 8 people and it was a turnaround, I mean we were thinking about 1 day having a magnetics business, right? So I mean, we're thinking about Stage II sales always. And -- so we've been thinking about that for a while. And you can imagine that we've had plenty of inbounds from a variety of parties at various points downstream in the supply chain. And so frankly, the challenge will just be to -- I believe the challenge will be to just maximize the kind of the broader downstream benefits of that.

嗯，我們——是的，當然，Matt。我的意思是，我們從第一天起就一直在看這件事。如果回到 2017 年，當時我們突然有了這個場址、只有 8 個人，而且是在做整頓，我是說，我們就在想著有一天要做磁材業務，對吧？所以，我們一直都在思考第二階段的銷售。而且——所以我們已經想這件事一段時間了。你也可以想像，在供應鏈下游的各個環節，我們在不同時間點都收到來自各式各樣對象的主動接洽。坦白說，挑戰只會是——我相信挑戰在於如何把那種更廣泛的下游效益最大化。

But I don't know if Ryan or Michael, you want to chime in on this and share your thoughts. But that's something that we're -- we have no shortage of people who would like to get our Stage II product.

但我不知道 Ryan 或 Michael 你們是否想補充一下、分享你們的看法。不過這件事我們——想要取得我們第二階段產品的人，從來不缺。

The last question is from Carlos De Alba.

最後一個問題來自 Carlos De Alba。

This is going to be quite brief. It's just on -- the effective tax rate went up to around 25% in Q1. I think that it's quite a large number we saw in the last few quarters, even greater than what we saw in Q1 last year of '22. So I wonder if Jim you or Ryan can give us a little bit of color going forward?

我會很簡短。主要是關於——第一季的有效稅率上升到大約 25%。我認為這比我們過去幾季看到的數字高很多，甚至高於去年（'22）第一季。我想請問 Jim 或 Ryan 能否就未來走勢提供一些說明？

Yes, of course. Ryan, why don't you take that?

是的，當然。Ryan，你來回答吧？

Sure. Carlos, on that, what I would say is, obviously, as we've discussed, our plans from a Stage II perspective of completing construction and bringing those assets online this year, that does have an impact on our effective tax rate, given the potential bonus depreciation we can take on what is a pretty significant scale of assets. And so we are in the beneficial position from a tax perspective of enjoying a couple of different deductions that end up being net income limited. And so when you bring in a significant amount of bonus depreciation some of those deductions effectively get stopped out when you've got lower net taxable income.

好的。Carlos，關於這點，我想說的是，很明顯地，如同我們討論過的，從第二階段的角度來看，我們今年完成建設並讓那些資產上線的計畫，確實會影響我們的有效稅率，因為我們可以就相當大規模的資產，取得可能的加速折舊（bonus depreciation）。因此，從稅務角度來看，我們處於有利位置，能享有幾項不同的扣除項目，但最終會受到淨所得限制。當你納入大量的加速折舊時，若應稅淨所得較低，其中一些扣除項目在實務上就會被限制或無法完全使用。

And so we're in the beneficial position of likely being able to have a very attractive cash tax rate this year, but that does actually find its way into the effective tax rate from a GAAP perspective over the course of the year. So I would say, likely what you see here around this area is reasonable for the next couple of quarters, and we'll continue to reevaluate that as we get closer to -- in service of Stage II.

因此，我們很可能在今年享有非常具吸引力的現金稅率，這在 GAAP 的角度下，確實會在全年逐步反映到有效稅率上。所以我會說，你現在在這個區間看到的水準，接下來幾季大致是合理的；而且隨著我們更接近——第二階段投入使用（in service），我們也會持續重新評估。

And there are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call over back to Mr. Litinsky for closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。我想把電話交回給 Litinsky 先生作結語。

Sure. Well, I just want to thank everyone. It was a great quarter for us. And so just we'll get back to work now. Stay -- everyone stay safe, and we'll talk to you soon. Good night.

好的。我只想感謝大家。對我們而言這是一個很棒的季度。那麼我們現在就回去繼續工作。請大家注意安全，我們很快再聊。晚安。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與。您現在可以掛線。