REX American Resources Corp (REX) 2022 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the REX American Resources Fiscal 2022 Second Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, Tuesday, August 30, 2022.

您好，歡迎參加 REX American Resources 2022 財年第二季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，本次會議將於 2022 年 8 月 30 日星期二錄製。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Doug Bruggeman, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給首席財務官 Doug Bruggeman。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining REX American Resources Fiscal 2022 Second Quarter Conference Call. We'll get to our presentation and comments momentarily as well as your question-and-answer session. But first, I'll review the safe harbor disclosure.

早上好，感謝您參加 REX American Resources 2022 財年第二季度電話會議。我們將立即進行我們的演示和評論以及您的問答環節。但首先，我將審查安全港披露。

In addition to historical facts or statements of current conditions, today's conference call contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties and within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect the company's current expectations and beliefs but are not guarantees of future performance. As such, actual results may vary materially from expectations. The risks and uncertainties associated with the forward-looking statements are described in today's news announcement and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q.

除了歷史事實或當前狀況的陳述外，今天的電話會議還包含涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述，屬於 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的含義。此類前瞻性陳述反映了公司當前的預期和信念但不能保證未來的表現。因此，實際結果可能與預期大相徑庭。與前瞻性陳述相關的風險和不確定性在今天的新聞公告和公司提交給證券交易委員會的文件中進行了描述，包括公司關於 10-K 和 10-Q 表格的報告。

REX American Resources assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. I have joining me on the call today, Stuart Rose, Executive Chairman of the Board; and Zafar Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer.

REX American Resources 不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。董事會執行主席斯圖爾特·羅斯（Stuart Rose）今天加入我的電話會議；和首席執行官 Zafar Rizvi。

I will first review our financial performance and then turn the call over to Stuart for his comments.

我將首先審查我們的財務業績，然後將電話轉給 Stuart 徵求他的意見。

Sales for the second quarter increased by 23% as we experienced higher pricing for ethanol, distiller grains and corn oil. Ethanol sales for the quarter were based upon 71.4 million gallons this year versus 69 million last year. We reported gross profit of $16.6 million this year versus a gross profit of $14.2 million in the prior year. For the current year quarter, improved selling prices were offset by higher corn and natural gas pricing. Ethanol pricing improved by 20%, dried distiller grain improved by 21% and corn oil pricing improved by 53% for this year's quarter over the prior year second quarter.

由於乙醇、酒糟和玉米油的價格上漲，第二季度的銷售額增長了 23%。本季度的乙醇銷售額基於今年的 7140 萬加侖，而去年為 6900 萬加侖。我們報告今年的毛利潤為 1660 萬美元，而去年的毛利潤為 1420 萬美元。在本年度季度，銷售價格上漲被玉米和天然氣價格上漲所抵消。今年第四季度的乙醇價格上漲了 20%，乾酒糟上漲了 21%，玉米油價格上漲了 53%。

Corn cost increased by 21% and natural gas pricing increased by 113% for this year's quarter compared to the prior year as inflationary pressures and the impact on commodity pricing from the Ukraine and Russia conflict continued. Gross profit comparison between years also benefited slightly from fewer ethanol contracts sold net of freight in the current year, which leads to higher sales. SG&A increased for the second quarter to $9.1 million from $6.2 million in the prior year. $1.1 million of the increase is due to the increase in the number of ethanol contracts that require the freight to be paid by us compared to the prior year and approximately $900,000 from increased incentive compensation.

由於通脹壓力以及烏克蘭和俄羅斯衝突對商品價格的影響持續存在，本季度玉米成本增加了 21%，天然氣價格與去年同期相比上漲了 113%。年度之間的毛利比較也略微受益於本年度出售的扣除運費的乙醇合同減少，這導致銷售額增加。第二季度的 SG&A 從去年的 620 萬美元增加到 910 萬美元。增加的 110 萬美元是由於與上一年相比需要我們支付運費的乙醇合同數量增加，以及激勵補償增加約 900,000 美元。

We had income of $3.6 million from our unconsolidated equity investment in this year's second quarter versus income of $1.8 million in the prior year. The majority of the increase was a result of funds they received from in the COVID-19 relief grants from the USDA. The company's interest and other income in the current year includes approximately $7.8 million of income from COVID-19 relief grants, the consolidated plans also received from the USDA in May.

我們在今年第二季度的未合併股權投資中獲得了 360 萬美元的收入，而去年的收入為 180 萬美元。大部分增長是由於他們從美國農業部的 COVID-19 救濟贈款中獲得的資金。公司本年度的利息和其他收入包括來自 COVID-19 救濟贈款的約 780 萬美元收入，該綜合計劃也在 5 月從美國農業部收到。

The discontinued operations reflected in the prior year numbers are from the refined coal business as we ended those operations on November 18, 2021, there was no impact in the current year. We reported a tax provision from continuing operations of $4.3 million for this year versus a provision of $1.8 million in the prior year, primarily reflecting the higher level of income in the current year. These factors led to net income attributable to REX shareholders from continuing operations of $11.2 million for this year's second quarter versus $5.7 million in the prior year. Total net income per share from continuing and discontinued operations attributable to REX shareholders was $0.63 for this year's second quarter versus $0.44 in the prior year. I would like to point out all outstanding shares for all periods have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the recent 3-for-1 stock split.

上一年度數據中反映的已終止業務來自精煤業務，因為我們於 2021 年 11 月 18 日終止了這些業務，對本年度沒有影響。我們報告了今年持續經營的稅收撥備 430 萬美元，而上一年的撥備為 180 萬美元，主要反映了本年度較高的收入水平。這些因素導致今年第二季度歸屬於 REX 股東的持續經營淨收入為 1120 萬美元，而去年同期為 570 萬美元。今年第二季度，歸屬於 REX 股東的持續和終止經營業務的每股淨收入總額為 0.63 美元，而去年同期為 0.44 美元。我想指出，所有期間的所有流通股都已進行追溯調整，以反映最近 3 比 1 的股票分割。

Stuart, I'll turn the call over to you.

斯圖爾特，我會把電話轉給你的。

Thank you, Doug. Continuing into the current quarter, we continue so far this quarter to be profitable. There are challenges in the ethanol business, which Zafar will discuss in his section. Our carbon capture project continues -- can -- we see very good news with the Inflation Reduction Act continue to work hard on that. Again, Zafar will discuss that in his section.

謝謝你，道格。繼續到本季度，我們在本季度到目前為止繼續盈利。乙醇業務存在挑戰，Zafar 將在他的部分討論。我們的碳捕集項目仍在繼續——可以——我們看到了非常好的消息，《通貨膨脹減少法案》繼續為此努力。再一次，Zafar 將在他的部分討論這個問題。

In terms of consolidated funds, we have cash of over $245 million. Our cash flow significantly helped by the carryforward of tax credits previously earned. We continue to use that cash for buyback, we buyback on dips. We bought 221,883 shares on a split-adjusted basis during the last quarter. We continue to look for profitable alternative energy possibilities. We're currently studying the Inflation Reduction Act to see if there's anything new there might be an opportunity for our company. Again, we are always looking for ethanol plants but nothing is imminent. We have not found anything at this point in time that would really work for us. In terms of our cash, we're now able to invest it at a much higher rate than before between 2% and 4%, which versus virtually 0 the year before. So that should help with our current cash position that should help our income over the next few quarters.

在合併資金方面，我們擁有超過 2.45 億美元的現金。先前獲得的稅收抵免的結轉極大地幫助了我們的現金流。我們繼續使用這些現金進行回購，我們逢低迴購。在上個季度，我們在拆分調整的基礎上購買了 221,883 股。我們繼續尋找有利可圖的替代能源可能性。我們目前正在研究《降低通貨膨脹法》，看看是否有任何新的東西可能會給我們公司帶來機會。同樣，我們一直在尋找乙醇工廠，但沒有什麼是迫在眉睫的。我們目前還沒有發現任何對我們真正有用的東西。就我們的現金而言，我們現在能夠以比以前高得多的比率進行投資，介於 2% 和 4% 之間，而前一年幾乎為零。因此，這應該有助於我們目前的現金狀況，這應該有助於我們在未來幾個季度的收入。

I'll now turn the call over to Zafar to talk about ethanol and carbon capture. Thank you.

我現在將把電話轉給 Zafar，討論乙醇和碳捕獲。謝謝你。

Good morning. Thank you, Stuart. As I mentioned in our previous quarterly call, the operating environment in the beginning of the second quarter of 2022 has been some improvement. However, since then, it has been challenging for a number of reasons including serious logistic problems caused by railroad that resulted in delay of shipment. With an increase in inventory, we had no choice but the slowdown of the plant's production, but we are also seeing an increase in the price of corn greater than the ethanol price. On top of that, high price of natural gas is also negatively affecting the profit margin and production.

早上好。謝謝你，斯圖爾特。正如我在之前的季度電話會議中提到的，2022 年第二季度初的經營環境已經有所改善。然而，從那時起，由於鐵路造成的嚴重物流問題導致裝運延誤等多種原因，這一直是一個挑戰。隨著庫存的增加，我們別無選擇，只能減緩工廠的生產，但我們也看到玉米價格的漲幅大於乙醇價格。最重要的是，天然氣的高價也對利潤率和產量產生了負面影響。

The USDA estimates 0.9% less yield and 5% less production of corn this year compared to '21, '22 crop year and approximately 20% of the corn production is within area experiencing draught. The USDA corn report this week showed 39% of Nebraska, 51% of South Dakota and 69% of Illinois corn and 54% total corn production are rated good to excellent this year. However, even the Illinois expected to yield less corn this year compared to last year. On the bright side, ethanol sales and DDG export have increased compared to last year through June 2022, and the nonfood corn oil price continued to increase and is expected to increase more.

美國農業部估計，與 '21、'22 作物年相比，今年玉米產量減少 0.9%，產量減少 5%，大約 20% 的玉米產量位於乾旱地區。本周美國農業部的玉米報告顯示，今年內布拉斯加州 39%、南達科他州 51% 和伊利諾伊州 69% 的玉米以及 54% 的玉米總產量被評為優良至優秀。然而，即使是伊利諾伊州，預計今年的玉米產量也將低於去年。從好的方面來看，截至 2022 年 6 月，乙醇銷售量和 DDG 出口量與去年相比有所增加，非食用玉米油價格繼續上漲並有望進一步上漲。

Despite the challenges, at this very early stage of the third quarter, as Stuart mentioned, we expect the quarter probably will be profitable. As I mentioned in our previous call, we are also evaluating several other projects that would increase production, efficiency and energy saving as well as reduced water consumption. Some of the small projects, we were able to complete and some of them is expected to complete in the third quarter. We are still in the process of analyzing capital intensive projects before they can be undertaken and implemented. All of these projects are in a very early stage and may not materialize.

儘管存在挑戰，但正如 Stuart 所說，在第三季度的這個非常早的階段，我們預計該季度可能會盈利。正如我在之前的電話會議中提到的，我們還在評估其他幾個可以提高產量、效率和節能以及減少用水量的項目。一些小項目，我們能夠完成，其中一些預計將在第三季度完成。在開展和實施資本密集型項目之前，我們仍在分析這些項目。所有這些項目都處於非常早期的階段，可能不會實現。

Let me share progress of our carbon sequestration project. As I mentioned in the previous call, we are working with the University of Illinois on drilling a carbon sequestration well. The first test well at One Earth Energy was successfully drilled with total depth of around 7,100 feet. With almost 2,000 feet (inaudible) was incurred. The geologic models are predicting the movement of CO2 injection into the subsurface is complete. There are core analysis and well log indicate very good reservoir quality and well tests are being performed to further support this data.

讓我分享一下我們的碳封存項目的進展情況。正如我在上一次電話會議中提到的，我們正在與伊利諾伊大學合作鑽探碳封存井。 One Earth Energy 的第一口測試井成功鑽探，總深度約為 7,100 英尺。發生了近 2,000 英尺（聽不清）。地質模型預測二氧化碳注入地下的運動已經完成。岩心分析和測井記錄表明儲層質量非常好，並且正在進行試井以進一步支持該數據。

The well test include performing water injection tests in the well itself to evaluate the expected movement of CO2 as well as expected plume area and storage capacity under the subsurface area. That water injection will also tell us more about the reservoir, and we are testing an additional backup storage zone in case it is ever needed for more capacity. This can take a week or sometimes longer than that. The seismic process is expected to be completed by the end of August. Design of the compressor facility and the bidding process are complete. We are in the process of removing contracts. The Class VI permit documents are near final draft status and are expected to be completed very soon. The EPA required extensive support documents and complete analysis before granting a Class VI permit. Our goal is to provide all documents and information with the application. We will continue to evaluate further as we make progress and decide the injection well location.

油井測試包括在油井本身進行注水測試，以評估二氧化碳的預期運動以及地下區域下的預期羽流面積和儲存能力。注水還將告訴我們更多關於水庫的信息，我們正在測試一個額外的備用存儲區，以防需要更多容量。這可能需要一周甚至更長的時間。預計地震過程將於8月底完成。壓縮機設施的設計和招標過程已經完成。我們正在取消合同。 VI 類許可證文件接近最終草案狀態，預計將很快完成。 EPA 在授予 VI 類許可證之前需要大量的支持文件和完整的分析。我們的目標是在申請中提供所有文件和信息。隨著我們取得進展並確定注入井位置，我們將繼續進一步評估。

Once again, this is a highly technical and time-consuming project and it will take time to make material progress. We cannot yet predict the result of the simulation models and whether we will be successful or not. In summary, we are pleased to announce once again a profitable quarter in a very, very difficult environment as well as substantial progress with our carbon sequestration project. We are very appreciative and thankful for the hard work of all colleagues on achieving these results.

再一次，這是一個技術含量高且耗時的項目，需要時間才能取得實質性進展。我們還不能預測模擬模型的結果以及我們是否會成功。總之，我們很高興再次宣佈在非常非常困難的環境中實現盈利的季度，以及我們的碳封存項目取得重大進展。我們非常感謝和感謝所有同事為取得這些成果所做的辛勤工作。

I will hand over to Stuart for further comments. Thanks Stuart.

我將交給斯圖爾特進一步評論。謝謝斯圖爾特。

Thank you, Zafar. In conclusion, we were helped this quarter by both direct funds from the government and the Inflation Reduction Act, which should help us with our carbon capture project if -- assuming we can get permitted and get it built. But most importantly, we performed among the best plants in the country. And again, it's because we have good locations, good plants, good locations, good -- generally good corn areas but the greatest asset we have and it's going to help us with everything we have going forward is we feel that we have the best people in the industry, and we think that's the real reason why we outperformed the industry, done significantly better than the industry over the life of the plants.

謝謝你，紮法爾。總之，本季度我們得到了政府的直接資金和《通貨膨脹減少法案》的幫助，如果我們能夠獲得許可並建造它，這應該有助於我們的碳捕獲項目。但最重要的是，我們的表現躋身全國最好的工廠之列。再說一次，這是因為我們有好的位置，好的工廠，好的位置，好的——通常是好的玉米區，但我們擁有的最大資產，它將幫助我們未來的一切是我們覺得我們擁有最好的人在行業中，我們認為這就是我們表現優於行業的真正原因，在工廠的生命週期內做得比行業好得多。

I'll now leave the forum open to questions.

我現在讓論壇對問題開放。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is from the line of Jordan Levy with Truist Security.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Truist Security 的 Jordan Levy。

Congratulations on a good quarter and also continued -- what seems like excellent progress on the capture side of things. Maybe we could just start off there. Stuart, you mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act and some of the positive read-throughs there. Maybe we just talked to the increase in Section 45Q as it relates to your carbon capture project. It's been, I think, a little while since we kind of walked through the potential economics at One Earth with the CO2 emissions there. So maybe if we could just walk through kind of the potential benefits there.

祝賀一個良好的季度並且還在繼續 - 在捕獲方面似乎取得了很好的進展。也許我們可以從那裡開始。斯圖爾特，你提到了《通貨膨脹減少法》和那裡的一些積極的通讀。也許我們剛剛談到了第 45Q 節的增加，因為它與您的碳捕獲項目有關。我想，距離我們了解 One Earth 的潛在經濟學以及那裡的二氧化碳排放量已經有一段時間了。因此，也許我們可以了解一下那裡的潛在好處。

The new bill calls -- previously, we were to receive in 2025, I believe it is, $50 a ton in credits and now -- per ton, and now it's about $85 per ton for any carbon we capture in the ground that stays in the ground. In terms of the economics, I'll have Zafar go over that. But again, we -- once we get the hole completed, we're not just trying to capture our carbon, we will look -- we're designing the hole to be bigger than just us. We want to make that clear. So we don't have any contracts signed with anyone else, but we're definitely designing the hole to capture more carbon than what we can produce. And we believe that the hole is the most important part that finding people who are willing to sell carbon will not be as hard as building this hole, and that's been the bulk of our efforts.

新法案要求 - 以前，我們將在 2025 年收到，我相信它是每噸 50 美元的信用額度，現在 - 每噸，現在我們在地下捕獲的任何碳排放量約為每噸 85 美元地面。在經濟學方面，我會讓 Zafar 討論一下。但同樣，我們——一旦我們完成了這個洞，我們不只是試圖捕獲我們的碳，我們會看看——我們正在設計這個洞，而不只是我們。我們想明確這一點。所以我們沒有與其他任何人簽訂任何合同，但我們肯定會設計這個洞來捕獲比我們能生產的更多的碳。我們相信這個洞是最重要的部分，找到願意出售碳的人不會像建造這個洞那麼難，這也是我們的大部分努力。

Zafar, do you want to go over economics.

Zafar，你想複習一下經濟學嗎？

Yes. I think I can talk very briefly, as you know, Jordan, if we were able to -- we didn't put the final numbers yet because we are certainly evaluating the total cost of the compressor machine -- compressor facility and all sort of building and other well factors, which we're looking at it. But if we were profitable, which we think at that time and when we did the last forecast with the $50, we believe we certainly will be profitable at this stage with the $85.

是的。我想我可以簡單地說一下，你知道，喬丹，如果我們能夠——我們還沒有給出最終數字，因為我們確實在評估壓縮機機器的總成本——壓縮機設施和各種建築和其他良好的因素，我們正在研究它。但是，如果我們當時認為是盈利的，並且當我們以 50 美元進行最後一次預測時，我們相信在這個階段我們肯定會以 85 美元盈利。

The one thing is certainly open up for us that we can afford to bring or other people can afford to transport by rail or by truck and others to our facility, which, as Stuart mentioned, that we will have more capacity for the well than we can really need for our own ethanol facilities. So we will be able to, hopefully, able to bring from other facilities or able to transport from other area instead of taking so long to build a pipeline, $3 billion to $4 billion and go through the whole process. So that certainly will also help us and to increase our capacity for the well -- for the sequestration. But we certainly think that it will be better to have $85 and $85 can be also in cash for first 5 years compared to $50 tax credit. So that will also be very helpful.

一件事肯定對我們開放，我們可以負擔得起，或者其他人可以負擔得起通過鐵路或卡車和其他人運送到我們的設施，正如斯圖爾特所說，我們將擁有比我們更多的井容量可以真正需要我們自己的乙醇設施。因此，我們將能夠，希望能夠從其他設施帶來或能夠從其他地區運輸，而不是花很長時間來建造一條管道，花費 30 億到 40 億美元並完成整個過程。因此，這肯定也會幫助我們並增加我們的井容量 - 用於封存。但我們當然認為，與 50 美元的稅收抵免相比，85 美元和 85 美元在前 5 年也可以是現金形式會更好。所以這也將非常有幫助。

And maybe just along that same line of questioning. Just -- so it seems like everything you're doing right now is to get all the documentation in order to submit to the EPA for the permit. I guess maybe do you have a sense on what that timing is looking like at the EPA level or what we should kind of expect over the next few quarters in terms of updates on that project?

也許就在同樣的問題上。只是——所以看起來你現在所做的一切就是獲取所有文件以便提交給 EPA 以獲得許可證。我想也許你對 EPA 層面的時間安排有什麼感覺，或者我們應該在接下來的幾個季度中對該項目的更新有什麼期望？

I think as we have revised some discussion with them, EPS takes somewhere year to 18 months. But we have -- we are working with the people who have previously submitted these kind of permits. And if that's the reason we're taking everything practically possible to have document every single thing, including any financial guarantees or whatever they require. So that way EPA does not delay for asking further application or further papers or for the other further documents.

我認為當我們修改了與他們的一些討論時，EPS 需要一年到 18 個月的時間。但是我們已經 - 我們正在與之前提交過此類許可證的人合作。如果這就是我們正在盡一切可能記錄每一件事的原因，包括任何財務擔保或他們需要的任何東西。這樣 EPA 就不會延遲要求進一步的申請或進一步的文件或其他進一步的文件。

As you know, once you submit this application, then if it's not complete, then EPA can call you for after 3 or 4 months and says, "I need this document." So you submit that document. So it then they start reviewing that document, it takes longer to -- and they reach the conclusion. So our goal is to submit it with all documents as we have seen previously, they asked before we really submit the application. So we are in a final process, and we hope that we will submit it by end of the September if not middle of September.

如您所知，一旦您提交了此申請，如果它不完整，EPA 可能會在 3 或 4 個月後打電話給您，並說：“我需要這份文件。”所以你提交那個文件。因此，他們開始審查該文件，需要更長的時間才能得出結論。因此，我們的目標是與我們之前看到的所有文件一起提交，他們在我們真正提交申請之前詢問過。因此，我們正處於最後階段，我們希望即使不是 9 月中旬，也能在 9 月底之前提交。

Got you. Totally makes sense. Moving over to the ethanol side, maybe for Zafar, you also talked to kind of an increase in 2Q, an increase in the number of contracts where you all were responsible for covering freight. And Zafar, you also talked about just the ongoing logistical challenges with rail delays and that sort of thing. Maybe if we could just dive in a little deeper on the logistical challenges that are going on? And anything that can be done to kind of mitigate any of that?

得到你。完全有道理。轉到乙醇方面，也許對於 Zafar，您還談到了第二季度的增長，即你們所有人負責支付運費的合同數量的增加。 Zafar，您還談到了鐵路延誤等持續存在的後勤挑戰。也許我們可以更深入地了解正在發生的後勤挑戰？有什麼可以做的來減輕這些嗎？

I think I'm going to speak generally not specifically each location, but I think what we're finding it that is railroad really is not functioning properly. Certainly, we have seen, in some cases, that we had the -- train is ready to pick up our -- and they're supposed to pick up on Friday, but it will not be there up to next Friday and even Sunday. So they are delaying 7,7, 8,8, 9,9 days. And so I think basically, what they are continuously telling us that they have shortage of crews and workers and they cannot find drivers and that's causing the further delay.

我想我一般不會具體說每個位置，但我認為我們發現的鐵路確實運行不正常。當然，我們已經看到，在某些情況下，我們的火車已經準備好來接我們了，他們應該在周五來接我們，但直到下週五甚至週日都不會到。所以他們推遲了 7,7、8,8、9,9 天。所以我認為基本上，他們不斷告訴我們他們缺乏工作人員和工人，他們找不到司機，這導致了進一步的延誤。

And I think one thing which I really care stressing in other people that as long as railroad has semi-monopoly that nobody has come to their train track, unless they pay a huge switching fee as President Biden said previously, that switching frees causing delays and transportation problems unless really federal government look at closely to eliminate that limited switching fee and that every train company -- railroad company to switch each other and pay the freight, and they will be easily switched the track without any extra charges. I think that will certainly will increase logistic problem that it will it will save a lot of hassle because now we are dependent only on railroad. If they don't have drivers, then we stuck. But we don't have any choice to call somebody else to come and pick up our freight and loaded cars, and that certainly is a major problem.

而且我認為我真正關心的一件事是在其他人身上強調，只要鐵路具有半壟斷地位，就沒有人來到他們的火車軌道，除非他們像拜登總統之前所說的那樣支付巨額轉換費，否則轉換會導致延誤和交通問題，除非聯邦政府認真考慮取消有限的轉軌費，並且每個火車公司——鐵路公司相互轉軌並支付運費，他們將很容易地轉軌而無需任何額外費用。我認為這肯定會增加物流問題，這將節省很多麻煩，因為現在我們只依賴鐵路。如果他們沒有司機，那麼我們就卡住了。但是我們沒有任何選擇叫別人來取我們的貨物和裝載的汽車，這當然是一個大問題。

Our next question comes from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Pavel Molchanov 和 Raymond James 的觀點。

First, you talked about being interested in acquiring some ethanol plants, given all the craziness in the ethanol market in the last 2.5 years, right, with prices as well as feedstock going from record lows to record highs and everything in between. What is the valuation landscape looking like for existing plants?

首先，您談到有興趣收購一些乙醇工廠，鑑於過去 2.5 年乙醇市場的所有瘋狂，對，價格和原料從創紀錄的低點到創紀錄的高點以及介於兩者之間的一切。現有工廠的估值前景如何？

Well, to build a new plant would be well in excess of $200 million -- probably today in excess of $225 million. There is no good plants up for sale right now. There's a lot of bad plants. We sold the plant many years ago, a 100 million-gallon plant for about 2 -- we didn't own it all, we owned about 25% for about $200 million. And I would say with the excitement with most of the ethanol plants, ethanol is a unique industry. At the moment, the government favors it. And it is one of the few that emits pretty much pure CO2, which is easily captured. So we think most people in -- with $85, that could be a huge amount of money for the people that actually have the carbon capture, but it can also made money for any ethanol plant because they can sell their CO2 amount. So it's a new revenue stream.

好吧，建造一座新工廠將遠遠超過 2 億美元——今天可能超過 2.25 億美元。現在沒有好的植物在售。有很多不好的植物。多年前，我們以大約 2 美元的價格出售了這家 1 億加侖的工廠——我們並沒有全部擁有它，我們以大約 2 億美元的價格擁有了大約 25% 的股份。我會對大多數乙醇工廠感到興奮地說，乙醇是一個獨特的行業。目前，政府支持它。它是為數不多的排放幾乎純二氧化碳的公司之一，二氧化碳很容易被捕獲。所以我們認為大多數人 - 85 美元，這對於實際擁有碳捕獲的人來說可能是一筆巨款，但它也可以為任何乙醇工廠賺錢，因為他們可以出售他們的二氧化碳量。所以這是一個新的收入來源。

So I think there's excitement in the industry. I don't think any of the really good plants would sell or less and we have not seen any recently that would sell that I know of that would sell for less than replacement value or less to built in a new plant in the years past, there have been some, and we tried to buy some. Unfortunately, we have been outbid in the last year that we tried to buy, but they have been out there. But today, I know nothing that's out there. And I think it is the excitement of carbon capture.

所以我認為這個行業很興奮。我認為任何真正好的工廠都不會賣掉或賣得更少，而且我們最近還沒有看到任何會賣掉的，我知道在過去幾年裡，它們的售價會低於重置價值或建造新工廠的價格，有一些，我們試著買一些。不幸的是，在我們試圖購買的去年，我們的出價一直很高，但他們一直在那裡。但今天，我對外面的事一無所知。我認為這是碳捕獲的興奮。

Right. Okay. So in that context, given that you ventured into carbon capture, I'm curious, do you have any interest in getting into RNG production, landfill or dairy gas?

正確的。好的。因此，在這種情況下，鑑於您涉足碳捕獲領域，我很好奇，您是否有興趣涉足 RNG 生產、垃圾填埋場或乳製品氣體？

No, not at this time. Nothing is impossible, but we have looked at it. And it's -- nothing is impossible, but at this time -- and I've spent over the years, a lot of time looking at landfill gas, and it's today because of the government -- because of the new regulations, is a different business. And I would just say it's something we're among many, many things we're studying related to the new act. But at this point in time, we have no -- nothing eminent and nothing -- no plans or nothing to -- nothing other than study in that industry. It's no different than any others to us at this point in time.

不，不是在這個時候。沒有什麼是不可能的，但我們已經看過了。這是 - 沒有什麼是不可能的，但是在這個時候 - 這些年來我花了很多時間研究垃圾填埋氣，而今天是因為政府 - 因為新的規定，是不同的商業。我只想說這是我們正在研究的許多與新法案相關的事情之一。但是在這個時間點上，除了在那個行業學習之外，我們沒有任何杰出的東西，沒有任何計劃或沒有任何東西。在這個時間點上，它與我們其他任何人都沒有什麼不同。

And along those lines, with carbon credit pricing in Europe is close to EUR 100 a tonne now, which is a lot higher than the subsidies given domestically through Section 45Q, with that in mind, would you consider looking at carbon capture project somewhere in the European Union?

沿著這些思路，現在歐洲的碳信用定價接近每噸 100 歐元，這比國內通過第 45Q 節給予的補貼要高得多，考慮到這一點，您是否考慮在歐洲的某個地方考慮碳捕集項目歐洲聯盟？

Sure. We'd look at anything related to carbon capture. That's going to be a big part of our business.

當然。我們會研究與碳捕獲有關的任何事情。這將成為我們業務的重要組成部分。

Our next question is from the line of Chris Sakai with Singular Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Singular Research 的 Chris Sakai。

Can you talk more about the Inflation Reduction Act? How is -- when are you going to see benefits from that? And can you quantify how much benefits you'll see?

你能多談談《通貨膨脹減少法》嗎？怎麼樣——你什麼時候能從中受益？你能量化你會看到多少好處嗎？

Zafar?

紮法爾？

I think as I mentioned earlier, specifically at this time, we're looking at the carbon sequestration, there is so many other things are really benefits with maybe people are -- some people are looking solar, some other projects, which can be energy-saving projects and other which can have generate a lot of tax credit and others. But specifically looking at it, carbon sequestration, as I mentioned earlier, $50 tax credit we were still -- when we original projection, we looked at it, we were profitable and now it's $85 and that will be -- certainly will help us to get more profitable.

我認為正如我之前提到的，特別是在這個時候，我們正在研究碳封存，還有很多其他的東西確實對人們有益——有些人正在尋找太陽能，一些其他項目，可能是能源- 儲蓄項目和其他可以產生大量稅收抵免的項目和其他。但具體來看，碳封存，正如我之前提到的，我們仍然是 50 美元的稅收抵免——當我們最初的預測時，我們看著它，我們是有利可圖的，現在是 85 美元，這肯定會幫助我們獲得更多利潤。

As Stuart earlier mentioned, our well is also capable of taking more carbon than we can really do the carbon sequestration from our ethanol facility alone. So $85 make it easier for us to also bring it by rail or by truck or from other locations closer to us and still can be a profitable with those projects. So certainly, there is a positive impact on the tax reduction legislation.

正如 Stuart 之前提到的，我們的油井也能夠吸收比我們單獨從我們的乙醇設施中實際進行的碳封存更多的碳。因此，85 美元讓我們更容易通過鐵路、卡車或其他離我們更近的地方運送它，並且仍然可以通過這些項目獲利。因此，當然，減稅立法會產生積極影響。

All right. And then can you talk about -- are you guys seeing any more gas stations offering E15, how that's going?

好的。然後你能談談 - 你們是否看到更多提供 E15 的加油站，情況如何？

Let me say that I was in a meeting. We have a meeting with agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack on, I think, this Monday. Yes. Exactly. Yes, last week, Monday and he announced their $100 million for E15 structure bill and other things. So certainly, we have seen some of those in corn growers, states like Iowa, Nebraska, even some part of Illinois, even Indiana, we have seen more and more people are offering E15 and Iowa is also offering more tax credit and even Illinois is offering more tax credit to have --- encourage E15 pumps more. And it's certainly helping us lift some this year as it continue. Unless this E15 is available all year around the it becomes difficult -- but if it's all year around, then certainly, it will grow more. And with this $100 million, which is the agriculture secretary announced is going to help us also.

讓我說我正在開會。我想，這個星期一我們會和農業部長湯姆維爾薩克會面。是的。確切地。是的，上週，星期一，他宣布了他們的 1 億美元用於 E15 結構法案和其他事情。所以當然，我們已經看到一些玉米種植者，像愛荷華州，內布拉斯加州，甚至伊利諾伊州的一些地區，甚至印第安納州，我們看到越來越多的人提供 E15，愛荷華州也提供更多稅收抵免，甚至伊利諾伊州也是提供更多的稅收抵免——鼓勵更多的 E15 泵。隨著它的繼續，它肯定會幫助我們在今年提升一些。除非這款 E15 全年可用，否則它會變得很困難——但如果它全年可用，那麼它肯定會增長更多。有了這 1 億美元，農業部長宣布也將幫助我們。

And there are no further questions on the phone lines at this time. I'll turn the presentation back to the speakers.

目前電話線上沒有其他問題。我會將演示文稿轉回給演講者。

Okay. Thank you. We'd like to thank everyone for listening, and we'll talk to you again at the end -- when we report at the end of this quarter. Thank you very much. Bye.

好的。謝謝你。我們要感謝大家的聆聽，我們將在本季度末報告時再次與您交談。非常感謝。再見。

That does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

這確實結束了今天的電話會議。我們感謝您的參與，並要求您斷開線路。