Reliance Inc (RS) 2015 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.

您好，歡迎來到信實鋼鐵鋁業有限公司。

fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 earnings conference call.

2015 年第四季及全年財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would elected to the conference over to your host, Brenda Miyamoto with Investor Relations.

我將選舉主持人、投資者關係部門的 Brenda Miyamoto 參加這次會議。

Thank you, you may now begin.

謝謝，您現在可以開始了。

Thank you, operator.

謝謝你，接線生。

Good morning and thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss our fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 financial results.

早安，感謝大家參加我們的電話會議，討論我們 2015 年第四季和全年的財務表現。

I am joined by Gregg Mollins, our President and CEO, Karla Lewis, our Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, and our Executive Vice Presidents of Operations Jim Hoffman and Bill Sales.

與我一起參加的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Gregg Mollins、我們的高級執行副總裁兼財務長 Karla Lewis、以及我們的營運執行副總裁 Jim Hoffman 和 Bill Sales。

David Hannah, our Executive Chairman, will also be available during the question-and-answer portion of this call.

我們的執行主席大衛漢納 (David Hannah) 也將出席本次電話會議的問答部分。

A recording of this call will be posted on the investor section of our website at Investor.

本次電話會議的錄音將發佈在我們網站「投資者」的投資者部分。

RSAC.com.

RSAC.com。

The press release and the information on this call may contain certain forward looking statements, which are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, or other factors which may not be under the Company's control which may cause the actual results, performance or achieving of the company to be materially different from the results performance or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements.

本新聞稿和本次電話會議的資訊可能包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於許多可能發生變化的假設，並涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性或其他可能不受公司控制的因素。可能導致本公司的實際結果、績效或成就與這些前瞻性陳述所暗示的業績或其他預期有重大差異。

These factors include but are not limited to those factors disclosed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 under the caption risk factors and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

這些因素包括但不限於本公司截至2014年12月31日的10-K表年度報告中風險因素標題下揭露的因素以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他報告。

The press release and the information on this call speak only as of today's date and the Company disclaims any duty to update the information provided therein and herein.

新聞稿和本次電話會議中的資訊僅代表今天的情況，本公司不承擔更新其中和本文中提供的資訊的義務。

I'll now turn the call over to Gregg Mollins, President and CEO of Reliance.

現在我將把電話轉給 Reliance 總裁兼執行長 Gregg Mollins。

Thank you, Brenda.

謝謝你，布倫達。

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today.

大家早安，感謝您今天加入我們。

We were very pleased with our strong operational execution throughout 2015 despite a very challenging economic environment that continued pressure metal pricing.

儘管經濟環境充滿挑戰，金屬價格持續承壓，但我們對 2015 年強勁的營運執行力感到非常滿意。

We finished the year generating record cash flow from operations of $1 billion which affords us ample liquidity and financial flexibility to continue to execute on all of our capital allocation priorities.

我們在這一年中從營運中產生了創紀錄的 10 億美元現金流，這為我們提供了充足的流動性和財務靈活性，以繼續執行我們所有的資本配置優先事項。

We were successful in reducing inventory, a key area of focus for Reliance in 2015, by an additional $193.3 million during the fourth quarter and $433.1 million for the year.

我們成功地減少了庫存，這是 Reliance 2015 年的重點領域，第四季度減少了 1.933 億美元，全年減少了 4.331 億美元。

We increased our fourth-quarter FIFO gross profit margins to 26.7% up 30 basis points from the prior quarter and up 160 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2014.

我們將第四季 FIFO 毛利率提高至 26.7%，比上一季提高 30 個基點，比 2014 年第四季提高 160 個基點。

I am pleased to report that we were able to increase our gross profit margin in each successive quarter for 2015 during a period when metal pricing declined in each successive quarter.

我很高興地報告，在金屬價格連續每季下降的時期，我們能夠在 2015 年連續每季提高毛利率。

An impressive accomplishment made possible by the outstanding quality people that we have throughout Reliance.

令人印象深刻的成就是信實集團擁有的優秀人才所取得的。

In addition to our focus on smaller order sizes and next day delivery, we believe that our increased investments and value-added processing, as well as efficiently managing our inventory, contributed to our increase gross profit margins.

除了我們專注於較小的訂單規模和隔日交貨之外，我們相信我們增加的投資和增值加工以及有效管理我們的庫存有助於我們提高毛利率。

The amount charged for processing services does not fluctuate with metal pricing so as a metal prices fall, the value added component becomes a larger portion of the total selling price.

加工服務的收費金額不隨金屬價格波動，因此當金屬價格下跌時，增值部分將佔總售價的較大部分。

In addition, we strongly believe that maintaining the right level of inventory to support current sales activity at each of our operations encourages local management to turn away low margin business and focus on higher-margin orders.

此外，我們堅信，保持適當的庫存水準以支持我們每個業務部門的當前銷售活動，將鼓勵當地管理層放棄低利潤業務，並專注於高利潤訂單。

If you have too much inventory, it's easy to take a bad order.

如果你的庫存太多，很容易接錯訂單。

We prefer higher profit over volume.

我們喜歡更高的利潤而不是數量。

Mill prices were many of our products ended the year down 30% to 40% compared to the beginning of the year due to continued high levels of imports flooding the US market resulting from a strong US dollar and the weak global economy.

由於美元走強和全球經濟疲軟，美國市場的進口量持續增加，導致我們許多產品的工廠價格在年底比年初下降了 30% 至 40%。

These factors caused US steel producers to file trade cases for most flat-rolled carbon steel products in the second half of 2015.

這些因素導緻美國鋼鐵生產商在 2015 年下半年針對大多數碳鋼平軋產品提起了貿易訴訟。

We support these trade actions and it appears the pending actions have reduced imports somewhat prompting the domestic mills to announce moderate price increases on almost all carbon steel products so far in 2016.

我們支持這些貿易行動，看來即將採取的行動在一定程度上減少了進口，促使國內鋼廠宣布 2016 年迄今幾乎所有碳鋼產品的適度漲價。

During the fourth quarter, both demand and pricing were softer than we had anticipated.

第四季度，需求和價格均低於我們的預期。

We had expected fourth quarter pricing to be down 1% to 2%.

我們原本預計第四季定價將下降 1% 至 2%。

However, conditions continued to soften throughout the quarter resulting in our average selling price per ton sold declining 4.5% compared to the prior quarter and 16.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

然而，整個季度情況持續疲軟，導致我們每噸銷售的平均售價較上一季下降 4.5%，較 2014 年第四季下降 16.6%。

We had also anticipated slightly stronger demand than normal for the fourth quarter in our guidance of down 4% to 5%.

我們也預期第四季的需求將略強於正常水平，指引為下降 4% 至 5%。

However, due to the normal seasonal slowdown from fewer shipping days as a result of the holidays and holiday related closures by many of our customers, coupled with the slumping energy market and ongoing concerns over slowed growth in China, our tons sold were down 7.1% from the prior quarter and 6.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

然而，由於假日和與假日相關的許多客戶關閉導致運輸天數減少，導致正常的季節性放緩，加上能源市場低迷以及對中國增長放緩的持續擔憂，我們的銷量下降了 7.1%較上一季度成長6.1%，較2014 年第四季成長6.1%。

Nevertheless, demand trends for many of the industry's we support held up relatively well throughout the year and we once again outperformed the MSCI industry average decline of 10.1% for the fourth quarter.

儘管如此，我們支持的許多行業的需求趨勢全年保持相對良好，我們的表現再次超過了摩根士丹利資本國際 (MSCI) 行業第四季度 10.1% 的平均跌幅。

We also out paced the industry for the full year of 2015 compared to 2014 with the 2.8% decline in our tons sold compared to the MSCI industry average decline of 7.5%.

與 2014 年相比，我們 2015 年全年的銷量下降了 2.8%，而 MSCI 行業平均銷量下降了 7.5%。

Tons sold by our energy businesses were down 41% in 2015 from 2014 levels.

2015 年我們能源業務的銷售量比 2014 年下降了 41%。

Excluding the impact of the energy downturn, our tons sold for 2015 were down a mere 0.7% from 2014.

排除能源低迷的影響，我們 2015 年的銷售量僅比 2014 年下降了 0.7%。

We've been able to grow our market share in this challenging environment by staying the course with our tried-and-true business model that emphasizes a decentralized structure and places the day-to-day sales decisions in the hands of our managers in the field.

透過堅持我們久經考驗的商業模式，我們能夠在這個充滿挑戰的環境中擴大我們的市場份額，該模式強調分散的結構，並將日常銷售決策權交給我們的經理。場地。

Our managers have built strong customer relationships over the years and have the ability to fulfill quick turnaround orders, often in 24 hours or less, for customers looking to place orders for smaller quantities on a more frequent basis, especially when metal prices are declining.

我們的經理多年來建立了牢固的客戶關係，並且有能力通常在24 小時或更短的時間內完成快速週轉訂單，對於希望更頻繁地下小批量訂單的客戶，尤其是在金屬價格下跌的情況下。

In addition, we have made and will continue to make significant investments in the strongest areas of our Company currently being those businesses servicing aerospace customers as well as in the automotive industry mostly through toll processing.

此外，我們已經並將繼續在公司目前最強大的領域進行重大投資，這些領域主要是透過來料加工為航空航太客戶以及汽車產業提供服務。

Because of the high-volume processing performed by our toll processing businesses, they are more capital intensive than other parts of our business making it important for us to regularly invest in our processing equipment to ensure state-of-the-art capabilities as well as to capitalize on the recent growth in aluminum processing.

由於我們的來料加工業務進行大批量加工，它們比我們業務的其他部分更加資本密集，因此我們定期投資加工設備以確保最先進的能力和利用近期鋁加工的成長。

We have also invested to expand our footprint in the aerospace market through our August 2014 acquisition of Aluminum Services UK Limited and the opening of additional new facilities around the globe in anticipation of continued strong demand in this important market.

我們也透過 2014 年 8 月收購 Aluminium Services UK Limited 進行投資，擴大我們在航空航太市場的足跡，並在全球各地開設更多新設施，以應對這一重要市場持續強勁的需求。

Despite the industry wide challenges, we remained focused on our key initiatives in 2015 which were aimed at reducing inventory, managing our gross profit margin and operating expenses and growth through M&A and organic activity.

儘管面臨全行業的挑戰，我們仍然專注於 2015 年的關鍵舉措，旨在減少庫存、管理毛利率和營運費用以及透過併購和有機活動實現成長。

In 2015, we decreased our FIFO inventory by $433.1 million including $193.3 million during the fourth quarter.

2015 年，我們的 FIFO 庫存減少了 4.331 億美元，其中第四季減少了 1.933 億美元。

As a result, our inventory turn rate was 5.2 times based on inventory tons on hand at December 31, 2015 and our full-year 2015 shipment levels, which is well ahead of it company wide goal of 4.75 times.

因此，根據 2015 年 12 月 31 日的庫存噸數和 2015 年全年出貨水準計算，我們的庫存週轉率為 5.2 倍，遠高於公司範圍內 4.75 倍的目標。

By converting inventory to cash, we were able to further reduce our debt balance by $167.5 million during the fourth quarter and repurchased $13.2 million worth of our outstanding shares.

透過將庫存轉換為現金，我們在第四季度進一步減少了 1.675 億美元的債務餘額，並回購了價值 1,320 萬美元的已發行股票。

Turning to M& A, effective January 1, 2016 we acquired Tubular Steel Inc.

談到併購，我們收購了 Tubular Steel Inc.，自 2016 年 1 月 1 日起生效。

A distributor and processor of carbon, alloy, and stainless steel pipe, tubing and barb products based in St.

位於聖路易斯的碳管、合金管和不銹鋼管、管材和倒鉤產品的經銷商和加工商。

Louis, Missouri.

密蘇裡州路易斯。

Tubular Steel is a strong company with a well respected position in the market.

Tubular Steel 是一家實力雄厚的公司，在市場上享有盛譽。

Tubular Steel brings additional high margin, specialty products to our mix and fits our growth strategy of investing in higher returning businesses while expanding our product breadth and end market diversification.

Tubular Steel 為我們的產品組合帶來了額外的高利潤、特殊產品，符合我們投資回報率更高的業務、同時擴大我們的產品範圍和終端市場多元化的成長策略。

We continue to evaluate various opportunities as part of our overall growth strategy to acquire profitable, well-managed metal service centers and processors with product and end market exposures that help support our diversification strategy.

我們繼續評估各種機會，作為我們整體成長策略的一部分，以收購盈利、管理良好的金屬服務中心和加工商，其產品和終端市場敞口有助於支持我們的多元化策略。

In summary, despite the challenges we face in our industry at large, I am very pleased with our full-year 2015 performance which reflected superior operational execution.

總而言之，儘管我們整個行業都面臨著挑戰​​，但我對 2015 年全年業績感到非常滿意，這體現了卓越的營運執行力。

We generated record cash flow from operations of $1 billion.

我們的營運現金流達到創紀錄的 10 億美元。

We increased our FIFO gross profit margins to 26%, we reduced our inventory by $433.1 million.

我們將 FIFO 毛利率提高到 26%，庫存減少了 4.331 億美元。

We paid down $376.6 million of debt and we repurchased $355.5 million of our common stock.

我們償還了 3.766 億美元的債務，並回購了 3.555 億美元的普通股。

I'm very proud of the entire Reliance team and all they have accomplished throughout this otherwise challenging year.

我為整個 Reliance 團隊以及他們在這充滿挑戰的一年中所取得的成就感到非常自豪。

Our strong operational execution enabled us to continue growing our market share and gross profit margins as well as generate significant cash to execute on our growth strategy and shareholder return priorities.

我們強大的營運執行力使我們能夠繼續提高市場份額和毛利率，並產生大量現金來執行我們的成長策略和股東回報優先事項。

Our balance sheet remains solid and affords us great flexibility to continue growing our business while at the same time returning capital to our valued shareholders in the form of quarterly cash dividends and opportunistic share repurchases as well as being in a position to further deleverage our balance sheet.

我們的資產負債表保持穩健，為我們繼續發展業務提供了極大的靈活性，同時以季度現金股息和機會性股票回購的形式向我們尊貴的股東返還資本，並能夠進一步去槓桿化我們的資產負債表。

We're optimistic for the year ahead and look forward to building upon our operational momentum.

我們對未來一年持樂觀態度，並期待鞏固我們的營運動能。

I'll now hand the call over to Jim to comment further on our operations and market conditions.

我現在將把電話轉給吉姆，以進一步評論我們的營運和市場狀況。

Jim?

吉姆？

Thanks Craig and good morning everyone.

謝謝克雷格，大家早安。

Our comments today will focus both on pricing and demand for our carbon steel and alloy products, as well as our outlook on certain key end markets we sell those products into.

我們今天的評論將重點放在我們碳鋼和合金產品的定價和需求，以及我們對我們銷售這些產品的某些關鍵終端市場的前景。

Including automotive, heavy industry, nonresidential construction and energy.

包括汽車、重工業、非住宅建築和能源。

Bill will then address our aluminum and stainless steel products and related end markets.

然後，比爾將討論我們的鋁和不銹鋼產品以及相關的終端市場。

Demand for automotive which we service mainly through our full processing operations in the USA and Mexico was strong throughout the year, a trend we expect to continue in 2016.

我們主要透過美國和墨西哥的全加工業務提供服務的汽車需求全年強勁，我們預計這一趨勢將在 2016 年持續下去。

In light of this we are expanding two of our existing facilities as well as constructing a new facility in Mexico and one in Kentucky.

有鑑於此，我們正在擴大兩個現有設施，並在墨西哥和肯塔基州建造一個新設施。

The new facility in Mexico will increase our existing toll processing capacity to support the increased automotive activity there and is expected to begin operating in mid-2016.

墨西哥的新工廠將提高我們現有的來料加工能力，以支持當地不斷增長的汽車活動，預計將於 2016 年中期開始運作。

Will also begin construction on a new facility in Kentucky to support our growing aluminum toll processing business.

也將開始在肯塔基州建造一座新工廠，以支持我們不斷成長的鋁來料加工業務。

Reliance has been very successful in establishing itself through its Precision Strip Inc.

Reliance 透過其 Precision Strip Inc. 非常成功地建立了自己的地位。

subsidiary, a toll processor of aluminum used in the US automotive industry, a fast-growing market.

該子公司是美國汽車工業（一個快速成長的市場）使用的鋁加工商。

We believe that our success in toll processing metal for the automotive end market is due to our high quality, internally engineered processing equipment allows us to handle both steel and aluminum products that meet the high-quality standard for exposed products.

我們相信，我們在汽車終端市場的金屬代加工方面取得的成功歸功於我們高品質的內部設計加工設備，使我們能夠處理符合暴露產品高品質標準的鋼和鋁產品。

With the sudden and significant increase in aluminum used in autos, Reliance is one of the few toll processing companies that has the funds available to support this growth.

隨著汽車中鋁用量的突然大幅增加，Reliance 成為少數有資金支持這一成長的來料加工公司之一。

For example, in 2015, we opened a new facility and installed state-of-the-art equipment which is fairly expensive.

例如，2015年，我們開設了一家新工廠，並安裝了最先進的設備，但價格相當昂貴。

That allowed us to process two times the volume of aluminum we processed in 2014 at our toll processing operations.

這使得我們在委託加工業務中處理的鋁量是 2014 年處理量的兩倍。

At Reliance, we are particularly fond of this business.

在 Reliance，我們特別喜歡這項業務。

As we take on no inventory risk so our toll processing operations are not impacted by metal pricing.

由於我們不承擔庫存風險，因此我們的來料加工業務不會受到金屬定價的影響。

We simply process the metal for a fee without taking ownership of it.

我們只是收取一定費用來加工金屬，而不取得其所有權。

As we've mentioned in the past, although toll processing represents a small portion of our total sales dollars, it represents a larger percentage of our profitability.

正如我們過去所提到的，雖然來料加工僅占我們總銷售額的一小部分，但它占我們獲利能力的較大比例。

Turning to heavy industry, which includes railcar, truck trailer, shipbuilding, large manufacturing, tank manufacturing and wind and transmission towers, demand in the fourth quarter remained fairly consistent with prior quarter levels subject to the normal fourth quarter seasonal slowdown.

至於重工業，包括鐵路車、卡車拖車、造船、大型製造業、罐體製造以及風力和輸電塔，第四季度的需求與上一季的水平相當一致，但受到第四季度正常季節性放緩的影響。

Our exposure to heavy equipment also includes sales to agricultural equipment OEMs.

我們對重型設備的投資還包括向農業設備原始設備製造商的銷售。

While demand for large agricultural equipment has been weak, Reliance's exposure is mostly to small and midsize agricultural equipment which is held up better than the heavier items.

儘管對大型農業設備的需求一直疲軟，但信實集團的業務主要集中在中小型農業設備上，這些設備比重型設備的承受能力更好。

On a positive note, demand in the road construction equipment market is trending up and is poised to increase in 2016 as a result of the five-year infrastructure bill that was passed in December 2015.

從正面的方面來看，由於 2015 年 12 月通過的五年基礎設施法案，道路施工設備市場的需求呈上升趨勢，並有望在 2016 年增加。

Demand in our largest end market, nonresidential construction, improved in 2015 from 2014 levels yet are volume remains well below peak levels.

2015 年，我們最大的終端市場（非住宅建築）的需求較 2014 年有所改善，但成交量仍遠低於峰值。

We expect that demand will continue to improve in 2016 and beyond.

我們預計 2016 年及以後的需求將持續改善。

We sell many different products into the nonresidential construction market and rather than scaling back our footprint or closing facilities that service this market due to the 2009 downturn, we have been strategically investing in processing equipment to allow us to do even more for our customers as this end market improves.

我們向非住宅建築市場銷售許多不同的產品，我們並沒有因2009 年的經濟低迷而縮減我們的足跡或關閉為該市場提供服務的設施，而是一直在對加工設備進行戰略性投資，以便我們能夠為客戶做更多的事情，因為終端市場改善。

As a result, we are very well-positioned in this market with capacities to absorb volumes increases in our existing cost structures.

因此，我們在這個市場中處於非常有利的地位，有能力吸收現有成本結構中銷售的成長。

Turning to energy.

轉向能源。

That being mainly oil and natural gas, both volume and pricing continue to deteriorate in the fourth quarter due to continued declining oil prices and related reduction in drilling activities.

主要是石油和天然氣，由於石油價格持續下跌和相關鑽探活動減少，第四季產量和價格持續惡化。

As a result, our energy-related volumes were down 41% in 2015 compared to 2014 and down 51% in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

因此，與 2014 年相比，2015 年我們的能源相關交易量下降了 41%，與 2014 年第四季相比，2015 年第四季下降了 51%。

We've been very proactive in reacting to the decline in demand.

我們一直非常積極主動地應對需求下降。

We began cutting expenses within our energy-related service centers over a year ago and our operating expense run rate for these businesses is now approximately 35% lower than it was at the end of 2014.

我們一年多前就開始削減能源相關服務中心的開支，這些業務的營運費用運行率目前比 2014 年底低約 35%。

This has helped mitigate the negative impact to Reliance's overall profitability.

這有助於減輕對 Reliance 整體獲利能力的負面影響。

Our outlook for energy end market remains weak for the foreseeable future.

在可預見的未來，我們對能源終端市場的前景仍然疲軟。

As such, we made further headcount reductions at our businesses servicing the energy market during the fourth quarter resulting in a reduction of 466 employees for about 36% for the full year of 2015.

因此，我們在第四季度進一步削減了能源市場服務業務的員工人數，導致 2015 年全年減少了 466 名員工，減少了約 36%。

Turning to pricing.

轉向定價。

We experienced further decline in carbon steel pricing in the fourth quarter.

第四季碳鋼價格進一步下跌。

Although there has been some success in trade cases filed in the US, there was little direct impact during the fourth quarter.

儘管在美國提起的貿易案件取得了一些成功，但第四季幾乎沒有產生直接影響。

However, we have begun to see some improvement in carbon steel pricing in the first quarter of 2016.

然而，我們在 2016 年第一季開始看到碳鋼定價有所改善。

While demand for carbon steel products is holding up, the continued pressure on pricing from high import levels into the marketplace, low raw material prices, a strong US dollar, and a soft global economy including a weak Chinese market, limits the effectiveness of trade cases.

儘管碳鋼產品的需求保持堅挺，但市場進口量高、原材料價格低、美元走強以及全球經濟疲軟（包括中國市場疲軟）帶來的持續定價壓力限制了貿易案例的有效性。

That said, we're very pleased we were once again able to increase our FIFO gross profit margin on sales of our carbon steel products in the 2015 fourth quarter.

也就是說，我們非常高興能夠在 2015 年第四季再次提高碳鋼產品銷售的先進先出毛利率。

Among carbon steel products, plate represents the largest portion of our product mix at 12% of our total sales followed by carbon steel structurals, tubing, and bars.

在碳鋼產品中，板材占我們產品組合的最大部分，佔總銷售額的 12%，其次是碳鋼結構件、管材和棒材。

As such, our results are more heavily impacted by pricing on these products versus carbon flat-rolled products which represents only 15% of our total sales with hot-rolled at 7%.

因此，與碳素扁軋產品相比，我們的業績更容易受到這些產品定價的影響，碳素扁軋產品僅占我們總銷售額的 15%，熱軋產品佔 7%。

Flat-rolled pricing was under pressure for the entire 2015 year with the mill prices down over 30% compared to the beginning of 2015.

2015 年全年扁材價格都面臨壓力，鋼廠價格較 2015 年初下降了 30% 以上。

Though plate demands remains fairly healthy, pricing for plate products declined significantly, down more than 40% from the beginning of 2015.

儘管中厚板需求依然相當健康，但中厚板產品的價格卻大幅下降，較 2015 年初下降了 40% 以上。

Base prices for alloy products the majority of which are sold into the energy end markets have held up well considering the significant reduction in demand.

考慮到需求大幅減少，合金產品的基本價格保持良好，其中大部分銷往能源終端市場。

Going forward, we expect prices for these products to remain fairly steady with current levels due in large part to alloy products going into the automotive market.

展望未來，我們預計這些產品的價格將在當前水準上保持相當穩定，這在很大程度上是由於合金產品進入汽車市場。

Now I'll hand the call over to Bill to comment further on our nonferrous markets.

現在我將把電話轉給比爾，以進一步評論我們的有色金屬市場。

Bill?

帳單？

Thanks Jim.

謝謝吉姆。

Good morning everyone.

大家，早安。

I'll begin with aerospace which continues to be one of our strongest end markets for us due to its relatively stable pricing and strong demand trends.

我將從航空航太開始，由於其相對穩定的價格和強勁的需求趨勢，它仍然是我們最強大的終端市場之一。

Sales to the aerospace market represented approximately 10% of our total sales in 2015.

2015 年，航空航太市場的銷售額約占我們總銷售額的 10%。

Our same-store tons sold to the aerospace market were up 10.4% for the 2015 year compared to 2014.

與 2014 年相比，2015 年我們向航空航太市場銷售的同店噸數增加了 10.4%。

Demand in this market continues to be strong with healthy build rates in the commercial airline market tied to record aircraft deliveries in 2015 and a robust backlog.

該市場的需求持續強勁，商業航空市場的健康建造率與 2015 年創紀錄的飛機交付量和強勁的積壓訂單有關。

Over the past couple of years, we have been purposely increasing our aerospace exposure on a global basis consistent with our customers growth patterns.

在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在全球範圍內有目的地增加我們的航空航天業務，以符合我們客戶的成長模式。

We have been successful in gaining market share through facilities expansion as well as through successful M&A activities.

我們透過設施擴建以及成功的併購活動成功地獲得了市場份額。

I'm pleased report that earlier this month we were awarded $100 million contract by BAE Systems to provide aluminum plate to support the F-35 joint strike fighter Hawk and Typhoon programs.

我很高興地報告，本月早些時候，BAE Systems 授予我們 1 億美元的合同，為 F-35 聯合攻擊戰鬥機“鷹”和“颱風”項目提供鋁板。

This five-year contract runs from 2017 through 2021 with the possibility of additional years.

這份為期五年的合約從 2017 年持續到 2021 年，並有可能延長幾年。

This contract is in addition to an award by Lockheed Martin in October of 2015 to provide aluminum products and services for the F-35 program and a five-year contract valued at an estimated $300 million.

該合約是洛克希德馬丁公司於 2015 年 10 月授予的為 F-35 項目提供鋁產品和服務以及價值估計為 3 億美元的五年合約的補充。

The majority of the products that we sell to the aerospace market are heat-treated aluminum products, especially plate as well as specialty stainless steel and titanium products.

我們銷往航空航太市場的大部分產品是熱處理鋁產品，特別是板材以及特殊不銹鋼和鈦產品。

Given continued strong demand, we expect pricing for aluminum aerospace plate to be stable through the first half of 2016.

鑑於持續強勁的需求，我們預計 2016 年上半年鋁航空航太板的定價將保持穩定。

Lead times from the domestic mills remained extended at 25+ weeks.

國內鋼廠的交貨時間仍延長在 25 週以上。

Our sales of common alloy aluminum remain consistent from a volume standpoint with most of our product being sold to sheet metal fabricators that support a variety of end markets.

從數量的角度來看，我們的普通合金鋁的銷售保持一致，我們的大部分產品都銷售給支援各種終端市場的鈑金製造商。

Demand for general engineering aluminum plate remains stable yet pricing continues to be challenged due to ongoing aggressive import pricing.

通用工程鋁板的需求保持穩定，但由於進口定價持續激進，定價持續受到挑戰。

Demand is expected to remain steady through the first half of 2016.

預計 2016 年上半年需求將維持穩定。

Pricing on common alloy aluminum sheet follows ingot and we expect some modest improvement as the Midwest spot prices trends up slightly.

普通合金鋁板的定價跟隨鑄錠定價，隨著中西部現貨價格小幅上漲，我們預計會出現一定程度的改善。

Midwest spot ingot has been trading in the $0.77 to $0.79 per pound range down from $1.06 per pound in January 2015 but up from the $0.75 per pound average for December 2015.

中西部現貨鋼錠的交易價格一直在每磅 0.77 美元至 0.79 美元之間，低於 2015 年 1 月的每磅 1.06 美元，但高於 2015 年 12 月的平均每磅 0.75 美元。

The Midwest premium is currently in the $0.096 per pound range.

中西部溢價目前為每磅 0.096 美元。

Outside of the energy markets demand for stainless steel products has continued to be good despite a very challenging pricing environment in 2015.

儘管 2015 年的定價環境非常具有挑戰性，但能源市場之外對不銹鋼產品的需求仍然保持良好。

Primarily related to stainless flat-roll.

主要與不銹鋼平卷相關。

Pricing for flat-roll stainless steel products has declined about 35% from the beginning of 2015.

平卷不鏽鋼產品的價格較 2015 年初下降了約 35%。

Pricing per stainless steel flat-rolled products increased modestly in early 2016 based on a January increase, another increase was just announced for March and we believe it will have market support.

2016 年初，不銹鋼扁材價格在 1 月上漲的基礎上小幅上漲，3 月剛剛宣布再次上漲，我們相信這將得到市場支撐。

In addition, the recently announced trade case petition for stainless steel sheet and strip, against imports from China, should lessen the flow of Chinese imports to the US and the negative impact on market pricing.

此外，最近宣布的針對從中國進口的不銹鋼板材和帶材的貿易案件請願書應會減少中國進口到美國的流量以及對市場定價的負面影響。

We sell a significant amount of stainless steel flat-rolled products into the kitchen equipment, appliance and construction end markets.

我們向廚房設備、器具和建築終端市場銷售大量不銹鋼扁材產品。

Pricing for all of these products is heavily impacted by nickel prices which declined through most of 2015 and have continued to decline so far in 2016.

所有這些產品的定價都受到鎳價的嚴重影響，鎳價在 2015 年的大部分時間裡都在下跌，並且在 2016 年至今仍持續下跌。

The monthly average nickel price for January was $3.93 per pound.

1 月鎳月平均價格為每磅 3.93 美元。

Last week nickel prices dipped below the $3.50 per pound.

上週鎳價跌破每磅 3.50 美元。

A level we haven't seen since 2002.

這是我們自 2002 年以來從未見過的水平。

Surcharges for 304 stainless fell from $0.76 per pound in January 2015 to $0.33 per pound in January 2016.

304 不鏽鋼的附加費從 2015 年 1 月的每磅 0.76 美元下降到 2016 年 1 月的每磅 0.33 美元。

While we expect prices for stainless steel products to remain under pressure in 2016, we believe we may be at or near the bottom of this cycle.

雖然我們預計 2016 年不銹鋼產品價格仍將面臨壓力，但我們相信我們可能處於或接近本週期的底部。

Despite the challenging pricing environment, our managers in the aluminum and stainless steel portions of our business have maintained healthy gross profit margins and have simultaneously managed their expenses well.

儘管定價環境充滿挑戰，我們鋁和不銹鋼業務部門的經理仍保持了健康的毛利率，同時很好地管理了開支。

We applaud them for their efforts.

我們對他們的努力表示讚賞。

I now turn the call over to Karla to review our fourth-quarter financial results.

我現在將電話轉給卡拉，以審查我們第四季度的財務表現。

Thanks Bill, and good morning everyone.

謝謝比爾，大家早安。

Our sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 were down $550.5 million or 21.4% from the fourth quarter of 2014 and down $260 million or 11.4% from the third quarter of 2015.

我們 2015 年第四季的銷售額比 2014 年第四季下降了 5.505 億美元，成長 21.4%，比 2015 年第三季下降了 2.6 億美元，成長 11.4%。

For the 2015 year, our sales were down $1.1 billion or 10.5% from 2014 mainly due to lower metals pricing with our 2015 average selling price per tons sold down a 8.6% from 2014.

2015 年，我們的銷售額比 2014 年下降了 11 億美元，或 10.5%，主要是由於金屬定價較低，2015 年每噸平均售價比 2014 年下降了 8.6%。

Our same-store average selling price has declined sequentially in each month beginning in September 2014 until December 2015 when we saw a very slight increase for the first time.

從 2014 年 9 月開始，我們的同店平均售價逐月逐月下降，直到 2015 年 12 月，我們首次看到非常小幅的上漲。

However, our December 2015 same-store average selling price was down $314 per ton or 18.1% from our September 2014 average selling price.

然而，我們 2015 年 12 月的同店平均售價比 2014 年 9 月的平均售價下降了每噸 314 美元，即 18.1%。

Based on our 2015 tons sold and a FIFO gross profit margin of 26.0%, this equates to a loss of nearly $1.86 billion of annual sales and $483 million of gross profit due solely to the impact of metals pricing.

根據我們 2015 年的銷售噸數和 26.0% 的先進先出毛利率，這相當於僅由於金屬定價的影響就損失了近 18.6 億美元的年銷售額和 4.83 億美元的毛利。

We recorded a net LIFO inventory evaluation credit or income of $117 million in 2015.

2015 年，我們的淨後進先出庫存評估信用或收入為 1.17 億美元。

Because of the significant declines in metal prices, we used up our beginning of the year LIFO reserve and recorded a lower of cost to market charge of $69.1 million because our LIFO inventory cost on hand at December 31, 2015 was higher than replacement costs resulting in a year-end net reserve of $26.1 million.

由於金屬價格大幅下跌，我們用完了年初的後進先出儲備，並記錄了6,910 萬美元的較低市場成本費用，因為我們截至2015 年12 月31 日的後進先出庫存成本高於重置成本，導致年終準備金淨額為2610萬美元。

As a result, our net LIFO adjustment for the 2015 fourth-quarter was a credit or income of $42 million or $0.35 per share which was included in our cost of sales.

因此，我們 2015 年第四季的淨後進先出調整為 4,200 萬美元或每股 0.35 美元的貸項或收入，已包含在我們的銷售成本中。

This is compared to a charge or expense of $24.5 million or $0.19 per share in the 2014 fourth quarter.

相比之下，2014 年第四季的費用或支出為 2,450 萬美元，即每股 0.19 美元。

And in the 2015 third quarter, we had a net LIFO credit or income of $35 million or $0.29 per share.

2015 年第三季度，我們的淨後進先出信用或收入為 3,500 萬美元，即每股 0.29 美元。

Our 2015 full-year LIFO adjustment was a credit or income of $186.1 million partially offset by a $69.1 million charge to record LIFO inventory at the lower of cost market for a net credit or income of $117 million or $0.97 per share compared to a 2014 charge for expense of $54.5 million or $0.43 per share.

我們2015 年全年LIFO 調整為1.861 億美元的貸項或收入，部分被6,910 萬美元的費用所抵消，以較低的成本市場記錄LIFO 庫存，與2014 年的費用相比，淨貸項或收入為1.17 億美元，即每股0.97 美元費用為 5,450 萬美元或每股 0.43 美元。

At this time, we anticipate that 2016 metal prices will be flat to up slightly from 2015 levels.

目前，我們預計 2016 年金屬價格將與 2015 年水準持平或小幅上漲。

If prices increase, we anticipate a LIFO charge or expense in 2016.

如果價格上漲，我們預計 2016 年將產生 LIFO 費用或支出。

At the end of each quarter, we will also update our lower of cost or market reserve.

在每個季度末，我們也將更新成本或市場儲備的較低者。

If metal prices increase, we anticipate a decrease in the reserve or income that would be netted against the LIFO charge.

如果金屬價格上漲，我們預期儲備金或收入將減少，並扣除後進先出費用。

Based on this, we currently do not anticipate a LIFO adjustment for 2016.

基於此，我們目前預計 2016 年不會進行 LIFO 調整。

And as in prior years, we will update our expectations quarterly based upon our inventory costs and general metals pricing trends.

與往年一樣，我們將根據庫存成本和一般金屬定價趨勢每季更新我們的預期。

Our 2015 fourth-quarter gross profit margin of 28.7% increased from 24.2% in the 2014 fourth quarter and 27.9% in the 2015 third-quarter.

我們2015年第四季的毛利率為28.7%，高於2014年第四季的24.2%和2015年第三季的27.9%。

Our increased LIFO income contributed to our higher gross profit margin.

我們增加的後進先出收入有助於我們提高毛利率。

On a FIFO basis, our gross profit margin during the quarter increased for the fourth consecutive quarter exceeding our expectations especially in light of the declining prices.

按照先進先出原則，我們本季的毛利率連續第四個季度成長，超出了我們的預期，特別是考慮到價格下降。

Our 2015 fourth-quarter SG&A expenses decreased $18.3 million from the 2014 fourth quarter and $16.2 million from the 2015 third-quarter primarily due to a nonrecurring credit of $8.6 million from proceeds received from a mill antitrust settlement as well as effective cost control throughout the Company.

我們2015 年第四季的銷售、管理及行政費用比2014 年第四季減少了1,830 萬美元，比2015 年第三季減少了1,620 萬美元，這主要是由於從工廠反壟斷和解中收到的收益中獲得了860 萬美元的非經常性信貸以及整個公司的有效成本控制。

As a percent of sales, our SG&A expenses were 20.4% compared to 16.7% in the 2014 fourth quarter and 18.8% in the 2015 third quarter.

我們的銷售、管理及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比為 20.4%，而 2014 年第四季為 16.7%，2015 年第三季為 18.8%。

The increase as a percent of sales was impacted mainly by lower selling prices in the 2015 fourth-quarter.

佔銷售額百分比的成長主要受到 2015 年第四季銷售價格下降的影響。

If we apply our 2014 average selling price to our 2015 fourth-quarter results, our SG&A expense as a percent of sales would have declined to 17.0% of sales.

如果我們將 2014 年的平均售價應用於 2015 年第四季的業績，我們的 SG&A 費用佔銷售額的百分比將下降至銷售額的 17.0%。

As Jim mentioned, during 2015 we had significant reductions in personnel and our energy businesses due to lower activity levels.

正如吉姆所提到的，2015 年，由於活動水準較低，我們大幅削減了人員和能源業務。

However, given overall lower volumes we reduced our workforce by a total of 1,111 during 2015 across several of our operations including our energy businesses.

然而，鑑於整體產量下降，2015 年我們在包括能源業務在內的多個業務部門總共減少了 1,111 名員工。

This was offset by increased headcount of 255 at certain of our businesses that were growing in 2015 mainly in our toll processing and aerospace locations.

這被我們某些業務的員工人數增加 255 人所抵消，這些業務在 2015 年主要在來料加工和航空航太領域不斷增長。

Company-wide, our net headcount at December 31 was down 5.8% or 856 employees compared to the beginning of the year on a 2.8% decline in tons sold.

截至 12 月 31 日，全公司淨員工人數比年初減少 5.8%，或 856 名員工，銷售量下降 2.8%。

Our strong gross profit margins including LIFO income and effective expense control resulted in the 2015 full-year non-GAAP operating income margin of 6.4%, an improvement from 6.1% in 2014.

我們強勁的毛利率（包括後進先出法收入和有效的費用控制）使得 2015 年全年非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 6.4%，較 2014 年的 6.1% 有所改善。

Our effective income tax rate for the 2015 fourth-quarter was 27.1% compared to 26.6% in the 2014 fourth quarter and 32.1% in the 2015 third quarter.

2015 年第四季我們的有效所得稅率為 27.1%，而 2014 年第四季為 26.6%，2015 年第三季為 32.1%。

The variances are mainly due to timing of recording certainly quarterly adjustments.

差異主要是由於記錄季度調整的時間造成的。

For the full years of both 2015 and 2014, our effective tax rate was 31.1%.

2015年和2014年全年，我們的有效稅率為31.1%。

We currently expect that our full-year 2016 effective income tax rate will be approximately 31.5%.

我們目前預計 2016 年全年有效所得稅稅率約為 31.5%。

Our Non-GAAP net income attributable to Reliance for the 2015 fourth-quarter was $63.3 million or $0.87 per diluted share compared to $79.1 million or $1.01 per diluted share in the 2014 fourth quarter and $85.8 million or $1.16 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2015.

2015 年第四季Reliance 的非公認會計準則淨利潤為6,330 萬美元，即稀釋後每股0.87 美元，而2014 年第四季為7,910 萬美元，即稀釋後每股1.01 美元，2014 年第三季度8,580 萬美元，即稀釋後每股1.16 美元。2015 年。

Our earnings release issued earlier today includes a reconciliation of our non-GAAP adjustments.

我們今天稍早發布的收益報告包括我們的非公認會計準則調整的調節表。

We generated $308.7 million of cash from operations during the 2015 fourth-quarter resulting in a record $1 billion for the full year of 2015.

2015 年第四季度，我們從營運中產生了 3.087 億美元的現金，2015 年全年現金收入達到創紀錄的 10 億美元。

This reflects the strong execution of our team, increasing gross profit margins in a declining price and volume environment along with our focus on inventory reductions and demonstrates the countercyclical nature of our working capital needs.

這反映了我們團隊的強大執行力，在價格和銷售下降的環境下提高了毛利率，以及我們對庫存減少的關注，並表明了我們營運資金需求的反週期性質。

On the working capital front, we continue to manage our receivables well with their accounts receivable days outstanding rate at December 31, 2015 of 42.4 days in line with our historical range.

在營運資金方面，我們持續良好管理應收帳款，截至2015年12月31日的應收帳款未償天數為42.4天，與我們的歷史範圍一致。

Our inventory turn rate at December 31 was 3.9 times based on dollars and 4.5 times or 2.7 months on hand, based on tons which improved from our 2014 rate of 4.4 times based on tons.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們的庫存週轉率以美元計算為 3.9 倍，以噸計算現有庫存週轉率為 4.5 倍，即 2.7 個月，這比 2014 年按噸計算的 4.4 倍有所改善。

We used our strong cash flow from operations to reduce our debt balance, grow our existing businesses, and return value to our shareholders.

我們利用強勁的營運現金流來減少債務餘額，發展現有業務，並為股東回報價值。

We paid down $167.5 million of debt during the fourth quarter for a total of $376.6 million for the year.

我們在第四季償還了 1.675 億美元的債務，全年總計償還了 3.766 億美元。

At December 31, 2015, our total debt outstanding was $1.9 billion resulting in an improved net debt to total capital ratio of 31.8% and net debt to EBITDA of 2.25 times.

截至 2015 年 12 月 31 日，我們的未償債務總額為 19 億美元，淨負債與總資本的比率提高到 31.8%，淨負債與 EBITDA 的比率提高到 2.25 倍。

As of December 31, 2015 we had $332 million outstanding on our $1.5 billion revolving credit facility.

截至 2015 年 12 月 31 日，我們 15 億美元的循環信貸額度中尚未償還 3.32 億美元。

We funded our purchase of Tubular Steel in early 2016 with borrowings on our credit facility resulting in a pro forma net debt to total capital ratio of 35.1% and leaving significant liquidity with over $800 million still available for borrowings after funding the acquisition.

2016 年初，我們透過信貸額度借款為收購 Tubular Steel 提供了資金，預計淨債務與總資本比率為 35.1%，並留下大量流動資金，在為收購提供資金後仍可用於借款超過 8 億美元。

We spent $172.2 million on capital expenditures during 2015.

2015 年，我們的資本支出為 1.722 億美元。

Looking ahead to 2016 we expect to spend approximately $180 million on capital expenditures a majority of which will be related to supporting organic growth initiatives including opening new facilities and increasing our value added processing capabilities.

展望 2016 年，我們預計將花費約 1.8 億美元的資本支出，其中大部分將用於支持有機成長計劃，包括開設新設施和提高我們的增值加工能力。

We also paid quarterly dividends totaling $120.1 million in 2015 and further enhanced our shareholder returns with opportunistic share repurchases.

2015 年，我們還支付了總計 1.201 億美元的季度股息，並透過機會性股票回購進一步提高了股東回報。

In 2015, we repurchased $355.5 million or 6.2 million shares of our common stock at an average price of $57.39 per share.

2015 年，我們以每股 57.39 美元的平均價格回購了 3.555 億美元或 620 萬股普通股。

As a result of these repurchases, we realized an earnings per share benefit of $0.19 per share in 2015.

透過這些回購，我們在 2015 年實現了每股收益 0.19 美元。

On a pro forma basis, that is if we would have repurchased all of the 6.2 million shares on January 1, the impact on earnings-per-share would have been $0.34 for the year.

根據預計，如果我們在 1 月 1 日回購全部 620 萬股股票，那麼對當年每股收益的影響將為 0.34 美元。

As a reminder, because of our significant share repurchase activity in 2015 our Board of Directors amended our share repurchase program increasing by 7.5 million shares the total authorized number of shares available to be repurchased and extending the plan through December 31, 2018.

謹此提醒，由於我們在2015 年進行了大量的股票回購活動，我們的董事會修改了我們的股票回購計劃，將可回購的授權股票總數增加了750 萬股，並將該計劃延長至2018 年12 月31 日。

The 8.4 million remaining shares authorized for repurchase represent approximately 12% of our current shares outstanding.

授權回購的剩餘 840 萬股股份約占我們目前已發行股份的 12%。

We expect to use our available cash to continue reducing our outstanding debt balance, supporting our various growth initiatives, paying a quarterly dividend, and opportunistically repurchasing shares of our common stock.

我們預計將利用可用現金繼續減少未償債務餘額，支持我們的各種成長計劃，支付季度股息，並伺機回購我們的普通股。

Now, turning to our outlook we are confident in our ability to execute well in the current environment.

現在，展望我們的前景，我們對在當前環境下良好執行的能力充滿信心。

As we're optimistic that the US economy will continue it's slow growth going forward.

我們對美國經濟未來將繼續緩慢成長持樂觀態度。

As a result, we estimate a sequential increase in tons sold of approximately 6% to 8% in the first quarter of 2016 over the fourth quarter of 2015 which includes the normal seasonal increase in shipping volumes compared to the fourth quarter as well as additional volume from our purchase of Tubular Steel.

因此，我們估計 2016 年第一季的銷量較 2015 年第四季度環比增長約 6% 至 8%，其中包括與第四季度相比正常季節性的運輸量增長以及額外的銷量來自我們購買的鋼管。

We believe that metals pricing for most products we sell has stabilized at the current low levels with the potential to improve slightly in the first quarter as a result of the price increases announced for a number of the products the Company sells.

我們認為，我們銷售的大多數產品的金屬定價已穩定在當前的低水平，由於公司銷售的多種產品宣布提價，第一季有可能略有改善。

Accordingly, we expect our average selling price in the first quarter of 2016 to be flat to up 1.5% from the fourth quarter of 2015.

因此，我們預計 2016 年第一季的平均售價將與 2015 年第四季持平，上漲 1.5%。

Given this pricing scenario as I mentioned earlier we do not anticipate a LIFO adjustment in the first quarter of 2016.

鑑於我之前提到的這種定價情況，我們預計 2016 年第一季不會進行 LIFO 調整。

As a result, we currently expect non-GAAP earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $0.80 to $0.90 of the quarter ending March 31, 2016 compared to non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.87 in the fourth quarter of 2015 which included net LIFO income of $42 million or $0.35 per share.

因此，我們目前預計截至 2016 年 3 月 31 日的季度的非 GAAP 每股攤薄收益將在 0.80 美元至 0.90 美元之間，而 2015 年第四季度的非 GAAP 攤薄每股收益為 0.87 美元，其中包括後進先出淨收入為4,200 萬美元，即每股0.35 美元。

In closing, we would like to once again thank our managers in the field for their exceptional execution in 2015.

最後，我們要再次感謝我們的現場管理人員在 2015 年的出色執行力。

We remain confident in our ability to continue to effectively manage the controllable aspects of our business, to mitigate the volatile factors that continue to impact our industry.

我們仍然相信我們有能力繼續有效管理業務的可控方面，以減輕繼續影響我們行業的不穩定因素。

Our record cash flow in 2015 was a direct result of our increased gross profit margins along with effective working capital management including our inventory reduction initiatives.

2015 年創紀錄的現金流量是毛利率提高以及有效的營運資本管理（包括庫存減少措施）的直接結果。

Our strong cash generation allows us to continue to fund growth opportunities while at the same time providing steady returns to our valued shareholders.

我們強大的現金產生能力使我們能夠繼續為成長機會提供資金，同時為我們尊貴的股東提供穩定的回報。

That concludes our prepared remarks.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。

Thank you for your attention, and at this time, we would like to open the call to questions.

感謝您的關注，此時我們想開始提問。

Operator?

操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Timna Tanners, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch.

坦納斯 (Timna Tanners)、美國銀行、美林證券。

Hello, good morning.

你好早安。

Okay guys.

好吧，夥計們。

I wanted to just ask you for a little bit more refinement on the volume guidance, because, on the one hand you say Q4 was particularly -- a little disappointing on volume.

我只是想請您對銷量指導進行更多的細化，因為一方面您說第四季度的銷量特別令人失望。

And then, we have heard that our [channel tecs] say January is a pretty strong month, so 6% to 8% would compare with your historical 9% and [MSCI] at like 9.6%, and as you point out, you tend to beat the MSCI.

然後，我們聽說我們的[通路技術人員] 說1 月是一個相當強勁的月份，因此6% 到8% 會與您的歷史9% 和[MSCI] 相比，大約9.6%，正如您所指出的，您傾向於擊敗MSCI。

Just wonder if you could tell us why you think the sequential improvement might be less than it has been in recent years.

只是想知道您是否可以告訴我們為什麼您認為連續改善可能低於近年來的水平。

I'm not sure that it's going to be sequentially different than years past, if we have 9% -- I'm not sure we have done that every year over the past five years.

如果我們有 9%，我不確定它是否會與過去幾年有所不同——我不確定我們在過去五年中每年都會這樣做。

Average capacity (inaudible).

平均容量（聽不清楚）。

Yes, Timna we look at we are trending so for into 2016, and look at how January is kind of a light month.

是的，Timna，我們來看看 2016 年的趨勢，看看 1 月是如何輕鬆的一​​個月。

So we're using the visibility from what we've seen so far in January, which we think is healthy demand.

因此，我們正在利用一月份迄今為止所看到的可見性，我們認為這是健康的需求。

We've seen it bounce back from where we were.

我們已經看到它從原來的位置反彈回來。

There is still the energy drag on tons, which is only a small portion of our business, but we may be a bit conservative, but we tried to make what we felt was a reasonable estimate.

仍然存在對噸的能源拖累，這只是我們業務的一小部分，但我們可能有點保守，但我們試圖做出我們認為合理的估計。

Looking at January and the MSCI data and their comparison to January of last year, we are certainly better with what we've seen in January than that.

看看 1 月和 MSCI 數據以及與去年 1 月的比較，我們肯定比 1 月看到的情況更好。

But we think the 6% to 8% is a good reasonable estimate that shows demand coming back the way we would expected it to.

但我們認為 6% 至 8% 是一個合理的估計，表明需求正在按照我們預期的方式恢復。

Really, where we see the turning point, Timna, is really in the month of March.

確實，我們看到轉捩點 Timna 確實是在三月。

January, February, is always a little bit soft in the first quarter.

一月、二月，第一季總是有點疲軟。

And March really is kind of indicative of what were going to see, basically, in the second quarter.

三月確實預示著第二季將會發生什麼。

So, I think we will always be a little bit conservative on our guidance in the first quarter.

因此，我認為我們對第一季的指導總是會有點保守。

Based on what we're seeing in January and part way through February, with the telling point being really in the month of March.

根據我們在一月和二月中旬所看到的情況，關鍵是在三月。

Okay.

好的。

That makes a lot of sense.

這很有意義。

And then secondly, I wanted to ask about the Tubular Steel acquisition.

其次，我想問一下收購 Tubular Steel 的情況。

It looks like, if we interpreted this correctly, with the revolver that's tapped about $370 million was the deal, correct me if I am wrong, and then revenues you said were $200 million.

看起來，如果我們理解正確的話，這筆交易就是價值 3.7 億美元的左輪手槍，如果我錯了，請糾正我，然後你說的收入是 2 億美元。

If you could talk about the rationale on that transaction, and if you think the $200 million is depressed on a normalized basis.

您是否可以談談該交易的基本原理，以及您是否認為這 2 億美元在正常化的基礎上受到抑制。

It wasn't clear if it was -- how much of that was related to the energy markets, and not related to energy markets.

目前尚不清楚其中有多少與能源市場有關，以及與能源市場無關。

So, a little more detail, if you could.

所以，如果可以的話，請提供更多細節。

Yes.

是的。

So, Timna, just on the number you came up with, would not be the right number.

所以，提姆納，就你想出的數字而言，這並不是正確的數字。

We haven't disclosed our purchase price amount for the Tubular Steel acquisition, but it was in line with the way we've consistently valued companies over the years on a normalized pre-tax income basis; and Greg or Jim can talk a little more about Tubular.

我們尚未揭露收購 Tubular Steel 的收購價格金額，但這與我們多年來在標準化稅前收入基礎上一貫對公司進行估值的方式一致； Greg 或 Jim 可以多談談 Tubular。

But with the markets they are in, the $200 million is their 2014 revenue.

但就他們所處的市場而言，2 億美元是他們 2014 年的收入。

They do have some energy exposure, so their numbers are down a bit currently from that 2014 amount.

他們確實有一些能源暴露，因此目前的數量比 2014 年有所下降。

Yes, they're 2014 numbers, Timna, at roughly $200 million in revenue; in 2015 it was less than that.

是的，這是 2014 年的數字，Timna，收入約為 2 億美元； 2015年則低於這個數字。

In good times, in the energy business, the percentage of their revenues are about 35% to 40%, related to energy.

在經濟繁榮時期，能源業務佔其收入的比例約為 35% 至 40%，與能源相關。

In these times, it's roughly 25% to 30%.

在這些時候，大約是 25% 到 30%。

They sell quite a bit of their metal into the energy market through service centers, as well.

他們也透過服務中心將相當一部分金屬出售到能源市場。

So we've included that in those percentages.

因此我們已將其包含在這些百分比中。

Hi Timna, this is Jim.

嗨蒂姆納，我是吉姆。

TS, it's just a fine Company.

TS，這是一家不錯的公司。

They do have energy exposure, but they also sell into a lot of other markets that we anticipate to do quite well.

他們確實有能源敞口，但他們也向許多其他市場銷售，我們預計這些市場會表現良好。

They are well-run Company, been around for a long time.

他們是經營良好的公司，已經存在很久了。

They have a great name in the marketplace, and they fit in very well with us.

他們在市場上享有很高的聲譽，而且非常適合我們。

They have a lot of products, Timna, that are very special to themselves.

他們有很多產品，Timna，對他們來說非常特別。

The inventory turn isn't what our inventory turn is, because of these specialized products.

由於這些專業產品，庫存週轉率與我們的庫存週轉率不同。

We expect that we can help improve that, but I don't think it will ever be at the levels of which we are at, because of the specialty nature of the products that they have.

我們希望我們能夠幫助改善這一點，但我認為它永遠不會達到我們現在所處的水平，因為他們擁有的產品的特殊性。

But we've been admiring them from afar for many, many years now, and we are very, very pleased that they are now part of the family.

但多年來我們一直在遠處欣賞他們，我們非常非常高興他們現在成為這個家庭的一員。

And similar to the other Reliance Companies with the specialty items, where their returns are typically a little lower than the Company-wide average, they also typically have higher than average gross profit margins which Tubular Steel certainly has.

與其他擁有特殊產品的信實公司類似，它們的回報通常略低於全公司的平均水平，但它們的毛利率通常也高於管狀鋼公司的平均毛利率。

Okay, thanks for all that.

好的，謝謝你。

Phil Gibbs, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Phil Gibbs，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Good morning, thanks very much.

早安，非常感謝。

Good morning, Phil.

早上好，菲爾。

I had a question on what your expectations are for the toll processing business in 2016, 2017.

我想問一下您對2016年、2017年來料加工業務的預期是什麼？

Obviously, a lot of invests you've made, any way to couch how much either incremental volume or incremental revenue you expect?

顯然，您已經進行了大量投資，有什麼方法可以表達您期望的增量數量或增量收入嗎？

Anything that could help us frame that out.

任何可以幫助我們解決這個問題的東西。

We have made, Phil, as you know, some pretty sizable investments, both last year, and this year going forward.

菲爾，正如你所知，我們去年和今年都進行了一些相當大的投資。

Primarily to support the exposed aluminum going into the automotive and truck business.

主要是為了支持裸露鋁材進入汽車和卡車業務。

To what extent their revenue growth is going to be -- you know, when you look at the overall Company revenue compared to what we are bringing in toll processing, it's a very small portion of our overall revenue.

他們的收入成長將會達到什麼程度——你知道，當你將公司的整體收入與我們在收費處理方面的收入進行比較時，你會發現它只占我們整體收入的一小部分。

It's a larger portion of our overall profitability.

它占我們整體盈利能力的很大一部分。

But you know, it's hard -- Karla, do you have any comments about the revenue increase?

但你知道，這很難——卡拉，你對收入增加有什麼評論嗎？

Yes, it was about 3% of our revenue in 2015.

是的，這大約占我們 2015 年收入的 3%。

It's hard to move that a lot, because of the nature of their business, where we're just charging processing fees.

由於他們的業務性質，我們很難將其轉移太多，我們只收取處理費。

As Jim stated in his comments, we basically doubled their aluminum processing in 2015 over 2014 levels.

正如吉姆在他的評論中所說，我們 2015 年的鋁加工量基本上是 2014 年水準的兩倍。

We expect to continue to increase that because the one facility that did a lot of the new processing of aluminum didn't get started up until, really, I think about April of 2015.

我們預計會繼續增加這一數量，因為負責大量新鋁加工的一家工廠直到 2015 年 4 月才啟動。

So we will have a full year with that.

所以我們將度過一整年。

And we did make more investments, and are continuing to make investments, so we would certainly expect continued aluminum growth, tolling growth there.

我們確實進行了更多投資，並且正在繼續進行投資，因此我們肯定會預期鋁的持續成長，從而影響那裡的成長。

But could it get to 4% of revenue?

但它能達到收入的 4% 嗎？

Possibly, but it takes a lot to move that percentage.

有可能，但要改變這個百分比需要很大的努力。

Just by way of volumes though, Phil, as Jim pointed out, we doubled our aluminum pounds out the door starting up with that new facility in April, so really, we had an eight month run.

不過，就產量而言，菲爾，正如吉姆所指出的那樣，從四月份的新工廠開始，我們的鋁磅數增加了一倍，所以實際上，我們已經運行了八個月。

We are adding another piece of equipment there, that should be operational towards the end of the second quarter?

我們正在那裡添加另一台設備，該設備應該在第二季末投入運作？

Right.

正確的。

Okay.

好的。

So we would expect that our increase in volumes in aluminum would be about 50% higher in 2016 over 2015.

因此，我們預計 2016 年鋁產量增幅將比 2015 年增加約 50%。

Okay?

好的？

But as we pointed out before, there's no metal that we're charging for, so the actual dollars, you know, going into revenue are quite misleading.

但正如我們之前指出的，我們不收取任何金屬費用，因此，您知道，計入收入的實際美元相當具有誤導性。

And they also -- with our tolling businesses, even though the revenue dollars are light because of that, the volume that they process is significant.

他們也——在我們的收費業務中，儘管因此收入很少，但他們處理的數量卻很大。

Once again, in 2015, our toll processing operations processed more metal then the rest of the Company sold on a combined basis, so if they were buying and reselling the metal, we think the tolling businesses would be at least an $8 billion-plus revenue.

2015 年，我們的來料加工業務加工的金屬數量再次超過了公司其他部門銷售的金屬總量，因此，如果他們購買並轉售金屬，我們認為來料加工業務的收入將至少超過 80 億美元。

Hi Phil, this is Jim, as well know (multiple speakers), they are not only an aluminum processor.

嗨菲爾，我是吉姆，眾所周知（多個揚聲器），他們不僅僅是一個鋁處理器。

They process a lot of steel that goes into refrigerators, dryers, all that appliance-type business, too.

他們加工大量鋼材，用於冰箱、烘乾機以及所有家電類業務。

And that's a robust business, and that continues to do well as we go.

這是一項強勁的業務，而且隨著我們的發展，它繼續表現良好。

Okay, thanks for that color.

好的，謝謝你的顏色。

And, Karla, what were your gross margin assumptions for Q1, in terms of how we should be thinking about that FIFO-wise?

Karla，您對第一季的毛利率假設是多少，我們該如何考慮 FIFO？

Yes, so we didn't actually give those.

是的，所以我們實際上並沒有提供這些。

We'd said that we expect to continue to execute well, and we think executing well is -- reflects strong FIFO gross profit margin.

我們說過，我們預計將繼續保持良好的執行力，並且我們認為良好的執行力反映了強勁的先進先出毛利率。

So, we don't see any direct reason for our gross profit margin to change significantly on a FIFO basis, from where we've been running towards the end of the year.

因此，從我們到年底的情況來看，我們認為沒有任何直接原因導致我們的毛利率在先進先出的基礎上發生顯著變化。

Okay.

好的。

And then, lastly, I know you had mentioned in your prepared remarks -- I think you said a $69.1 million lower cost or market.

最後，我知道您在準備好的演講中提到過——我想您說過成本或市場降低了 6,910 萬美元。

How common is that, and can you give us any color as to how that flowed through the year?

這種情況有多常見？您能為我們介紹一下這一年的情況嗎？

Because I think right now, you said that the reserve went to a debit position, so just any color that you can provide us on the timing and the flow-through, that would be helpful.

因為我認為現在，您說儲備金已進入借方位置，因此您可以向我們提供有關時間和流量的任何顏色，這都會有所幫助。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yes, Phil.

是的，菲爾。

So, it's not that common to end up in a debit LIFO reserve, but as you guys have all been writing about, prices are at levels not seen for many, many years.

因此，最終採用借方後進先出儲備的情況並不常見，但正如你們所寫的那樣，價格處於很多很多年以來都沒有見過的水平。

And, so that caused, with the significant mill price reductions this year, that generated a lot of LIFO income.

因此，隨著今年工廠價格的大幅下降，產生了大量的後進先出收入。

In the third quarter, we started to look at that.

在第三季度，我們開始關注這一點。

Typically your LIFO reserve is a credit, and generally provides some cushion where you don't necessarily typically record lower of cost or market reserves, because it kind of lowers your inventory costs on hand.

通常，您的後進先出儲備是一種信用，通常會提供一些緩衝，您通常不一定會記錄較低的成本或市場儲備，因為它會降低您手頭上的庫存成本。

When you flip to a debit LIFO reserve position, which we did with $186 million worth of LIFO income in the year, that actually makes your inventory cost higher by that debit LIFO reserve.

當你轉向借方 LIFO 準備金頭寸時（我們用當年價值 1.86 億美元的 LIFO 收入來做到這一點），實際上，借方 LIFO 準備金會使你的庫存成本更高。

So, actually, in the third quarter we started booking to a lower of cost or market reserve just because current replacement costs were lower than our inventory costs on hand.

因此，實際上，在第三季度，我們開始以較低的成本或市場儲備進行預訂，只是因為目前的重置成本低於我們現有的庫存成本。

So, it was about $69 million.

所以，大約是 6900 萬美元。

We ended up with a net reserve between LIFO and LCM of a $26 million credit.

我們最終在 LIFO 和 LCM 之間獲得了 2600 萬美元的淨準備金。

We think that's a pretty low number, even the $69 million lower of cost or market reserve is not that much when you look at $1.4 billion of inventory on hand.

我們認為這是一個相當低的數字，即使成本或市場儲備減少 6,900 萬美元，但考慮到手頭 14 億美元的庫存，也不算多。

I appreciate that.

我很感激。

I just was curious, given that I never heard you talk about that before.

我只是很好奇，因為我以前從未聽過你談論過這件事。

Yes, it's the first time we've had it, actually.

是的，事實上，這是我們第一次。

I think back in 2002, we were close with some of the lower prices then.

我想早在 2002 年，我們就已經接近當時的一些較低價格了。

And you will see it more commonly for companies that are on FIFO instead of LIFO.

對於採用先進先出法而不是後進先出法的公司，您會更常見地看到這種情況。

Because when you are on FIFO they have to measure it more frequently.

因為當您使用 FIFO 時，他們必須更頻繁地測量它。

They don't have that kind of cushion in their LIFO reserve that I mentioned.

他們的後進先出儲備中沒有我提到的那種緩衝。

Okay.

好的。

Thanks so much.

非常感謝。

Michael Gambardella, JPMorgan.

麥可甘巴德拉，摩根大通。

Yes, good morning (multiple speakers).

是的，早安（多位發言者）。

A couple questions: on aluminum, where you're seeing a lot of import pressure, from what country or countries, and what products, if you could give us some color on that?

有幾個問題：關於鋁，您在哪些方面看到了很大的進口壓力，來自哪個國家或哪些國家，以及哪些產品，您能給我們一些說明嗎？

Most of the pressure -- if you are referring to heat-treat products and general engineering, a lot of it's coming from Asia.

大部分壓力——如果你指的是熱處理產品和通用工程，其中很大一部分來自亞洲。

Coming out of China, there's several new mills there.

從中國出來，那裡有幾家新工廠。

But it comes from, really, all over the world.

但它確實來自世界各地。

There will be some coming in from South Africa, so there's a -- on the general engineering side, there's a lot of import availability.

會有一些來自南非，所以在一般工程方面，有很多進口供應。

Now, on the aerospace side, many of those mills are not qualified or certified to produce aerospace products, so you don't get that same pressure on the aerospace side.

現在，在航空航太方面，許多工廠沒有生產航空航太產品的資格或認證，因此航空航太方面不會受到同樣的壓力。

Common alloy.

普通合金。

Common alloy that is -- there's a lot of import product.

普通合金－有很多進口產品。

And that, again, coming out of Asia, some coming in from Europe, and in that market where a lot of the domestics have been focused more in the opportunities on the auto side, there is a lot more import coming in and being used for distributor coil.

再說一遍，來自亞洲，一些來自歐洲，在這個市場上，許多國內企業更加關注汽車方面的機會，有更多的進口產品進入並用於分配器線圈。

And have you taken advantage of these low price imports, or are you seeing some of your competitors taking advantage of it?

您是否利用了這些低價進口產品的優勢，或者您是否看到您的一些競爭對手正在利用這些優勢？

We do, on common alloy it's pretty common, I think as the industry -- because of the more focus on the auto from the domestic mills.

我們確實如此，我認為作為行業，普通合金這很常見 - 因為國內工廠更加關注汽車。

The common alloy product is -- a big part of that is import product, and I think both with us and our competitors.

常見的合金產品－其中很大一部分是進口產品，我認為無論是我們還是我們的競爭對手。

On the general engineering side, so far we're still predominantly on the domestic part of that, and we will participate to a smaller extent with import product.

在一般工程方面，目前為止我們還是以國內為主，進口產品我們會少量參與。

Okay.

好的。

And, just in terms of the guidance on the volumes up 6% to 8%, just a follow-up question on that.

而且，就銷量成長 6% 至 8% 的指導而言，這只是一個後續問題。

Assuming you back out the seasonality and the acquisition of Tubular's, what would that number be?

假設您取消季節性因素和收購 Tubular 的影響，這個數字會是多少？

Yes.

是的。

You know, that's kind of hard to answer, Michael, because we're so used to the seasonality.

你知道，這很難回答，邁克爾，因為我們已經習慣了季節性。

It's always the fourth quarter to first quarter experience that we see.

我們看到的總是第四季到第一季的經驗。

One of the things that does change at Reliance as we acquire companies, is some of the Companies traditionally have the second quarter as their strongest volume quarter, but some of the Companies typically have first quarter as their strongest.

當我們收購公司時，Reliance 確實發生了變化，有些公司傳統上將第二季度視為銷量最強的季度，但有些公司通常將第一季視為銷量最強的季度。

So that mix is where acquiring Companies can shift those seasonal patterns a bit.

因此，收購公司可以透過這種組合稍微改變這些季節性模式。

I would say we're up marginally, if you backed out seasonality, it's just really hard for us to think about backing out seasonality.

我想說的是，我們的漲幅略有上升，如果你取消季節性因素，我們就很難考慮取消季節性因素。

Right, so, but backing out seasonality in the acquisition, you feel your volumes would still be up a little bit, quarter to quarter?

是的，那麼，但是排除收購中的季節性因素，您認為您的銷售仍會逐季度略有上升嗎？

Yes, we think they would still be up a bit quarter over quarter, yes.

是的，我們認為它們仍會比上一季有所增長，是的。

Great, thank you.

太好了謝謝。

Aldo Mazzaferro, Macquarie.

阿爾多·馬扎費羅，麥格理。

Hi, good morning, everyone (multiple speakers).

大家早安（多位發言者）。

So, Greg, on the overall market outlook, when you look at the service centers, I noticed Karla mentioned we haven't seen an inventory debit or close to it since 2002.

所以，格雷格，就整體市場前景而言，當你查看服務中心時，我注意到卡拉提到，自 2002 年以來，我們還沒有看到庫存借方或接近庫存借方。

If you look at the market today, and you say we are in this market that might be similar to that period of time where, maybe, the 2000 market -- do you see your -- you are in a position where you have cash, you have a strong balance sheet, where a lot of other service centers have either little cash, or low valuations, or both, and weak balance sheets.

如果你看看今天的市場，你說我們所處的市場可能類似於那個時期，也許，2000 年的市場——你看到了嗎——你處於一個擁有現金的位置，你有一個強大的資產負債表，而許多其他服務中心要么現金很少，要么估值低，或者兩者兼而有之，而且資產負債表很弱。

I'm wondering if you see the pace of acquisitions picking up in 2016?

我想知道您是否認為 2016 年收購步伐會加快？

I think that -- here's just one opinion, right?

我認為——這只是一種意見，對吧？

There's four of us sitting in the room, so you'll probably get four different opinions, if you want to know the truth, but the fact of the matter is 2015 was challenging, with the prices going down basically 15 months in a row, starting in September of 2014, and each and every month going forward, on basically every product that we stock.

我們四個人坐在房間裡，所以如果你想知道真相，你可能會得到四種不同的意見，但事實是 2015 年充滿挑戰，價格基本上連續 15 個月下降，從2014 年9 月開始，以及以後的每個月，基本上是針對我們庫存的所有產品。

When you are going through a period of time like that, companies aren't doing as well, financially, and they are not as willing to shop their company in the marketplace, and sell their company.

當你經歷這樣的一段時間時，公司的財務狀況不佳，他們不願意在市場上購買自己的公司，也不願意出售自己的公司。

They think the values are going to be undervalued for the reasons I just explained.

他們認為由於我剛才解釋的原因，這些價值將被低估。

So, with stability, unfortunately at a very low level, okay, but we believe that hopefully we'll get a little bit of upswing going forward in the year.

因此，不幸的是，穩定性處於非常低的水平，好吧，但我們相信，希望今年我們能有所回升。

When prices are more stable, profitability is a little bit better, and the likelihood of them wanting to go out and maybe shop their company if there's an interest is a lot better than in a declining pricing environment.

當價格更加穩定時，盈利能力會更好一些，如果有興趣的話，他們想要出去購買自己公司的可能性比價格下降的環境要好得多。

So, that's a long-winded version of me saying I think, yes, 2016 will probably -- there will be more activity than 2015.

所以，這是我的長篇大論，我認為，是的，2016 年可能會比 2015 年有更多的活動。

But we're going to have to look at the deals on an item-by-item basis, and make our own decision on whether or not we going to go forward.

但我們必須逐項查看交易，並自行決定是否繼續進行。

We were very fortunate with the Tubular Steel.

我們非常幸運地擁有管狀鋼。

It wasn't shopped, they came to us, basically exclusively.

這些東西不是買來的，而是來找我們的，基本上都是獨家的。

And with their specialized products and whatnot, it was a very attractive acquisition for us.

憑藉他們的專業產品等，這對我們來說是一次非常有吸引力的收購。

I think there's going to be more activity, I think we are already seeing that.

我認為將會有更多的活動，我想我們已經看到了這一點。

Looking at deals, whether or not we'll get them done, or want to get them done, that always remains to be seen.

看看交易，無論我們是否會完成它們，或者是否想要完成它們，這始終有待觀察。

Yes, I think also, Aldo, to your point of us having a strong balance sheet, and we will continue, as Greg said, to look and execute on the right acquisition opportunities.

是的，我也認為，奧爾多，就你的觀點而言，我們擁有強大的資產負債表，我們將繼續，正如格雷格所說，尋找並執行正確的收購機會。

But we also are continuing to invest a lot in our existing Company, and a lot of our competitors out there don't have the ability to do that.

但我們也繼續對現有公司進行大量投資，而我們的許多競爭對手沒有能力做到這一點。

So, we expect to continue to pick up market share because of our ability to finance -- we have the funds available to capitalize on opportunities that we see out there in the market.

因此，由於我們的融資能力，我們預計將繼續擴大市場份額——我們有足夠的資金來利用我們在市場上看到的機會。

And so, you see a strong CapEx budget for us again this year, as we've had last few years, because we'll continue our growth that way, and are fortunate to that the balance sheet that we do to be able to do that.

因此，今年我們再次看到強勁的資本支出預算，就像我們過去幾年一樣，因為我們將繼續以這種方式成長，並且幸運的是我們能夠做到的資產負債表那。

Karla, if I could follow up on a separate topic.

卡拉，我可以談談一個單獨的話題嗎？

In terms of your gross margins on a FIFO basis, if you look at the fourth quarter, I'm sure there was some penalty on those margins from the fact of pricing on the sale point was lower than it was on the purchase point.

就先進先出的毛利率而言，如果你看看第四季度，我確信這些利潤會受到一些懲罰，因為銷售點的定價低於購買點的定價。

I think you probably felt that kind of pressure throughout the year.

我想你可能一整年都感受到了這種壓力。

Do you see, for example, if the prices were to stabilize in first quarter, stay there for 60 days or longer, do you see some margin pressure being relieved?

例如，如果價格在第一季穩定下來，並保持該水平 60 天或更長時間，您是否認為利潤率壓力會有所緩解？

And maybe you could say how many basis points you think your penalty was in the quarter?

也許您可以說您認為本季的處罰是多少個基點？

Yes so, Aldo, generally we do expect that if prices are stable or up slightly, we do expect to be able to expand our gross profit margins in those types of environments.

是的，奧爾多，一般來說，我們確實預計，如果價格穩定或略有上漲，我們確實希望能夠在這些類型的環境中擴大我們的毛利率。

That being said, we are at a good healthy rate, the way we ended the year.

話雖這麼說，我們今年結束時的情況仍處於良好的健康狀態。

We're not brave enough I don't think to sit here and try to quantify what that number would be, but you are correct that with the really strong execution we had of reducing inventory during the year while prices were going down.

我們不夠勇敢，我不認為坐在這裡嘗試量化這個數字，但你是對的，我們在這一年中在價格下降的情況下減少了庫存，執行力非常強大。

We do think we are in good position now with our inventory costs that we have on hand to support strong gross profit margins going forward.

我們確實認為我們現在處於有利的位置，我們現有的庫存成本可以支持未來強勁的毛利率。

Yes, Aldo, we were extremely proud of many aspects of our business, but in particular our gross profit management and our inventory reduction were the two highest on the list.

是的，奧爾多，我們對我們業務的許多方面都感到非常自豪，但特別是我們的毛利管理和庫存減少是清單中最高的兩個。

Generally speaking, when you have a declining market in prices like we had 15 months in a row, it's very unusual for you to get your margin expansion.

一般來說，當市場價格連續 15 個月下跌時，您的利潤率擴張是非常不尋常的。

Especially when you do it four quarters in a row, so -- but we were reducing our inventory substantially throughout those quarters, so, in large part, we were able to -- when you had too high of inventory, [you're] able to chase bad orders, okay, because you have to reduce those inventories.

特別是當你連續四個季度這樣做時，所以 - 但我們在這些季度中大幅減少了庫存，所以，在很大程度上，我們能夠 - 當你的庫存過高時，[你]能夠追逐不良訂單，好吧，因為你必須減少這些庫存。

Our inventories were in line, I think we got a head start on it.

我們的庫存是一致的，我認為我們已經領先了。

We started looking at our inventories very closely in the fourth quarter of 2014, okay, because that's when the mills started to reduce their prices with September of 2014.

我們從 2014 年第四季開始非常密切地關注我們的庫存，因為當時工廠從 2014 年 9 月開始降價。

So, we were pleased with that.

所以，我們對此感到滿意。

But now, with the prices more in line and more stable than they have been for almost a year-and-a-half, I think we would expect maybe a little bit of improvement on the margin side.

但現在，隨著價格比近一年半以來更加一致和穩定，我認為我們預計利潤率可能會有所改善。

Well thanks, Greg.

好吧，謝謝，格雷格。

Congratulations on the excellent performance in a tough market.

恭喜您在嚴峻的市場中取得了優異的表現。

Thanks, Aldo.

謝謝，奧爾多。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Chris Olin, Rosenblatt Securities.

克里斯·奧林，羅森布拉特證券。

Hi, thanks for taking my call.

您好，感謝您接聽我的電話。

Good morning, Chris.

早上好，克里斯。

I just had a quick question on aerospace.

我只是有一個關於航空航天的簡單問題。

Seems like there's a bit of discussion about a potential inventory glut within the channel.

似乎有一些關於渠道內潛在庫存過剩的討論。

Perhaps some of this relates to the recent production cuts at Boeing in some of the wide-body aircraft.

也許部分原因與波音公司最近削減某些寬體飛機的產量有關。

I guess I just wondering if you saw this impacting your business right now, and is that reflected in the volume guidance as well?

我想我只是想知道您現在是否看到這對您的業務產生了影響，這是否也反映在銷售指導中？

Hi Chris, it's Bill Sales.

嗨，克里斯，我是比爾·銷售。

You know, there has been a lot of discussion and a lot of articles about that.

你知道，對此已經有很多討論和很多文章。

From our point of view, we really look at where mill lead times are, where the build rates will follow that, and we'll look at the backlog.

從我們的角度來看，我們確實會關注工廠的交貨時間，建造率將隨之變化，我們將關注積壓情況。

And, while there have been some adjustments in the build rate, I think there is -- a lot of that is tied to conversions to the next-generation aircraft.

而且，雖然建造速度發生了一些調整，但我認為其中很大一部分與下一代飛機的轉換有關。

I know in one case it's really tied to the lack of freighter activity.

我知道在一種情況下，這確實與貨輪活動的缺乏有關。

But we really see strong demand, mill lead times are 25-plus weeks.

但我們確實看到了強勁的需求，工廠的交貨時間超過 25 週。

And we think that demand will continue through this year.

我們認為這項需求將持續到今年。

And we feel good about the programs that we are on, we feel good about our position with opening some new facilities.

我們對我們正在進行的項目感覺良好，我們對開設一些新設施的地位感覺良好。

So, we really think that 2016 is going to be another very, very strong year for us in aerospace.

因此，我們確實認為 2016 年對於我們航空航太業來說將是另一個非常非常強勁的一年。

Great.

偉大的。

Just back to the lead time issue.

回到交貨時間問題。

Are you having any trouble getting some of the materials, and I've heard some backing up on the titanium side.

您在獲取某些材料時遇到困難嗎？我聽說鈦合金方面有一些支撐。

Is there any problem in terms of the supply?

供應方面是否有問題？

Not for us.

不適合我們。

I think we've got good relationships there, and programs in place, so the supply side isn't a problem for us.

我認為我們在那裡有良好的關係，並且計劃到位，所以供應方面對我們來說不是問題。

You do have to have programs to work through some of these long lead times that we are dealing with, and if the question isn't about titanium specifically, I think we are in really good shape there.

你確實必須制定計劃來解決我們正在處理的一些較長的交貨時間，如果問題不是專門針對鈦，我認為我們在那裡的狀況非常好。

With our mill relations -- and that market, we're not -- from a lead time standpoint, you do need some programs in place to be sure you can get the product when you need it.

憑藉我們與工廠的關係（以及我們不是的市場），從交貨時間的角度來看，您確實需要製定一些計劃，以確保您可以在需要時獲得產品。

Thanks a lot.

多謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We've reached the end of our question-and-answer session.

我們的問答環節已經結束。

I will turn the floor back over to Mr. Gregg Mollins with any closing remarks.

我將把發言權交還給格雷格·莫林斯先生並發表結束語。

Well, listen, thanks again for your support and for participating in today's call.

好吧，聽著，再次感謝您的支持和參加今天的電話會議。

And we would like to remind everyone that in March we will be in New York City, presenting at Macquarie's What's Next for the Non-Res conference, so we hope to see many of you there.

我們想提醒大家，三月我們將在紐約市，在麥格理的 Non-Res 會議的下一步是什麼上發表演講，所以我們希望在那裡見到你們中的許多人。

And have a great day.

祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes today's conference.

今天的會議到此結束。

Thank you for your participation.

感謝您的參與。

You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

此時您可以斷開線路。