Stabilis Solutions Inc (SLNG) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Stabilis Solutions second-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加穩定解決方案第二季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Andy Puhala, Chief Financial Officer of Stabilis Solutions. You may begin.

現在我將會議交給主持人安迪普哈拉 (Andy Puhala)，他是 Stabilis Solutions 的財務長。你可以開始了。

Good morning, and welcome to Stabilis Solutions second-quarter 2024 results conference call. I'm Andy Puhala, Senior Vice President and CFO of Stabilis. And joining me today is our President and CEO, Westy Ballard. We issued a press release after the market closed yesterday detailing our second-quarter operational and financial results. This release is publicly available in the Investor Relations section of our corporate website at stabilis-solutions.com.

早安，歡迎參加穩定解決方案 2024 年第二季業績電話會議。我是安迪‧普哈拉 (Andy Puhala)，Stabilis 資深副總裁兼財務長。今天加入我的是我們的總裁兼執行長 Westy Ballard。昨天收盤後，我們發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了我們第二季的營運和財務表現。本新聞稿可在我們公司網站 stabilis-solutions.com 的投資者關係部分公開取得。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's conference call will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995 and other securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based on the company's expectations and beliefs as of today, August 8, 2024. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The company undertakes no obligation to provide updates or revisions to the forward-looking statements made in today's call.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，今天的電話會議將包含 1995 年《私人證券改革法案》和其他證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述是基於本公司截至 2024 年 8 月 8 日的預期和信念。前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與預測有重大差異。該公司不承擔對今天電話會議中所做的前瞻性陳述進行更新或修訂的義務。

Additional information concerning factors that could cause those differences is contained in our filings with the SEC and in the press release announcing our results. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Further, please note that we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial information during today's call. You can find reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings press release. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay.

有關可能導致這些差異的因素的更多資​​訊包含在我們向 SEC 提交的文件以及宣布我們結果的新聞稿中。投資者應注意不要過度依賴任何前瞻性陳述。此外，請注意，我們可能會在今天的電話會議中參考某些非公認會計準則財務資訊。您可以在我們的收益新聞稿中找到非公認會計準則財務指標與最具可比性的公認會計準則財務指標的調節表。今天的通話正在錄音中，可供重播。

With that, I'll hand the call over to Westy Ballard for his remarks.

接下來，我將把電話轉給韋斯蒂·巴拉德（Westy Ballard）聽取他的講話。

Thank you, Andy, and good morning to everyone joining us on the call.

謝謝你，安迪，祝所有加入我們電話的人早安。

We delivered a strong second-quarter performance, thanks to the continuous hard work of our entire team, enabling us to transition our company into one of North America's largest providers of liquefied natural gas fueling, production, storage and last-mile delivery solutions for many of the world's most recognized high-performance brands. Our team has worked hard to optimize our existing operations to focus on longer-term customer relationships that support higher asset utilization, more predictable cash flows, improved liquidity and a healthier leverage profile.

由於我們整個團隊的持續努力，我們第二季度取得了強勁的業績，使我們能夠將公司轉變為北美最大的液化天然氣加註、生產、儲存和最後一英里交付解決方案供應商之一。最受認可的高性能品牌。我們的團隊努力優化現有運營，專注於長期客戶關係，支持更高的資產利用率、更可預測的現金流、改善的流動性和更健康的槓桿狀況。

During the quarter, our revenue increased by over 44% year over year, supported by a 60% improvement in utilization at our flagship plant in Texas when compared to the second quarter of last year. We generated over $5 million in operating cash flow in the second quarter and ended the period with nearly $16 million in cash and availability under our credit agreements and a net cash positive balance sheet. Our strengthening liquidity position provides considerable flexibility to fund our operations and has enabled us to reinvest in our infrastructure to meet rapidly growing demand in our key end markets.

本季度，我們的營收年增超過 44%，這得益於我們位於德州的旗艦工廠的利用率比去年第二季度提高了 60%。我們在第二季產生了超過 500 萬美元的營運現金流，並在本季結束時根據我們的信貸協議和淨現金正資產負債表獲得了近 1,600 萬美元的現金和可用資金。我們不斷增強的流動性狀況為我們的營運提供了相當大的靈活性，並使我們能夠對基礎設施進行再投資，以滿足關鍵終端市場快速成長的需求。

Strategically, we remain highly focused on continuing to leverage our proven business model to further the development and delivery of a portfolio of growth opportunities across our marine, commercial and industrial business platforms. Within our marine market, we continue to deliver outstanding performance on our LNG fueling contract with Carnival Corporation, the first of its type in Galveston, which began late in the fourth quarter of 2023 and contributed to the improvement plant utilization rate at our George West liquefaction facility. Our unique supply chain is the only one in the market capable of delivering LNG volumes at scale to large vessels along the Gulf Coast and not only is it the continuation of our considerable resume of bunkering operations across the US, but it also represents the evolution of the LNG supply chain to the waterfront for both our company and the industry.

從策略上講，我們仍然高度重視繼續利用我們成熟的商業模式，進一步開發和提供跨海洋、商業和工業業務平台的成長機會組合。在我們的船舶市場中，我們繼續在與嘉年華公司簽訂的液化天然氣加註合同中表現出色，這是加爾維斯頓的第一個此類合同，該合同於2023 年第四季度末開始，為提高喬治西液化廠的工廠利用率做出了貢獻設施。我們獨特的供應鏈是市場上唯一能夠向墨西哥灣沿岸大型船舶大規模輸送液化天然氣的供應鏈，這不僅是我們在美國各地大量恢復加油業務的延續，而且也代表了為我們公司和行業提供通往海濱的液化天然氣供應鏈。

We are delighted to have an established relationship with a world-class cruise operator like Carnival and viewed Galveston and the surrounding region as an exciting area for continued marine bunkering expansion on the waterfront. To that end, over the last year, we have been actively developing plans to build the first dedicated waterfront LNG bunkering facility along the US Gulf Coast.

我們很高興與嘉年華這樣的世界級遊輪營運商建立了合作關係，並將加爾維斯頓及週邊地區視為持續在海濱進行海上加油擴張的令人興奮的地區。為此，去年我們一直在積極制定計劃，在美國墨西哥灣沿岸建造第一個專用海濱液化天然氣加註設施。

Thanks to our successful track record of developing and operating greenfield liquefaction plants, our team of experienced industry experts and the key components of the liquefaction train that we purchased in 2023, we feel that we can rapidly build and commission the first phase of our expansion once we make the final investment decision to proceed over the next few months. Expansion in this market is a natural extension of our existing Texas LNG fueling operations, which afford us considerable strategic and operational advantages and will be another important milestone in our company's history. As the only small-scale bunkering provider capable of executing multiple modes of delivery to our customers, we are well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for LNG fuel from maritime industry beyond the Gulf Coast, and we continue to actively evaluate opportunities to expand our operations to strategic ports across the entire United States.

憑藉我們在開發和運營新建液化工廠方面的成功記錄、我們經驗豐富的行業專家團隊以及我們在 2023 年購買的液化列車的關鍵部件，我們認為我們可以快速建設和調試第一期擴建項目。出最終的投資決定，並在接下來的幾個月內繼續進行。該市場的擴張是我們現有德州液化天然氣加註業務的自然延伸，這為我們提供了相當大的策略和營運優勢，並將成為我們公司歷史上的另一個重要里程碑。作為唯一一家能夠向客戶提供多種交付方式的小型加油供應商，我們處於有利地位，可以利用墨西哥灣沿岸以外的海運業對液化天然氣燃料不斷增長的需求，並且我們將繼續積極評估擴大我們的業務範圍的機會。

Within our commercial and industrial markets, we have a strong core business serving about eight different sectors across the US and Mexico. Going forward, we see a tremendous opportunity to further expand our business in emergency power delivery as well as enter the primary and backup power generation for the data center sector. During the quarter, we announced a 14-month contract extension of an LNG supply agreement for primary power generation, and we continue to further expand our operations with the expectation to deliver more than 235,000 megawatts of energy in 2024 to peak load, intermittent, distributed and emergency relief power customers across multiple industries.

在我們的商業和工業市場中，我們擁有強大的核心業務，為美國和墨西哥的大約八個不同行業提供服務。展望未來，我們看到了進一步擴展緊急電力傳輸業務以及進入資料中心領域的主用和備用發電業務的巨大機會。本季度，我們宣布將一次發電的液化天然氣供應協議延長 14 個月，並繼續進一步擴大業務，預計在 2024 年向峰值負載、間歇性、分佈式發電提供超過 235,000 兆瓦的能源以及多個行業的緊急救援電力客戶。

Moving forward, the data center sector is expected to experience meaningful demand growth with recent projections estimating that electricity load demand increase by as much as 10% in certain markets. As a provider fuel for decentralized on-demand power, Stabilis is uniquely positioned to meet this demand through our integrated system-based solutions, and we expect to further invest in our operational capabilities and infrastructure to support the considerable demand growth ahead.

展望未來，資料中心產業預計將經歷顯著的需求成長，最近的預測估計某些市場的電力負載需求將增加多達 10%。作為分散式按需電力的燃料供應商，穩定公司具有獨特的優勢，可以透過我們基於系統的整合解決方案來滿足這一需求，我們希望進一步投資於我們的營運能力和基礎設施，以支援未來可觀的需求成長。

Beyond the power generation vertical, demand for high-purity LNG as rocket propellant has continued to grow. This growth comes as the US accelerated commercial rocket launch activity. During the quarter, we continue to expand our customer base, strengthening our position as the preferred provider of LNG for commercial space use with the addition of a new customer in this sector.

除了發電垂直領域之外，對用作火箭推進劑的高純度液化天然氣的需求也在持續成長。這一成長正值美國加速商業火箭發射活動之際。本季度，我們繼續擴大客戶群，透過在該領域增加新客戶，鞏固我們作為商業空間使用液化天然氣首選供應商的地位。

Aerospace revenues are expected to increase approximately 75% over 2023 levels and will represent approximately 10% of our annual sales for 2024 and will be a source of continued growth over the next 12 to 24 months. Looking ahead, we see demand catalysts materializing across multiple end markets, and we continue to evaluate opportunities to deploy capital and enhance our ability to meet the increasing demand for our product offerings across all of our platforms, including marine, power generation and aerospace.

航空航太收入預計將比 2023 年成長約 75%，占我們 2024 年年銷售額的約 10%，並將成為未來 12 至 24 個月持續成長的來源。展望未來，我們看到多個終端市場的需求催化劑正在顯現，我們將繼續評估部署資本的機會，並提高我們的能力，以滿足我們所有平台（包括船舶、發電和航空航天）對產品不斷增長的需求。

During the quarter, we commenced a phased expansion that will more than double our storage capacity at our George West, Texas facility from 270,000 gallons to 630,000 gallons. The expansion will grow our robust LNG supply and logistics network across the Gulf Coast region and will give us added flexibility to support the continued expansion of our supply and logistics network.

本季度，我們開始分階段擴建，將德州喬治西工廠的儲存容量增加一倍以上，從 27 萬加侖增加到 63 萬加侖。此次擴建將擴大我們在墨西哥灣沿岸地區強大的液化天然氣供應和物流網絡，並將為我們提供更大的靈活性，以支持我們的供應和物流網絡的持續擴張。

As we evaluate the best way to scale our platform to meet demand, we are prioritizing a capital structure that will maximize return on invested capital and yield sustainable, profitable growth. As we've said in the past, our decision-making framework for incremental capital investments in our business will balance longer-term ratable offtake agreements that maximize return on investment and our comfort in assuming merchant risk to ensure infrastructure development meets the growing needs of next generation low carbon fuels like LNG. We look forward to keeping you updated on plans and our continued execution in the quarters ahead.

當我們評估擴展平台以滿足需求的最佳方式時，我們優先考慮的資本結構將最大限度地提高投資資本回報並產生可持續的獲利成長。正如我們過去所說，我們業務增量資本投資的決策框架將平衡長期可分攤承購協議，以最大限度地提高投資回報和我們承擔商業風險的舒適度，以確保基礎設施發展滿足日益增長的需求下一代低碳燃料，如液化天然氣。我們期待向您通報未來幾季計畫和持續執行的最新情況。

Thank you. And with that, I will turn it over to Andy.

謝謝。有了這個，我會把它交給安迪。

Thank you, Westy. Let's move to a discussion of our second-quarter performance, together with an update on our balance sheet and liquidity.

謝謝你，韋斯蒂。讓我們討論第二季的業績，以及資產負債表和流動性的最新情況。

In the second quarter of 2024, our revenues grew to $18.6 million, up 44.1% compared to the $12.9 million reported in the second quarter of last year. The growth was driven by strong demand resulting from new long-term customer agreements and improved utilization of our South Texas liquefaction facility due to the resolution of feed gas composition issues, which hindered our production in the second quarter of last year.

2024 年第二季度，我們的營收成長至 1,860 萬美元，比去年第二季的 1,290 萬美元成長 44.1%。這一增長的推動因素是新的長期客戶協議帶來的強勁需求，以及由於原料氣成分問題得到解決而提高了南德克薩斯液化設施的利用率，該問題阻礙了我們去年第二季度的生產。

Net income for the quarter was slightly above breakeven compared to a net loss of $2.2 million in the second quarter of last year.

與去年第二季 220 萬美元的淨虧損相比，本季淨利略高於損益兩平。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $2.1 million, an improvement of $2.2 million from the prior year period. The adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.3% reflects improved operating leverage as a result of the higher utilization rates.

本季調整後 EBITDA 為 210 萬美元，比去年同期增加 220 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 11.3%，反映出利用率提高導致營運槓桿率提高。

Each year, the second quarter has historically been the company's slowest quarter primarily due to seasonality associated with the end of winter peaking activity and demobilization in the Northeast. With that in mind, the second quarter of 2024 was the company's first ever second-quarter profit and highest ever second-quarter adjusted EBITDA, demonstrating the progress being made in the business; generated $5 million of cash from operations in the second quarter and continued to build on our strong liquidity position, which we intend to leverage as we invest in growth going forward.

每年，第二季度都是該公司歷史上最慢的季度，主要是由於與冬季高峰活動結束和東北部復員相關的季節性。考慮到這一點，2024 年第二季度是該公司有史以來首次實現第二季度盈利，也是有史以來最高的第二季度調整後 EBITDA，展示了該業務正在取得的進展；第二季營運產生了 500 萬美元的現金，並繼續鞏固我們強大的流動性狀況，我們打算在投資未來的成長時利用這一點。

As of June 30, 2024, Stabilis had total cash and equivalents of $11.5 million, together with $4.4 million of availability under our credit facility.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，穩定的現金及等價物總額為 1,150 萬美元，以及我們信貸額度下的 440 萬美元可用資金。

Total debt outstanding as of June 30, 2024, was $8.6 million, resulting in a net positive cash position. During the back half of the year, we expect to increase CapEx as the expansion of our South Texas LNG storage capacity is brought online. However, we expect to maintain our solid liquidity position through 2024.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，未償債務總額為 860 萬美元，現金狀況為淨正值。今年下半年，隨著南德州液化天然氣儲存容量的擴大上線，我們預計將增加資本支出。然而，我們預計到 2024 年將保持穩健的流動性狀況。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open the line for the Q&A session.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。接線員，請打開問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Martin Malloy, Johnson Rice.

（操作員說明）Martin Malloy、Johnson Rice。

Good morning, and congratulations on all the progress you're making on a couple of different growth platform fronts. I wanted to maybe try to get some additional details about the dedicated waterfront bunkering facility you mentioned and being able to quickly construct that once FID is issued. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the cost financing for that? Is there an any additional contracts that need to be announced in terms of offtake that you think are needed to get this project to the finish line?

早安，恭喜您在幾個不同的成長平台方面取得的所有進展。我想嘗試了解有關您提到的專用海濱加油設施的更多詳細信息，並能夠在最終投資決定發布後快速建造該設施。您能否談談為此的融資成本？您認為為了使該專案順利完成，是否需要宣布任何額外的承購合約？

Good morning, Marty. Thanks so much. I think breaking the question down in several components, I'll start kind of with the end. And the answer is yes. We certainly don't want to put capital to work with a 100% merchant risk. We certainly believe in not only that market, but a wide array of markets around the US and certainly have an appetite for some merchant risk.

早安，馬蒂。非常感謝。我認為將問題分解為幾個部分，我將從結尾開始。答案是肯定的。我們當然不想讓資本承擔 100% 的商業風險。我們當然不僅相信這個市場，而且相信美國各地的廣泛市場，當然也願意承擔一些商業風險。

But having an anchor or two and not only that, but each market, certainly, we think, makes all the sense in the world, and we would expect to have some commercial activity that's on the books before we truly reach an FID, but not 100%. Where that balance point is to be determined. But we are in advanced discussions with a variety of, we think, very strong interesting counterparts to partner with us to anchor that expansion, certainly in Galveston. But as I mentioned, not just unique to Galveston, but also in other ports in the US.

但是，擁有一兩個錨點，不僅如此，我們認為，當然，每個市場在世界上都有意義，我們希望在我們真正達成最終投資決定之前，會有一些記錄在案的商業活動，但不是100%。該平衡點將在哪裡確定。但我們正在與各種我們認為非常強大且有趣的同行進行深入討論，以便與我們合作以鞏固這一擴張，當然是在加爾維斯頓。但正如我所提到的，這不僅是加爾維斯頓獨有的，而且在美國其他港口也是如此。

Okay. And then I just wanted to delve a little bit more into the commercial industrial area and backup power generation and I guess data centers or factories that are being restored to the US, could you maybe talk a little bit about how you see Stabilis playing a role in that market and timing of maybe any contracts there?

好的。然後我只是想更深入地研究商業工業領域和備用發電，我想美國正在恢復的數據中心或工廠，您能否談談您如何看待穩定發揮作用在那個市場以及那裡可能有任何合同的時間安排？

So we are unbelievably excited about this aspect of our platform, certainly love the Marine business, but also this emergency power, primary power as well as primary and backup power for data centers is a real, really materially large opportunity for us. And so I think the way that we can play this is certainly on the primary power gen. We're doing that now. We've been doing that for several years, but also primary baseload for data centers in areas where it's going to take a long time, if at all, ever for them to get connected to grid, we think we can build infrastructure to become a primary power generation source for them.

因此，我們對我們平台的這一方面感到難以置信的興奮，當然喜歡海洋業務，而且這種應急電源、主電源以及資料中心的主電源和備用電源對我們來說是一個真正的、非常重要的機會。所以我認為我們可以發揮這一作用的方式肯定是在主要發電方面。我們現在正在這樣做。我們已經這樣做了好幾年了，而且對於那些需要很長時間（如果有的話）才能連接到電網的地區的數據中心來說，我們認為我們可以建立基礎設施，使其成為一個他們的主要發電來源。

But also, we think we can be back up redundant power and displacement of diesel as well as some of the challenges around intermittency in solar and wind. And so we think natural gas is the clear, clear leader to be primary as well as redundant power for emergency as well as data centers. We announced a 14-month contract extension in the emergency response as a primary power generation source.

而且，我們認為我們可以支援冗餘電力和柴油置換，以及解決太陽能和風能間歇性的一些挑戰。因此，我們認為天然氣是明確的領導者，是緊急情況和資料中心的主要和備用電力。我們宣布將緊急應變主要發電來源的合約延長 14 個月。

We are in multiple discussions with data center developers, hyperscale as well as cloud computing firms where the decisions are going to sometimes be made for build-out of 30, 40, 50, 100 meg, 500 meg data center locations. And we think that we can be a real player in the primary load as well as backup load in some of these facilities as well. It's exciting.

我們正在與資料中心開發人員、超大規模以及雲端運算公司進行多次討論，這些公司有時會做出建造 30、40、50、100 兆、500 兆資料中心位置的決定。我們認為我們可以成為其中一些設施的主要負載和備用負載的真正參與者。這很令人興奮。

And I think what's really exciting is this is not something that we haven't done in the past. It's a natural extension of what we've been doing since our company's inception in 2013, '14. And so it's just another sector that we're leveraging our capabilities into utilizing liquefied natural gas. We also think there are areas for us to galvanize not just LNG, but some RNG and other sources to bring to bear for a comprehensive primary and backup power solutions for this data center universe.

我認為真正令人興奮的是這不是我們過去沒有做過的事情。這是我們公司自 2013 年 14 年成立以來一直在做的事情的自然延伸。因此，這只是我們利用我們的能力來利用液化天然氣的另一個領域。我們也認為，我們不僅可以在一些領域激發液化天然氣，還可以激發一些再生天然氣和其他來源，為該資料中心領域提供全面的主要和備用電源解決方案。

Great. Thank you. I'll turn it back.

偉大的。謝謝。我會把它轉回來。

Barry Haimes, Sage Asset Management.

巴里·海姆斯，Sage 資產管理公司。

Thanks so much, and congrats on the good quarter. Just following-up on the backup and primary care discussion for data centers. Why LNG versus natural gas? I mean would this be data centers that don't have access to pipeline gas? So that's one question.

非常感謝，並祝賀季度業績良好。只是跟進資料中心的備份和初級保健討論。為什麼選擇液化天然氣而不是天然氣？我的意思是，這會是無法使用管道天然氣的資料中心嗎？這是一個問題。

And then my second question is, could you talk about when the new George West capacity is scheduled to come online? Thanks so much.

我的第二個問題是，您能否談談新的喬治·韋斯特產能計畫何時上線？非常感謝。

Sure. Thanks so much. So data centers certainly are fairly agnostic. They certainly all consistently want to burn the cleanest, most abundant safe, secure fuel that they can. And certainly, that speaks loudly for natural gas. Whether it's natural gas or LNG, they're interchangeable.

當然。非常感謝。所以資料中心當然是相當不可知的。他們當然都始終希望盡可能燃燒最乾淨、最豐富的安全燃料。當然，這對天然氣來說意義重大。無論是天然氣還是液化天然氣，它們都是可以互換的。

But to answer your question is, oftentimes, these data centers are not going to have access to pipeline gas. And if they do, it will be for years. In some instances, they will. So if there are areas we think there are numerous where the data centers don't have access to natural gas, we can run multiple hub-and-spoke operations where we can build the infrastructure and then spoke those out at scale to clusters of data centers around the US.

但要回答你的問題是，這些資料中心通常無法取得管道天然氣。即使他們這樣做了，也將持續數年。在某些情況下，他們會的。因此，如果我們認為有很多區域的資料中心無法使用天然氣，我們可以運行多個中心輻射型操作，在這些操作中我們可以建置基礎設施，然後將這些區域大規模地輻射到資料集群以美國為中心。

There'll be other instances where we can be thoughtful in assisting their efforts and getting into the pipeline infrastructure. But that's not as simple. There are certain markets where there's an abundancy of pipeline infrastructure, certainly in along the Gulf Coast and some up in the Marcellus, Northeast.

在其他情況下，我們可以深思熟慮地協助他們的努力並進入管道基礎設施。但事情沒那麼簡單。某些市場擁有豐富的管道基礎設施，尤其是墨西哥灣沿岸地區和東北部馬塞勒斯地區。

But there are a lot of areas where they just don't have access to grid, they don't have access to natural gas pipelines, and this is real. This is large and it's growing. And we think we can not only help with the pipeline aspect but also areas of LNG where they don't have access to pipelines.

但有很多地區他們無法接入電網，無法接入天然氣管道，這是真實的。這是很大的，而且還在不斷增長。我們認為我們不僅可以在管道方面提供幫助，還可以幫助他們無法使用管道的液化天然氣領域。

I think that was the first question. The other question was around --

我認為這是第一個問題。另一個問題是圍繞--

George West.

喬治·韋斯特.

George West facility -- we've already started installing half of that capacity, and I'm proud to say, Sunday, it was up and running. And for the second half of that capacity expansion storage, we expect to bring that online either later on this year or the beginning of next year. But half of that is already up and running as of the weekend.

喬治·韋斯特設施——我們已經開始安裝一半的容量，我很自豪地說，週日，它已經啟動並運行。對於容量擴展儲存的下半年，我們預計將在今年稍後或明年初上線。但截至週末，其中一半已經啟動並運行。

So that will, in effect, add to your capacity even in the current quarter then?

那麼，即使在本季度，這實際上也會增加您的產能嗎？

That's correct. Storage capacity, not production storage.

這是正確的。儲存容量，不是生產儲存。

Storage, okay. Got it. Okay. Thanks so much.

儲存還可以吧知道了。好的。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) Martin Malloy, Johnson Rice.

（操作員說明）Martin Malloy、Johnson Rice。

All right. I'm back. There haven't been any questions about aerospace and yet there's an war article in the Wall Street Journal just about the frequency of flights of rockets being sent up. Can you maybe talk about the opportunities that you're seeing there? What kind of contracts do you think are available out there that you might pursue and timing, et cetera?

好的。我回來了。沒有任何關於航空航天的問題，但《華爾街日報》上有一篇關於火箭發射頻率的戰爭文章。您能談談您在那裡看到的機會嗎？您認為您可能會尋求哪些類型的合約以及時間表等？

So we think the opportunity is very exciting as you can probably tell, not only in my narrative, but around some of the disclosure that we've had. There are certain aspects of our aerospace relationships that are highly confidential and just really aren't appropriate for us to comment on.

因此，我們認為這個機會非常令人興奮，正如您可能知道的那樣，不僅在我的敘述中，而且在我們所揭露的一些資訊中。我們的航空航天關係的某些方面是高度機密的，我們確實不適合發表評論。

But I'll say this, we are aware of the dynamics in play, I understand and have read those articles that you've read in the Journal and other kind of financial magazines and newspapers. And we feel that we are the market leader, and we think we can continue to be the market leader. Most of the roads in aerospace go through a very small handful of private contractors now, but we think there are meaningful ways for us to grow this business, not only as a fuel supplier but potential partner if some of them want to be more vertically integrated in their supply chain.

但我要說的是，我們知道其中的動態，我理解並閱讀了您在《華爾街日報》以及其他類型的金融雜誌和報紙上讀到的那些文章。我們覺得我們是市場領導者，我們認為我們可以繼續成為市場領導者。現在航空航太領域的大部分道路都經過極少數私人承包商，但我們認為我們有有意義的方式來發展這項業務，不僅作為燃料供應商，而且如果他們中的一些人想要更加垂直整合的話，也可以作為潛在的合作夥伴在他們的供應鏈中。

So I think there's a very un-trailing approach that we can take to this in a wide variety of outcomes. And I think that there are a lot more launches at scale that are in the works and certainly, our kind of real-time discussions would substantiate that.

所以我認為我們可以採取一種非常不間斷的方法來實現各種各樣的結果。我認為還有更多的大規模發布正在進行中，當然，我們的即時討論將證實這一點。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. Just on the marine side. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the competitive environment? Who would you compete against in terms of these marine bunkering contracts? Are there large international players? I guess, if you could just give us some more color about that.

偉大的。然後也許只是一個後續問題。就在海邊。能談談競爭環境嗎？在這些海上加油合約方面，您將與誰競爭？有國際大玩家嗎？我想，如果你能為我們提供更多關於這一點的資訊就好了。

So the market is very different in every geography. And so it's really more dependent upon where you enter the market and where you think opportunities. Certainly, if you want to be a US provider, and you've got US gas that's delivering in US locations. You've got some Jones Act last mile requirements that certainly need to be considered.

因此，每個地區的市場都非常不同。因此，這實際上更取決於您進入市場的位置以及您認為機會的位置。當然，如果您想成為美國供應商，並且您擁有在美國各地運送的美國天然氣。您肯定需要考慮一些《瓊斯法案》最後一哩路的要求。

If you are importing gas from external sources into certain US ports, that's not as relevant. It's really kind of a small universe of providers and everybody has their own kind of unique capabilities, some of which that we would compete with really don't have the full supply chain and last mile delivery capabilities they just want to build liquefaction and have people provide for their own logistics.

如果您從外部來源將天然氣進口到美國某些港口，那就沒那麼重要了。這確實是一個很小的供應商世界，每個人都有自己獨特的能力，其中一些我們要與之競爭的供應商實際上沒有完整的供應鏈和最後一英里的交付能力，他們只是想建立液化並擁有人員提供自己的物流。

We have a couple of other I don't know, competitors, but others that are in this market that would do last mile delivery, no liquefaction like we do, and frankly, would buy from us. Are they competitors? I don't know, I guess, to some extent, but if they're buying from us and then doing last mile to certain industries, that's fine with us as well. And so it's hard to put your hands around just one competitor.

我們還有其他一些我不知道的競爭對手，但這個市場上的其他競爭對手會進行最後一英里交付，不像我們那樣進行液化，坦率地說，他們會從我們這裡購買。他們是競爭對手嗎？我想，在某種程度上我不知道，但如果他們從我們這裡購買，然後為某些行業做最後一英里，對我們來說也很好。因此，你很難只對付一個競爭對手。

I'll say this, we're one of the largest, if not the largest, turnkey supplier for certainly inland liquefied natural gas distribution, but I'd say rapidly becoming one of the largest providers on the waterfront in certain markets. Certainly, and we expect to continue to enhance that position as well.

我想說的是，我們是內陸液化天然氣分銷領域最大的（如果不是最大的話）交鑰匙供應商之一，但我想說的是，我們正在迅速成為某些市場濱水區最大的供應商之一。當然，我們也希望繼續加強這一地位。

Great. Thank you. That's very helpful.

偉大的。謝謝。這非常有幫助。

Barry Haimes, Sage Asset Management.

巴里·海姆斯，Sage 資產管理公司。

Thanks. Back just one or two others. Just following-up on the space, does that product carry premium pricing and margins? Or is it similar to your other end markets?

謝謝。只返回一兩個人。只是跟進這個領域，該產品是否有溢價和利潤？或者它與你們的其他終端市場相似嗎？

Well, without getting full into each contract, I will say that molecular requirement in terms of purity is much higher than that of other end markets that we serve. And so the requirement for that is a little bit different. And so I'll let you kind of read between the lines there, that they require a higher specification and higher purity and higher MMBTu energy density than that of some of the other end markets that we serve.

好吧，在不全面了解每份合約的情況下，我想說的是，分子純度方面的要求比我們服務的其他終端市場的要求要高得多。所以對此的要求有點不同。因此，我會讓您從字裡行間看出，與我們服務的其他一些終端市場相比，它們需要更高的規格、更高的純度和更高的 MMBTu 能量密度。

Got it. Fair enough. And sort of back on George West, you mentioned the storage capacity, but I think you guys were also considering incremental production capacity. Is that right? And if so, where does that stand?

知道了。很公平。回到喬治·韋斯特，你提到了儲存容量，但我認為你們也在考慮增量生產能力。是這樣嗎？如果是這樣，那又如何呢？

We are always considering a wide variety of expansionary opportunities. George West certainly is one of them. The reason we wanted to put that storage there is because it gives you some redundancy flexibility and optionality for us to not only continue to enhance and bolster our supply chain as well as our contract with Carnival on the water, but it also allows us to have redundancy and capability for other kind of inland other sectors that are coming into Texas.

我們一直在考慮各種擴張機會。喬治·韋斯特無疑是其中之一。我們想把這個存儲放在那裡的原因是，它為我們提供了一些冗餘靈活性和選擇性，不僅可以繼續增強和加強我們的供應鏈以及我們與水上嘉年華的合同，而且還使我們能夠進入德克薩斯州的其他內陸其他部門的冗餘和能力。

If we see a larger title wave of demand in that South Texas market, we will move quickly to double and even triple potentially the production capacity at George West. So as those green shoots present themselves look for us to do that. But right now, we thought it was a more prudent decision to more than double our storage because it just gives us flexibility and optionality around a wide variety of sector development on the water and off.

如果我們看到德州南部市場出現更大的產權需求浪潮，我們將迅速採取行動，將喬治·韋斯特的產能提高一倍甚至三倍。因此，當這些萌芽出現時，我們就應該這麼做。但現在，我們認為將儲存量增加一倍以上是一個更謹慎的決定，因為它為我們提供了圍繞水上和海上各種部門開發的靈活性和選擇性。

Right. So as I recall, you had ordered some long lead time equipment in terms of production. So you haven't yet decided where you're going to put that.

正確的。據我記得，你們訂購了一些生產週期較長的設備。所以你還沒決定要把它放在哪裡。

We've already not only ordered it. But we acquired it. It's already in our possession. And the likely location for that is really on the waterfront in Galveston.

我們不僅已經訂購了它。但我們獲得了它。它已經在我們手中了。可能的位置實際上是在加爾維斯頓的海濱。

I reserve the right to change my mind if other sectors, whether it's aerospace or data centers, move at a more rapid pace, which they're moving quickly. But we think the prudent location for that is to be really the first mover in the first dedicated LNG bunkering port in Galveston and that surrounding area. So the likely spot for that train, and that's what we're talking about FID over the next couple of months is on the waterfront for LNG bunkering.

如果其他行業，無論是航空航天還是資料中心，以更快的速度發展，我保留改變主意的權利，而他們正在快速發展。但我們認為，謹慎的選擇是成為加爾維斯頓及週邊地區第一個專用液化天然氣加註港口的真正先驅。因此，這列火車的可能地點，也就是我們在未來幾個月討論的 FID，可能是在海濱進行液化天然氣加註。

Got it. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

知道了。非常感謝。欣賞它。

Okay. Thank you very much. We appear to have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I will now hand back over to Westy for closing remarks.

好的。非常感謝。我們的問答環節似乎已經結束了。現在我將請韋斯蒂致閉幕詞。

Thank you. As I mentioned, everyone, thank you to all for joining us on the call, and we look forward to seeing you on the road in the near future.

謝謝。正如我所提到的，各位，感謝大家加入我們的電話會議，我們期待在不久的將來在路上見到你們。

Thank you very much. This does conclude today's conference. You may now disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

非常感謝。今天的會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開電話線，度過美好的一天。感謝您的參與。