智利化工礦業 (SQM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the SQM First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 SQM 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

I'd now like to turn the conference over to Irina Axenova, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係主管伊琳娜·阿克塞諾娃 (Irina Axenova)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining SQM's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2024. This conference will be recorded and is being webcast live. Our earnings press release and a presentation with a summary of the results have been uploaded to our website, where you can also find a link to the webcast.

謝謝。大家下午好。感謝您參加 SQM 2024 年第一季的收益電話會議。我們的收益新聞稿和結果摘要簡報已上傳到我們的網站，您也可以在其中找到網路廣播的連結。

Gerardo Illanes, our Chief Financial Officer, will be speaking on the call today. Carlos Diaz, Executive Vice President of Lithium; Mark Fones, Vice President of Lithium Development and M&A; [Max Vial], Lithium Market Intelligence Director; Pablo Altimiras, Executive Vice President of Nitrates & Iodine; and Juan Pablo Bellolio, Commercial Vice President of Iodine and Industrial Chemicals, are also available to answer any questions. Our Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos, unfortunately, couldn't join the call today.

我們的財務長 Gerardo Illanes 將在今天的電話會議上發表演說。 Carlos Diaz，鋰業執行副總裁； Mark Fones，鋰開發與併購副總裁； [Max Vial]，鋰市場情報總監； Pablo Altimiras，硝酸鹽和碘執行副總裁；碘和工業化學品業務副總裁 Juan Pablo Bellolio 也可以回答任何問題。不幸的是，我們的執行長里卡多·拉莫斯今天無法參加電話會議。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some statements made during this conference call regarding our business outlook, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses and other financial items are considered forward-looking statements. Please note that the same cautionary language used in our press release and presentation also applies to this call.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議期間所做的一些有關我們的業務前景、未來經濟表現、預期盈利能力、收入、費用和其他財務項目的陳述被視為前瞻性陳述。請注意，我們的新聞稿和演示中使用的相同警告語言也適用於本次電話會議。

And now, I will leave you with our Chief Financial Officer, Gerardo Illanes.

現在，我將請您談談我們的財務長赫拉爾多·伊利亞內斯 (Gerardo Illanes)。

Thank you, Irina. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As you may know, we reported our first quarter 2024 earnings result yesterday. On this call, we will be discussing the key drivers behind these results and sharing our outlook for the year.

謝謝你，伊琳娜。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。如您所知，我們昨天報告了 2024 年第一季的獲利結果。在這次電話會議上，我們將討論這些結果背後的關鍵驅動因素，並分享我們對今年的展望。

Our total revenues for the first 3 months of the year reached almost $1.1 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of over $400 million. Our net profit was impacted by a onetime adjusted related -- adjustment related to the accounting treatment of the lithium mining tax in Chile from previous years, adding up to almost $1.1 billion as of March 31, 2024. This is not having a significant cash impact since the majority of this amount, close to $930 million, was paid in prior years.

今年前 3 個月我們的總營收接近 11 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 超過 4 億美元。我們的淨利潤受到了與往年智利鋰礦稅會計處理相關的一次性調整相關調整的影響，截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日總計近 11 億美元。 9.3 億美元）是在前幾年支付的。

During the first quarter of this year, we delivered strong growth in our sales volume across all of our major business lines, reporting record high quarterly sales volumes in the iodine business, positive sales volume recovery in the fertilizer business, and almost 30% higher lithium sales volumes compared to the same period last year. This growth helped partially offset the impact of lower average prices realized for the first quarter 2024.

今年第一季度，我們所有主要業務線的銷量均實現強勁增長，碘業務季度銷量創歷史新高，化肥業務銷量積極復甦，鋰業務銷量增長近 30%銷量與去年同期相比。這一增長部分抵消了 2024 年第一季平均價格下降的影響。

In our nitrates and iodine business unit, we are proud of the results of the ramp-up of Pampa Blanca project, which is expected to reach approximately 1,300 metric tons of new iodine capacity this year. Also, a few months ago, we began the construction of a seawater pipeline, which is expected to be completed in 2026. It is an exciting development, but it's also a challenging project, almost 38 kilometers long with a total elevation of over 1,000 meters, running from the Pacific Coast near the City of Iquique to our Nueva Victoria operations. Once completed, the pipeline will have a capacity of 900 liters per second and will allow us to expand our production capacity even further, while delivering fresh water to some neighboring communities.

在我們的硝酸鹽和碘業務部門，我們對 Pampa Blanca 專案的產能提升結果感到自豪，預計今年新增碘產能將達到約 1,300 噸。另外，幾個月前，我們開始建造海水管道，預計將於2026年完工。伊基克市附近的太平洋海岸前往我們的新維多利亞營運點。竣工後，該管道的輸送能力將達到每秒 900 公升，使我們能夠進一步擴大生產能力，同時向一些鄰近社區輸送淡水。

We have seen positive demand trends in the iodine and potassium nitrate market since the beginning of the year. Our outlook is that the iodine market demand could grow by approximately 4% this year, approaching 2022 levels. Our iodine sales volumes are projected to increase in 2024 compared to last year with an expected stable average sales price with a possibility of a slight upside. We are similarly optimistic about the potassium nitrate market outlook with expectations of up to a 15% growth in the demand this year. Our sales volumes are also anticipated to follow a similar pattern. Potassium nitrate prices have been relatively stable over several quarters, and we believe this trend could continue for the remainder of the year.

自年初以來，我們看到碘和硝酸鉀市場的正面需求趨勢。我們的預測是，今年碘市場需求可能會成長約 4%，接近 2022 年的水準。預計 2024 年，我們的碘銷量將比去年增加，平均銷售價格預計穩定，並有可能小幅上漲。我們對硝酸鉀市場前景同樣樂觀，預計今年需求將成長高達 15%。我們的銷售量預計也將遵循類似的模式。幾季硝酸鉀價格相對穩定，我們相信這一趨勢可能會在今年剩餘時間內持續下去。

In the lithium business unit, having completed expansion of our lithium carbonate capacity in Chile to 210,000 metric tons, we're now focusing on a series of initiatives that should allow us to increase this capacity to 240,000 metric tons by the end of the year, mainly through process improvements, increased quality and efficiency of the existing production facilities. Our lithium hydroxide capacity in Chile has reached 40,000 metric tons per year, and we expect to complete this expansion to reach 100,000 metric tons per year during 2025.

在鋰業務部門，我們在智利的碳酸鋰產能已完成擴大至 21 萬噸，目前我們正在重點實施一系列舉措，以便在年底前將產能提高至 24 萬噸，主要是透過製程改進、提高現有生產設施的品質和效率。我們在智利的氫氧化鋰產能已達到每年 40,000 噸，我們預計在 2025 年完成擴建，達到每年 10 萬噸。

In China, we completed the modification of the Dixin lithium hydroxide conversion facility with a total capacity of 20,000 metric tons per year. This project represents years of innovation and development of a chemical facility to refine lithium sulfate produced in the Salar de Atacama to battery-grade lithium hydroxide. At the same time, we have reached agreements to toll approximately 20,000 metric tons of lithium sulfate coming from the Salar de Atacama into lithium hydroxide in China. All of this, together with the initiatives we're working on in Australia, should let us reach a total production capacity of more than 300,000 metric tons of lithium products by the end of 2025.

在中國，我們完成了迪鑫氫氧化鋰轉化設施的改造，總產能為2萬噸/年。該計畫代表了化學設施多年的創新和開發，旨在將阿塔卡馬鹽沼生產的硫酸鋰精煉成電池級氫氧化鋰。同時，我們已達成協議，將來自阿塔卡馬鹽沼的約20,000噸硫酸鋰在中國轉化為氫氧化鋰。所有這些，再加上我們在澳洲正在進行的舉措，到 2025 年底，我們的鋰產品總產能應該會超過 30 萬噸。

Turning to broader lithium market, we have observed some encouraging trends during the first month of this year. Strong demand growth have been driven by electric demand market, mainly in China, which accounts for almost 75% of global lithium demand. We anticipate that the total EV sales could reach 17 million units by 2024, representing a 22% increase from 2023, and total lithium demand could exceed 1.1 million tons in 2024, representing a 20% increase compared to the previous year. Given this demand growth, we have anticipated our sales volumes outlook for this year, expecting to sell close to 200,000 metric tons. The expected growth in global lithium supply this year could be up to 30% compared to 2023. However, given current lithium prices, the expected supply from high-cost producers could be affected, providing some price stability, as has been seen since February this year.

談到更廣泛的鋰市場，我們在今年第一個月觀察到了一些令人鼓舞的趨勢。強勁的需求成長是由電力需求市場推動的，主要是在中國，佔全球鋰需求的近75%。我們預計，到2024年，電動車總銷量將達到1,700萬輛，較2023年成長22%；2024年鋰需求總量將超過110萬噸，較上年增加20%。鑑於這種需求成長，我們預計了今年的銷售前景，預計銷量將接近 20 萬噸。與2023 年相比，今年全球鋰供應量預計成長可能高達30% 然而，考慮到目前的鋰價，高成本生產商的預期供應量可能會受到影響，從而提供一定程度的價格穩定，正如今年2 月以來的情況一樣。

Before concluding and opening the line for questions, I would like to ask Mark to share with us some of the recent developments in our lithium initiatives abroad.

在結束並開始提問之前，我想請馬克與我們分享我們在國外鋰計畫中的一些最新進展。

Thank you, Gerardo. Good afternoon, everyone. From an Australian and international lithium perspective, for SQM, it has been a very eventful and exciting start to 2024 with spodumene concentrate production commencing at the world-class Mount Holland project, jointly owned with our partner, Wesfarmers, and the completion of the Azure Minerals acquisition with Hancock Prospecting. We are very fortunate to now have access to 2 globally significant lithium deposits, which we are progressing with 2 equally significant Australian partners, Wesfarmers and Hancock Prospecting.

謝謝你，赫拉爾多。大家下午好。從澳洲和國際鋰業的角度來看，對於SQM 來說，2024 年是一個非常重要且令人興奮的開局，與我們的合作夥伴Wesfarmers 共同擁有的世界級Mount Holland 項目開始生產鋰輝石精礦，並且Azure 專案也已完工與漢考克勘探公司收購礦產。我們非常幸運，現在能夠獲得 2 個全球重要的鋰礦床，我們正在與 2 個同樣重要的澳洲合作夥伴 Wesfarmers 和 Hancock Prospecting 一起推進這些工作。

Moving first to Mount Holland, last year, we commenced production at the newly constructed mine and concentrator facilities, exporting our first shipment of spodumene concentrate this month to be tolled in China. During this calendar year, we expect to produce a total of between 120,000 and 150,000 metric tons of spodumene concentrate that's SQM's share and to toll close to 5,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide. However, given the timing of tolling and quality certification requirements, we do not anticipate seeing these volumes on the market until the end of the year.

去年，我們首先前往荷蘭山，新建的礦山和選礦廠開始生產，並於本月出口了第一批鋰輝石精礦，在中國進行加工。今年，我們預計將生產總計 12 萬至 15 萬噸鋰輝石精礦（這是 SQM 的份額），並生產近 5,000 噸氫氧化鋰。然而，考慮到收費時間和品質認證要求，我們預計要到今年年底才能在市場上看到這些數量。

In the meantime, work continues on the Kwinana refinery with construction of our 50,000 tons per year facility at about 75% to 80% complete and expected to be in production by mid-next year, following commission later this year. We keep progressing with studies and environmental approvals for the Mount Holland mine and concentrator expansion, which would effectively see Mount Holland doubling its spodumene concentrate production facility after FID is taken.

與此同時，奎納納煉油廠的建設工作仍在繼續，年產 5 萬噸的設施建設已完成約 75% 至 80%，預計將於明年中旬投產，並於今年稍後投入使用。我們不斷推進 Mount Holland 礦山和選礦廠擴建的研究和環境審批，這將使 Mount Holland 在採取 FID 後將其鋰輝石精礦生產設施翻一番。

Moving now to the recent acquisition of Azure, which owns 60% of the Andover lithium project in Western Australia, also concluded this month. Together with Hancock Prospecting, we acquired all outstanding shares of Azure Minerals Limited and jointly became owners of 60% of the Andover lithium project. This significant investment by SQM further highlights our belief in Western Australia as one of the world's prominent hard rock lithium mining jurisdictions. We're extremely happy with this acquisition and with our new partner, Hancock, who will provide excellent project development and mining expertise in Australia to complement SQM's market-leading lithium knowledge. We believe our business model of partnering with great local companies to discover and develop Tier 1 lithium assets places SQM in a prominent position in the global hard rock lithium market.

現在說說最近對 Azure 的收購，該公司擁有西澳大利亞 Andover 鋰項目 60% 的股份，該收購也在本月完成。我們與 Hancock Prospecting 一起收購了 Azure Minerals Limited 的所有流通股，並共同成為 Andover 鋰專案 60% 的所有者。 SQM 的這項重大投資進一步凸顯了我們對西澳大利亞州作為世界著名硬岩鋰礦管轄區之一的信念。我們對此次收購以及我們的新合作夥伴 Hancock 感到非常滿意，Hancock 將在澳洲提供出色的專案開發和採礦專業知識，以補充 SQM 市場領先的鋰知識。我們相信，我們與優秀的當地公司合作發現和開發一級鋰資產的商業模式使 SQM 在全球硬岩鋰市場中處於突出地位。

In 2024, we will continue to work -- the good work that Azure has done and work towards a resource estimate for the Andover project, as well as providing additional capabilities, continue with studies and regulatory approvals activities, as well as project definition and project development. While work still needs to be done to finalize this resource estimate, we are certainly looking at a deposit of global significance.

2024 年，我們將繼續進行 Azure 所做的出色工作，努力對 Andover 專案進行資源估算，並提供額外的功能，繼續進行研究和監管審批活動，以及專案定義和專案發展。雖然還需要完成這項資源估算工作，但我們肯定正在尋找具有全球意義的礦床。

Outside of these 2 major projects, as you may have seen in our public announcements, we continue to work on, monitor and invest in various early-stage exploration projects in Australia with the aim to finding new high-grade lithium prospects with the potential for scale.

除了這兩個主要項目之外，正如您在我們的公開公告中所看到的，我們繼續致力於、監控和投資澳大利亞的各種早期勘探項目，旨在尋找具有潛力的新的高品位鋰礦前景。

Thank you, Mark. Operator, we will now open the lines to questions.

謝謝你，馬克。接線員，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Today's first question comes from Ben Isaacson with Scotiabank.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Ben Isaacson。

I have 3 questions. I'd like to ask them one by one, if that's okay. First question is, I noticed in your presentation that the plant in China in Sichuan, it's increased by 10,000 tons. It was 30,000 last quarter, and now it's 40,000. Can you just explain that, please?

我有 3 個問題。我想一一詢問他們是否可以。第一個問題是，我在你的介紹中註意到中國四川的工廠增加了1萬噸。上季是3萬，現在是4萬。能簡單解釋一下嗎？

Ben, this is Carlos Diaz. Yes, our capacity in China is 20,000 metric ton in the Sichuan Dixin plant, and the other 20,000 we are going to produce, starting from lithium sulfate by -- with tollers. So in total, it's going to be 40,000 [by 20,000] for our own factory and the other [20,000] for tollers, but both coming from lithium sulfate, sorry.

本，這是卡洛斯·迪亞茲。是的，我們在中國四川迪新工廠的產能為 20,000 噸，另外 20,000 噸我們將透過委託加工商生產硫酸鋰。所以總的來說，我們自己的工廠將有 40,000 [20,000]，收費站將有 [20,000]，但抱歉，兩者都來自硫酸鋰。

Yes. Great. Second question is on the Azure acquisition. So you have a 50% stake in 60% of Andover, if that's right. Can you just talk about what next steps are for the project over the next 12 months or so, CapEx spending? And what should we expect to hear from you over the next year?

是的。偉大的。第二個問題是關於Azure的收購。所以你擁有 Andover 60% 的 50% 股份，如果這是正確的話。您能否談談該項目在未來 12 個月左右的時間內的下一步計劃以及資本支出？明年我們該從您那裡聽到什麼？

Thanks for the question. Yes, you're right on the math on the acquisition of the -- at the end, Andover lithium project, it's 50% of the 60%. So regarding next steps, as I mentioned, we are now aiming 3 main things, it's a resource maiden estimate, driving more detail into what was already advanced by the Azure team. As you know, Azure issued an exploration target, which was a definition in between 100 million to 240 million tons of mineral at between 1% to 1.5% lithium oxide content. So the maiden resource estimate will give us a more detailed view on that.

謝謝你的提問。是的，你對收購安多佛鋰專案的計算是正確的，它是 60% 中的 50%。因此，關於接下來的步驟，正如我所提到的，我們現在的目標是 3 個主要目標，這是一個資源首次估計，將更多細節推向 Azure 團隊已經推進的內容。如您所知，Azure 發布了勘探目標，定義為 1 億至 2.4 億噸礦石，氧化鋰含量在 1% 至 1.5% 之間。因此，首次資源估算將使我們對此有更詳細的了解。

At the same time, we are advancing on regulatory approvals, which usually, in this case of capital investments in the resource industry, a critical path is aimed to those regulatory approvals. So we are advancing on those, as well as starting project definition with our partner, Hancock. So for the future and the short term future, you won't see any capital requirements driving from Azure in next steps of development yet until we move into the DFS and FID.

同時，我們正在推動監管審批，通常，在資源產業資本投資的情況下，關鍵路徑是針對這些監管審批。因此，我們正在推進這些工作，並與我們的合作夥伴漢考克一起開始專案定義。因此，對於未來和短期的未來，在我們進入 DFS 和 FID 之前，您不會在後續開發步驟中看到任何來自 Azure 的資本需求。

Great. And just my final question, in the iodine market, so the price was around $70 or so, and it's kind of -- it slipped back a little bit down to the mid-$60s. Now it looks like things are strengthening again. Can you just give an overview as to where are we going over the next 2 or 3 years? It seems like there's not a lot of supply coming on and demand growth remains really resilient, even in a weak kind of macro market. So does this tightness continue over the next couple of years?

偉大的。我的最後一個問題是，在碘市場，價格約為 70 美元左右，有點回落至 60 美元左右。現在看來事情又開始加強了。您能否概述一下我們未來 2 到 3 年的發展方向？即使在宏觀市場疲軟的情況下，似乎供應量並不多，需求成長仍具有彈性。那麼，這種緊縮狀況在未來幾年還會持續嗎？

Ben, this is Juan Pablo. Well, talking about the iodine market, as we mentioned in our release, we are seeing a recovery in the demand compared to last year. Last year went down about 4%. Now we're looking it growing again this year. That's why we believe the price is going to stabilize. And talking about the next 2 to 3 years, the drivers of the demand are still the growth of the contrast media industry, the LCD market and other healthy purpose of the iodine. So we see that demand growing, maybe not at the 4% that we are going to see this year, but still growing. And at the same time, we expect that new supply may arrive to the market. We know that some competitors have made some -- moved those acquisitions for all projects that should be online in the next couple of years, okay?

本，這是胡安·巴勃羅。好吧，談到碘市場，正如我們在新聞稿中提到的，與去年相比，我們看到需求有所復甦。去年下降了約4%。現在我們預計今年它會再次成長。這就是為什麼我們相信價格將會穩定。而談到未來2到3年，需求的驅動因素仍然是造影劑產業、液晶顯示器市場和其他碘健康用途的成長。因此，我們看到需求正在成長，也許不會達到今年的 4%，但仍在成長。同時，我們預計新的供應可能會進入市場。我們知道一些競爭對手已經將這些收購轉移到了未來幾年內應該上線的所有項目，好嗎？

And our next question today comes from Joel Jackson with BMO Capital Markets.

今天我們的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的喬爾傑克森 (Joel Jackson)。

I also have 3 questions. I'll do one at a time. First question is, it was very clear a few months ago -- it's happened before with SQM that you were going to produce a bunch of lithium, the market may not be able to take it, and you would build inventory [and have the] tons for later, which is -- you do that for a lot of reasons. But usually, what happens is, you sell the tons anyways. So the decision not to build inventory or as much inventory into -- lithium price market has been pretty flat in the last few months. Is that -- explain that decision. Commercially, is that a view you expect lithium price to be very stable here, and so, no point to hold them back -- hold inventory back?

我還有3個問題。我會一次做一個。第一個問題是，幾個月前就很清楚了——之前 SQM 曾發生過這樣的情況：你要生產大量鋰，市場可能無法接受，你會建立庫存[並擁有]稍後再做，也就是說——你這樣做有很多原因。但通常情況下，無論如何你都會賣掉成噸的東西。因此，決定不建立庫存或增加庫存——過去幾個月鋰價格市場相當穩定。是——解釋一下這個決定嗎？從商業角度來看，您是否認為鋰價格將非常穩定，因此沒有必要阻止它們——控制庫存？

Joel, this is Carlos Diaz again. Well, as always, our strategy is to produce at the full capacity and expanding in line with the expected market growth in order to be always prepared to serve the need of our customer. You know that the lithium price hit bottom level in China by the end of February '24, after which we observed a quick recovery of almost 10% until mid-April. And for several weeks after that, price fluctuation were quite moderate, potentially indicating more stability for the rest of the year. So the outlook for the rest of the year will depend, as always, on the supply and demand balance.

喬爾，我又是卡洛斯‧迪亞茲。像往常一樣，我們的策略是滿載生產並根據預期的市場成長進行擴張，以便隨時準備好滿足客戶的需求。你知道，中國的鋰價在 2024 年 2 月底觸底，此後我們觀察到直到 4 月中旬快速恢復了近 10%。此後幾週，價格波動相當溫和，可能顯示今年剩餘時間會更加穩定。因此，今年剩餘時間的前景將一如既往地取決於供需平衡。

Okay. You talked about capacity reaching 300,000 tons at the end of 2025. Let's call that a production level for 2026, if you choose to produce that full utilization, as you just mentioned. If you can hit capacity of 305,000 at the end of 2025 and you were to run full out, what does that mean for actual production volumes in 2025? Obviously, 305,000 tons is the capacity at the end of the year.

好的。您談到 2025 年底產能將達到 30 萬噸。如果到 2025 年底產能可以達到 305,000 輛，並且全部用完，這對 2025 年的實際產量意味著什麼？顯然，30.5萬噸是年底的產能。

Well, this year, we expect to produce around 210,000, that is according to our capacity in Chile, that already was mentioned by Gerardo, and the capacity that we have in China and additionally in Australia. But for next year, we're still reviewing that, but what was announced, it was 250,000 this year. It was 240,000 in Chile, sorry, and 40,000 in China, so 280,000 next year. That is going to be the capacity. Yes. That is going to be the capacity, and 310,000 finally in the year '25. How much we're going to produce? Well, we'll have to see, obviously, how is the market, how the customer need and so on. But I will always expect to sell according to our capacity. It should be close to that.

今年，我們預計產量約為 21 萬輛，這是根據 Gerardo 已經提到的我們在智利的產能，以及我們在中國和澳洲的產能。但對於明年，我們仍在審查，但今年宣布的數量是 25 萬。抱歉，智利是 24 萬，中國是 4 萬，所以明年是 28 萬。這就是容量。是的。這就是產能，25 年最終產能將達到 31 萬輛。我們要生產多少？嗯，顯然，我們必須看看市場如何、客戶需求如何等等。但我總是期望根據我們的產能進行銷售。應該與此接近。

Okay. My last question has to be -- sorry, my last question, it has to be asked. It's kind of a two-part. So what is the last sticking point on finalizing this MOU with Codelco, which you said is going to happen within a week here, end of May? And then, Gerardo and team, how concerned are you that Tianqi is going to use its legal options to force a shareholder vote? And then, are you preparing for the potential that if any complicated and complex outcome that you will get their Tianqi stake put it to you, how are you preparing to possibly handle this financially?

好的。我的最後一個問題必須是——抱歉，我的最後一個問題，它必須被問到。這有點像兩個部分。那麼，與 Codelco 敲定這份諒解備忘錄的最後一個癥結是什麼？那麼，Gerardo 和團隊，您對天齊利用其法律選擇權強制股東投票有多擔心？然後，你是否準備好應對這樣的可能性：如果你將獲得天齊股份的任何複雜而複雜的結果擺在你面前，你準備如何在財務上處理這個問題？

Joel, this is Gerardo. As you can imagine, the deal with Codelco is quite a complicated deal with a lot of details. And we have been working really, really hard to meet the deadline. Last year, we had the deadline to issue something by the end of the year. And at the end of December, we issued this MOU. And now, we're working to make sure we have all the contracts finalized by the end of the month, and we keep on working on that. There is no particular sticking point as you ask. It's just that it's a complicated transaction.

喬爾，這是赫拉爾多。正如你所想像的，與 Codelco 的交易是一項相當複雜的交易，涉及許多細節。我們一直在非常非常努力地在最後期限前完成任務。去年，我們的最後期限是在年底前發布一些東西。 12月底，我們發布了這份諒解備忘錄。現在，我們正在努力確保在本月底之前敲定所有合同，並將繼續努力。正如你所問的，沒有什麼特別的癥結點。只是這是一筆複雜的交易。

And on the Tianqi shareholder vote, are you preparing financially to be able to have to protect yourselves in the chance that in a very complicated legal situation, Tianqi puts its shares to you?

關於天齊股東投票，您是否已做好財務準備，以便在天齊將其股份轉讓給您的情況下，在非常複雜的法律情況下能夠保護自己？

The transaction, as it was asked at the beginning of this year to the CMF has to be approved by the Board. And we are planning that it will happen this way. And then, once the contracts are signed, we will proceed with all the details to have the JV ready by the beginning of next year. But we're not planning for anything else as the process should go as the regulator instructed.

正如今年年初向 CMF 提出的要求，該交易必須得到董事會的批准。我們計劃以這種方式實現。然後，一旦合約簽署，我們將著手處理所有細節，以便在明年初之前準備好合資企業。但我們沒有計劃其他任何事情，因為流程應該按照監管機構的指示進行。

And our next question comes from Gabriel Simoes with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的加布里埃爾·西蒙斯。

So, my first question will be on the lithium expansion. So given the increased capacity guidance that you gave for [2025], I'm sorry, we'd like to understand where these investments will be made. So basically, you already mentioned the 10,000 tons additional in tolling in China. But we'd like to understand what would take for you to get to the increased 30,000 ton capacity in Chile, right? So if you need additional investment to get to that capacity? Does it only need improvement in terms of efficiency? Or does it require investment in more refining capacity as well? Just to understand how close you are already to your capacity in terms of refining and in terms of brine extraction. So, that's the first question.

所以，我的第一個問題是關於鋰的擴張。因此，考慮到您為 [2025] 提供的增加容量指導，抱歉，我們想了解這些投資將在哪裡進行。基本上，您已經提到了中國的通行費增加了 10,000 噸。但我們想了解您需要怎樣才能達到智利增加的 3 萬噸產能，對嗎？那麼，您是否需要額外投資才能達到該容量？難道只需要提高效率嗎？還是還需要投資更多的煉油能力？只是為了了解您在精煉和鹽水提取方面距離自己的能力有多近。這是第一個問題。

Okay, Gabriel, thank you for your question. Well, it was already explained a little bit by Gerardo, but in the last year, we have been focused to increasing the capacity in Chile in -- as lithium carbonate. And now, we are focusing in increasing as lithium hydroxide. We already reached a capacity of 210,000 in lithium carbonate. And now, we're working to add in and to focusing on the bottleneck of area of carbonate line and increasing the lithium recovery. This initially has a lower CapEx intensity when compared with the new production line. So it's not significant as it was when we're building new lines because more focus is in debottlenecking. And we're working, obviously, to keep it increasing in the future, now, the lithium hydroxide and the idea to reach the 100,000 metric ton, let's say, at the last quarter of the next year. I don't know if that answered your question.

好的，加布里埃爾，謝謝你的問題。好吧，Gerardo 已經對此做了一些解釋，但在去年，我們一直致力於增加智利的碳酸鋰產能。現在，我們的重點是增加氫氧化鋰。我們的碳酸鋰產能已達21萬輛。現在，我們正在努力補充並重點解決碳酸鹽線面積瓶頸，提高鋰回收率。與新生產線相比，最初的資本支出強度較低。因此，這並不像我們建造新生產線時那麼重要，因為更多的重點是消除瓶頸。顯然，我們正在努力在未來保持氫氧化鋰的成長，並計劃在明年最後一個季度達到 10 萬噸。我不知道這是否回答了你的問題。

It does. Thank you. And I have just one more question on the lithium cost, right? So, a few quarters ago, you mentioned that you'd start to focus on increasing the efficiency in production, so not only to increase production, but also in terms of costs, right? So, in this quarter, the cost that you reported was already better than our estimate. But we just like to understand what is the sustainable level of production cost that we should see for SQM's lithium production in the future, particularly in the Salar de Atacama, right? And when you would expect to get there, given the initiatives you are making right now?

確實如此。謝謝。我還有一個關於鋰成本的問題，對吧？那麼，幾個季度前，您提到您將開始專注於提高生產效率，因此不僅要提高產量，還要提高成本，對吧？因此，在本季度，您報告的成本已經比我們的估計好。但我們只是想了解 SQM 未來鋰生產的可持續生產成本水準是多少，特別是在阿塔卡馬鹽沼，對吧？鑑於您現在正在採取的舉措，您預計什麼時候能夠實現這一目標？

We expect the future cost as stable or same level that is today. We expect to reduce, obviously, because we are increasing capacity and gaining synergy. But for the other side, we have, I don't know, higher costs because we are -- with the focus to produce higher quality. So always you have more costs when you try to get into a better product. So as a summary, I would say it's going to be a stable cost compared to what it's been this year and last year.

我們預計未來成本將保持穩定或與當前水準相同。顯然，我們預計會減少，因為我們正在增加產能並獲得協同效應。但對於另一邊，我不知道，我們的成本更高，因為我們專注於生產更高的品質。因此，當你試圖獲得更好的產品時，你總是需要付出更多的成本。總而言之，我想說與今年和去年相比，這將是一個穩定的成本。

And our next question comes from Corinne Blanchard with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Corinne Blanchard。

I have 2 questions. The first one, to come back maybe on the MOU and Tianqi situation, so let's say you get the MOU finalized and signed at the end of next week. Basically, can Tianqi still continue creating some issue around this? Or would -- like if you sign the deal next week, would that just seal the deal and basically kind of all the regulatory affair that you have had issue with, would that go away?

我有 2 個問題。第一個，可能是關於諒解備忘錄和天齊的情況，所以假設你在下週末敲定並簽署了諒解備忘錄。基本上，天齊還能繼續圍繞著這個製造一些問題嗎？或者，如果你下週簽署協議，這會不會只是敲定交易，基本上你遇到的所有監管事務都會消失？

Corinne, this is Gerardo. Well, we are working on the final documents on this agreement with Codelco that was described in the MOU that was published at the end of last year. The approval process on our end was discussed -- or was asked to the regulator in Chile, the CMF, at the beginning of the year. And the regulator was quite clear on the way this has to be approved, which is at the Board level. So, once the contracts are ready, the Board will meet, will review the details of the contracts and will take a decision. On the Codelco side, to be quite honest, I'm not that familiar on how the process goes on their end to get the approval steps. But this is what should happen on our end.

科琳娜，這是赫拉爾多。嗯，我們正在製定與 Codelco 達成的協議的最終文件，該協議在去年年底發布的諒解備忘錄中進行了描述。今年年初，我們討論了審批流程，或向智利監管機構 CMF 提出了要求。監管機構對於必須在董事會層級批准的方式非常明確。因此，一旦合約準備就緒，董事會將召開會議，審查合約的細節並做出決定。在 Codelco 方面，說實話，我不太熟悉最終如何獲得批准步驟。但這是我們應該發生的事情。

And the second question would be, what do you see like industry-wise in the channel, like in terms of inventory? Are you seeing again restocking move happening? Or is it still like a steady course?

第二個問題是，您認為通路中的產業狀況如何，例如庫存方面？您是否再次看到補貨行為發生？或者說它仍然是一個穩定的過程？

Corinne, we have a healthy inventory. If you see, this year, we expect to produce 210,000 and to sell 200,000. So already, we will have to have more inventory in the chain because we are increasing the sales, and we want to have enough inventory to -- for supplying to our customer. We have inventory in Chile, in China, a lot of inventory there because, obviously, our main sales, more than 70% of our sales is done in China. We have different warehouse. And in Korea, as you know, I would say that that's the most important place where we have inventory. We are in a healthy position out of inventory, and we want to keep it in that way. We are not speculating with the price and so on. We just sell what the customer need and according to our production.

科琳，我們有充足的庫存。如果你看的話，今年我們預計生產 21 萬輛，銷售 20 萬輛。因此，我們必須在供應鏈中擁有更多的庫存，因為我們正在增加銷量，並且我們希望有足夠的庫存來向我們的客戶供應。我們在智利和中國都有庫存，那裡有大量庫存，因為顯然我們的主要銷售，70%以上的銷售是在中國完成的。我們有不同的倉庫。如你所知，在韓國，我想說這是我們擁有庫存的最重要的地方。我們的庫存狀況良好，我們希望保持這種狀態。我們不是在猜測價格等等。我們只根據我們的生產銷售客戶所需的產品。

And our final question today comes from Cesar Perez-Novoa with BTG Pactual.

今天我們的最後一個問題來自 BTG Pactual 的 Cesar Perez-Novoa。

Yes. Regarding the $1.1 billion tax impact booked in the first quarter of 2024, must we now assume that going forward, our estimates must now include a higher mining tax? Is this reasonable to assume for the quarters ahead? And my second question is actually more clarification for the incremental 30,000 that you plan to increase in the Carmen complex by 2025. You just mentioned that you will manage to achieve this via higher recovery, which is less capital intensive. Can you comment how much less intensive this is on a per ton basis? And is this already included in the $1.3 billion CapEx you reiterated in your press release for 2024?

是的。關於 2024 年第一季記錄的 11 億美元稅收影響，我們現在是否必須假設，展望未來，我們的估計現在必須包括更高的採礦稅？對於未來幾季的假設是否合理？我的第二個問題實際上是對您計劃到2025 年在卡門綜合體中增加30,000 個增量的更多澄清。資本密集度較低的。您能評論一下每噸的強度降低了多少嗎？這是否已包含在您在新聞稿中重申的 2024 年 13 億美元資本支出中？

Cesar, this is Gerardo. Regarding the onetime tax hit on the first quarter, it's related to the interpretation that the tax authorities have on the lithium mining tax, where they understand that it's subject to mining tax -- the lithium is subject to mining tax, and we are of the understanding that it's not. We have had this dispute for a few years. It has been described in detail on our financial statements. But because of the ruling of the appeals court in April, we have changed the accounting treatment of this tax, which, by the way, has been paid by the company every time we have been invoiced by the tax authority. So that's why it doesn't have a significant cash impact on our balance sheet. Now, going forward, these -- the treatment of these tax payments should continue to be exactly the same as it is today or as it was reflected on the first quarter financial statement as a function of the mining tax in Chile. To give you an idea, the impact in the first quarter, which is, again, a function of the price of lithium and the profitability of the business, was approximately $8 million. Going forward, we will continue to book that as tax expenses, depending on, of course, how the legal case continues.

塞薩爾，這是赫拉爾多。關於第一季的一次性稅務打擊，跟稅務機關對鋰礦稅的解讀有關，他們理解是要繳納礦業稅──鋰是要繳納礦業稅的，我們是屬於明白事實並非如此。我們之間的爭論已經持續了幾年。我們的財務報表對此進行了詳細描述。但由於上訴法院四月的裁決，我們改變了這筆稅款的會計處理方式，順便說一下，每次稅務機關向我們開立發票時，公司都會支付這筆稅款。這就是為什麼它不會對我們的資產負債表產生重大現金影響。現在，展望未來，這些稅款的處理方式應繼續與今天完全相同，或與第一季財務報表中反映的智利採礦稅的函數相同。給您一個想法，第一季的影響約為 800 萬美元，這也是鋰價格和業務盈利能力的函數。展望未來，我們將繼續將其記為稅務費用，當然，這取決於法律案件的進展。

Cesar, Carlos Diaz, again. As I mentioned before, at the beginning, we were focusing on increasing the capacity, adding the new lines. After we finished that, now we are focusing on debottlenecking the area, where we expect if we increase those equipment or unit, we can easily increase the total capacity of the same plant. There is no new lines. We're just doing the debottlenecking of those areas. So, that is why we estimate, let's say, $70 million could be a little bit more, but a range around that. And to gain another 30,000 metric ton, if you do the math, it's around $2,300 per tons. But just because it's a debottlenecking asset, you cannot ask me to produce and to increase more the capacity with the same cost.

塞薩爾，卡洛斯迪亞茲，又來了。正如我之前提到的，一開始我們的重點是增加產能，增加新的生產線。完成之後，現在我們的重點是消除該地區的瓶頸，我們預計如果增加這些設備或裝置，我們可以輕鬆增加同一工廠的總產能。沒有新線路。我們只是在消除這些領域的瓶頸。因此，這就是為什麼我們估計 7000 萬美元可能會多一點，但大約在這個範圍內。如果再算一下，再增加 3 萬噸，每噸大約需要 2,300 美元。但僅僅因為它是一項消除瓶頸的資產，你就不能要求我以相同的成本生產和增加更多的產能。

No, I understand.

不，我明白。

Thank you. And this concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Irina Axenova for closing remarks.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回伊琳娜·阿克塞諾娃 (Irina Axenova) 致閉幕詞。

Thank you, everyone, for joining today. And we look forward to having you on our next call. Goodbye.

謝謝大家今天的加入。我們期待您下次通話。再見。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝大家參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。