智利化工礦業 (SQM) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SQM fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Isabel Bendeck, Investor Relations Officer.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 SQM 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。（操作員指示）現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、投資者關係官伊莎貝爾·本德克 (Isabel Bendeck)。

Thank you, operator. Good morning. Thank you for joining SQM earnings conference call for the fourth quarter and full year 2024. This conference call will be recorded and is being webcast live. Our earnings press release and a presentation with a summary of the results have been uploaded at our website, where you can also find a link to the webcast.

謝謝您，接線生。早安.感謝您參加 SQM 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。本次電話會議將會錄音並進行網路直播。我們的收益新聞稿和包含結果摘要的簡報已上傳到我們的網站，您也可以在那裡找到網路廣播的連結。

Today's speakers include Gerardo Illanes, Chief Financial Officer; Carlos Diaz, CEO, Lithium Chile Division; Pablo Altimiras, CEO of iodine and Plant Nutrition Division; Mark Fones, CEO of International Lithium Division. Also from our commercial team, we are joined by Felipe Smith, Commercial Vice President of Lithium; Juan Pablo Bellolio, Commercial Vice President of Iiodine and Industrial Chemicals. Also additional for lithium market-related questions, Pablo Hernandez, VP of Strategy and Development, will be also available.

今天的演講者包括財務長 Gerardo Illanes；卡洛斯‧迪亞茲 (Carlos Diaz)，智利鋰業分部執行長；碘和植物營養部門執行長 Pablo Altimiras；國際鋰業部門執行長馬克方斯（Mark Fones）。我們的商業團隊還有鋰商業副總裁 Felipe Smith；碘和工業化學品商業副總裁 Juan Pablo Bellolio。此外，有關鋰市場的其他問題，策略與發展副總裁 Pablo Hernandez 也將回答。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that statements made in this conference call regarding our business outlook, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses and other financial items, along with expected cost synergies and product or service line growth are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議中關於我們的業務前景、未來經濟表現、預期盈利能力、收入、支出和其他財務項目以及預期的成本協同效應和產品或服務線增長的陳述根據聯邦證券法均被視為前瞻性陳述。

These statements are not historical facts and may be subject to changes due to new information, future developments or other factors. We assume no obligation to update these statements, except as required by law. For a complete forward-looking statement, please refer to our earnings press release and presentation.

這些陳述並非歷史事實，並且可能會因新資訊、未來發展或其他因素而改變。除非法律要求，我們不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。完整的前瞻性聲明請參閱我們的收益新聞稿和簡報。

I am now leaving you with our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gerardo Illanes.

現在我將把我們的財務長 Gerardo Illanes 先生交給您。

Thank you, Isa. Good morning and thank you all for joining today's call. Last night, we published our fourth quarter financial results. We achieved revenues slightly exceeding USD4.5 billion for the full year of 2024, along with a gross profit of approximately USD1.3 billion. Our net income for 2024 was impacted by a one-time charge of approximately USD1.1 billion recorded early in the year. This charge pertains to an ongoing dispute regarding the tax treatment of mining activities at SQN Salar.

謝謝你，伊薩。早安，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。昨晚，我們公佈了第四季度的財務表現。2024年全年，我們的營收略高於45億美元，毛利約13億美元。我們 2024 年的淨收入受到年初記錄的約 11 億美元一次性費用的影響。這項指控與 SQN Salar 採礦活動的稅收待遇有關的持續爭議有關。

We estimate that the lithium market grew around 25% in 2024 compared to 2023, primarly driven by the strong growth of electric vehicles in China and other markets as well as the rapid growth in the demand for lithium in energy storage systems.

我們估計，2024 年鋰市場將較 2023 年成長 25% 左右，主要得益於中國和其他市場的電動車強勁成長以及儲能係統對鋰的需求快速成長。

With this surge in demand combined with our successful capacity expansion efforts in Chile, we achieved record sales volumes in 2024, reaching nearly 205,000 metric tonnes of lithium, which includes almost 4,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent coming from Mulholland, making a milestone in our successful partnership with Wesfarmers. At the same time, in the fourth quarter, we achieved a record high sales volumes with sales surpassing 58,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbon equivalent.

隨著需求的激增，加上我們在智利的成功產能擴張，我們在 2024 年實現了創紀錄的銷售量，達到近 205,000 公噸鋰，其中包括來自 Mulholland 的近 4,000 公噸碳酸鋰當量，這是我們與 Wesfarmers 成功合作的里程碑。同時，第四季我們的銷售量創下了歷史新高，銷售量超過58,000公噸鋰碳當量。

Although we observe a decline in prices quarter over quarter in 2024, this downward trends softened during the fourth quarter, and we expect relatively stable prices during 2025. Additionally, we estimate that demand could grow approximately 17% this year and expect our sales volume to grow at a similar rate.

儘管我們觀察到 2024 年價格環比下降，但這種下降趨勢在第四季有所緩和，我們預計 2025 年價格將相對穩定。此外，我們估計今年的需求可能會成長約 17%，並預計我們的銷售量將以類似的速度成長。

Moving to iodine, we have an exceptional year in 2024, achieving record volumes and benefiting from strong price growth, largely driven by the recovery in demand particularly in the X-ray contrast media application. For 2025, we expect continued demand growth although at a slower pace. We expect our sales volumes of iodine in 2025 to reach similar or slightly lower levels than the ones reported in 2024.

談到碘，2024 年是一個特殊的一年，實現了創紀錄的銷量並受益於強勁的價格增長，這主要得益於需求復甦，特別是在 X 射線造影劑應用方面。到 2025 年，我們預計需求將繼續成長，儘管成長速度會有所放緩。我們預計 2025 年碘銷量將達到與 2024 年報告的水平相似或略低的水平。

We're working on bringing more capacity to the market, working on some efficiency initiatives along with adding Maraa Elena as a production site on top of Nueva Victoria and Pampa Blanca.

我們正在努力為市場帶來更多產能，進行一些效率舉措，並在 Nueva Victoria 和 Pampa Blanca 之上增加 Maraa Elena 作為生產基地。

In the fertilizer segment, we believe the market has fully recovered from the challenges of the past few years, with prices stabilizing at levels seen in the second half of 2024. Looking beyond 2025, we remain committed to investing in the expansion of our core business. In 2024, we invest over USD1.6 billion and will continue to invest in increasing capacity, particularly in lithium, where in 2025, we plan to allocate approximately USD750 million for capacity expansion both in Chile and abroad.

在化肥領域，我們相信市場已從過去幾年的挑戰中完全恢復，價格將穩定在 2024 年下半年的水平。展望2025年，我們仍致力於投資擴展我們的核心業務。2024 年，我們將投資超過 16 億美元，並將繼續投資於提高產能，特別是鋰產能，2025 年，我們計劃投資約 7.5 億美元用於智利和國外的產能擴張。

Additionally, we intend to invest close to USD350 million this year in the Calichi operation to keep on increasing our production capacity, aiming to add approximately 4,000 metric tonnes of iodine capacity in the coming years. All of these investments are supported by the company's strong financial position, which provides us with the flexibility to seize new opportunities as they arise.

此外，我們計劃今年在 Calichi 業務上投資近 3.5 億美元，以繼續提高我們的生產能力，目標是在未來幾年增加約 4,000 公噸的碘產能。所有這些投資都得到了公司強勁財務狀況的支持，這使我們能夠靈活地抓住新出現的機會。

Operator, we now We can move now to Q&A session.

接線員，我們現在可以進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Ben Isaacson, Scotiabank.

加拿大豐業銀行的本‧艾薩克森 (Ben Isaacson)。

Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. I have three questions. The first question is on potash. So your guidance is that production will be down 50% this year. Is this a combination of growth in SPN and more efficient production at the Salar? And is there a possibility that you could be a net buyer of potash in the future? Where is the potash going? Thanks.

早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。我有三個問題。第一個問題是關於鉀肥的。所以您的預期是今年產量將下降 50%。這是 SPN 成長與鹽沼更有效率生產共同作用的結果嗎？未來你們有可能成為鉀肥的淨買家嗎？鉀肥都去哪了？謝謝。

Hi, Ben. This is Carlos Diaz. Yeah, you're right, we have been producing less potash in the last year because we have been focusing in the lithium production. We have been extracting less brine and the production of potash is 100% correlated with the brine extraction. And what I said before, we have been focused more on lithium and productivity on those and so on. And obviously that affect the mainly the sale of potash because primarily we produce for the conversion to potassium nitrate and later for the sales in the market.

嗨，本。這是卡洛斯·迪亞茲。是的，你說得對，去年我們生產的鉀肥較少，因為我們一直專注於鋰的生產。我們提取的鹽水一直在減少，而鉀肥的產量與鹽水提取有 100% 的相關性。正如我之前所說，我們更加關注鋰以及鋰的生產力等等。顯然，這主要影響鉀肥的銷售，因為我們生產鉀肥主要是為了將其轉化為硝酸鉀，然後在市場上銷售。

Great, thank you. Gerardo, a question for you. When you look at your capital requirements over the next two or three years, it's looking like, given where lithium prices are right now, funding those capital requirements out of operating cash flow will need to be -- there's going to be a GAAP that will need to be filled by raising capital. Can you talk about What those parameters are of raising capital, anything that you're comfortable with in terms of type of capital, timing, size, what should we be thinking about?

太好了，謝謝。傑拉爾多，問你一個問題。當你考慮未來兩三年的資本需求時，考慮到目前的鋰價，看起來需要從營運現金流中為這些資本需求提供資金——將需要透過籌集資金來滿足 GAAP。您能談談籌集資金的參數是什麼嗎？

Hi, Ben, thank you for your question. Yeah, over the past few years, we have investing a lot to increase capacity in the different business lines, but with the main focus on lithium. But despite that, you can see that we have a strong balance sheet. We have had a strong balance sheet for a long time, and our plan is to keep on having this strong balance sheet that let us react and invest when the opportunities arise. Now we're focusing on, keep on investing, expanding our capacity lithium in Chile, also investing in the production capacity in Australia along with the caliche opportunities that we have here mainly related to iodine.

你好，本，謝謝你的提問。是的，過去幾年，我們投入大量資金來提高不同業務線的產能，但主要重點是鋰。但儘管如此，你可以看到我們擁有強勁的資產負債表。我們長期以來一直擁有強勁的資產負債表，我們的計劃是繼續保持強勁的資產負債表，以便我們在機會出現時做出反應並進行投資。現在我們專注於繼續投資，擴大我們在智利的鋰產能，同時也投資澳洲的生產能力以及我們在這裡主要與碘有關的鈣華機會。

As you see, we have a balance sheet that can support a CapEx of this level. And in the past, when we have seen that we are in a situation where we will need to get more financing to finance these projects, we have taken several measures, and one of those is assessing or reviewing the dividend policy. And the most relevant one, which was the one that we did in 2021 was to raise capital. We're not planning on doing that at this moment, but we're closely monitoring that to make sure that we keep on having a strong balance sheet which is quite relevant for us.

如您所見，我們的資產負債表可以支持這一水準的資本支出。過去，當我們發現需要獲得更多融資來資助這些項目時，我們採取了多項措施，其中之一就是評估或審查股利政策。其中最相關的一項，也就是我們在 2021 年所做的一項，就是籌集資金。我們目前還沒有計劃這樣做，但我們正在密切監控，以確保我們繼續擁有強勁的資產負債表，這對我們非常重要。

Great, thank you. And then my last question is just on the iodine business. When we look at your share price, it's very clear that the market is focusing on low lithium prices and not really on what I think is a crown jewel, which is the iodine business. Is there a possibility to repackage that and spin that out as a separate company or just given the way the caliche ore works and the way your infrastructure works, it's not possible and it's not something that you're thinking about right now. What are the kind of pros and cons of that? Thank you.

太好了，謝謝。我的最後一個問題是關於碘業務的。當我們查看你們的股價時，很明顯市場關注的是低鋰價，而不是我認為的皇冠上的明珠——碘業務。是否有可能將其重新包裝並分拆為一家獨立的公司，或者僅僅考慮到鈣質礦石的運作方式和基礎設施的運作方式，這是不可能的，而且這不是您現在正在考慮的事情。這樣的做法有哪些優點和缺點？謝謝。

Hi, Ben. You're right, iodine is a quite a relevant business for us, not just because, of the current market conditions, but also because of our expertise and our capacity to deli -- or our ability to deliver on bringing new projects and new capacity. It's a key component of the SQM portfolio. And at this moment, we are not planning on doing anything in the lines of what you're saying. We are allocating resources to expand the capacity, trying to take advantage of the strong position we're in the same way we're doing it in lithium.

嗨，本。您說得對，碘對我們來說是一項非常重要的業務，這不僅是因為當前的市場狀況，還因為我們的專業知識和交付能力——或者說我們有能力帶來新項目和新產能。它是 SQM 產品組合的關鍵組成部分。目前，我們還沒有計劃採取您所說那樣的行動。我們正在分配資源來擴大產能，試圖利用我們的優勢地位，就像我們在鋰領域所做的那樣。

Thank you. Very much. I appreciate it.

謝謝。非常。我很感激。

Joel Jackson, BMO Capital Markets.

蒙特利爾銀行資本市場 (BMO Capital Markets) 的喬爾傑克遜 (Joel Jackson)。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll go one by one. Ricardo, I think in the press release your quote as saying you're optimistic on lithium because of demand growth, though you do expect prices to be stable for the year. Can you elaborate on that? Yes, demand growth is strong, but so has been supply growth. But what makes you optimistic about lithium here? What gets the market to improve?

早安.感謝您回答我的問題。我會一一來講。里卡多，我認為在新聞稿中您說過，由於需求增長，您對鋰的價格持樂觀態度，但您確實預計今年的價格將保持穩定。能詳細說明一下嗎？是的，需求成長強勁，但供應成長也同樣強勁。但是是什麼讓您對鋰產業持樂觀態度呢？什麼因素促使市場好轉？

Hey, Joel, this is Gerardo. Just to clarify something, Ricardo unfortunately couldn't make it today, but Pablo Hernandez is going to help you with your question.

嘿，喬爾，這是傑拉爾多。只是為了澄清一些事情，不幸的是里卡多今天不能來，但巴勃羅·埃爾南德斯將幫助您解答您的問題。

Thank you. Hey Joel. This is Pablo. So on the lithium market for 2024, we saw the demand reach over 1.2 million metric tonnes, that's around 25% year to year increase from 2023. So that's EV sales accounted for roughly 70% of that total demand full of battery energy storage systems with over 15%. And global EV sales reached almost 18 million units, marking roughly a 26% year-to-year growth.

謝謝。嘿，喬爾。這是帕勃羅。因此，我們看到 2024 年鋰市場的需求將達到 120 萬公噸以上，比 2023 年年增約 25%。因此，電動車銷量約佔總需求的 70%，其中電池儲能係統佔比超過 15%。全球電動車銷量接近 1,800 萬輛，較去年同期成長約 26%。

For 2025, demand is expected to reach more than 1.4 million metric tonnes, that's close to a 20% year-over-year growth with EVs remaining as a primary driver. And China remains dominant market in the EV, well of course the US and European face policy uncertainties that could potentially impact their demand.

到 2025 年，需求量預計將達到 140 萬公噸以上，年增近 20%，而電動車仍然是主要驅動力。中國仍然是電動車市場的主導者，當然美國和歐洲面臨的政策不確定性可能會影響其需求。

Also in the market, should continue to shift slightly towards LCE production as LSP capital demand continues to gain more relevance, particularly in China. And in relation to supply in 2024, reached over 1.3 million metric tons, representing an increase of more than 35% when compared to '23. But in 2025 supply to continue to grow close to 10%, but of course subject to supporting price levels, reaching to close to 1.5 million metric tons.

此外，由於 LSP 資本需求變得越來越重要，尤其是在中國，市場應繼續略微向 LCE 生產轉變。至2024年，供應量將達130多萬公噸，比23年增加35%以上。但到2025年，供應量將持續成長近10%，但當然要受到支撐物價水準的影響，達到接近150萬公噸。

New projects in Africa, Argentina, China, expansions in Australia and of course Chile as well from SQM, we'll start production this year and refining in China remains with some overcapacity. And this oversupply in 2025 is expected to be lower than last year, which may have an impact on prices with a potential upside in 2026 as it was mentioned.

我們位於非洲、阿根廷、中國的新項目，以及 SQM 在澳洲和智利的擴張項目，今年都將開始生產，而中國的煉油業務仍存在一些產能過剩。預計 2025 年的供應過剩程度將低於去年，這可能會對價格產生影響，正如先前提到的，2026 年價格可能會上漲。

Okay, so your demand growing 15 or 7 -- I'm sorry. your demand growing 15% or 17% this year, supply growing 10%, that's the reason for optimistic if I summarize it, correct?

好的，所以您的需求成長了 15 或 7 — — 很抱歉。今年你的需求成長15％或17％，供應成長10％，如果我總結一下，這就是樂觀的理由，對嗎？

Yes, correct.

是的，正確。

Okay, and then on your own production, it looks like you're maybe underproducing what you could produce, like you're holding back a little bit. I'm not sure, but maybe I'd like some color, some elaboration on that. If demand was better than thought, do you have more capability this year that you can push and get more production out than what you're guiding to?

好的，那麼就您自己的產量而言，看起來您可能沒有達到您能夠生產的數量，就像您稍微保留一樣。我不確定，但也許我想要一些細節，一些詳細說明。如果需求好於預期，那麼今年您是否有能力推動並實現比預期更多的產量？

Hi, Josel, this is Carlos Diaz. I was strategy in the last year to produce as much as we can according to our strategy that we defined time ago. If you see, we have been increasing the production in the last five or six years. Last year we reached 200,000 metric ton and this year we expect to reach 230,000. That is a combination of what we produce, but everything is coming from the Salar del Carmen and just coming up talking about a Chile production.

你好，Josel，我是Carlos Diaz。我去年制定的策略是，按照我們之前製定的策略，盡可能多地生產產品。如果你看到的話，我們在過去五、六年中一直在提高產量。去年我們達到了20萬公噸，今年我們預計達到23萬公噸。這是我們生產的組合，但一切都來自卡門鹽沼，現在談論的是智利的生產。

And this is what I say we expect to produce 230,000. And we have to differentiate between capacity and natural production. We have been expanding our capacity and we're still working to reach [240,000] as a refinery in Chile. At the same time, we have been developing our capacity in China in the chin and doing some refinery with some toll.

這就是我說的我們預計產量為 230,000。我們必須區分產能和自然產能。我們一直在擴大產能，並且仍致力於使智利煉油廠的產能達到[240,000]。同時，我們也在中國發展我們的產能，並建立一些收費煉油廠。

So we put everything together, the production this year we're going to be 230,000, next year we expect to grow it again. And we, what I say, we have been increasing capacity and this year we, it's going to be the ramping of the new, the new expansion.

所以，我們把所有因素綜合起來，今年的產量將達到 23 萬，明年我們預期產量還會成長。正如我所說，我們一直在提高產能，今年我們將加大新產能的擴張。

I don't know if this answer your question.

我不知道這是否回答了你的問題。

Yeah. My final question is just on the Codelco JV. So of course, we know that it's all retroactive January 1, so [Cerrado] for all the accounting you're going to have to do when this finally closes.

是的。我的最後一個問題是關於 Codelco JV 的。所以當然，我們知道這一切都將追溯到 1 月 1 日，所以 [Cerrado] 當這一切最終結束時，你必須做所有的會計工作。

But more seriously, what is going on behind the scenes here? Like what are the next milestones, catalysts? What do we need to see for all the conditions for Tianqi to be satisfied, for this JV to close, and for SQM to move on to the next phase of your history here or future?

但更嚴重的是，這裡的幕後到底發生了什麼事？例如，下一個里程碑、催化劑是什麼？我們需要看到什麼才能使天齊鋰業滿足所有條件、使該合資企業得以完成、並使 SQM 進入其在華或未來歷史的下一個階段？

Hey, Joel. Well, as when we signed the as the association agreement with Codelco, a set of condition precedents were established. All of which must be met for the joint venture to commence operations. Since then, we have been working together with Codelco, Corfo, and of course, us on the necessary task to ensure these conditions are fulfilled.

嘿，喬爾。嗯，當我們與 Codelco 簽署合作協議時，就已經建立了一系列先決條件。合資企業必須滿足上述所有條件才能開始營運。自那時起，我們一直與 Codelco、Corfo 以及我們自己合作完成必要的任務，以確保滿足這些條件。

Today -- to date, we have not encountered any significant obstacle in this process and we're currently expecting that this condition presence will be met in the second half of this year. As you can imagine, there is a lot of things that needs to be done, and that's why, it's a process that takes a relatively long time.

今天——到目前為止，我們在這個過程中沒有遇到任何重大障礙，我們目前預計這一條件將在今年下半年得到滿足。你可以想像，有很多事情要做，這就是為什麼這個過程需要相對較長的時間。

Rafael Barcellos, Bradesco BBI

拉斐爾·巴塞洛斯（Rafael Barcellos），Bradesco BBI

Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. Just one question on your CapEx estimate. So you provided the guidance for the 2025 CapEx for each division, right? So could you please be more specific on each products you're considering here and how much could be considered as a maintenance CapEx? And other than that, like a second question here on the CapEx, it would be very helpful if you could discuss your CapEx requirements for the coming years. Thank you.

早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。關於您的資本支出估算，我只有一個問題。那麼，您為每個部門提供了 2025 年資本支出的指導，對嗎？那麼您能否更具體地介紹一下您正在考慮的每種產品以及多少可以被視為維護資本支出？除此之外，就像關於資本支出的第二個問題一樣，如果您能討論一下未來幾年的資本支出需求，那將會非常有幫助。謝謝。

Hey, Rafael, this is Gerardo. Yes, for 2025, we announced total CapEx in the neighborhood of $1.1 billion which includes approximately $550 million of CapEx associated with our lithium operations in Chile, $200 million associated with lithium operations abroad, and approximately $350 million associated with the Gallicio operations in Chile.

嘿，拉斐爾，這是傑拉爾多。是的，到 2025 年，我們宣布的總資本支出約為 11 億美元，其中包括與智利鋰業務相關的約 5.5 億美元、與海外鋰業務相關的 2 億美元以及與智利 Gallicio 業務相關的約 3.5 億美元。

For the next three years, including 2025, so 2025, 2026, and 2027, we are estimating that the total cap will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.1 billion to $3.8 billion. Mainly, evenly distribute throughout these years, where approximately $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion will be allocated to lithium expansions in Chile. Approximately $700 million to $1 billion associated with the international lithium initiatives. And from $900 million to 1 billion, associated with Calicho ratio. In order for you to understand a little bit more what's included in each of these, projects, we'll go one by one on each of these issues. So, Carlos, if you can start.

未來三年（包括 2025 年，即 2025、2026 和 2027 年），我們估計總上限將在 31 億美元至 38 億美元左右。主要是均勻分配在這幾年裡，大約有15億至18億美元將分配給智利的鋰業擴建。與國際鋰業計畫相關的資金約為 7 億至 10 億美元。從 9 億美元到 10 億美元，與 Calicho 比率相關。為了讓您進一步了解每個項目所包含的內容，我們將逐一討論這些問題。那麼，卡洛斯，如果你可以開始的話。

Yeah, for this year we expect to produce, to invest [$550 million] and and the reminding that already mentioned. Gerardo is expected for the next year '26, '27, according to our plan to keep it expanding the lithium carbonate and liroide capacity in Chile. For example, now we are focusing lion arocide in Chile and we with our idea to reach 100,000 metric tons of production according in our long-term contract that were already signed with different customers in order to supply that kind of product in the coming years.

是的，今年我們預計生產、投資 [5.5 億美元] 以及先前提到的提醒。根據我們的計劃，Gerardo 預計明年和明年將繼續擴大在智利的碳酸鋰和鋰離子電池產能。例如，現在我們專注於智利的殺獅劑，我們的想法是按照與不同客戶簽署的長期合約達到 100,000 公噸的產量，以便在未來幾年供應此類產品。

And the same for lithium carbon is to keep it increasing the capacity, according to the demand. So you have seen how we have been increasing the capacity in the last year and we want to keep doing that in the following year. So the capex is according to that, according to, for example, to increase quality, productivity, and another issues that that is our main goals. Pablo, you will follow?

對於鋰碳來說也是一樣，根據需求不斷增加其容量。所以，你已經看到了我們在去年是如何提高產能的，我們希望在接下來的一年裡繼續這樣做。因此，資本支出是根據這一點而定的，例如，為了提高品質、生產力和其他問題，這是我們的主要目標。帕布羅，你會跟隨嗎？

Okay, thanks, Carlos. Hello, Rafael. Pablo Altimiras is speaking. Yes, in the case of the iodine and nitrich business, also we are with an important CapEx program. For this year, we expect to spend $350 million. And if you consider the 2025 2026, and 2027, the total amount is close to $900 million. The main projects are to continue growing in iodine, especially, also in nitrite or especially in iodine, where maybe what is important project is all the expansions that we are doing in Victoria, the project that we call Pentenelare that includes the seawater pipeline which a high capacity of 900 litres per second which allow us to continue expanding our operations.

好的，謝謝，卡洛斯。你好，拉斐爾。帕布羅·阿爾蒂米拉斯正在講話。是的，就碘和硝酸鹽業務而言，我們也有一個重要的資本支出計劃。今年我們預計支出 3.5 億美元。如果考慮 2025 年、2026 年和 2027 年，總金額接近 9 億美元。主要項目是繼續發展碘，特別是亞硝酸鹽或碘，其中最重要的項目可能是我們在維多利亞州進行的所有擴建，我們稱之為 Pentenelare 的項目包括容量高達每秒 900 公升的海水管道，這使我們能夠繼續擴大業務。

But together with that you need to invest in new solar ponds, new iodide plant capacity, iodine. So all our projects today we are moving forward. And at the same time, as we commend in the press release, also we expect to open iodine operation in Maraa Elena that will support what we are doing in Victoria and Pampa Blanca. And if everything is going well, we expect to start with this project -- well, we already started, but we expect with the mining and leaching activities by the third quarter of this year.

但除此之外，你還需要投資新的太陽能池、新的碘化物工廠產能和碘。因此，我們今天的所有項目都在向前推進。同時，正如我們在新聞稿中所讚揚的那樣，我們也希望在馬拉埃琳娜開展碘業務，以支持我們在維多利亞和潘帕布蘭卡的工作。如果一切進展順利，我們預計將開始這個計畫——嗯，我們已經開始了，但我們預計採礦和浸出活動將在今年第三季開始。

Mark.

標記。

Okay. Rafael, this is Mark Fones speaking on the international lithium side. As Gerardo commented, we are aiming to almost $200 million investment this year, which is pretty straightforward, almost half of it is related to finishing the Mt. Holland, Kwinana refinery, construction. And then the other half would be split amongst developing Andover project and our own exploration program we have in Australia and now in Namibia.

好的。拉斐爾，我是馬克方斯，代表國際鋰業發表演說。正如傑拉爾多所說，我們今年的目標是投資近 2 億美元，這很簡單，其中近一半與完成荷蘭山、奎那那煉油廠的建設有關。另一半將分配給正在開發的安多弗項目以及我們在澳洲和納米比亞的勘探項目。

In the following year, '26 and '27, there's, of course, a range of uncertainty between $500 million and $800 million. That will depend particularly on final investment decisions to be made. First, within this year for the expansion of Mt. Holland with our partner, Wesfarmers and then following a feasibility study to be delivered by the end of next year on the decision of investment in Andover together with Hancock Prospecting.

在接下來的 26 年和 27 年，不確定性當然在 5 億美元到 8 億美元之間。這將特別取決於最終做出的投資決策。首先，我們在今年內與合作夥伴 Wesfarmers 一起擴建 Mt. Holland，然後在明年年底之前完成一項可行性研究，並決定與 Hancock Prospecting 一起在 Andover 進行投資。

Rafael, Gerardo, again. Regarding your question about maintenance, our maintenance CapEx, across all divisions is somewhere around $250 million to $280 million per year.

拉斐爾、赫拉爾多，再一次。關於您提到的維護問題，我們所有部門的維護資本支出約為每年 2.5 億至 2.8 億美元。

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

好的，完美。謝謝。

Corinne Blanchard, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的科琳‧布蘭查德 (Corinne Blanchard)。

Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. The first question talk you for very high lithium volume. I think this is your highest, quarter like a quarter. Can you comment on why do you think this is happening? I think there has been some talks around in the industry of China maybe stock planning and trying to buy as much volume at a low price. So I would be curious to hear your opinion on this.

嘿，早安。感謝您回答我的問題。第一個問題與非常高的鋰含量有關。我認為這是您最高的一個季度。您能否評論一下您認為發生這種情況的原因？我認為中國業內已經有一些討論，可能進行庫存規劃並試圖以低價購買盡可能多的數量。所以我很想聽聽你對此的看法。

Corinne. This is Felipe Smith. How are you?

科琳。這是費利佩史密斯。你好嗎？

Good

好的

Good to hear. So regarding the volumes, first, I just want to explain that China concentrate close to 80% of our sales in 2024, in line with the global demand. The Chinese market experienced a strong growth in '24, more than 35% compared to the previous year, gaining share against US and Europe who have been growing lower than our expectations. We are not building inventories in China. There is actual demand there, and we are working with reasonable inventories.

很高興聽到。關於銷量，首先，我想解釋一下，到 2024 年，中國將集中我們近 80% 的銷售額，與全球需求一致。2024年，中國市場成長強勁，比前一年成長了35%以上，取代了成長低於我們預期的美國和歐洲市場。我們不會在中國建立庫存。那裡有實際需求，而且我們的庫存合理。

As a matter of fact, anyway, we have warehouses over there. We are well prepared to supply the Chinese market. We have a large commercial office in Shanghai. And as you well know, we are also refining carbonate and hydroxide at our plant in Yixing and with third parties. I don't know if this is answering your question.

事實上，無論如何，我們在那裡有倉庫。我們已做好充分準備供應中國市場。我們在上海有一個大型的商業辦公室。眾所周知，我們也在宜興的工廠和第三方工廠精煉碳酸鹽和氫氧化物。我不知道這是否回答了你的問題。

No. I'm not talking about the issues with stockpiling. I'm talking more about Chinese customer trying to buy as much volume maybe as they can. I'm just try to understand why you're seeing like 58-kiloton in 4Q, which is normally not what we're seeing. And we have heard as well from other in the industry that customer want volume as soon as possible. So I was just curious to hear if you have an idea or theory about maybe what's going on there?

不。我不是說囤積的問題。我更多談論的是中國客戶試圖盡可能多地購買。我只是想知道為什麼你在第四季度看到了 58 千噸的排放量，這通常不是我們所看到的。我們也從業內其他人士處獲悉，客戶希望盡快獲得大量產品。所以我只是好奇想知道您是否對那裡發生的事情有什麼想法或理論？

We do not see any price speculation, Corinne, and, let's say, extraordinary building of inventories in the supply chain, just a reasonable inventories that you need to sustain this demand growth.

科琳，我們沒有看到任何價格投機，也沒有看到供應鏈中大量的庫存，只是看到了維持需求成長所需的合理庫存。

Okay. Second question would be on Africa and Australia. I think we saw some press release last night, but you got the latest -- the last regulation approval for the project in Africa. Can you just try to tell us what could be a potential mine plan? Or like what's the plan for that asset in Africa? And then if you can give a very quick update on the Mt. Holland in Australia as well?

好的。第二個問題是關於非洲和澳洲的。我想我們昨晚看到了一些新聞稿，但你得到了最新消息——非洲項目的最新監管批准。您能否試著告訴我們潛在的礦場計畫是什麼？或是像在非洲的資產計畫是什麼？那麼，您能否簡單介紹一下澳洲的荷蘭山的情況？

Corinne, this is Mark Fones. Yes, the project in Africa, which actually is in Namibia, it's part of our early exploration investment portfolio. So what we have and the value we add is we have an extremely knowledgeable team of geologists and exploration team in Australia. And we leverage on that expertise, and we have built a very interesting portfolio of, as I mentioned, early exploration investments.

科琳，這是馬克方斯。是的，非洲的項目實際上在納米比亞，它是我們早期勘探投資組合的一部分。因此，我們擁有的以及我們增加的價值是我們在澳洲擁有一支知識淵博的地質學家和勘探團隊。我們利用這些專業知識，建立了一個非常有趣的投資組合，正如我所提到的，早期勘探投資。

We have 20 different projects in Australia as well as we now have this new project in Namibia, and we expect to soon have one in Sweden as well, subject to conditions precedent. But these are very early stage exploration projects. We invest in them as a portfolio. We're advancing exploration. We're advancing the ones that actually overcome certain barriers and certain key internal parameters, and it's still too early to say what is going to be the mining plan on those projects. This is probably three years of exploration projects in some of them, two years in others, and that's how we continue building their portfolio.

我們在澳洲有 20 個不同的項目，現在我們在納米比亞有一個新項目，我們預計很快也會在瑞典有一個項目，但要視先決條件而定。但這些都是非常早期的勘探項目。我們以投資組合的形式對它們進行投資。我們正在推進探索。我們正在推進那些實際上克服了某些障礙和某些關鍵內部參數的項目，但現在說這些項目的採礦計劃還為時過早。對於其中一些項目來說，這可能需要三年的勘探項目，對於其他項目來說，可能需要兩年，這就是我們繼續建立其投資組合的方式。

To your second question regarding Mt. Holland, well, Mt. Holland had a very good 2024 run. During the year, we continue ramping up the production of the concentrator. Between the first quarter of the year and the last quarter of the year, we actually had unitary production costs. And we ended up in the last quarter, almost in 80% capacity production. So it was a very good year for Mt. Holland concentrator.

關於荷蘭山的第二個問題，荷蘭山在 2024 年的表現非常好。今年，我們持續提高選礦廠的產量。從今年第一季到第四季度，我們實際上有單一生產成本。到上個季度，我們的產能已接近 80%。因此，對於 Mt. Holland 選礦廠來說，這是非常好的一年。

And on the refinery side, we ended up the year above 95% construction, above 50% of commissioning, which actually today currently commissioning stands at 2/3 of the refinery in Kwinana. So we're pretty happy, things continue to schedule and we expect first product for mid this year.

在煉油廠方面，今年我們的建設進​​度超過了 95%，投產進度超過了 50%，實際上今天奎那那煉油廠的投產進度已經達到 2/3。所以我們很高興，一切繼續按計劃進行，我們預計第一款產品將於今年年中推出。

Right, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Andres Castanos, Berenberg.

安德烈斯·卡斯塔諾斯，貝倫貝格。

Hello, thank you for the detail on CapEx. I have a follow-up on the 2024 expenditure of $1.6 billion. Can you break that for me? I would like to know what is M&A, what was organic and what was maintenance?

您好，感謝您提供有關 CapEx 的詳細資訊。我對 2024 年 16 億美元的支出有一個後續行動。你能幫我打破它嗎？我想知道什麼是 M&A、什麼是有機、什麼是維護？

Andres, approximately $350 million were related to the acquisition of Azure that was announced at the beginning of last year. And the rest was mainly associated with the expansions of lithium in Chile and Mt. Holland in Australia.

安德烈斯表示，其中約 3.5 億美元與去年年初宣布的收購 Azure 有關。其餘主要與智利鋰礦和澳洲荷蘭山鋰礦的擴張有關。

Thank you. Can you give some indication about the volume distribution expected for 2025, at least in the first and second quarter versus the second half? What is the profile of the sales that you expect even through the year or accelerated towards the second end, higher in the warm summers right now?

謝謝。您能否透露一下 2025 年預計的銷售分佈情況，至少是第一季和第二季與下半年相比的情況？您預計全年的銷售情況如何，或到下半年銷售會加速，目前溫暖的夏季會更高？

Andres, I assume you're asking about the lithium volumes. Felipe, can you comment?

安德烈斯，我想你問的是鋰的體積。費利佩，您能評論一下嗎？

Yes, hello, Andres. Andres, first of all, regarding Q1 2025, we are estimating that our sales volume could reach at least 50,000 ton LCE, which is 15% higher than Q1 2024. And to this, you also have to add some sales of lithium from Australia. And we expect that over the coming quarters, let's say, Q2 to Q4 of '25, those volumes will be increasing reaching the highest number in Q4, but this is our expectation today.

是的，你好，安德烈斯。安德烈斯，首先，關於 2025 年第一季度，我們估計我們的銷售量至少可以達到 50,000 噸 LCE，比 2024 年第一季高出 15%。除此之外，還必須加上一些來自澳洲的鋰銷量。我們預計，在未來幾個季度，比如說 25 年第二季度到第四季度，這些交易量將會增加，並在第四季度達到最高值，但這是我們今天的預期。

That is great. Thank you very much.

那太棒了。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Juraj Domic, LarrainVial.

尤拉吉多米奇、拉瑞恩維亞爾。

Hello, good evening. Thanks for the presentation. I have two questions. And the first one, we saw some articles regarding potential impacts on the construction of the transmission line. Could you comment on any potential impacts on either production or projects or if any? And my second question is regarding iodine cost iodine cash costs. Apparently, we saw some increases in the fourth quarter. Any events that could explain this increase and what should we expect for 2025? Thank you.

你好，晚上好。感謝您的演講。我有兩個問題。首先，我們看到一些關於輸電線路建設可能產生的影響的文章。您能否評論一下這對生產或專案是否有任何潛在影響？我的第二個問題是關於碘成本和碘現金成本。顯然，我們在第四季度看到了一些成長。有什麼事件可以解釋這種成長？謝謝。

Juraj, Pablo Altimiras speaking. Okay, going to the first question. First of all, to say that because of the caliche nature, you know that we have a lot of mining properties. So it's normal for us that sometimes you have together mining projects with electrical projects or other things. So for us, it's normal. So regarding to this specific project, we are reviewing how could potentially affect our mining properties. We are under analysis, and then we will decide how to proceed. That's the first thing.

尤拉伊 (Juraj)，我是 Pablo Altimiras。好的，我們來回答第一個問題。首先，由於鈣質岩的性質，我們擁有大量的採礦財產。因此，有時將採礦項目與電力項目或其他項目放在一起，這對我們來說是很正常的。所以對我們來說，這很正常。因此，就這個具體項目而言，我們正在審查可能對我們的採礦財產產生哪些影響。我們正在進行分析，然後將決定如何進行。這是第一件事。

Regarding to the second question, from iodine cost. Yes, I mean, if you see the average cost of the second semester of last year compared to the first semester, it's true that the cost is higher, especially in Q4 of last year. However, it's important to say that this cost is not representative at all of our current cost. There are some effect because of onetime expenditures that was allocated in Q4 because of specific projects that we are doing actually to improve our recoveries, increase production and different things, but it's not representative.

關於第二個問題，從碘成本來說。是的，我的意思是，如果你把去年第二學期的平均費用與第一學期相比，確實費用更高，尤其是去年第四季。然而，必須指出的是，這個成本根本無法代表我們目前的成本。由於我們正在實施的具體項目旨在改善回收率、提高產量和其他方面，因此第四季度分配的一次性支出產生了一些影響，但這並不具有代表性。

However, having said that, it's important to say that we should expect for this year a similar cost to the average cost of the second semester. So that means that the cost is being increased a little bit because we are a maximum production. Today, we are driven to put all the product that we can put on the market because of the market reality. So the marginal cost has been higher than before.

然而，話雖如此，必須說的是，我們預計今年的費用與第二學期的平均費用相似。所以這意味著成本會稍微增加，因為我們是最大限度生產。今天，市場現實驅使我們把所有能投放到市場上的產品都投放到了市場上。因此邊際成本比以前更高。

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

好的，完美。謝謝。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Isabel Bendek for any closing remarks.

謝謝。現在我想將電話轉回給伊莎貝爾·本德克，請她做最後發言。

Thank you all for joining and have a nice day.

感謝大家的加入並祝福大家有愉快的一天。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。