Westlake Corp (WLK) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westlake Corporation third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded today, November 5, 2024.

早安，女士們先生們。謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 Westlake Corporation 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）女士們先生們，謹此提醒，本次會議將於今天（2024 年 11 月 5 日）錄製。

I would now like to turn the call over to today's host, John Zoeller, Westlake's Vice President and Treasurer. Sir, you may begin.

現在我想將電話轉給今天的主持人、Westlake 副總裁兼財務主管約翰·佐勒 (John Zoeller)。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Westlake Corporation conference call to discuss our third-quarter 2024 results. I am joined today by Albert Chao, our Executive Chairman; Jean-Marc Gilson, our President and CEO; Steve Bender, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and other members of our management team.

謝謝。大家早安，歡迎參加 Westlake Corporation 電話會議，討論我們 2024 年第三季的業績。今天我們的執行主席 Albert Chao 也加入了我的行列。 Jean-Marc Gilson，我們的總裁兼執行長； Steve Bender，我們的執行副總裁兼財務長；以及我們管理團隊的其他成員。

During the call, we will refer to our two reporting segments: performance and essential materials, which we refer to as PEM or materials; and housing and infrastructure products, which we refer to as HIP or products. Today's conference call will begin with Jean-Marc, who will open with a few comments regarding Westlake's performance. Steve will then discuss our financial and operating results. After which, Jean-Marc will add a few concluding comments, and we will open the call up to questions.

在電話會議期間，我們將提及我們的兩個報告部分：績效和基本資料，我們稱之為 PEM 或材料；住房和基礎設施產品，我們稱之為 HIP 或產品。今天的電話會議將由 Jean-Marc 開始，他將首先對 Westlake 的表現發表一些評論。然後史蒂夫將討論我們的財務和經營業績。之後，讓-馬克將添加一些結論性意見，我們將開始提問。

During the third quarter of 2024, we accrued $75 million of after-tax expenses in the performance and essential materials segment related to the previously announced decision to mothball two units within our European Epoxy business to reduce our costs and allow our manufacturing footprint to align with changing global conditions. We refer to this charge as the identified item in our earnings release and on this conference call. References to income from operations, EBITDA, net income, and earnings per share on this call exclude the financial impact of the identified item.

2024 年第三季度，我們在性能和基本材料領域累計了7500 萬美元的稅後費用，這些費用與先前宣布的決定封存歐洲環氧樹脂業務中的兩個部門有關，以降低我們的成本，並使我們的製造足跡與不斷變化的全球狀況。我們在財報發布和本次電話會議中將這項費用稱為已確定的項目。本次電話會議中提及的營運收入、EBITDA、淨利和每股盈餘不包括所確定項目的財務影響。

As such, comments made on this call will be in regard to our underlying business results using non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures is provided in our earnings release, which is available in the Investor Relations section of our website.

因此，本次電話會議的評論將涉及我們使用非公認會計原則財務指標的基本業務成果。我們的收益報告中提供了這些非公認會計原則財務指標與公認會計原則財務指標的對賬，該報告可在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

Today, management is going to discuss certain topics that will contain forward-looking information that is based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. These forward-looking statements suggest predictions or expectations and, thus, are subject to risks or uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in Westlake's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and other SEC filings. We encourage you to learn more about these factors that could lead our actual results to differ by reviewing these SEC filings, which are also available on our Investor Relations website.

今天，管理層將討論某些主題，其中包含基於管理層信念的前瞻性信息，以及管理層所做的假設和當前可獲得的信息。這些前瞻性陳述暗示了預測或預期，因此存在風險或不確定性。Westlake 截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格以及其他 SEC 文件中討論了這些風險和不確定性。我們鼓勵您透過查看這些 SEC 文件（也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到）來詳細了解這些可能導致我們的實際結果有所不同的因素。

This morning, Westlake issued a press release with the details of our third-quarter results. This document is available in the press release section of our website at westlake.com. We have also included an earnings presentation, which can be found in the Investor Relations section on our website. A replay of today's call will be available beginning today, two hours following the conclusion of this call. This replay may be accessed via Westlake's website. Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, November 5, 2024, and therefore, you are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay.

今天早上，Westlake 發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了我們第三季的業績。本文件可在我們網站 westlake.com 的新聞稿部分取得。我們還提供了收益演示，您可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到該演示。今天的電話會議的重播將從今天開始，即本次電話會議結束後兩小時內提供。可以透過 Westlake 的網站存取此重播。請注意，本次電話會議報告的資訊僅截至今天（2024 年 11 月 5 日），因此，請注意，時間敏感的資訊在任何重播時可能不再準確。

Finally, I would advise you that this conference call is being broadcast live through an Internet webcast system that can be accessed on our web page at westlake.com.

最後，我建議您，本次電話會議將透過網路網路廣播系統進行現場直播，您可以透過我們的網頁 westlake.com 存取該系統。

Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Jean-Marc Gilson. Jean-Marc?

現在，我想將電話轉給讓-馬克·吉爾森。讓-馬克？

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us to discuss our third-quarter 2024 results. Global macroeconomic conditions in the third quarter were similar to those we saw in the second quarter with relative strength in North America and a slow recovery in Asia and Europe, where activity levels remain muted. Demand for materials in our PEM segment generally mirror these trends during the third quarter, with revenue comparable to the second quarter on relatively flat sales volume.

謝謝約翰，大家早安。我們感謝您與我們一起討論我們的 2024 年第三季業績。第三季的全球宏觀經濟狀況與第二季相似，北美相對強勁，亞洲和歐洲復甦緩慢，活動水準依然低迷。我們 PEM 領域的材料需求總體上反映了第三季的這些趨勢，營收與第二季相當，但銷量相對持平。

Third-quarter EBITDA in our PEM segment would have been similar to the second quarter if not for the $75 million multiple expense and extended maintenance outages at two facilities. The combined financial impact of these two outages was $120 million, which drove the sequential decline in our EBITDA from the second quarter. Importantly, the necessary repairs have now been completed and each plant returned to service last month. And we are applying the lessons learned from these incidents to other facilities to improve the reliability of our plants.

如果沒有 7500 萬美元的多重費用以及兩個設施的長期維護中斷，我們 PEM 部門第三季的 EBITDA 將與第二季相似。這兩次中斷的綜合財務影響為 1.2 億美元，導致我們的 EBITDA 從第二季開始連續下降。重要的是，必要的維修現已完成，每個工廠已於上個月恢復運作。我們正在將從這些事件中學到的經驗教訓應用於其他設施，以提高我們工廠的可靠性。

For the third quarter of 2024, we reported net sales of $3.1 billion, EBITDA of $580 million, and net income of $183 million or $1.41 per share. Compared to our second-quarter results, we benefited from higher caustic soda and polyethylene prices. However, our HIP sales volume was impacted by weather events. EBITDA margin of 19% in the third quarter was below the 23% we reported in the second quarter of 2024 due primarily to the two extended maintenance outages.

2024 年第三季度，我們報告淨銷售額為 31 億美元，EBITDA 為 5.8 億美元，淨利潤為 1.83 億美元或每股 1.41 美元。與第二季的業績相比，我們受益於燒鹼和聚乙烯價格的上漲。然而，我們的 HIP 銷售量受到天氣事件的影響。第三季 EBITDA 利潤率為 19%，低於我們在 2024 年第二季報告的 23%，這主要是由於兩次長時間的維護中斷。

Our highly integrated manufacturing footprint in North America, combined with our large PVC offtake into our HIP segments building product serving the residential housing and rebottling market, has continued to be a strategically advantaged benefit.

我們在北美的高度整合的製造足跡，加上我們在 HIP 領域的大量 PVC 承銷，為住宅和再裝瓶市場提供建築產品，仍然是一種戰略優勢優勢。

The significant undersupply of residential housing over the past 15 years and the growth in population over the same time period has created the housing shortage we see in the North American market, with US housing starts in the third quarter averaging $1.3 million, similar to the second quarter. We believe the pent-up demand for residential housing will drive future construction activity as expected interest rate reduction unfold into 2025.

The significant undersupply of residential housing over the past 15 years and the growth in population over the same time period has created the housing shortage we see in the North American market, with US housing starts in the third quarter averaging $1.3 million, similar to the second四分之一.我們認為，隨著 2025 年降息預期的展開，被壓抑的住宅需求將推動未來的建築活動。

Despite the disruption to sales volume from two hurricanes that made landfall in the southeastern portion of the US, our HIP segment sales and margins continued to perform well as a result of our broad portfolio -- product portfolio with strong brands that make us a supplier of choice for many of the fastest-growing large homebuilders.

儘管在美國東南部登陸的兩次颶風對銷售造成了乾擾，但由於我們廣泛的產品組合（具有強大品牌的產品組合使我們成為許多發展最快的大型住宅建築商的選擇。

Our concentrated footprint in North America continues to provide globally advantaged energy and feedstock, letting us capture demand and growth we see in the Americas while we continue to experience a slow economic recovery and growth in demand across international end markets. A global scale with market-leading positions, combined with our cost advantage footprint, have positioned our PEM segment to serve a diverse market such as needs for housing, clean water, food packaging, electrification, and other growing markets. Our energy and feedstock advantage combined with our integrated manufacturing footprint, true to building products, positions us well to drive growth in our HIP segment as we continue to partner with homebuilders to address the significant housing shortage in North America.

我們集中在北美的業務繼續提供全球優勢的能源和原料，使我們能夠抓住美洲的需求和成長，同時我們繼續經歷緩慢的經濟復甦和國際終端市場的需求成長。全球規模和市場領先地位，加上我們的成本優勢足跡，使我們的 PEM 部門能夠服務多樣化的市場，例如住房、清潔水、食品包裝、電氣化和其他不斷增長的市場的需求。我們的能源和原料優勢與我們的整合製造足跡相結合，忠於建築產品，使我們能夠很好地推動 HIP 領域的成長，因為我們將繼續與住宅建築商合作，解決北美嚴重的住房短缺問題。

We have a very broad product offering in our HIP segment that serves the residential housing market with innovative building products, pipe and fillings, and PVC compounds for building and construction products. Meanwhile, our investment-grade balance sheet with $2.9 billion of cash and cash equivalent is a source of strength and a driver of earnings growth as we continue to seek ways to redeploy it to create long-term value for shareholders.

我們在 HIP 領域提供非常廣泛的產品，為住宅市場提供創新的建築產品、管道和填充物以及用於建築和施工產品的 PVC 化合物。同時，我們擁有 29 億美元現金和現金等價物的投資等級資產負債表是實力的來源和獲利成長的驅動力，我們將繼續尋求重新部署資產負債表的方法，為股東創造長期價值。

I would like now to turn our call over to Steve to provide more detail on our financial results for the third quarter. Steve?

我現在想將我們的電話轉給史蒂夫，以提供有關我們第三季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。史蒂夫？

Thank you Jean-Marc, and good morning, everyone. Westlake reported net income of $183 million or $1.41 per share in the third quarter on sales of $3.1 billion compared to net income of $285 million in the third quarter of 2023. The year-over-year decrease in net income was primarily due to two extended maintenance outages in our PEMs segment, which impacted our feedstock and conversion cost.

謝謝讓-馬克，大家早安。Westlake 報告第三季淨利潤為 1.83 億美元，即每股 1.41 美元，銷售額為 31 億美元，而 2023 年第三季淨利潤為 2.85 億美元。淨利潤年減主要是由於我們的 PEM 部門兩次延長維護中斷，這影響了我們的原料和轉換成本。

We estimate the combined impact of these two outages on our third-quarter 2024 pretax earnings to be approximately $120 million. Importantly, as we discussed, we completed the necessary maintenance of each of these plants and have returned them to service last month, so the impact of these outages should not impact subsequent quarters.

我們估計這兩次中斷對我們 2024 年第三季稅前收益的綜合影響約為 1.2 億美元。重要的是，正如我們所討論的，我們完成了每個工廠的必要維護，並在上個月將它們恢復運行，因此這些停電的影響不應影響後續幾季。

My comments regarding income from operations, EBITDA, net income, and earnings per share all exclude the financial impact of the $75 million mothball expense accrual that occurred in the third quarter of 2024. I would also like to remind you that the cash outflows associated with these mothball expenses are expected to occur over several years starting in 2025.

我對營運收入、EBITDA、淨利和每股盈餘的評論均不包括 2024 年第三季發生的 7,500 萬美元後備費用應計費用的財務影響。我還想提醒您，與這些後備費用相關的現金流出預計將在 2025 年開始的幾年內發生。

During the third quarter, we continued to make progress on our company-wide cost-savings initiative with approximately $35 million of savings delivered during the quarter. These savings, combined with those achieved in the first half of 2024, total approximately $120 million of long-term cost reductions from the first three quarters of 2024 toward our full year-target of $125 million to $150 million.

第三季度，我們在全公司範圍內的成本節約計劃上繼續取得進展，本季度節省了約 3500 萬美元。這些節省加上 2024 年上半年實現的節省，從 2024 年前三個季度開始，長期成本削減總額約為 1.2 億美元，以實現我們 1.25 億至 1.5 億美元的全年目標。

For the third quarter 2024, our utilization of the FIFO method of accounting had a negligible impact on pretax earnings compared to what earnings would have been, if we reported on the LIFO method. This is only an estimate and has not been audited.

對於 2024 年第三季度，與採用 LIFO 方法報告的收益相比，我們採用 FIFO 會計方法對稅前收益的影響可以忽略不計。這只是一個估計，未經審計。

Moving to the specifics of our segment performance. Our housing and infrastructure products segment continued to deliver solid results, including EBITDA of $262 million on $1.1 billion of sales. HIP's EBITDA margin of 24% continued to benefit from our integration and cost savings actions. As we discussed on the last quarter's earnings call, unusually wet weather conditions in many parts of North America, combined with the disruptions created by Hurricanes Beryl and Helene, impacted our third-quarter sales by deferring some shipments into the fourth quarter, while slowing construction activities in the path of the storms.

接下來談談我們的細分市場業績的具體情況。我們的住房和基礎設施產品部門繼續取得穩健的業績，其中 EBITDA 為 2.62 億美元，銷售額為 11 億美元。HIP 24% 的 EBITDA 利潤率繼續受益於我們的整合和成本節約行動。正如我們在上一季的財報電話會議上討論的那樣，北美許多地區異常潮濕的天氣條件，加上颶風貝裡爾和海倫造成的破壞，影響了我們第三季度的銷售，部分發貨推遲到第四季度，同時施工進度放緩風暴路徑上的活動。

As a result of these headwinds to our third-quarter sales volume, HIP segment sales declined 8% compared to the second quarter of 2024, while keeping stable our average sales price, resulting in a reduction of $74 million of EBITDA compared to the record second quarter EBITDA of $336 million. Housing product sales of $937 million in the quarter decreased 7%, due to lower sales volumes in most product categories, while infrastructure product sales of $161 million in the third quarter decreased 13% from the second quarter of 2024 driven largely attributable to lower large diameter pipe demand, primarily due to weather -- winter weather conditions in the United States and lower housing starts in the quarter compared to the second quarter.

由於我們第三季銷售受到這些不利因素的影響，HIP 部門的銷售額與2024 年第二季相比下降了8%，同時我們的平均銷售價格保持穩定，導致EBITDA 與創紀錄的第二季相比減少了7,400 萬美元季度 EBITDA 為 3.36 億美元。由於多數產品類別銷售下降，本季房屋產品銷售額為9.37 億美元，下降7%，第三季基礎設施產品銷售額為1.61 億美元，較2024 年第二季下降13%，主要歸因於大直徑的下降管道需求，主要是由於天氣——美國冬季天氣狀況以及本季新屋開工量較第二季下降。

Moving to the PEM segment, third-quarter sales of $2 billion were in line with the second quarter of 2024. Sales volumes declined 1% sequentially driven by lower core vial export shipments. Average sales prices increased 1% compared to the second quarter of 2024, led by higher caustic soda and polyethylene prices, which were partially offset by lower epoxy and styrene prices.

轉向 PEM 領域，第三季銷售額為 20 億美元，與 2024 年第二季持平。由於核心小瓶出口出貨量下降，銷量較上月下降 1%。與 2024 年第二季相比，平均銷售價格上漲 1%，其中燒鹼和聚乙烯價格上漲，但環氧樹脂和苯乙烯價格下跌部分抵消了這一影響。

Our polyethylene business had record specialty and differentiated product sales volumes in the third quarter, driven in part by continued customer adoption of our innovative pivotal post-consumer recycled polyethylene product. Pivotal's continued strong sales volume growth is a great example of how our focus on addressing customers' sustainability needs not only helps the environment, but also helps Westlake's bottom line.

我們的聚乙烯業務在第三季的特殊和差異化產品銷售量創歷史新高，部分原因是客戶持續採用我們創新的關鍵消費後再生聚乙烯產品。Pivotal 持續強勁的銷售成長是一個很好的例子，說明我們專注於滿足客戶的永續發展需求，不僅有利於環境，而且有利於 Westlake 的獲利。

While domestic PVC volumes slowed sequentially due to weather and construction activity, our energy and feedstock advantage in North America continued to provide a competitive edge in other attractive export markets. PEM's third-quarter EBITDA of $297 million was lower than the second quarter of 2024 EBITDA of $391 million, primarily due to the two extended maintenance outages, which resulted in increased operating cost and increased ethylene feedstock cost.

雖然國內 PVC 產量因天氣和建築活動而持續放緩，但我們在北美的能源和原料優勢繼續在其他有吸引力的出口市場中提供競爭優勢。PEM第三季 EBITDA 為 2.97 億美元，低於 2024 年第二季 3.91 億美元的 EBITDA，主要原因是兩次延長維護停運，導致營運成本增加和乙烯原料成本增加。

As I mentioned, we estimate the combined impact on the third quarter of pretax earnings to be approximately $120 million, which consists of three factors: increased third-party ethylene feedstock purchases due to our LACC joint venture ethylene cracker undergoing necessary maintenance for the entire quarter, lost chlorine and caustic soda production due to a disruption at our plant in the Louisiana or alkali plant, and unabsorbed fixed cost and maintenance expenses to complete the necessary repairs.

正如我所提到的，我們估計對第三季稅前收益的綜合影響約為1.2 億美元，其中包括三個因素： 由於我們的LACC 合資企業乙烯裂解裝置在整個季度進行必要的維護，導致第三方乙烯原料採購量增加，由於我們位於路易斯安那州的工廠或鹼廠的中斷而導致氯和燒鹼生產的損失，以及完成必要維修的未吸收的固定成本和維護費用。

PEM's third-quarter EBITDA margin of 15% was lower than the second quarter of 2024 due to the impact of these outages. Had it not been for the outages, we estimate the EBITDA margin would have improved sequentially due to the 1% increase in average sales prices. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, PEM's EBITDA of $297 million declined by $42 million has a 6% increase in sales volume led by chlor-alkali and epoxy was more than offset by the impact of the outages and the 3% decrease in average sales price driven primarily by lower caustic soda and chlorine prices.

由於這些中斷的影響，PEM 第三季 EBITDA 利潤率為 15%，低於 2024 年第二季。如果沒有停電，我們估計 EBITDA 利潤率將因平均銷售價格上漲 1% 而持續改善。與 2023 年第三季相比，PEM 的 EBITDA 為 2.97 億美元，下降了 4,200 萬美元，氯鹼和環氧樹脂帶動的銷量增長了 6%，但被停電影響和平均銷售額下降 3% 所抵消。價格主要受到燒鹼和氯氣價格下跌的推動。

Profitability in our epoxy business, both in Europe and North America continue to be impacted by imports of low-priced products from Asia. During the third quarter, the US Department of Commerce announced preliminary countervailing duties at a rate of approximately 100% on epoxy exports from some Chinese and Indian producers and at a lesser rate on certain imports of epoxy resins from Taiwan.

我們在歐洲和北美的環氧樹脂業務的獲利能力繼續受到從亞洲進口低價產品的影響。第三季度，美國商務部宣布對部分中國和印度生產商出口的環氧樹脂徵收約100%的初步反補貼稅，並對從台灣進口的某些環氧樹脂徵收較低的反補貼稅。

We are hopeful that the Commerce Department will rule in favor of preliminary antidumping duties on a broader set of Asian producers when it announces its preliminary findings later this month. The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission will make final determinations of dumping, subsidies, and material injury by mid-2025. Meanwhile, our epoxy resin trade case in Europe continues to progress through its administrative channels with an expectation that provisional duties will be set in early to mid-2025.

我們希望美國商務部在本月稍後宣布初步調查結果時，能夠做出有利於對更廣泛的亞洲生產商徵收初步反傾銷稅的裁決。商務部和國際貿易委員會將在 2025 年中期做出傾銷、補貼和物質損害的最終裁決。同時，我們在歐洲的環氧樹脂貿易案件繼續透過行政管道取得進展，預計臨時關稅將在 2025 年初至中期設定。

Separately, in addition to the expected cost benefits of mothballing our AC and ECH units in Pernis, that were already announced, we are continuing to further reduce fixed cost in the business to improve our results and transform the business into a profitable component of PEM.

另外，除了已經宣布的封存佩爾尼斯 AC 和 ECH 裝置的預期成本效益外，我們還將繼續進一步降低業務的固定成本，以改善我們的業績，並將該業務轉變為 PEM 的盈利組成部分。

Shifting to our balance sheet. As of September 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $2.9 billion, and total debt was $4.6 billion after redeeming $300 million of senior notes during the quarter. Our balance sheet continues to be well-positioned with a staggered long-term fixed rate debt maturity. For the third quarter of 2024, net cash provided by operating activities was $474 million, while capital expenditures were $220 million, resulting in free cash flow of $254 million. We continue to look for opportunities to strategically deploy our balance sheet in order to create long-term value for our shareholders.

轉向我們的資產負債表。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，現金及現金等價物為 29 億美元，在本季贖回 3 億美元的優先票據後，債務總額為 46 億美元。我們的資產負債表持續維持良好狀態，長期固定利率債務期限錯開。2024年第三季度，經營活動提供的淨現金為4.74億美元，資本支出為2.2億美元，自由現金流為2.54億美元。我們繼續尋找機會策略性地部署我們的資產負債表，以便為股東創造長期價值。

Now, let me provide some guidance for your models. Based on the current view of demand and prices, we continue to see upside potential for our full-year 2024 housing and infrastructure products EBITDA margin guidance of 22%. The impacts of hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton impacted sales in 2024, and we expect HIP revenue to remain in the range of $4.3 billion to $4.6 billion.

現在，讓我為您的模型提供一些指導。根據目前對需求和價格的看法，我們繼續認為 2024 年全年住房和基礎設施產品 EBITDA 利潤率指引為 22%，具有上升潛力。颶風 Beryl、Helene 和 Milton 影響了 2024 年的銷售，我們預計 HIP 收入將保持在 43 億美元至 46 億美元的範圍內。

We continue to expect our total CapEx expenditures to be approximately $1 billion, which is unchanged from our earlier guidance and similar to our depreciation and amortization run rate. We continue to target $125 million to $150 million of company cost -- company-wide cost savings in 2024 with approximately $120 million are achieved year to date, including the $35 million achieved in the third quarter.

我們仍然預計我們的總資本支出約為 10 億美元，這與我們先前的指導方針一致，並且與我們的折舊和攤銷運行率相似。我們繼續將公司成本目標定為 1.25 億至 1.5 億美元——到 2024 年，公司範圍內的成本節約已實現約 1.2 億美元，其中包括第三季度實現的 3,500 萬美元。

For the full year of 2024, we now expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 25%, up from our prior guidance of 23% and due to the tax treatment of the $75 million of mothball expense in the third quarter, and we continue to expect cash interest expense to be approximately $160 million.

由於第三季 7,500 萬美元的後備費用的稅收處理，我們現在預計 2024 年全年的有效稅率約為 25%，高於我們之前指導的 23%，並且我們將繼續預計現金利息支出約為1.6億美元。

Finally, we now expect the turnaround of our Petro 1 ethylene cracker in Lake Charles, Louisiana to begin at the end of January 2025 and for it to last approximately 55 days, which will have an impact on our ethylene production and cost during the quarter of 2025.

最後，我們現在預計位於路易斯安那州查爾斯湖的 Petro 1 乙烯裂解裝置的檢修將於 2025 年 1 月下旬開始，持續約 55 天，這將對我們本季度的乙烯產量和成本產生影響。

Now, I'd like to turn the call back over to Jean-Marc to provide a current outlook of our business. Jean-Marc?

現在，我想將電話轉回讓-馬克，以提供我們當前業務的前景。讓-馬克？

Thank you, Steve. So while we are seeing some improvement in activity levels in most of our major geographies, the pace of the recovery from the recent trough remains slow. However, recent actions by the US Federal Reserve and the ECB to loosen their monetary policies as a result of progress in bringing down the rate of inflation, have the potential to improve consumer demand for durable goods and housing, including key end markets for us in both our HIP and PEM segment.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。因此，儘管我們看到大多數主要地區的活動水平有所改善，但從近期低谷中復甦的步伐仍然緩慢。然而，由於在降低通膨率方面取得進展，聯準會和歐洲央行最近採取的寬鬆貨幣政策的行動，有可能改善消費者對耐用品和住房的需求，包括我們在關鍵終端市場的需求。 PEM 部分。

Additionally, the Chinese government recently took action to stimulate its economy, including significant liquidity injections. These actions will take time to have impact. Stimulus plans in China to boost economic activity signal the Chinese authorities recognize government efforts are necessary for positive momentum for 2025. While -- our direct sales in China today are limited, we view the policy actions in China as positive for the global supply-demand balance for all of the products in our PEM segment.

此外，中國政府最近採取了刺激經濟的行動，包括大量注入流動性。這些行動需要時間才能產生影響。中國旨在提振經濟活動的刺激計劃表明，中國當局認識到政府的努力對於 2025 年的積極勢頭是必要的。雖然我們目前在中國的直接銷售有限，但我們認為中國的政策行動對於我們 PEM 領域所有產品的全球供需平衡是正面的。

Taken together, we believe the recent trend towards more accommodative monetary policy and stimulative policy actions could accelerate the pace of the global economic recovery. As a result, we are optimistic about the macroeconomic backdrop as we end the year and enter 2025.

總的來說，我們認為近期更寬鬆的貨幣政策和刺激性政策行動的趨勢可能會加快全球經濟復甦的步伐。因此，我們對年底進入 2025 年的宏觀經濟背景持樂觀態度。

For the fourth quarter of 2024, we are expecting typical slower seasonal demand in our HIP segment due to colder weather. Meanwhile, we expect improvement in PEMs operating cost as a result of reduced ethylene feedstock purchases and lower maintenance expenses now that we have -- now that the two extended outages that occurred in the third quarter are behind us.

對於 2024 年第四季度，由於天氣寒冷，我們預計 HIP 領域的季節性需求通常會放緩。同時，我們預計，由於乙烯原料採購量的減少和維護費用的降低，PEM 的營運成本將得到改善——既然第三季度發生的兩次長時間停電已經過去了。

Westlake continues to develop innovative products across our business such as PVCO pipe and ABA pipe to sustainably serve our customers in the HIP segment. Westlake's innovative ABA multilayer pipe technology utilizes a middle layer comprised of post-industrial recycled PVC to reduce waste and provide a sustainable alternative to conventional piping.

Westlake 繼續在我們的業務中開發創新產品，例如 PVCO 管和 ABA 管，以永續為 HIP 領域的客戶提供服務。Westlake 的創新 ABA 多層管道技術利用後工業回收 PVC 組成的中間層來減少浪費，並為傳統管道提供可持續的替代品。

Meanwhile, in our PEM segment, the success of our pivotal post-consumer recycled polyethylene product is simply one example of many innovation developed to meet our customer needs and drive growth. During this third quarter, we also expanded our efforts to source recyclable PVC resin. These materials are recycled by Westlake Dimex into new products in its portfolio offering, such as consumer and industrial matting, exercise equipment matting, and landscape hedging products. These are just some of the ways that Westlake is working to increase the circularity of the materials that we produce to reduce global carbon emissions and landfill waste.

同時，在我們的 PEM 領域，我們關鍵的消費後再生聚乙烯產品的成功只是為滿足客戶需求和推動成長而開發的眾多創新的一個例子。在第三季度，我們也增加了採購可回收 PVC 樹脂的力道。Westlake Dimex 將這些材料回收製成其產品組合中的新產品，例如消費者和工業墊、運動器材墊子和景觀對沖產品。這些只是 Westlake 努力提高我們生產的材料的循環性以減少全球碳排放和垃圾掩埋場廢物的一些方法。

Westlake continues to take cost-reduction actions and take the opportunity to leverage our energy and feedstock advantage in North America, where approximately 85% of our production capacity is located and a high degree of vertical integration with innovative products such as the examples that I just provided. These competitive advantages position these competitive advantages position us well relative to non-integrated global producers. By allowing us to operate our PEM plants at higher operating rates to a higher degree of internal sales to a downstream HIP businesses and export opportunities.

Westlake繼續採取降低成本的行動，並藉此機會利用我們在北美的能源和原料優勢，我們約85%的產能位於北美，並且與創新產品高度垂直整合，例如我剛才舉的例子。這些競爭優勢使我們相對於非一體化全球生產商處於有利地位。透過讓我們以更高的開工率運作我們的 PEM 工廠，可以為下游 HIP 業務提供更高程度的內部銷售和出口機會。

Finally, we continue to look for opportunities to put our nearly $3 billion cash balance to work in a disciplined manner that will create long-term value for our shareholders. This includes both identifying acquisition candidates that can exceed our risk-adjusted cost of capital and returning cash to shareholders through both dividends and potential share repurchases.

最後，我們將繼續尋找機會，以規範的方式運用我們近 30 億美元的現金餘額，為股東創造長期價值。這包括確定可能超過我們經風險調整後的資本成本的收購候選者，以及透過股利和潛在的股票回購向股東返還現金。

Thank you very much for listening to our third-quarter earnings call. I will now turn the call back over to John.

非常感謝您收聽我們的第三季財報電話會議。我現在將把電話轉回給約翰。

Thank you, Jean-Marc. Before we begin taking questions, I would like to remind listeners that our earnings presentation, which provides additional clarity into our results, is available on our website, and a replay of this teleconference will be available two hours after the call has ended.

謝謝你，讓-馬克。在我們開始回答問題之前，我想提醒聽眾，我們的收益演示可以讓我們的結果更加清晰，可以在我們的網站上查看，並且將在電話會議結束兩小時後重播本次電話會議。

Jacinda, we will now take questions.

傑辛達，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

（操作員指示）Patrick Cunningham，花旗銀行。

Hi, good morning. This is Eric Zhang on for Patrick. On the AC and ECH units that have returned to service, are these plants back to running at full capacity? And do you have any additional planned maintenance for your other plants scheduled this year?

嗨，早安。這是帕特里克的埃里克·張。對於已恢復運作的 AC 和 ECH 裝置，這些裝置是否已恢復滿載運轉？今年您的其他工廠是否有任何額外的計劃維護？

So just for clarification, the ECH plant and the AC plant that we're mothballing in Pernis will -- is planned for mothballing activity. The items that I mentioned that were out for maintenance for that extended maintenance, our LACC ethylene unit as well as our Plaquemine chlorovinyls site. Both of those are back in service.

因此，澄清一下，我們在佩爾尼斯封存的 ECH 工廠和 AC 工廠將計劃進行封存活動。我提到的那些因延長維護而需要維護的項目，包括我們的 LACC 乙烯裝置以及 Plaquemine 氯乙烯工廠。兩者均已恢復使用。

Yeah, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Duffy Fischer, GS.

達菲費雪，GS。

Just some questions around -- $120 million. So one, I believe some of that was planned maintenance and then the maintenance lasted longer -- is that correct? And if so is the $120 million just the lasted longer part of it? Or could you break it out between what was planned and what ended up kind of being unplanned or longer?

只是關於 1.2 億美元的一些問題。因此，我相信其中一些是計劃內的維護，然後維護持續了更長的時間 - 這是正確的嗎？如果是的話，1.2 億美元只是其中持續時間較長的部分嗎？或者你能把計劃內的事情和最終計劃外的事情或時間更長的事情分開嗎？

No, Duffy, both of those were not planned. And so both of those were kind of unexpected outages, both the LACC joint venture ethylene unit as well as the Plaquemine outage.

不，達菲，這兩件事都不是計畫好的。因此，LACC 合資乙烯裝置和 Plaquemine 的停電都是意外停電。

Okay. And then on the $120 million, if you bucketed it between -- how much was foregone production that you didn't have to sell? How much was kind of higher cost because of the increased ethylene price? And then how much was just the actual cost for the repairs, what's the rough breakdown of that?

好的。然後，對於 1.2 億美元，如果你算一下——你放棄了多少不需要出售的產量？由於乙烯價格上漲，成本增加了多少？那麼實際的維修費用是多少，大致上是多少？

Yeah. I'm not going to break out those component pieces. It's hard to get into the ethylene price differentials, so I'd rather not get into the details of that because it's really hard to put a fine point on that.

是的。我不會分解這些組成部分。很難了解乙烯的價格差異，所以我不想深入了解細節，因為真的很難對此做出明確的說明。

Okay. Fair enough. And then just the last one for me. You talked about some Q3 sales getting pushed into Q4. Can you quantify roughly how large that is?

好的。很公平。然後是我的最後一個。您談到一些第三季的銷售額被推遲到第四季。你能大致量化一下它有多大嗎？

It's hard to know, Duffy. Certainly, with the seasonality for hip seeing some winter slowdown, we'll achieve some of those, and we are seeing a higher shipment volume in October. I do believe we'll achieve all of those sales. It's just a matter of timing. Whether we achieve those in the fourth quarter or they spill into first quarter, that's really a function of how the weather continues to play through and whether the -- whether our customers are able to actually get those homes built during the winter that's approaching.

這很難知道，達菲。當然，隨著冬季時尚的季節性放緩，我們將實現其中一些目標，並且我們看到 10 月的出貨量更高。我相信我們將實現所有這些銷售。這只是時間問題。無論我們在第四季度實現這些目標還是在第一季實現這些目標，這實際上取決於天氣如何繼續發揮作用，以及我們的客戶是否能夠在即將到來的冬季真正建造這些房屋。

Perfect, thank you, guys.

完美，謝謝你們，夥伴們。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Bhavesh Lodaya, BMO Capital Markets.

Bhavesh Lodaya，BMO 資本市場。

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. You made an overall comment that the third-quarter earnings would have been in line with the second quarter, except for the one-time events. Is that true for the HIP segment as well? Or was that 9% sequential drop in volumes, was that some of it was like just the end markets being weaker as well?

嗨，早安。感謝您提出我的問題。您的整體評論是，除了一次性事件外，第三季的收益將與第二季保持一致。HIP 細分市場也是如此嗎？還是銷售量連續下降 9%，是因為終端市場也變得疲軟嗎？

No, it really is true for both segments. So when you factor in the $75 million mothballing expense that was accrued as well as the impact of the outages of $120 million and think of the impact of the wetter weather that we had from both rains as well as the hurricanes and some of the deferral of that spending activity, both HIP and PEM would have been similar to the second quarter '24.

不，這對於兩個細分市場來說都是如此。因此，當您將累積的 7500 萬美元封存費用以及 1.2 億美元的停電影響考慮在內，並考慮降雨、颶風和部分項目延期造成的潮濕天氣的影響時， HIP 和PEM 的支出活動將與24 年第二季相似。

Got it. And then a quick follow-up. You also mentioned about the typical seasonality expected in the fourth quarter. Would you say last year was a typical year for you? I think the business -- the HIP business saw around a 47% decline sequentially in EBITDA. Are you talking about the same level of seasonality this year?

知道了。然後快速跟進。您也提到了第四季的典型季節性預期。您認為去年對您來說是典型的一年嗎？我認為 HIP 業務的 EBITDA 環比下降了約 47%。您是說今年的季節性水準相同嗎？

Yeah, I am. We saw a similar pattern last year, as I expect, given the seasonality we've seen so far this year. We don't know how strong winter weather will have. But as we sit here in early November, October has been a good weather season. And as we look forward, we expect a similar season for the rest of the quarter.

是的，我是。正如我所預料的，考慮到今年迄今為止我們所看到的季節性，我們去年看到了類似的模式。我們不知道冬天的天氣會多強烈。但當我們十一月初坐在這裡時，十月是一個好天氣的季節。展望未來，我們預計本季剩餘時間也會出現類似的情況。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Aleksey Yefremov, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Aleksey Yefremov，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Thanks. Good morning, everyone. This is Ryan on for Aleksey. I want to try and piggyback off of a question asked earlier. So just on the $120 million worth of outages you guys had in -- if I were to think about just kind of the sequential add back for 4Q ex-seasonality, do you guys kind of have like an estimate of what that would be?

謝謝。大家早安。這是阿列克西的瑞安。我想嘗試借鏡之前提出的問題。因此，就你們所經歷的價值 1.2 億美元的中斷而言，如果我要考慮第四季度除季節性因素的順序加回，你們是否對這會是多少有類似的估計？

Well, again, when you think of the operating rates that we have that the ethylene is going into, whether it is in PVC or in the polyethylene, we would have run those plants at those elevated rates. Demand really in PVC and polyethylene are still what I would characterize as good, very good. And so those operating rates would have remained reasonably well elevated.

好吧，再說一次，當你想到我們乙烯的開工率時，無論是 PVC 還是聚乙烯，我們都會以較高的開工率運行這些工廠。我認為 PVC 和聚乙烯的實際需求仍然很好，非常好。因此，這些開工率將保持相當高的水平。

And so as we see it, that $120 million impact from both the ethylene outage as well as the chorovinyl outage, I think, would have been -- would have given us results very similar to what we saw in the second quarter.

因此，正如我們所看到的，我認為乙烯停電和氯乙烯基停電造成的 1.2 億美元的影響本來會給我們帶來與第二季度非常相似的結果。

And as we think about the spill effect into the fourth quarter, I would continue to expect that we'll see typical seasonality in the season for the PEM side of the business as well as for HIP. But you will see the advantage that we have in the feedstock advantage continues to play through and allow us to continue to sell through PVC demand in the construction season, even though it's lower. Polyethylene continues to remain a very good market at this stage.

當我們考慮到第四季度的溢出效應時，我繼續預期我們將在本季看到 PEM 業務以及 HIP 方面的典型季節性。但你會看到我們在原料方面的優勢繼續發揮作用，使我們能夠繼續透過建築季節的 PVC 需求進行銷售，儘管需求較低。現階段聚乙烯仍然是一個非常好的市場。

Okay, that's very helpful. Thank you. And then just on EBITDA margins in HIP this quarter, it looks like margins fell a little bit over 400 basis points sequentially, so I understand there's volume declines, but I think there's also some higher PVC costs that are flowing through. So maybe if you guys could just walk us through the dynamic that's going on kind of in margins there and what you might expect here in 4Q? Thank you very much.

好的，這非常有幫助。謝謝。然後就本季 HIP 的 EBITDA 利潤率來看，利潤率似乎連續下降了 400 個基點多一點，所以我知道銷量有所下降，但我認為 PVC 成本也有所上升。那麼，也許你們可以向我們介紹一下利潤率方面的動態以及您對第四季度的預期嗎？非常感謝。

Yeah. And so as it relates to the sequential HIP margins, you're right, volume was off about 8.5%, and that was largely driven by weather and slower demand levels in our pipe segment of the HIP business. When you think about the average sales price, it was relatively flat, really just up 0.5% sequentially period over period and again, it was really just product mix.

是的。因此，由於它與連續的 HIP 利潤率相關，你是對的，銷量​​下降了約 8.5%，這主要是由天氣和 HIP 業務管道部門需求水平放緩造成的。當你考慮平均銷售價格時，你會發現它相對持平，實際上只是環比上漲 0.5%，而且這實際上只是產品組合的問題。

Operator, is there another question?

接線員，還有問題嗎？

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research.

弗蘭克米奇，費米研究中心。

Good morning. Just a quick clarification. Steve, you mentioned that the two units were back up and running last month at the beginning of the month, last month was October. So I just wanted to make sure that we're looking at a totally clean quarter in terms of operating rates of those two assets in PEM?

早安.只是快速澄清一下。史蒂夫，您提到這兩個設備在上個月月初就已恢復運行，上個月是十月份。所以我只是想確保就 PEM 中這兩項資產的營運率而言，我們看到的是一個完全乾淨的季度？

Yes, Frank. They are up and no impact in the fourth quarter from the outages we had in the third quarter.

是的，弗蘭克。它們有所上升，並且在第四季度沒有受到第三季停電的影響。

Terrific. And obviously, a nice generation of free cash flow despite the difficulties here in the third quarter. How are you thinking about free cash flow for the fourth quarter, particularly as it surrounds working capital as a source or as a use of cash?

了不起。顯然，儘管第三季遇到了困難，但自由現金流仍然不錯。您如何看待第四季度的自由現金流，特別是因為它圍繞著營運資本作為現金來源或現金使用？

Yeah. We've seen typically the seasonal trends, as I mentioned earlier in some of the questions, and that usually is a source of working capital during the fourth quarter, Frank.

是的。正如我之前在一些問題中提到的，我們通常已經看到了季節性趨勢，這通常是第四季度營運資金的來源，弗蘭克。

Perfect, thank you so much.

完美，非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

John Roberts, Mizuho Group.

約翰·羅伯茨，瑞穗集團。

Thank you, and welcome, Jean-Marc. The earnings release indicated that you had some learnings from these outages that might help you mitigate them better in the future. What were those learnings?

謝謝你，歡迎你，讓馬克。收益報告表明，您從這些中斷中吸取了一些教訓，可能會幫助您在未來更好地緩解這些中斷。這些教訓是什麼？

Yeah. I mean the -- we are -- as mentioned, with an audit at the LACC, what's really coming from some design that was made during construction. And we fixed -- I mean, most of the problems that we had there we learned when we fixed it. And we think that the LACC plant is now good to operate the way it is for several years. So really good learning.

是的。我的意思是——我們——正如前面提到的，透過 LACC 的審計，我們可以了解施工過程中的一些設計的真正結果。我們解決了——我的意思是，我們在那裡遇到的大多數問題都是在解決問題時學到的。我們認為，LACC 工廠現在可以很好地以目前的方式運作數年。所以真的很好學習。

Every plant is designed differently. This one was designed a little bit differently than other ethylene plant that we have. And so we learned a lot and it's back up running at 100%.

每個工廠的設計都不同。工廠的設計與我們擁有的其他乙烯工廠略有不同。我們學到了很多東西，並且恢復了 100% 的運作狀態。

So in terms of the other audits that we had at Plaquemine again, problem occurred in a power unit. And again, every plant is designed differently. We learned that we probably need to replace some of the equipment that we have there and check at other plants, if some of the failures that we've seen at that plant does not repeat.

因此，就我們在 Plaquemine 再次進行的其他審計而言，問題出現在動力裝置中。再說一次，每種植物的設計都不同。我們了解到，如果我們在該工廠看到的一些故障不再重複，我們可能需要更換那裡的一些設備並檢查其他工廠。

So overall, I mean, good learnings. And again, Plaquemine is back up running at good speed, so good learning. This is a chemical industry. I mean -- and you learn and you fix and you improve and I think we're on that trajectory.

總的來說，我的意思是，很好的學習。Plaquemine 再次以良好的速度恢復運行，學習效果很好。這是一個化學工業。我的意思是——你學習、修復、改進，我認為我們正走在這條軌道上。

Thank you. That's all I have.

謝謝。這就是我所擁有的一切。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

麥可西森，富國銀行。

Hi. This is Richard on for Michael. Just wondering if you could provide some color in terms of what you're seeing on the PEM pricing side in terms of polyethylene margins, integrated margins and pricing heading into the fourth quarter. And then also on the chlorine or chlor-alkali pricing was quite strong in the third quarter. So what are you seeing there? And do you expect seasonality heading into the fourth quarter? Thank you.

你好。這是麥可的理查德。只是想知道您是否可以提供一些關於 PEM 定價方面的信息，包括聚乙烯利潤率、綜合利潤率和進入第四季度的定價。第三季氯或氯鹼的定價也相當強勁。那麼你在那裡看到了什麼？您預計第四季會出現季節性變化嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Richard, it's a good question. And I would say that we have not seen settlements yet either in PVC or in polyethylene yet. But to your point, during the -- as a result of seasonality it is not unusual to see some slower demand that begin to materialize in construction activities. And so that does put some pressure on pricing. And so that the consultants are suggesting that we could see some reduction in price in the fourth quarter. As I say, October is not settled yet, so we don't know how that will play out in PVC, but the consultants are suggesting we could see a penny reduction in November.

是的。理查德，這是個好問題。我想說的是，我們還沒有看到聚氯乙烯或聚乙烯的解決方案。但就您的觀點而言，由於季節性原因，建築活動中開始出現需求放緩的情況並不罕見。這確實給定價帶來了一些壓力。因此，顧問建議我們可能會在第四季度看到價格下降。正如我所說，10 月尚未確定，因此我們不知道 PVC 將如何發揮作用，但顧問建議我們可能會在 11 月看到美分的減少。

As it relates to polyethylene, again, we've seen a market that remains, I think, I'd characterize it as a very good market right now. But certainly, as we enter the fourth quarter and we get into the contract negotiation periods and the seasonal period, when equipment is undergoing maintenance. There certainly is oftentimes some give back in pricing and the consultants are suggesting we could see some reductions later in the quarter. Again, polyethylene has not settled for October, so I can't comment as to where that will sort its way through. The consultants are suggesting we could see some reduction in pricing over the course of the quarter.

由於它與聚乙烯有關，我們再次看到了一個仍然存在的市場，我認為，我現在將其描述為一個非常好的市場。但當然，隨著我們進入第四季度，我們進入合約談判期和設備維修的季節性期。當然，定價方面經常會出現一些回饋，顧問建議我們可能會在本季稍後看到一些降價。再說一次，聚乙烯在 10 月還沒有穩定下來，所以我無法評論它將如何解決。顧問建議我們可能會看到本季定價有所下降。

Okay, great. Just a follow-up on the HIP segment. I don't know if you actually quantified the EBITDA impact from the hurricane in the third quarter. But if you could do that.

好的，太好了。只是 HIP 部分的後續。我不知道你是否真正量化了第三季颶風對 EBITDA 的影響。但如果你能做到的話。

And then on the revenue side, maintaining the full year-guide. So I guess that is assuming some volume in the third quarter would be made up in the fourth quarter. I think you mentioned earlier that it was hard to [gauge] timing is going to come back in the fourth quarter or early next year, but maybe just some color on that? Thank you.

然後在收入方面，維持全年指南。因此，我認為這是假設第三季的部分銷售將在第四季度得到彌補。我想你之前提到過，很難[衡量]第四季或明年初的時間安排，但也許只是一些顏色？謝謝。

Yeah. It's hard to completely dissect how much is weather related and how much is related to slower starts that we saw in the third quarter relative to the second quarter. But I'd say it's in the mid-$40-ish million range for the impact combined between those two for the HIP segment.

是的。很難完全剖析有多少與天氣有關，有多少與我們在第三季度相對於第二季度看到的較慢的啟動有關。但我想說，這兩者對 HIP 細分市場的影響總和約為 4,000 萬美元左右。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

凱文·麥卡錫，垂直研究夥伴。

Hi. This is Matt Heller on for Kevin Carthy. Jean-Marc, now that you have a few more months at the helm, how have your thoughts evolved as it relates to strategy, market opportunities for Westlake and perhaps capital allocation?

你好。我是凱文·卡錫的馬特·海勒。Jean-Marc，既然您還有幾個月的掌舵時間，那麼您在策略、Westlake 的市場機會以及資本配置方面的想法有何變化？

Yeah. I mean thank you, Matt. Yes, it's been now four months. And I think I'm really starting to appreciate the integrated model and that we have at Westlake, where basically, we sell at every point of the value chain. From being, I mean, large producer, upstream, ethylene, PVC and then selling PVC at multiple point multichannel, whether we sell neat resin or to some compounds or through directly into pipe and fittings and siding. So I think that is a key advantage that -- also that reduces the volatility in our earnings. And we can always place I mean, the PVC at different point of the value chain depending on pricing and where we can make margins, so that's a key advantage.

是的。我的意思是謝謝你，馬特。是的，現在已經四個月了。我想我真的開始欣賞我們在西湖的綜合模式，基本上，我們在價值鏈的每個點都進行銷售。我的意思是，從大型生產商、上游乙烯、PVC，然後在多點多通路銷售 PVC，無論我們銷售純樹脂或某些化合物，還是直接銷售到管道、配件和壁板。因此，我認為這是一個關鍵優勢，同時也減少了我們收益的波動性。我的意思是，我們總是可以將 PVC 放置在價值鏈的不同點，這取決於定價和我們可以賺取利潤的地方，所以這是一個關鍵優勢。

And I think that if we look into the future, anything that can strengthen that business model that's paying very good dividend to us, we will continue to do. And certainly, we'll continue to do to look downstream into the HIP segment as it's really been very beneficial to the results in Westlake.

我認為，如果我們展望未來，任何可以加強這種商業模式並為我們帶來豐厚股息的事情，我們都會繼續做下去。當然，我們將繼續關注下游的 HIP 領域，因為它確實對 Westlake 的表現非常有利。

Thank you. And then could you just discuss epoxy pricing opportunity in 4Q and beyond in the wake of the duty implementation? And then what do you think the likelihood is that you get additional duties on the exports from some of the other Asian countries outside of China and India in 2025?

謝謝。那麼您能否討論一下關稅實施後第四季及以後的環氧樹脂定價機會？那麼您認為 2025 年對中國和印度以外的其他一些亞洲國家的出口徵收額外關稅的可能性有多大？

All right. So I think you need to separate right now a little bit the US market and the European market. So I think it's there's a pretty good certainty that we're going to get some import duties, as we mentioned, from China and India coming into the US. I think it's going to be extended to a few other countries, albeit at lower import duties. So we feel pretty good in terms of the US market.

好的。所以我認為你現在需要稍微區分一下美國市場和歐洲市場。因此，我認為，正如我們所提到的，我們肯定會從中國和印度進入美國徵收一些進口關稅。我認為它將擴展到其他一些國家，儘管進口關稅較低。所以我們對美國市場感覺很好。

When it comes to European market where we have a large part of our sales, it's not a different story, but I think we are a little bit behind what the US has done. I think, it's still likely that there will be some tariffs put in place -- but there was an announcement, but so far, nothing is firm.

當談到歐洲市場時，我們的銷售額佔很大一部分，情況也沒有什麼不同，但我認為我們有點落後於美國。我認為，仍然有可能會徵收一些關稅——但已經發布了公告，但到目前為止，還沒有任何確定的消息。

And so the pressure that we see on prices, I think will continue in Europe as long as these tariffs are not in place. So it's a tale of two worlds. I think ultimately, we're going to see some price increase in epoxy on both sides of the Atlantic, where we have most of our sales.

因此，我認為只要這些關稅沒有到位，我們所看到的價格壓力就會在歐洲持續下去。所以這是一個兩個世界的故事。我認為最終，我們將看到大西洋兩岸的環氧樹脂價格上漲，而我們的大部分銷售額都在那裡。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Joshua Spector, UBS.

約書亞‧斯佩克特，瑞銀集團。

Hi, good morning, It's Chris Perrella on for Josh. I wanted to follow up on HIP and the raw material impact of higher PVC and other inputs in the third quarter, how did that impact EBITDA sequentially? And then what's the expectation for that into the fourth quarter?

嗨，早上好，克里斯·佩雷拉 (Chris Perrella) 替補喬什 (Josh)。我想跟進第三季 HIP 以及 PVC 和其他投入增加對原材料的影響，這對 EBITDA 有何影響？那麼對第四季的預期是什麼？

I think as you look at the results for the quarter for HIP, you could see that sales price actually remained pretty healthy. We were able to maintain sales prices. There was some product mix, of course, that shift that around. But of course, as you think about those flows of higher-cost PVC flowing through, we were able to largely push that through, and you can see that through our average sales prices, say, some product mix flowing through there, of course. But actually, quarter over -- or excuse me -- quarter over quarter, you can see those prices remain relatively flat and stable.

我認為，當您查看 HIP 本季的業績時，您會發現銷售價格實際上仍然相當健康。我們能夠維持銷售價格。當然，有一些產品組合可以改變這種情況。但當然，當你想到那些成本較高的PVC 流經時，我們能夠在很大程度上推動這一進程，你可以透過我們的平均銷售價格看到這一點，當然，當然，還有一些產品組合流經那裡。但實際上，每個季度——或者對不起——每個季度，你可以看到這些價格保持相對穩定和穩定。

I appreciate that, Steve. And then reaching out to the PVC business in Europe, what's -- how is Vinnolit performing? And I guess, what are expectations for margins and profitability in Europe in the quarter -- in the fourth quarter?

我很感激，史蒂夫。然後再看看歐洲的 PVC 業務，Vinnolit 的表現如何？我想，對歐洲第四季的利潤率和獲利能力的預期是什麼？

Certainly, as you might guess, the construction activities in Europe are slower than we've seen here in the North American market. And so, the demand for their PVC remains somewhat constrained in terms of an ability to push all this pricing action through. So there are certainly some cost challenges as it relates to the businesses that we have in Europe. But I would say, nevertheless, the specialty PVC nature of Vinnolit's portfolio, I think, continues to deliver good results. And so while we have seen years where the results were stronger, I'd say the specialty component, this is the flexible PVC component of Vinnolit's business. It continues to deliver improving results relative to just being a commodity player in that European market.

當然，正如您可能猜到的那樣，歐洲的建築活動比我們在北美市場看到的要慢。因此，就推動所有這些定價行動的能力而言，對 PVC 的需求仍然受到一定程度的限制。因此，我們在歐洲的業務肯定會面臨一些成本挑戰。但我想說的是，我認為 Vinnolit 產品組合的特殊 PVC 特性將繼續帶來良好的結果。因此，雖然我們多年來看到了更強的結果，但我想說的是特殊組件，這是 Vinnolit 業務的柔性 PVC 組件。相對於僅僅作為歐洲市場的大宗商品參與者而言，它繼續提供不斷改善的績效。

Okay. Thank you. Steve. I appreciate it.

好的。謝謝。史蒂夫.我很感激。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

阿倫‧維斯瓦納坦 (Arun Viswanathan)，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部。

Great. Thanks for taking my question. I hope you guys are well. Maybe I could just try and help you guys frame Q4 for us a little bit. So if you look at Q3, maybe we'll start with that $580 million or so of EBITDA and add back the maintenance charges at $120 million. Is typical seasonality maybe, and I think it could be in the maybe the 15% to 20% range, if you look at Q4 and so maybe that brings you down into the middle 500s. What else would you include as we kind of try to frame up where you guys could be maybe in Q4? Thanks.

偉大的。感謝您提出我的問題。我希望你們一切都好。也許我可以試著幫助你們為我們設計第四季。因此，如果你看看第三季度，也許我們會從 5.8 億美元左右的 EBITDA 開始，然後再加上 1.2 億美元的維護費用。也許是典型的季節性，如果你看看第四季度，我認為它可能在 15% 到 20% 的範圍內，所以也許這會讓你下降到 500 左右。當我們試圖確定你們在第四季可能處於的位置時，你們還會包括哪些內容？謝謝。

Yeah. Arun, there are really no other maintenance -- planned maintenance activities, turnarounds and such that we have planned in Q4. And so it really is just really the framework around how we think about the dynamics as it relates to pricing over the course of the next several months. So as you think about the seasonality, I think you characterized it well.

是的。阿倫，實際上沒有其他維護 - 計劃的維護活動、週轉等我們在第四季度計劃的。因此，這確實是我們如何思考與未來幾個月的定價相關的動態的框架。因此，當您考慮季節性時，我認為您很好地描述了它。

Volume and demand remains pretty healthy, really, I would say, in the PVC and polyethylene market. I'd characterize our caustic markets as stable at this level, obviously, lower than we've seen in prior years, but nevertheless stable. So it really is just a function of how we see pricing play out over the rest of the fourth quarter at this stage.

我想說的是，PVC 和聚乙烯市場的銷售和需求仍然相當健康。我認為我們的腐蝕性市場在這個水平上是穩定的，顯然，低於我們前幾年所看到的，但仍然穩定。因此，這實際上只是我們對現階段第四季剩餘時間定價情況的看法的函數。

Great. Thanks for that, Steve. And as you look into '25, we do see some potential optimism around lower rates. And maybe you could also see some benefit on the epoxy side from antidumping duties, again, potentially some recovery in some of your other markets. So -- is it fair to assume that you should be -- you should see some EBITDA growth in '25 as well? And is that -- would that be more back-half weighted just given the lags that typically are present when rates come down and when that flows through your P&L or how are you thinking about some initial thoughts on '25 if you could share those? Thanks.

偉大的。謝謝你，史蒂夫。當你展望 25 年時，我們確實看到了一些圍繞較低利率的潛在樂觀情緒。也許您也可以從反傾銷稅中看到環氧樹脂的一些好處，同樣，您的其他一些市場可能會出現一些復甦。那麼，您是否應該在 25 年看到 EBITDA 有所成長？考慮到利率下降時以及流經損益表時通常出現的滯後，那麼這是否會更加後半加權，或者如果您可以分享的話，您如何考慮關於 25 的一些初步想法？謝謝。

Yeah. So certainly, interest rates -- lower interest rates are going to be stimulative to the economy. As you pointed out, there is a bit of a lag, and it's hard to know exactly what the length of that lag is, but lower interest rates are stimulative to not only the building products business. So our HIPs segment should be benefiting from those lower rates.

是的。因此，利率——較低的利率肯定會刺激經濟。正如您所指出的，存在一點滯後，而且很難確切知道滯後的長度是多少，但較低的利率不僅會刺激建築產品業務。因此，我們的 HIP 細分市場應該會受益於較低的利率。

But I would also say that -- as we think about the stimulative effect not only in the building and construction trade, but also more broadly in the economy, the North American economy continues to really be -- I'd characterize it as a good economy. And so lower rates will be stimulative as well to the broader economy, which would be constructive related to many of the products in our PEMs segment.

但我還要說，當我們考慮不僅對建築和施工貿易的刺激作用，而且對更廣泛的經濟的刺激作用時，北美經濟仍然確實如此，我將其描述為一個良好的經濟體。因此，較低的利率也將刺激更廣泛的經濟，這對我們 PEM 領域的許多產品具有建設性作用。

So we continue to have an optimistic view as we look out into '25, but it's hard to front-end or back-end weight that I would have to admit because it's hard to know exactly, when the Fed will take action to what degree they will take action. There's clearly going to be some lag, but I would say all of that is constructive with lower rates expected in '25.

因此，當我們展望 25 年時，我們仍然持樂觀態度，但我不得不承認，前端或後端權重很難確定，因為很難確切知道聯準會何時會採取何種程度的行動他們將採取行動。顯然會有一些滯後，但我想說，所有這些都是建設性的，預計 25 年利率會較低。

Great, thanks.

太好了，謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Michael Leithead, Barclays.

邁克爾·萊特黑德，巴克萊銀行。

Great, thanks. Good morning, guys. There appears to be a number of chemical assets in areas you compete in recently up for sale. Would you consider adding further PEM assets or is your inorganic strategy primarily focused on HIP right now?

太好了，謝謝。早安，夥計們。您最近參與競爭的領域似乎有許多化學資產正在出售。您會考慮增加更多 PEM 資產，或者您的無機策略目前主要集中在 HIP 上？

Yeah. So as we think about it, Mike, the answer is we look across the spectrum of assets that we have, both in both segments, both PEM and in HIP. And as you heard us speak about the integrated manner of our assets, we continue to want to think about running the business to give us a high degree of optionality in where those products go in the markets that we serve. So we'll look at all opportunities in spaces that are in our operating space and adjacent to that.

是的。麥克，當我們思考這個問題時，答案是我們審視我們擁有的資產範圍，包括 PEM 和 HIP 這兩個領域。當您聽到我們談論我們的資產的整合方式時，我們仍然希望考慮經營業務，以便在這些產品進入我們服務的市場時給予我們高度的選擇權。因此，我們將在我們的營運空間內以及與其相鄰的空間中尋找所有機會。

It really is about the right opportunity and the right value proposition for us as we think about looking at assets and the opportunities they provide. So anything that's in our space will assess and anything that's adjacent to that will assess, it's just a matter of what's the right value proposition to us as we think about those opportunities.

當我們考慮資產及其提供的機會時，這確實是關於我們的正確機會和正確價值主張。因此，我們空間中的任何事物都將進行評估，而與之相鄰的任何事物都會進行評估，這只是在我們考慮這些機會時對我們來說正確的價值主張是什麼的問題。

Great. That's helpful. And then any initial thoughts about 2025 and HIP. I appreciate it's hard and early to forecast the market. But just given what you have in the pipeline with new customers or your new PVCO plant. Just how should we think about your ability to grow volumes above the market next year?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後是關於 2025 年和 HIP 的任何初步想法。我意識到預測市場既困難又早。但僅考慮到您正在與新客戶或新 PVCO 工廠合作的情況。我們該如何看待你們明年銷售成長高於市場的能力？

Well, I think those that attended our teach-in earlier this summer I heard that we were continuing to work very closely with some of these nationwide builders. And I would note that looking at research published by John Burns, a well-known real estate construction consultant noted that these large nationwide builders such as Pulte, Lennar, D.R. Horton, and others, now represent about 55% of starts nationwide. So as we think about our -- and I'll call it a partnership, our partnership through these distributors into these home builders continues to be successful. And so we're continuing to win with the winners because they're continuing to gain market share in their home starts and in those construction activities.

嗯，我想那些今年夏天早些時候參加我們宣講會的人聽說我們將繼續與其中一些全國性的建築商密切合作。我要指出的是，著名房地產建築顧問約翰·伯恩斯 (John Burns) 發表的研究表明，這些全國性的大型建築商，如 Pulte、Lennar、D.R.霍頓和其他人目前約佔全國首發人數的 55%。因此，當我們考慮我們的——我將其稱為合作夥伴關係時，我們透過這些分銷商與這些房屋建築商的合作夥伴關係繼續取得成功。因此，我們將繼續與獲勝者一起獲勝，因為他們在家庭開工和建築活動中繼續獲得市場份額。

As I read their commentary as we talk to them, they continue to be opportunistic in their views about lower interest rates and the forecast that they're putting forth suggest that we should see a more constructive year in '25 because of lower interest rates and the expectation that they need to build out more homes for the underbuild that we've seen across North America that's persisted for over 15 years.

當我在與他們交談時閱讀他們的評論時，他們對較低利率的看法仍然是機會主義的，他們提出的預測表明，由於較低的利率和較低的利率，我們應該在25 年看到更具建設性的一年 我們在北美各地看到，人們一直期望他們需要為未建成的地區建造更多房屋，這種期望已經持續了 15 年多。

So we do think that there will be a continued growth in demand, and those homebuilders are well-positioned to meet that demand. And then we think we're incredibly well-positioned to support those homebuilders meeting that demand.

因此，我們確實認為需求將會持續成長，而這些房屋建築商有能力滿足這項需求。然後我們認為我們處於非常有利的位置來支持那些滿足這一需求的房屋建築商。

Great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

Hi. This is Turner Hinrichs on for Vincent. I was just wondering what drove the lower chlorovinyl export shipments in the third quarter?

你好。我是特納辛里奇 (Turner Hinrichs) 替補文森特 (Vincent)。我只是想知道是什麼原因導致第三季氯乙烯出口出貨量下降？

I think it was mostly related to pricing and export market, and there is a point where we see more value. I mean, pushing some of these volumes into, I mean, selling in other point of the value chain. So for us, that was the key factor. It's -- the price for export is relatively low. And so we decide not to go and sell it at a price point where we don't think it's advantageous to us.

我認為這主要與定價和出口市場有關，有一個點我們看到了更多的價值。我的意思是，將其中一些銷量推向價值鏈的其他環節進行銷售。所以對我們來說，這是關鍵因素。出口價格相對較低。因此，我們決定不以我們認為對我們不有利的價格點出售它。

Great. That makes a lot of sense. And if I can fit one more in. Have you all seen the antidumping duties affect the PVC market in Europe?

偉大的。這很有意義。如果我能再裝一個的話。大家都看到反傾銷稅對歐洲PVC市場的影響了嗎？

Yes. We have -- it's having a limited impact right now. Demand in Europe is still pretty subdued. Overall -- so unless the demand really picks us -- picks back up, it's not going to have a very favorable impact on to -- overall business. So in Europe, it's a demand problem and -- which is a problem we don't have in the US.

是的。我們現在的影響有限。歐洲的需求仍然相當低迷。總的來說，除非需求真的回升，否則不會對整體業務產生非常有利的影響。因此，在歐洲，這是一個需求問題，而在美國則沒有這個問題。

All right. Thanks for taking my questions.

好的。感謝您回答我的問題。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back to John Zoeller for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。現在我想請約翰·佐勒（John Zoeller）發表結束語。

Thank you again for participating in today's call. We hope you will join us again for our next conference call to discuss our fourth-quarter results.

再次感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們希望您能再次參加我們的下一次電話會議，討論我們的第四季業績。

Thank you for participating in today's Westlake Corporation third-quarter earnings conference call. As a reminder, this call will be available for replay beginning two hours after the call has ended. The replay can be accessed via Westlake's website. Goodbye.

感謝您參加今天的 Westlake Corporation 第三季財報電話會議。請注意，此通話將在通話結束兩小時後開始重播。重播可以透過 Westlake 的網站觀看。再見。