Westlake Corp (WLK) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westlake Corporation first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded today, May 2, 2025.

女士們、先生們，早安。感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Westlake Corporation 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）女士們、先生們，提醒一下，本次會議將於今天（2025 年 5 月 2 日）進行錄製。

I would now like to turn the call over to your host today, 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 的副總裁兼財務主管 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 first-quarter 2025 results. I'm 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 2025 年第一季的業績。今天和我一起出席的還有我們的執行主席 Albert Chao；我們的總裁兼執行長 Jean-Marc Gilson；我們的執行副總裁兼財務長史蒂夫‧本德 (Steve Bender)；以及我們管理團隊的其他成員。

During the call, we will refer to 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.

在電話會議中，我們將提到兩個報告部分：性能和基本材料（我們稱之為 PEM 或材料）以及住房和基礎設施產品（我們稱之為 HIP 或產品）。

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 up the call to questions.

今天的電話會議將由 Jean-Marc 開始，他將對 Westlake 的表現發表一些評論。隨後，史蒂夫將討論我們的財務和經營業績，之後，讓-馬克將補充一些總結性評論，然後我們將開始提問。

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.

今天，管理層將討論某些主題，這些主題將包含基於管理層信念的前瞻性資訊以及管理層所做的假設和當前可用的資訊。這些前瞻性陳述顯示了預測或預期，因此存在風險或不確定性。

These risks and uncertainties are discussed in Westlake's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, 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.

這些風險和不確定性在 Westlake 截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的 10-K 表格以及其他 SEC 文件中進行了討論。我們鼓勵您透過查看這些 SEC 文件來了解更多可能導致我們的實際結果出現差異的因素，這些文件也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

This morning, Westlake issued a press release with details of our first-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.

今天上午，Westlake 發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了我們的第一季業績。文件可在我們網站 Westlake.com 的新聞稿部分找到。我們還附上了一份收益報告，可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

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, May 2, 2025, and therefore you were advised that time sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay.

今天的電話會議重播將於今天開始提供，即本次電話會議結束後兩小時。您可以透過 Westlake 的網站觀看此重播。請注意，本次通話中報告的資訊僅截至今天（2025 年 5 月 2 日），因此請注意，時間敏感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 webpage at westlake.com.

最後，我想告訴大家，本次電話會議將透過網路網路直播系統進行現場直播，您可以透過我們的網頁 westlake.com 存取。

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

現在，我想將電話轉給 Jean-Marc Gilson。讓-馬克？

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us to discuss our first-quarter 2025 results.

謝謝你，約翰，大家早安。感謝您加入我們討論 2025 年第一季的業績。

For the first quarter of 2025, we reported EBITDA of $288 million on net sales of $2.8 billion. As has been the case in recent quarters, Westlake benefited from the diversity of our businesses in a low cost, highly integrated business model during the first quarter of 2025. Our HIP segment performed well despite winter storms slowing home construction in certain parts of the US and an uptick in mortgage interest rates that slowed sales of completed homes by the nation's large builders, both of which weighed on our sales of our products in the quarter.

2025 年第一季度，我們報告的 EBITDA 為 2.88 億美元，淨銷售額為 28 億美元。與最近幾季的情況一樣，Westlake 在 2025 年第一季受益於我們業務的多元化以及低成本、高度整合的業務模式。儘管冬季風暴減緩了美國部分地區的房屋建設，並且抵押貸款利率上升導緻美國大型建築商的已完工房屋銷售放緩，這兩者都對我們本季度的產品銷售產生了壓力，但我們的 HIP 部門表現良好。

The broad portfolio and expensive footprint of our HIP segment, with its solid 20% EBITDA margin and asset-light cash generative business model partially offset the first quarter headwinds that we experienced in our PEM segment.

我們的 HIP 部門擁有廣泛的產品組合和昂貴的業務足跡，其穩固的 20% EBITDA 利潤率和輕資產現金產生業務模式部分抵消了我們在 PEM 部門遇到的第一季的逆風。

Our PEM segment results reflected a confluence of events, converging to deliver results below our expectations. Specifically, a strong run-up in feedstock and energy prices increased PEM's cost by approximately $100 million year over year, while at the same time we undertook two planned turnarounds and experienced unplanned outages that impacted our EBITDA by approximately $80 million. This confluence of events resulted in extraordinary margin compressions, which drove PEM EBITDA to be $180 million lower than the first quarter of 2024.

我們的 PEM 部門表現反映了一系列事件的共同作用，導致業績低於我們的預期。具體而言，原料和能源價格的強勁上漲導致 PEM 的成本同比增加約 1 億美元，同時我們進行了兩次計劃內檢修並經歷了意外停機，導致我們的 EBITDA 減少了約 8000 萬美元。這些事件的匯合導致利潤率大幅壓縮，使得 PEM EBITDA 比 2024 年第一季低 1.8 億美元。

Global demand remains well below historical levels, and recent disruptions from tariffs have weighed on global growth. While we navigate the uncertain macroeconomic environment, we are taking immediate and targeted actions to adjust to the business conditions, to improve profitability, and grow the business.

全球需求仍遠低於歷史水平，近期關稅影響也對全球經濟成長造成壓力。在應對不確定的宏觀經濟環境的同時，我們正在採取立即和有針對性的行動來調整業務狀況，提高盈利能力並發展業務。

First, we are focused on right-sizing our operations for the current economic realities. On this front, during the first quarter, we continue to make progress with optimizing our manufacturing footprint, including taking the actions in our epoxy business that we announced last fall to drive improvements in our cost and earnings in the coming months. Charges for these actions were accrued in 2024, and we are continuing to assess our asset portfolio to improve our financial performance.

首先，我們專注於根據當前的經濟現實調整我們的營運規模。在這方面，在第一季度，我們繼續在優化製造足跡方面取得進展，包括去年秋天宣布的環氧樹脂業務行動，以推動未來幾個月成本和收益的改善。這些行動的費用已於 2024 年計提，我們將繼續評估我們的資產組合以改善我們的財務表現。

Second, we are raising our cost reduction target for 2025 by $25 million to a new range of $150 million to $175 million, building on the $40 million of cost reductions we achieved in the first quarter. Additionally, we are reducing our capital spending forecast for 2025 by 10% to $900 million to support our cash generation this year. We are monitoring market conditions and we will adjust this capital spending level as needed.

其次，我們將 2025 年的成本削減目標提高 2,500 萬美元，達到 1.5 億美元至 1.75 億美元的新範圍，在此基礎上，我們在第一季實現了 4,000 萬美元的成本削減。此外，我們將 2025 年的資本支出預測下調 10% 至 9 億美元，以支持我們今年的現金創造。我們正在監測市場狀況，並將根據需要調整資本支出水準。

Third, we are improving our cost structure and operational reliability. Last month, we successfully completed a Petro1 ethylene plant turnaround after running the unit for a record 8.5 years. This is the second ethylene plant turnaround since 2023, and we expect both plants to deliver reliable production with an eye towards achieving yet another future record of operations between turnarounds.

第三，我們正在改善成本結構和營運可靠性。上個月，我們成功完成了 Petro1 乙烯工廠的檢修，該裝置已運行了創紀錄的 8.5 年。這是自 2023 年以來第二次乙烯工廠的檢修，我們預計這兩家工廠都將實現可靠的生產，並著眼於在未來的檢修間隔期內再創運營記錄。

Also, in the first quarter, we completed the new VCM tie-ins at our Geismar plant during its turnaround, which will provide enhanced reliability across our entire chlorovinyl production chain. The VCM tie-in will also allow us to replace the current mercury cell capacity being rationalized this year with new, more environmentally friendly membrane cell capacity with no material impact on our overall capacity.

此外，在第一季度，我們在 Geismar 工廠的檢修期間完成了新的 VCM 連接，這將提高我們整個氯乙烯生產鏈的可靠性。VCM 連接也將使我們能夠用新的、更環保的膜電池產能取代今年合理化的現有汞電池產能，而不會對我們的整體產能產生重大影響。

These major sites completed their turnaround work in the second quarter and are now ramping up to address market demand. We are pleased to have completed these significant operational milestones with the associated benefits from improved operational reliability that they will provide well into the future. In this protracted down cycle, we believe that these actions will better position us and ensure Westlake will continue to create value for its shareholders.

這些主要工廠已於第二季完成了扭虧為盈工作，目前正在加緊生產以滿足市場需求。我們很高興完成了這些重要的營運里程碑，並提高了營運可靠性，這將為未來帶來許多好處。在這個長期的下行週期中，我們相信這些舉措將使我們處於更有利的地位，並確保 Westlake 繼續為股東創造價值。

I would now like to turn over the call to Steve to provide more detail on our financial results for the first quarter of 2025.

現在，我想將電話轉給史蒂夫，讓他提供有關我們 2025 年第一季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Jean-Marc, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，讓-馬克，大家早安。

Westlake reported a net loss of $40 million for $0.31 per share in the first quarter on sales of $2.8 billion. Net income for the first quarter of 2025 decreased $214 million from the first quarter of 2024. The year-over-year decline in net income was primarily due to higher North American feedstock and energy cost of approximately $100 million, planned turnarounds and unplanned outages that impacted EBITDA by approximately $80 million as well as unfavorable changes in hip sales mix.

Westlake 報告稱，第一季銷售額為 28 億美元，淨虧損 4,000 萬美元，每股虧損 0.31 美元。2025 年第一季淨收入較 2024 年第一季減少 2.14 億美元。淨收入較去年同期下降的主要原因是北美原料和能源成本上漲約 1 億美元、計劃內檢修和意外停機對 EBITDA 造成約 8,000 萬美元的影響，以及髖關節銷售組合的不利變化。

When compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, net income decreased by $47 million in the first quarter as the seasonal increase in sales volume did not fully offset higher feedstock in energy cost, turnaround and outage impacts, and the sales mix changes.

與 2024 年第四季相比，第一季淨收入減少了 4,700 萬美元，因為季節性銷售量成長未能完全抵消能源成本上漲、週轉和停產影響以及銷售組合變化的影響。

For the first quarter of 2025, our utilization of the FIFO method of accounting resulted in a favorable pre-tax impact of $66 million compared to what earnings would have been reported on the LIFO method. This is only an estimate and has not been audited.

2025 年第一季度，我們採用先進先出 (FIFO) 會計方法，與採用後進先出 (LIFO) 方法報告的收益相比，產生了 6,600 萬美元的稅前收益。這只是一個估計，尚未經過審計。

Before I discuss the details of our segment results, I want to provide some high-level thoughts on the quarter. Compared to the record year ago period, financial results in our HIP segment during the first quarter reflected lower average sales prices. This was the result of winter storms which slowed new construction of homes in certain parts of the United States and higher interest rates that drove fewer housing permits impacting our volumes and pricing on our pipe and fitting and siding and trim businesses.

在討論我們各部門業績的細節之前，我想先就本季提供一些整體看法。與去年同期的創紀錄水準相比，我們第一季 HIP 部門的財務表現反映出平均銷售價格下降。這是由於冬季風暴減緩了美國部分地區的新房屋建設，以及利率上升導致房屋許可證減少，從而影響了我們的管道和配件以及壁板和裝飾業務的銷售和定價。

While winter storms delayed the normal start of the construction season, we were pleased with HIP's EBITDA margin of 20% in the first quarter, which typically experiences lower seasonal demand.

雖然冬季風暴推遲了建築季節的正常開始，但我們對 HIP 第一季 20% 的 EBITDA 利潤率感到滿意，因為該季度的季節性需求通常較低。

Turning to our PEM segment, our first-quarter results reflected a number of headwinds, most of which we believe are transitory. The most significant was the year-over-year increase in feedstock and energy cost of approximately $100 million. As a result of the protracted down cycle negatively impacting industry-wide sales volumes, we were unable to realize higher average sales prices in the first quarter to offset these higher costs.

談到我們的 PEM 部門，我們的第一季業績反映了一些不利因素，但我們認為其中大多數都是暫時的。最顯著的是原料和能源成本較去年同期增加約 1 億美元。由於長期的下行週期對整個行業的銷售量產生了負面影響，我們無法在第一季實現更高的平均銷售價格來抵消這些更高的成本。

Additionally, planned turnarounds and unplanned outages reduced our first quarter of 2025 EBITDA by approximately $80 million. The turnarounds were completed in the second quarter are now ramping up to meet demand. We continue to take proactive steps to right-size our PEM business for the current demand environment, including actions to improve profitability of our epoxy assets in the Netherlands, where we took the charge to earnings in 2024.

此外，計劃內檢修和非計劃性停機導致我們 2025 年第一季的 EBITDA 減少了約 8,000 萬美元。已於第二季完成的改造目前正在加緊進行以滿足需求。我們將繼續採取積極措施，根據當前的需求環境調整 PEM 業務的規模，包括採取行動提高荷蘭環氧樹脂資產的盈利能力，我們將在 2024 年將這項業務計入盈利。

Additionally, substantially all of the approximately $40 million of company-wide cost savings generated in the first quarter of 2025 are in our PEM segment, and we continue to drive to reduce costs beyond our company-wide raise target of $150 million to $175 million for the full year of 2025.

此外，2025 年第一季全公司範圍內產生的約 4,000 萬美元的成本節約幾乎全部來自我們的 PEM 部門，我們將繼續努力降低成本，超越 2025 年全年全公司範圍內的成本提高目標 1.5 億美元至 1.75 億美元。

Moving to the specifics of our segment performance, our housing and infrastructure products segment produced EBITDA of $203 million on $1 billion of sales. EBITDA decreased $61 million year over year due to a 2% decline in sales volumes and a 3% decline in average sales prices. Sales volumes during the first quarter of 2025 was impacted by significant pre-buying activity late in 2024 in pipe and fittings.

具體到我們各部門的業績，我們的住房和基礎設施產品部門的銷售額為 10 億美元，EBITDA 為 2.03 億美元。由於銷售量下降 2% 且平均銷售價格下降 3%，EBITDA 年比減少 6,100 萬美元。2025 年第一季的銷售量受到 2024 年底管道和配件大量預購活動的影響。

Thus, a change in product mix and a slower start to the construction season due to the winter weather contributed to lower segment EBITDA margin when compared to the first quarter of 2024. When compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, HIP segment sales of $1 billion rose 2%, driven by a 4% sequential increase in sales volume that more than offset a 2% decline in average sales price.

因此，與 2024 年第一季相比，產品結構的變化以及冬季天氣導致的建築季節開始較慢導致部門 EBITDA 利潤率下降。與 2024 年第四季相比，HIP 部門銷售額為 10 億美元，成長 2%，這得益於銷售額環比 4% 的成長，足以抵銷平均銷售價格 2% 的下降。

Housing product sales of $838 million in the quarter increased $20 million due to sales volume growth, particularly for siding and trim and roofing. Infrastructure product sales of $158 million in the first quarter of 2025 decreased $5 million from the fourth quarter of 2024 due to some customers pre-buying in the fourth quarter of 2024 that they would normally have bought in the first quarter of 2025.

本季住房產品銷售額為 8.38 億美元，由於銷售量成長（尤其是牆板、裝飾和屋頂）增加了 2,000 萬美元。2025 年第一季基礎設施產品銷售額為 1.58 億美元，比 2024 年第四季減少了 500 萬美元，原因是一些客戶在 2024 年第四季預購了通常會在 2025 年第一季購買的產品。

Moving to our PEM segment, first quarter EBITDA of $73 million was below the first quarter of 2024 EBITDA of $253 million due primarily to significant higher North American feedstock cost and energy cost, including a 59% increase in natural gas cost and a 42% increase in ethane cost. Weak global, industrial, and manufacturing activity during the first quarter and some flattening of the global cost curve led to delays in our price initiative increases, resulting in a 2% decrease in PEM's average sales price.

轉向我們的 PEM 部門，第一季的 EBITDA 為 7,300 萬美元，低於 2024 年第一季的 EBITDA 2.53 億美元，主要原因是北美原料成本和能源成本大幅上漲，其中天然氣成本上漲 59%，乙烷成本上漲 42%。第一季全球工業和製造業活動疲軟，以及全球成本曲線趨於平緩，導致我們的價格主動上調被推遲，導致 PEM 的平均銷售價格下降 2%。

Sales volumes also declined 2% year over year, driven by lower global demand for PVC resin and polyethylene. As a result of these factors and the impact of planned turnarounds and unplanned outages, PEM's first quarter EBITDA margin of 4% was below the first quarter of 2024 EBITDA margin of 13%.

由於全球對 PVC 樹脂和聚乙烯的需求下降，銷售量也較去年同期下降了 2%。由於這些因素以及計劃內檢修和非計劃性停機的影響，PEM 第一季的 EBITDA 利潤率為 4%，低於 2024 年第一季的 EBITDA 利潤率 13%。

On a sequential basis, PEM's segment EBITDA of $73 million in the first quarter decreased by $147 million from the fourth quarter of 2024 as a result of the higher North American feedstock in energy cost and the impact of the planned turnarounds and unplanned outages that I previously discussed.

以環比計算，PEM 第一季分公司 EBITDA 為 7,300 萬美元，較 2024 年第四季減少 1.47 億美元，原因是北美原料能源成本較高，以及我之前討論過的計劃內檢修和計劃外停機的影響。

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, PEM's sales volumes was down 1%, driven by polyethylene, while average sales prices were flat.

與 2024 年第四季相比，PEM 的銷售量下降了 1%，主要是因為聚乙烯，而平均銷售價格持平。

Shifting to our balance sheet as of March 31, 2025, cash and investments were $2.5 billion and total debt was $4.6 billion with a staggered long-term fixed rate debt maturity. For the first quarter of 2025, net cash used from operating activities of $77 million was impacted by cash outlays associated with the planned turnarounds that I previously mentioned, as well as our typical seasonal increase in working capital to support seasonal changes in demand for our products.

截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的資產負債表顯示，現金和投資為 25 億美元，總債務為 46 億美元，且長期固定利率債務分階段到期。2025 年第一季度，經營活動所用淨現金為 7700 萬美元，這受到與我之前提到的計劃週轉相關的現金支出以及我們為支持產品需求的季節性變化而通常出現的季節性營運資本增加的影響。

Additionally, we used $30 million of cash to repurchase shares of Westlake common stock, while returning $68 million of cash to shareholders in the form of dividends during the quarter. We continue to look for opportunities to strategically deploy our balance sheet in order to create long-term value.

此外，我們還使用了 3000 萬美元現金回購了 Westlake 普通股，同時在本季度以股息的形式向股東返還了 6800 萬美元現金。我們繼續尋找機會策略性地部署我們的資產負債表，以創造長期價值。

Now, let me provide some guidance for your models. Given the macroeconomic uncertainty and an uptick in mortgage interest rates combined with slower starts in new home construction, we now expect 2025 revenue and EBITDA margin in our housing and infrastructure product segment be towards the low end of the previously communicated range of $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion of revenue, with EBITDA margin between 20% and 22%. A revised outlook reflects continued mix shifts, impacts on revenue, and EBITDA margin.

現在，讓我為您的模型提供一些指導。鑑於宏觀經濟的不確定性、抵押貸款利率上升以及新房開工放緩，我們目前預計，2025 年住房和基礎設施產品部門的收入和 EBITDA 利潤率將接近先前公佈的 44 億美元至 46 億美元收入範圍的低端，EBITDA 利潤率將在 20% 至 22% 之間。修訂後的前景反映了持續的組合變化、對收入和 EBITDA 利潤率的影響。

We continue to expect positive sales growth for HIP in 2025. Expected total cap expenditures for the company has been lowered by 10% to $900 million as we optimize our business. As Jean-Marc mentioned, we are now targeting $150 million to $175 million of company-wide savings in 2025, with roughly $40 million achieved in the first quarter.

我們繼續預期 2025 年 HIP 的銷售額將實現正成長。隨著我們優化業務，公司的預期總資本支出已降低 10% 至 9 億美元。正如 Jean-Marc 所提到的，我們現在的目標是到 2025 年實現全公司範圍內節省 1.5 億至 1.75 億美元，第一季已實現約 4,000 萬美元。

For the first year of 2025, we expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 23%, and we expect cash interest expense to be approximately $160 million.

對於 2025 年第一年，我們預計有效稅率約為 23%，預計現金利息支出約為 1.6 億美元。

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

現在我想將電話轉回給 Jean-Marc，讓他介紹我們目前的業務前景。

Thank you, Steve.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。

As 2025 progresses, our efforts will be focused on executing several proactive and decisive actions to enhance margins, optimize our footprint, and improve our cost structure and operational reliability. These are all actions that are within our control, and that will position Westlake to create greater value as we navigate this business cycle.

隨著 2025 年的到來，我們的努力將集中在執行多項積極主動和果斷的行動，以提高利潤率、優化我們的足跡並改善我們的成本結構和營運可靠性。這些都是我們可以控制的行動，這將使 Westlake 在我們駕馭這個商業週期時創造更大的價值。

Global trade tensions have intensified and we estimate the direct impact from recent tariff announcement on our business is largely manageable. A large majority of our products and are USMCA compliant and limit our exposures at this moment. While it remains unclear, our trade negotiations will conclude, and as we clearly assess the impact they may have on demand for our products, we are taking proactive steps to reduce all direct impacts to products we import that are subject to significant duties.

全球貿易緊張局勢加劇，我們估計最近的關稅公告對我們業務的直接影響基本上是可控的。我們的絕大多數產品都符合 USMCA 標準，因此目前限制了我們的曝光度。儘管目前尚不明確，但我們的貿易談判將會結束，而且我們清楚地評估了談判可能對我們產品需求產生的影響，我們正在採取積極措施，減少對我們進口的、需繳納高額關稅的產品的所有直接影響。

Our HIP businesses are primarily domestic in nature, and the supply chains are relatively insulated by recent tariff announcement through the USMCA. As Steve mentioned earlier, while we are now expecting HIP revenue and EBITDA margin to be towards the low ends of our previous guidance ranges, we continue to expect positive HIP sales volume growth for 2025.

我們的 HIP 業務主要在國內，供應鏈相對受到 USMCA 最近宣布的關稅的影響。正如史蒂夫之前提到的，雖然我們現在預計 HIP 收入和 EBITDA 利潤率將接近我們先前指導範圍的低端，但我們仍然預計 2025 年 HIP 銷售量將實現正成長。

Turning to PEM, we expect the direct impact from recent tariff announcements on our cost and supply chains to also be manageable. However, in the wake of the tariff announcement, we have seen increased volatility in commodity prices and currency rates, which may impact our PEM segment in the second quarter and full year of 2025.

談到 PEM，我們預計最近的關稅公告對我們的成本和供應鏈的直接影響也是可控的。然而，在關稅公告發布後，我們看到大宗商品價格和貨幣匯率的波動加劇，這可能會影響我們 2025 年第二季和全年的 PEM 部門。

Until negotiations on tariffs are finalized, we expect the uncertainty to persist and we are prepared to take action to adjust to changing conditions.

在關稅談判最終完成之前，我們預計不確定性將持續存在，我們準備採取行動來適應不斷變化的情況。

Let me remind you of Westlake's foundational strengths which have served us very well over many decades. I want to focus on five in particular that I believe will differentiate us from peers during the current period of uncertainty.

讓我提醒大家，韋斯特萊克的基礎優勢幾十年來一直為我們服務。我想特別關心五個方面，我相信在當前不確定的時期，這五個方面將使我們有別於同行。

The first of these is an integrated business model from ethylene all the way through the building products insulating us from supply chain disruptions and enabling us to capture margin along this integrated chain.

第一個是從乙烯到建築產品的綜合業務模式，使我們免受供應鏈中斷的影響，並使我們能夠沿著這一綜合鏈獲取利潤。

Second is the diversity of our businesses, supported by the strength of earnings in HIP and the leverage to macroeconomic upturns in PEM, which is a key source of resilience and opportunity throughout the business cycle.

第二是我們業務的多樣性，這得益於 HIP 的強勁盈利和 PEM 的宏觀經濟好轉槓桿，這是整個商業週期中復原力和機會的關鍵來源。

Third is our globally advantaged feedstock and energy position in North America, where 85% of our products are manufactured.

第三是我們在北美擁有的全球優勢原料和能源地位，我們85%的產品都是在北美生產的。

Fourth is our strong investment grade balance sheet with $2.5 billion of cash and securities and no near-term debt maturities, which helps support our ability to reward shareholders to share repurchases and our unbroken string of quarterly dividends for over 20 years since our IPO.

第四是我們擁有強勁的投資等級資產負債表，擁有 25 億美元的現金和證券，且沒有短期債務到期，這有助於我們透過股票回購來獎勵股東，並且自首次公開募股以來 20 多年來一直保持著不間斷的季度股息。

Fifth is our low-cost manufacturing culture with an emphasis on the safety and reliability of our plants. While no one can predict the future, the best we can do is to prepare for many potential outcomes. I believe that the key strengths that I just outlined position us to succeed across a wide range of potential outcomes in the current uncertain macroeconomic environment.

第五是我們的低成本製造文化，強調工廠的安全性和可靠性。雖然沒有人能夠預測未來，但我們能做的最好的事情就是為許多可能的結果做好準備。我相信，我剛才概述的關鍵優勢使我們能夠在當前不確定的宏觀經濟環境中取得各種潛在成功。

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

非常感謝您收聽我們的第一季財報電話會議。我現在將電話轉回給約翰。

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，我們的收益報告可以在我們的網站上查閱，該報告可以更清楚地說明我們的業績，並且本次電話會議的重播將在電話會議結束兩小時後提供。

Michelle, we will now take questions.

米歇爾，我們現在來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

（操作員指示）花旗銀行的 Patrick Cunningham。

Hi, good morning, Jean-Marc and Steve. I guess maybe I want to just start off on the HIP, specifically on price/cost, it seems like more margin degradation is implied. Can you first remind us the typical timeline for price realization there and your level of confidence in passing through inflation?

嗨，早上好，Jean-Marc 和 Steve。我想也許我只想從 HIP 開始，特別是價格/成本，這似乎意味著更多的利潤率下降。您能否先提醒我們那裡價格實現的典型時間表以及您對度過通貨膨脹的信心程度？

Yeah, Patrick, this market is much more -- this HIP market is much more stable in pricing dynamics, unlike the PEM segment which moves on a monthly and sometimes more frequent basis. And so I would say in the HIP segment we see more stability in price nominations and so certainly in an environment where we see dynamic in some of the input cost, we're able to actually provide more price stability there. That doesn't mean we're not exposed to some of the changes in the market conditions, but it's much more stable in price across the entire change.

是的，帕特里克，這個市場更加——這個 HIP 市場在定價動態上更加穩定，不像 PEM 市場那樣每月變動，有時甚至更頻繁。因此我想說，在 HIP 領域，我們看到價格提名更加穩定，因此，在我們看到部分投入成本動態變化的環境中，我們實際上能夠在那裡提供更高的價格穩定性。這並不意味著我們不會受到市場條件變化的影響，而是在整個變化過程中價格穩定得多。

Understood, very helpful. And I know you discussed the direct impacts of this trade uncertainty being manageable. What do you anticipate retaliatory tariffs in China will do to PE operating rates and domestic prices?

明白了，很有幫助。我知道您討論了這種貿易不確定性的直接影響是可控的。您預計中國的報復性關稅將對 PE 開工率和國內價格產生什麼影響？

Well, it's hard to project what may occur there, but certainly when we think about the direct impacts because it's hard to anticipate what the indirect impacts could be, but simply as we think about the mix of polyethylene that we produce, which is largely going into domestic packaging applications that our exposure to the Asian market for most of the low density polyethylene that we produce and some of the specialty and differentiated forms really are not targeted for those markets.

嗯，很難預測那裡會發生什麼，但當我們考慮直接影響時肯定會發生，因為很難預測間接影響是什麼，但只要我們考慮一下我們生產的聚乙烯混合物，它主要用於國內包裝應用，我們生產的大多數低密度聚乙烯在亞洲市場的曝光度以及一些特殊和差異化形式的產品實際上並不是針對這些市場的。

And so the markets that we're focusing our products or into is really more of that specialty end of the chain and less exposed to really those kind of dynamics that you see in the Asian markets.

因此，我們的產品所關注的市場實際上更多的是產業鏈的專業端，而較少受到亞洲市場中那些動態的影響。

Jeffery Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Jeffery Zekauskas。

Thanks very much. Can you let us know how the PVC industry performed in the first quarter? Were volumes up or down or by how much?

非常感謝。能介紹一下第一季PVC產業運作情況嗎？交易量是上升了還是下降了，還是下降了多少？

Yeah, so Jeff, the industry continues to in the first quarter see a bit of a build in inventory in anticipation of the construction season. So I would say that operating rates for the industry were probably in the 80s in that in that range. Of course, the construction season doesn't really start until we get it really into the late portions of the first quarter and into the second quarter, so they would typically be in the low to mid 80s.

是的，傑夫，由於預期建築季節的到來，該行業在第一季繼續出現庫存增加的情況。所以我想說該行業的營運率可能在 80% 左右。當然，直到進入第一季末和第二季度，建築季節才真正開始，因此建築成本通常會在 1980 年代初期到中期。

In your slides, in describing the PEM segment, you said that there were declines in chlor-alkali and PVC resin prices sequentially. I thought PVC resin prices went up in the first quarter. I thought there was a price increase in February and in March. Did you have a different experience or maybe posted prices were different than the -- (technical difficulty)

在您的幻燈片中，在描述 PEM 部分時，您說氯鹼和 PVC 樹脂價格連續下降。我認為第一季 PVC 樹脂價格上漲。我以為二月和三月會漲價。您是否有不同的體驗，或公佈的價格可能與--（技術難度）

So Jeff, when you think about the change that we saw, we remember we saw some price resets at the end of the year that carried into the first month or so of the first quarter. And to your point, there were price increases realized over the course of February and March. And so as we think about what we've experienced, there have been, I agree with you, there have been increases over the course of the first quarter, but there were some kind of market resets that occurred at the end of the year.

所以傑夫，當你想到我們看到的變化時，我們記得我們在年底看到了一些價格重置，並且持續到了第一季的第一個月左右。正如您所說，二月和三月期間價格有所上漲。因此，當我們思考我們所經歷的事情時，我同意你的觀點，第一季確實有所成長，但年底出現了某種市場重置。

And you talked about declines in chlor-alkali. Is that both in chlorine and caustic, or only in chlorine but not in caustic?

您談到了氯鹼產量的下降。這是在氯氣和鹼中都存在，還是只在氯氣中存在而在鹼中不存在？

Now we've continued to see some continued strength really in chlorine and as we enter the season now, excuse me, as we enter this season for bleaching and for construction materials, that demand for chlorine will continue. There may be -- there are some, of course, regional pressures, of course, in all these product offerings, both in chlorine, of course, and in costing that may occur at the end of the year during a slow period of construction and demand for bleaching materials and water treatment materials in January, December.

現在我們繼續看到氯的持續強勢，隨著我們進入這個季節，對不起，隨著我們進入這個漂白和建築材料的季節，對氯的需求將會持續下去。當然，在所有這些產品供應中，當然都存在一些區域壓力，包括氯和成本壓力，這些壓力可能出現在年底建設淡季，而 1 月和 12 月對漂白材料和水處理材料的需求也會出現。

But as you think about the onset of the construction season, the onset of the water treatment season, we've seen some stability, in fact, in costing some price increases in the first quarter.

但是，當你想到建築季節的開始、水處理季節的開始，我們看到了一些穩定性，事實上，第一季成本價格有所上漲。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

John Roberts, Mizuho.

瑞穗的約翰羅伯茲。

Thank you. I think a driver for HIP was gaining share at distributors because of your ability to fill more of an order than competitors that have more narrow product lines. How's that going? And does this kind of environment make it harder to gain share because it's more competitive, or is it easier to gain some share here?

謝謝。我認為 HIP 的一個驅動因素是獲得分銷商的份額，因為與產品線較窄的競爭對手相比，您能夠完成更多的訂單。怎麼樣？這種環境是否會因為競爭更加激烈而使獲得份額變得更加困難，還是會更容易獲得一些份額？

So John, I would say that -- and you can see from our prepared remarks that we expect to continue the revenue growth in our business, and I think that speaks directly to the question you're asking. I think the broad offering that we offer in our HIP segment has allowed us to continue to gain share in that market.

所以約翰，我想說的是——你可以從我們準備好的發言中看到，我們預計我們的業務收入將繼續增長，我認為這直接回答了你提出的問題。我認為我們在 HIP 領域提供的廣泛產品使我們能夠繼續在該市場中獲得份額。

Our focus is really meeting the needs of the customer's customer, which is the home builder. And in those dialogues that we have with the home builders, the nationwide builders, we find that there is really good selection of those product offerings, and that allows us to have that penetration into our distributor customers. And so we do see good growth in the range of product offerings with our distributors and ultimately going to our end customer.

我們的重點是真正滿足客戶的客戶，即房屋建築商的需求。在與房屋建築商、全國建築商的對話中，我們發現這些產品的選擇確實很豐富，這使我們能夠滲透到我們的經銷商客戶中。因此，我們確實看到我們向分銷商提供的產品範圍以及最終提供給最終客戶的產品範圍實現了良好的成長。

Michael Leithead, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的邁克爾·萊特黑德。

Thanks, good morning, team. First, can you talk more about the mix shift impact that you're calling within HIP? What businesses are generating above average margin that maybe you're seeing a disproportional slow down here?

謝謝，早安，團隊。首先，您能否詳細談談您在 HIP 中提到的混合轉變影響？哪些企業的利潤率高於平均水平，但您可能看到其利潤率出現不成比例的放緩？

Yeah, good question. So in the fourth quarter, because of some of the weather, we did see a pull forward of some of the pipe and fittings businesses in the fourth quarter. And of course with some of the winter season we saw and because of the temperatures, it's harder to put some of that material into the ground.

是的，好問題。因此，在第四季度，由於天氣原因，我們確實看到部分管道和配件業務在第四季度有所提前。當然，由於我們已經進入冬季，氣溫較低，將一些材料埋入地下變得更加困難。

The ground is frozen in many parts of the northern portions of the United States and Canada. And so let's pull on that in the early stages of the first quarter. Of course, that was backfilled with some of the volumes we saw in our exterior building products business, as well as in compounds. So it was really the pull forward of some of our pipe and fittings business in the fourth quarter.

美國和加拿大北部許多地方的地面都結冰了。因此，讓我們在第一季的早期階段就實現這一目標。當然，我們在外部建築產品業務以及化合物業務中看到的一些銷售彌補了這一缺口。因此，這實際上是我們第四季度部分管道和配件業務的提前。

Got it. That's helpful. And then second, is epoxy generating positive EBITDA today and do you need to take further actions to improve that business's profitability?

知道了。這很有幫助。其次，環氧樹脂目前是否產生正的 EBITDA，您是否需要採取進一步的措施來提高該業務的獲利能力？

It remains a challenge business, and you can see Mike, as we spoke to it, we're taking proactive steps really to really address this. You can see that we took the charge in the third quarter of last year and you can see in our prepared remarks we're moving forward to take steps to really improve the bottom line results of that business.

這仍然是一個充滿挑戰的業務，正如我們所說，麥克，我們正在採取積極措施來真正解決這個問題。您可以看到，我們在去年第三季就已開始負責這項工作，並且您可以在我們準備好的發言中看到，我們正在採取措施真正改善該業務的底線業績。

Aleksey Yefremov, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Aleksey Yefremov，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Good morning, everyone. You mentioned mix in your HIP sales in Q. Could you comment on what's happening in the pricing in specific categories, and I was wondering pipe and fittings were prices flat or up, and is there any difference between large and small diameter products?

大家早安。您在問題中提到了 HIP 銷售中的混合。您能否評論一下特定類別的定價情況，我想知道管道和配件的價格是持平還是上漲，大直徑和小直徑產品之間有什麼區別？

Yeah, there is more value really in the larger diameter business. As you might recall, we're the only player with really the pipe and the fittings combination. And so I would say that that's really where we're seeing the strength. I would say that when we think about price, it does vary across the country and so it's hard to quote an overall price, but I would say that with some of the push through in PVC resin, there's sometimes a bit of a lag in getting that all the way through in our pipe and fittings applications.

是的，更大直徑的業務確實更有價值。您可能還記得，我們​​是唯一一家真正擁有管道和配件組合的製造商。所以我想說，這就是我們真正看到的力量。我想說的是，當我們考慮價格時，它確實在全國各地有所不同，因此很難報出一個總體價格，但我想說，隨著 PVC 樹脂的一些推廣，在我們的管道和配件應用中，有時會出現一些滯後。

And so you would -- you have seen, therefore some margin compression in that pipe and fittings business. That's more of a lag than an inability to ultimately get that pricing of that resin through. But the value proposition that we see in the larger pipe business is really why we've continued to stay so very focused in that business. There are so many players and it's a much more fragmented market in the much smaller diameter forms of pipe. That's where we play a much smaller role because frankly, it's a smaller value-added segment of the business.

因此，您會看到，管道和配件業務的利潤率有所壓縮。這更多的是一種滯後，而不是無法最終確定該樹脂的定價。但我們在更大的管道業務中看到的價值主張才是我們繼續如此專注於該業務的真正原因。參與者非常多，而且小直徑管道市場的分散性也更大。在這方面我們發揮的作用很小，因為坦白說，這是業務中較小的增值部分。

Thanks, Steve, and staying with fit when you just mentioned that, overall, after discounts, it sounds like your PVC pricing was lower in Q1, just broadly petrochemical prices are lower, would any of that benefits HIP in the first half or this year in terms of margins?

謝謝，史蒂夫，您剛才提到，總體而言，折扣後，聽起來您的 PVC 價格在第一季度較低，總體而言石化價格較低，這對 HIP 上半年或今年的利潤率有什麼好處嗎？

I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't quite fully hear your question.

抱歉，您能再說一次嗎？我沒有完全聽清楚你的問題。

Sorry, the question really is about lower PVC prices and lower petrochemical prices in general, at least at this moment. And will any of that benefit HIP margins?

抱歉，問題實際上是關於 PVC 價格下跌以及石化產品價格普遍下跌，至少目前是這樣。這些會對 HIP 利潤率有利嗎？

Yeah, so as we think about the run-up and now we've actually seen some normalization of some of those energy prices that we experienced in the first quarter, but I would say some of the price nominations we've seen specifically in PVC have come through in terms of recognizing higher prices, but getting the early portions of the first quarter.

是的，當我們考慮價格上漲時，我們實際上已經看到第一季經歷的一些能源價格正常化，但我想說，我們看到的特別是聚氯乙烯 (PVC) 的一些價格提名已經實現了更高的價格，但只在第一季初期出現。

I hope I answered your question. I was trying to understand your question.

我希望我回答了你的問題。我試著理解你的問題。

Sorry, Steve, you broke up a little bit at least on my part. I'm not sure if it's an issue for the whole call, but the question was really about lower raw material costs for HIP.

對不起，史蒂夫，至少就我而言，你有點傷人了。我不確定這是否是整個通話的問題，但問題實際上是關於降低 HIP 的原材料成本。

Yeah, and so we're not really seeing a degradation in pricing in our building products business as a result of those lower prices in some of the inputs. As I mentioned earlier to one of the questioners, we see a much more stability in building products pricing and so therefore we don't see a transference of the high degree of volatility you typically see in the more commodity-oriented materials translated into building products. Prices tend to be significantly more stable on the building product side.

是的，因此，我們並沒有看到由於某些投入品價格下降而導致建築產品業務價格下降。正如我之前向一位提問者提到的那樣，我們看到建築產品定價更加穩定，因此，我們沒有看到在轉化為建築產品的更多以商品為導向的材料中通常看到的高波動性轉移。建築產品方面的價格趨於明顯穩定。

Josh Spector, UBS.

瑞銀的喬希·斯佩克特。

Hi, good morning. I wanted to ask specifically on PVC exports in PEM. Are you making any money on the exports of PVC at this point? I'm trying to understand kind of the negative EBIT and some of the shift down, and I guess depending on your answer there, do you need to flex any of your US operations just given some of your assets are net short ethylene and probably less advantaged? Are there opportunities for you to pull levers to improve that, or is my analysis wrong?

嗨，早安。我想具體詢問一下 PEM 的 PVC 出口情況。目前你們透過出口 PVC 賺到錢了嗎？我試圖理解息稅前利潤為負以及部分下滑的原因，我想根據您的回答，您是否需要調整您的美國業務，因為您的部分資產是乙烯淨空頭，可能優勢較小？您是否有機會採取措施來改善這種情況，或者我的分析是錯誤的？

Josh, I would say that the export pricing that we're seeing -- prices have trended higher. The domestic price we're seeing in PVC really reflect the export prices, but I agree that the export margin is very narrow, but it is a positive margin. So no need to really flex the, if you will, the front end of the of the manufacturing chain.

喬希，我想說，我們看到的出口價格呈現上漲趨勢。我們看到的 PVC 國內價格確實反映了出口價格，但我同意出口利潤率很窄，但這是一個正利潤。因此，如果你願意的話，沒有必要真正彎曲製造鏈的前端。

Okay, I'll leave it there. Thank you.

好的，我就把它留在那裡。謝謝。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的麥可·西森。

In terms of your outlook for 2Q, and I know you don't get into specifics, but directionally, should HIP EBITDA get better? And then if PEM could get better, why and what we need to drive that for an improvement in EBITDA for PEM in 2Q versus 1Q?

關於您對第二季的展望，我知道您沒有詳細說明，但從方向上看，HIP EBITDA 應該會好轉嗎？那麼，如果 PEM 能夠變得更好，那麼為什麼以及我們需要什麼來推動 PEM 在第二季度相對於第一季的 EBITDA 有所改善？

So Mike, as we look at some of the forecasters such as NAHB for housing starts and even housing permits for the '25 year, we see those numbers forecasted to be in the $1.3 million range. The second quarter and the third quarter tend to be seasonally strong from a construction perspective, and you can see our commentary and guidance for HIP that we do expect revenue growth.

因此，麥克，當我們查看一些預測數據（例如 NAHB 對 25 年住房開工量和住房許可量的預測）時，我們發現這些數字預計在 130 萬美元左右。從建築角度來看，第二季和第三季往往具有季節性強勁表現，您可以看到我們對 HIP 的評論和指導，我們確實預期收入會成長。

And so I do expect that as we start into the second quarter and the third quarter, we'll continue to see growth in those activities. You can see the guidance we're providing in revenue. So the ramp-up that we typically see, we do expect in the second quarter. And so I do expect we'll be able to continue to get traction really in that business, and that is really what is driving the PVC pricing. We've seen some traction in the first quarter in PVC pricing over the course of the first quarter so far this year, and that's really driving that.

因此我確實預計，隨著我們進入第二季度和第三季度，我們將繼續看到這些活動的成長。您可以看到我們在收入方面提供指導。因此，我們確實預計第二季會出現我們通常會看到的成長。因此我確實希望我們能夠繼續在該業務上取得進展，而這才是真正推動 PVC 定價的因素。今年第一季到目前為止，我們已經看到 PVC 價格上漲，這是真正的推動因素。

Okay, and then in PEM sequentially?

好的，然後按順序進入 PEM 嗎？

Yeah, and so with that sequential pickup that we're seeing in downstream demand in construction materials, those prices that we talked about earlier in PVC that we've been able to nominate in February and March, April settled relatively flat, we believe. Those sequentially should be constructive because you get the compounding effect of those prices coming through that we were able to put in place in the first quarter will carry on into the second quarter.

是的，隨著我們看到建築材料下游需求的連續回升，我們相信，我們之前談到的 PVC 價格（我們在 2 月和 3 月已經確定）在 4 月會相對穩定。這些連續性應該是建設性的，因為我們在第一季實施的價格的複合效應將延續到第二季​​。

Right, and the headwind in feedstocks in PEM for Q1, does that improve materially in 2Q?

是的，第一季 PEM 原料面臨的阻力在第二季有實質改善嗎？

So as we think about gas as an example for fuel, we've seen that gas is now in the neighborhood of about 3.5, and ethane has started to trend lower from the first quarter. Ethane ran up fairly significantly in the middle portion, the late portion of the first quarter, and ethane has trended lower over the month of April and so far in May relative to the peaks that we saw in the first quarter. So that will be a positive headwind or positive tailwind, I should say.

因此，當我們以天然氣作為燃料的例子時，我們發現天然氣現在的價格約為 3.5，而乙烷的價格從第一季開始呈下降趨勢。乙烷在第一季中後期大幅上漲，而相對於第一季的峰值，四月和五月迄今乙烷呈下降趨勢。所以我應該說，這將是積極的逆風或積極的順風。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Peter Osterland, Truist Securities.

彼得‧奧斯特蘭（Peter Osterland），Truist 證券公司。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. First, I wanted to ask how much of the $80 million of outage costs were planned versus unplanned in the first quarter, and could you size the expected costs associated with these outages in the second quarter?

嘿，早安。感謝您回答這些問題。首先，我想問一下，第一季 8000 萬美元的停電成本中有多少是計劃內的，有多少是計劃外的，您能否估算出第二季度這些停電預計產生的成本？

Yeah, and so Pete, the planned outages for the turnarounds was about two-thirds of that $80 million. And so as you heard me in my prepared remarks say that we're ramping up now to meet demand for the turnarounds that we took for both the Petro 1 unit that was in turnaround as well as our Geiser VCM tie-ins. So those units are ramping up over the course of April and May. I expect them to be in fuller rates in May.

是的，所以 Pete，計劃的檢修停工費用大約佔 8000 萬美元的三分之二。因此，正如您在我準備好的演講中聽到的那樣，我們現在正在加緊努力，以滿足對處於週轉狀態的 Petro 1 裝置以及我們的 Geiser VCM 連接裝置的周轉需求。因此，這些單位在四月和五月期間將會增加。我預計五月他們的利率會更高。

Understood, thank you. And then just as a follow-up, on your plans to reduce CapEx by 10% this year, if overall market conditions meaningfully worsen, how much could you or would you be willing to cut this year beyond that?

明白了，謝謝。然後作為後續問題，關於您今年削減 10% 資本支出的計劃，如果整體市場狀況嚴重惡化，您今年可以或願意削減多少？

Well, we actually will take a look at the market conditions, as you noted, and of course we won't pull back on spending related to safety and reliability, but we will be focused on making sure that any other activities are certainly being looked at very closely. But safety, of course, is job one will of course maintain a safe and operable plant and reliability continues to be an important element in our business.

嗯，正如您所說，我們實際上會關注市場狀況，當然我們不會削減與安全和可靠性相關的支出，但我們會專注於確保密切關注任何其他活動。但安全當然是首要任務，當然要維護工廠的安全和可運行，可靠性仍然是我們業務中的重要因素。

We'll take a look and see what those market conditions dictate, and if changes lower are dictated, we'll take those actions.

我們將觀察市場條件的要求，如果要求降低價格，我們將採取相應行動。

Matthew Blair, TPH.

馬修·布萊爾，TPH。

Great, thank you and good morning. Could you talk about the M&A pipeline, market weakness, shaking anything loose, or is M&A just not really a consideration right now? Thank you.

太好了，謝謝你，早安。您能否談談併購通路、市場疲軟、任何鬆動，或目前併購並不是真正值得考慮的事情？謝謝。

Matthew, the acquisition opportunities has always been an important element in the growth of our business, and I would say the dialogues that we have across both segments continue to be good. And I would say we're always thoughtful about how we deploy capital to an acquisition, but I would say there are opportunities in the marketplace, and we'll assess those and the value those bring on an ongoing basis.

馬修，收購機會一直是我們業務成長的重要因素，我想說我們在兩個部門之間的對話一直都很美好。我想說，我們總是認真考慮如何為收購部署資本，但我想說的是，市場上有機會，我們會持續評估這些機會及其帶來的價值。

But in markets such as this, there are always good opportunities, and we'll look at those and act on those if those are good opportunities. We have a strong balance sheet and an investment grade rated balance sheet. So with the cash and the underleveraged position we have, we see good opportunities. We'll be able to act accordingly.

但在這樣的市場中，總是存在著好的機會，如果是好的機會，我們就會看到並採取行動。我們擁有強勁的資產負債表和投資等級資產負債表。因此，憑藉我們擁有的現金和低槓桿地位，我們看到了良好的機會。我們將能夠採取相應的行動。

Sounds good. And then construction is weak across the board, but could you talk about any patterns and any differences you're seeing in residential versus commercial? Thank you.

聽起來不錯。建築業整體表現疲軟，您能談談住宅建築業和商業建築業的模式和差異嗎？謝謝。

Well, we don't really address the commercial market, so I can't speak to that market, but I will say that certainly some of the higher interest rates are causing some cautiousness by buyers. But I would say that our guidance has really been consistent, that we see housing starts last year at 1.3% consistent with the guidance we see from forecasters like NAHB and others such as John Burns, where forecasting starts to be in the $1.3 million range, and that's our view and that's the guidance on which we built our HIP guidance around.

嗯，我們實際上並不涉及商業市場，所以我無法談論這個市場，但我要說的是，一些較高的利率肯定會引起買家的謹慎。但我想說的是，我們的指導方針確實是一致的，我們預計去年新屋開工率為 1.3%，這與 NAHB 和 John Burns 等預測機構的指導方針一致，這些預測方針的起始價在 130 萬美元左右，這是我們的觀點，也是我們制定 HIP 指導方針所依據的指導方針。

Great thanks.

非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

凱文·麥卡錫（Kevin McCarthy），Vertical Research Partners。

Yes, thank you and good morning. As you look across your portfolio, do you see any examples of businesses where you think volumes are being negatively affected by the international trade chaos in say April or May or is that not the case and the volume experience is on par with what you would normally expect seasonally?

是的，謝謝你，早安。當您審視您的投資組合時，您是否看到一些企業的業務量受到 4 月或 5 月國際貿易混亂的負面影響，或者情況並非如此，業務量與您通常預期的季節性水平相當？

No, I'd say, Kevin, that there has been cautiousness, I would say, by customers for exports. And so therefore, I'd say that's caused some just cautiousness across the spectrum in many of our products. And so I would say that we're watching and in dialogue with the customer base that we have across all of our product spectrums. It's affecting not only our chemical customer base, but also our building products customer base with some of the uncertainty and so that's why I'd say that as we look forward, we're building plans to deal with the macroeconomic situation on both sides of our business.

不，凱文，我想說的是，客戶對出口一直持謹慎態度。因此，我想說，這導致我們許多產品都受到了一定程度的謹慎。所以我想說，我們正在觀察並與我們所有產品系列的客戶群進行對話。它不僅影響我們的化學品客戶群，也為我們的建築產品客戶群帶來了一些不確定性，因此我想說，展望未來，我們正在製定計劃來應對我們業務雙方的宏觀經濟狀況。

Okay, and then secondly, if I may, Steve, polyethylene spot export prices seem to be ebbing a little bit in recent weeks. Can you update us on what your expectations are for resin selling prices, polyethylene resin that is in the next month or two here, including the contract market?

好的，其次，如果可以的話，史蒂夫，聚乙烯現貨出口價格最近幾週似乎有所下降。您能否告訴我們您對未來一兩個月內聚乙烯樹脂銷售價格（包括合約市場）的預期？

Yeah, the contract market, April has not yet settled, even though we're the first few days of May at this stage. So it's hard to see where that will ultimately land. And certainly, those price nominations we've got a $0.05 price nomination that really has just been pushed to May if we don't get that achieved in April. So we'll take a look and see how the market begins to sort itself out, but as I say at this stage, April has not yet settled.

是的，四月的合約市場還沒有穩定下來，儘管目前已經是五月的頭幾天了。因此很難看出最終結果會如何。當然，在這些價格提名中，我們有 0.05 美元的價格提名，如果我們不能在 4 月實現這一目標，那麼這個提名實際上就會被推遲到 5 月。因此，我們將觀察市場如何開始自我調整，但正如我現階段所說，四月市場尚未穩定。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的 Arun Viswanathan。

Great, thanks for taking my question. I hope you guys are well. I guess, first off, just on caustic, I guess there's been some stability, some strength, do you expect that to continue. And I guess, are you guys kind of operating maybe slightly below the market just given some of the maintenance or where would you kind of characterize industry in your own operating rates? Thanks.

太好了，感謝您回答我的問題。我希望你們都好。我想，首先，就腐蝕性而言，我認為已經出現了一些穩定性和強度，您認為這種情況會持續下去嗎？我想，考慮到一些維護，你們的營運水平是否可能略低於市場水平，或者您會如何描述自己所在行業的營運率？謝謝。

So when you think of where we are, we've seen price traction in the first quarter that will carry over into the second quarter from a caustic perspective. And as I mentioned, we've had some turnaround activity with the VCM tie-ins that we had planned in the first quarter in Geismar. And so our operating rates in the first quarter were unusually low because of that turnaround, that planned turnaround activity.

因此，當您考慮我們所處的位置時，從尖刻的角度來看，我們已經看到第一季的價格走勢將延續到第二季​​。正如我所提到的，我們已經對第一季在蓋斯瑪 (Geismar) 計劃的 VCM 搭配進行了一些扭轉活動。因此，由於這種轉變和計劃中的轉變活動，我們第一季的營運率異常低。

But as we expect that the construction season will begin to pick up, the pull on chlorine will go into water treatment and into the construction materials. So I do expect some further pull on PVC. So I do expect operating rates for ourselves and for the industry to lift from where they were in the first quarter.

但隨著我們預計建築季節將開始回暖，對氯的需求將進入水處理和建築材料中。因此我確實預計 PVC 將會進一步上漲。因此我確實預計我們自己和整個行業的營運率將比第一季有所提高。

Okay, thanks, Steve. And just curious on the impact of China and Chinese production on PVC. I mean, historically, we had their (inaudible)-based production, but you could still ship North American PVC over there. Understanding you guys didn't necessarily participate in a lot of that, do you see any changes, in say the midterm PVC outlook?

好的，謝謝，史蒂夫。我只是好奇中國和中國生產對 PVC 的影響。我的意思是，從歷史上看，我們有基於他們的（聽不清楚）的生產，但你仍然可以將北美 PVC 運送到那裡。據我了解，你們不一定參與其中，你們認為中期 PVC 前景有什麼改變嗎？

Could it get more positive because of tariffs and maybe less imports or less Chinese exports entering different markets and maybe that would open up some extra export opportunities for you guys? Thanks.

由於關稅以及進口減少或中國出口減少進入不同市場，情況是否會變得更加積極，也許這會為你們帶來一些額外的出口機會？謝謝。

Yeah, I think it's a really good question, and it's hard to know exactly where all this may get sorted given the conversations on tariffs, but I would say that when we look at the opportunities being on the lower end of the cost curve positioned this very well. The integrated chain we have gives us an ability to run our plants at average higher operating rates, and so the VCM that we added gives us what I would call more elbow operating room and more reliability over the cycle.

是的，我認為這是一個非常好的問題，考慮到關稅的討論，很難確切地知道所有這些問題將如何解決，但我想說，當我們考慮成本曲線較低端的機會時，定位非常好。我們擁有的整合鏈使我們能夠以更高的平均營運率運行我們的工廠，因此，我們添加的 VCM 為我們提供了更多的操作空間和更高的週期可靠性。

And so we'll look for opportunities given how some of these trade negotiations may play through. Clearly, some of the trade patterns have changed as a result of not only those discussions with Asia players, but also some of the European players have imposed higher tariffs as well. So we've seen change in trade patterns and we'll certainly take every opportunity we can to leverage that.

因此，我們將根據部分貿易談判的進展尋找機會。顯然，一些貿易模式發生了變化，這不僅是與亞洲參與者的談判的結果，而且一些歐洲參與者也徵收了更高的關稅。因此，我們看到了貿易模式的變化，我們當然會抓住一切機會來利用這一點。

But as you know, most of our manufacturing capacity is here. Most of our demand is here. We see a large amount of demand for resin domestically and of course about a third of our PVC resin goes into building products. So our export exposure is much more limited than some of our other [vinyl] piers.

但正如你所知，我們的大部分製造能力都在這裡。我們的大部分需求都在這裡。我們發現國內對樹脂的需求很大，當然大約有三分之一的 PVC 樹脂用於建築產品。因此，我們的出口風險比其他一些[乙烯基]碼頭小得多。

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research, LLC.

米奇 (Frank Mitsch)，費米研究有限責任公司。

Thank you. Good morning and long time no speak. I want to come back to the HIP margin question. I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly, so would appreciate elucidation here. I thought I heard you say that some of the higher margin pipes and fittings were sold in the fourth -- was pulled forward into the fourth quarter. So that would lead to a negative mix effect in the first quarter.

謝謝。早上好，好久不見。我想回到 HIP 利潤率問題。我不確定我是否理解正確，因此希望得到這裡的解釋。我想我聽到您說過，一些利潤較高的管道和配件在第四季度售出 - 被提前到第四季度。因此這將導致第一季出現負面混合效應。

And so yeah, so you posted 20.4% EBITDA margins. And so with that negative mix effect in 1Q, one would suspect that we'd probably get a lift in 2Q in terms of margins, so it would be some number above the 20.4%, and so it's part and parcel of that. The full year guide in terms of margins was guided towards the low end of 20% to 22%. So is there some sense of conservatism here? Am I misunderstanding? Should we not expect margins in HIP to be better in 2Q versus 1Q? Any help would be appreciated.

是的，您公佈的 EBITDA 利潤率為 20.4%。因此，考慮到第一季的負面混合效應，人們可能會懷疑我們第二季的利潤率可能會有所提升，所以這個數字可能會高於 20.4%，所以這是其中不可或缺的一部分。全年利潤率預期為 20% 至 22% 的低端。那麼這裡是否存在某種保守主義的意識呢？我誤解了嗎？我們是否應該預期第二季的 HIP 利潤率會比第一季更好？任何幫助都將不勝感激。

Yeah, so Frank, as we think about the -- and you outlined the dynamics that I described in the first quarter quite well. And I would say as we think forward about the guidance that we're providing in margin, there is of course some degree of conservatism built in that forecast because I think the outlook that we see in interest rates and some of the dynamics really are unclear at this stage.

是的，弗蘭克，當我們思考時——你很好地概述了我在第一季描述的動態。我想說，當我們展望我們在保證金方面提供的指導時，當然，這種預測中存在一定程度的保守性，因為我認為我們在利率和一些動態方面看到的前景在現階段確實尚不明確。

So as you can see, we are seeing growth in share. You see that through the growth in revenue, and it's really unclear in terms of really how that will progress through the course of the year in terms of margin. We certainly will be looking to gain the share back in our higher value-added products, and pipe and fittings are one of those, but I would say that as we look forward, there is some conservative view built into that margin guidance.

正如您所看到的，我們的份額正在增長。你可以從收入的成長中看到這一點，但就利潤率而言，今年的收入成長將如何，這一點還不清楚。我們當然會尋求在高附加價值產品中重新獲得份額，管道和配件就是其中之一，但我想說，展望未來，利潤率指導中蘊含著一些保守的觀點。

Excellent, thank you. And then lastly, last quarters we've seen some buybacks. Unfortunately, [Mr. Market] seems to be giving you, another opportunity here. How should we think about Westlake and buybacks and to and beyond?

非常好，謝謝。最後，上個季度我們看到了一些回購。不幸的是，[Mr.市場似乎正在給你另一個機會。我們應該如何看待 Westlake 和回購以及未來發展？

Well, Frank, it certainly is -- as you know, we have authority from the Board to act as we see opportunities to do so and we have liquidity to be able to act. We'll be looking at where we think the best deployment of that capital is. And as you can see, we took those actions recently. And we'll assess those opportunities prospectively.

嗯，弗蘭克，確實如此——如你所知，董事會授權我們在看到機會時採取行動，而且我們擁有採取行動的流動性。我們將研究如何才能最好地部署這些資本。如您所見，我們最近採取了這些行動。我們將前瞻性地評估這些機會。

We obviously don't guide quarter by quarter our activity in the market, but certainly we'll look at those opportunities and assess is that the best place to deploy our capital? If it is, we'll certainly act, but there's some other good growth opportunities in our business. I mentioned some of the opportunities through acquisitions. We're also expanding our footprint in PVCO pipe as well in Wichita Falls, Texas. So there are some good opportunities that we see, but we'll also assess are there opportunities in our own stock.

顯然，我們不會逐季度指導我們在市場中的活動，但我們肯定會關注這些機會並評估這是否是部署我們資本的最佳地點？如果是的話，我們肯定會採取行動，但我們的業務中還有其他一些良好的成長機會。我提到了一些透過收購獲得的機會。我們也在德州威奇托福爾斯擴大 PVCO 管線業務。因此，我們看到了一些很好的機會，但我們也會評估我們自己的股票中是否有機會。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的文森安德魯斯。

Hi, this is Turner on for Vincent. It would be great to make sure that we're level setting for the $100 million of energy and feedstock headwinds correctly. Was all of this just related to energy markets tightening, or were there some one-time headwinds related to the winter storms you mentioned that we should back out ahead of accounting for energy costs quarter over quarter in the second quarter?

大家好，我是特納，為文森服務。確保我們正確設定 1 億美元能源和原料逆風的水平將會非常好。這一切是否僅僅與能源市場緊縮有關，還是與您提到的冬季風暴有關的一次性逆風，我們應該在第二季度按季度核算能源成本之前退出？

No, Turner, it was all related to just really the dynamics that you mentioned in the energy markets, both ethane, ethylene and that gas.

不，特納，這一切都與您提到的能源市場動態有關，包括乙烷、乙烯和天然氣。

Okay, great. It'd be great to get some color on CapEx as well in light of the $100 million reduction of your full year guide. Can you quantify your maintenance CapEx and what was taken out with this reduction?

好的，太好了。鑑於您的全年指引減少了 1 億美元，如果能對資本支出進行一些說明那就太好了。您能否量化您的維護資本支出以及透過此次減少支出了哪些部分？

Yeah, so part of that, of course, that was removed is really, as I mentioned earlier, we're looking at our operations in the epoxy arena that we that we took a charge for in the third quarter of 2024. As I mentioned, we're looking at actions related to our ECH and AC facilities there. So as we think about the charge that we took in the third quarter of last year, we do expect there'll be diminished capital spending in those operations in the Netherlands, but we'll also look across the entire organization and see are there opportunities to really tighten the belt on some of our operations.

是的，當然，其中一部分被刪除了，正如我之前提到的，我們正在研究我們在 2024 年第三季負責的環氧樹脂領域的運作。正如我所提到的，我們正在研究與那裡的 ECH 和 AC 設施相關的行動。因此，當我們考慮去年第三季所採取的措施時，我們確實預期荷蘭這些業務的資本支出將會減少，但我們也會審視整個組織，看看是否有機會真正縮減某些業務的開支。

So ordinary maintenance in the business runs in the neighborhood of $700 million to $800 million. And so therefore, as I mentioned, safety and reliability would not be those areas where we would be pulling back on capital.

因此，該業務的日常維護費用約為 7 億至 8 億美元之間。因此，正如我所提到的，安全性和可靠性不會是我們削減資本的領域。

(Operator Instructions) Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global Advisors.

（操作員指示） Hassan Ahmed，Alembic Global Advisors。

We've obviously over the last several quarters been hearing about a fair degree of sort of capacity rationalization happening on the ethylene, polyethylene side of things. Could you comment a bit on what you guys are hearing globally on the PVC side? And part and parcel with that, what the global cost curves are looking like within PVC.

顯然，在過去的幾個季度中，我們已經聽說乙烯、聚乙烯方面正在發生相當程度的產能合理化。您能否就全球範圍內關於 PVC 方面的消息發表一些評論？其中最關鍵的是 PVC 的全球成本曲線是什麼樣的。

Yeah, I mean, if you look at the PVC market, it's been an oversupplied market globally. I mean, there is overcapacity certainly in Asia. It's been a market that has tended to rationalize in Europe now. As you remember, Europe used to be an exporter of PVC across the world and because of raw material cost and certainly energy cost that has stopped. So the situation is not yet completely sorted out. There is still some rationalization that needs to take place in Europe.

是的，我的意思是，如果你看看 PVC 市場，你會發現全球市場一直供過於求。我的意思是，亞洲確實存在產能過剩。目前，歐洲市場已趨於合理化。大家應該還記得，歐洲曾經是全球 PVC 出口地，但由於原料成本和能源成本的原因，這一出口已經停止。所以情況還沒完全解決。歐洲仍需要進行一些合理化改革。

But you also see upstream on the ethylene side that some of the crackers that are operating in Europe are also not really profitable and you have started seeing some major producers to rationalize some of their production there. So I think there is still some way to go.

但你也會看到乙烯上游的部分，歐洲運作的一些裂解裝置實際上並沒有獲利，而且你已經開始看到一些主要生產商對其在歐洲的部分生產進行合理化調整。所以我認為還有一段路要走。

We are not really exposed in terms of ethylene in Europe. We are a buyer of ethylene, but we actually have seen a reduction in price in ethylene, and I think it's putting pressure certainly on ethylene producers in Europe. So I think there is still some ways to go in terms of restructuring around the world in some of these commodities.

我們在歐洲的乙烯業務方面實際上並沒有受到太大影響。我們是乙烯的買家，但實際上我們已經看到乙烯價格下降，我認為這無疑給歐洲的乙烯生產商帶來了壓力。因此我認為，全球範圍內某些商品的結構調整還有很長的路要走。

Very helpful. And as a follow-up, continuing with sort of the overcapacity theme, obviously we're sort of swimming in oversupply on the epoxy side of things as well. But then there are some glimmers of hope around the whole sort of anti-dumping sort of duties potentially being imposed. So where do we stand on that and are you guys in the camp that as and when those anti-dumping duties do get imposed, you could see at the very least a return to positive EBITDA there?

非常有幫助。作為後續行動，繼續討論產能過剩的主題，顯然我們在環氧樹脂方面也處於供應過剩的狀態。但圍繞著可能徵收的反傾銷稅，還是存在一些希望的曙光。那麼我們對此持什麼立場？你們是否認為，一旦徵收反傾銷稅，至少可以看到 EBITDA 恢復為正值？

So yes, these anti -- I mean, dumping have been somehow been put in place in the US and in Europe. I think there was an expectation in Europe that prices would start going up and we've seen a little bit of that. We've seen certainly a pickup, a small pickup in terms of demand, but the expectation that it's going to dramatically improve profitability, I think it's going to be a little bit difficult to achieve.

是的，這些反傾銷措施——我的意思是，美國和歐洲已經以某種方式實施了。我認為歐洲預計價格會開始上漲，而且我們已經看到了一些這樣的情況。我們確實看到了需求的回升，小幅回升，但要實現大幅提高獲利能力的預期，我認為會有點困難。

As a reminder, some of the major producers certainly out of Korea have not been impacted by some of these anti-dumping. And so tariffs and so that has put a little bit of a of a damp on our expectations of a quick return to high profitability. I would say that the situation in the US is pretty similar, and we've seen certainly better performance in the US, but not to the extent where the market has changed dramatically.

需要提醒的是，韓國的一些主要生產商肯定沒有受到這些反傾銷措施的影響。因此，關稅等因素在一定程度上抑制了我們快速恢復高獲利能力的預期。我想說，美國的情況非常相似，我們確實看到美國的表現更好，但還沒有達到市場發生巨大變化的程度。

Very helpful. Thank you so much.

非常有幫助。太感謝了。

Thank you. At this time, the Q&A session has now ended. Are there any closing remarks?

謝謝。至此，問答環節已經結束。最後還有什麼要說的嗎？

Thank you again for participating in today's call. We hope you will join us again for our next conference call to discuss our second-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，討論我們的第二季業績。

Thank you for participating in today's Westlake Corporation first-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 第一季財報電話會議。提醒一下，本次通話將在通話結束兩小時後開始重播。您可以透過 Westlake 的網站觀看重播。再見。