Westlake Corp (WLK) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westlake Corporation Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded today, August 5, 2025.

女士們、先生們，早安。感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Westlake Corporation 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）。請注意，今天的會議將於 2025 年 8 月 5 日錄製。

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

現在我想將電話轉給今天的第一位發言者，Westlake 副總裁兼財務主管 Johnathan 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 second quarter 2025 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 2025 年第二季的業績。今天與我一同出席的還有我們的執行董事長 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 Steve Bender 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.

在電話會議中，我們將提到我們的兩個報告部門：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）。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-馬克將發表一些總結性評論，然後我們將開始提問。

During the second quarter of 2025, we accrued expenses of $123 million and $7 million, respectively, to shut down the company's epoxy facility in Pernis, The Netherlands and temporarily ceased operations at a PVC resin production unit in China at the company's 95% owned Huasu joint venture.

2025 年第二季度，我們分別提列了 1.23 億美元和 700 萬美元的費用，用於關閉公司位於荷蘭佩爾尼斯的環氧樹脂工廠，並暫時停止了公司在中國擁有 95% 股權的華蘇合資企業的 PVC 樹脂生產裝置的運營。

We refer to these expense items, which in aggregate were $130 million as the identified items 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 items.

我們在收益報告和電話會議中將這些費用項目（總計 1.3 億美元）稱為已確定的項目。本次電話會議中提到的營業收入、EBITDA、淨收入和每股盈餘均不包括已確定專案的財務影響。

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針對我們採用非公認會計準則財務指標的基本業務績效。我們的收益報告中提供了這些非 GAAP 財務指標與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳表，您可以在我們網站的「投資者關係」部分找到該對帳表。

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的信念以及管理層所做的假設和當前可用的信息的前瞻性資訊。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 second 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.

今天上午，Westlake 發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了我們的第二季業績。文件可在我們網站 westlake.com 的新聞稿版塊取得。我們也附上了一份收益報告，可在我們網站的「投資者關係」版塊取得。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。

Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, August 5, 2025, and therefore, you are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay.

請注意，本次通話中報告的資訊僅截至今天（2025 年 8 月 5 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 web page 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?

現在我想把電話轉給 Jean-Marc Gilson。讓-馬克？

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us to discuss our second quarter 2025 results. For the second quarter of 2025, we reported EBITDA of $350 million (sic – see slide 2, "$340 million") on net sales of $3 billion. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, sales and EBITDA increased due to a seasonal increase in sales volume for most of the businesses in our HIP segment. HIP performed very well in the second quarter, delivering solid EBITDA of $275 million on sales of $1.2 billion, representing a strong 24% EBITDA margin.

謝謝你，約翰，大家早安。感謝您加入我們討論 2025 年第二季的業績。2025 年第二季度，我們報告的 EBITDA 為 3.5 億美元（原文如此 - 請參閱投影片 2「3.4 億美元」），淨銷售額為 30 億美元。與 2025 年第一季相比，由於我們 HIP 部門大多數業務的銷售量季節性成長，銷售額和 EBITDA 均有所增加。HIP 在第二季表現非常出色，銷售額達到 12 億美元，EBITDA 達到 2.75 億美元，EBITDA 利潤率高達 24%。

Our results demonstrate that in an operating environment that has grown more challenging with interest rates remaining elevated, a diversified and balanced operating model in HIP offers strategic benefits to help deliver performance in this market. Pipe and Fittings sales volume growth benefited from increasing demand for municipal water applications, driven in part by spending from the 2021 Infrastructure Act.

我們的結果表明，在利率持續高企、經營環境變得更具挑戰性的環境下，HIP 多元化、均衡的營運模式具有戰略優勢，有助於在該市場中取得業績。管道和配件銷售量的成長得益於市政供水需求的不斷增長，部分原因是受到《2021 年基礎設施法案》支出的推動。

The significant underspend in water infrastructure in the United States and the funds from the Infrastructure Act should continue to provide a solid foundation for our pipe and fitting sales for many years. HIP's building products sales volume was lower than the second quarter of 2024, reflecting the slowdown in North American residential construction activity. Pent-up demand, nevertheless, is high as people want and need homes.

美國在水利基礎設施方面的嚴重支出不足以及《基礎設施法案》的資金應該會在未來多年繼續為我們管道和配件的銷售提供堅實的基礎。HIP 的建築產品銷售量低於 2024 年第二季度，反映出北美住宅建築活動放緩。然而，由於人們想要並需要住房，被壓抑的需求仍然很高。

HIP's Building Products business benefits from a balanced portfolio of approximately 50% new construction-oriented sales and 50% repair and remodel-oriented sales. And this portfolio provides stability in the current housing market.

HIP 的建築產品業務受益於均衡的產品組合，其中約 50% 的銷售面向新建建築，50% 的銷售面向維修和改造。這一投資組合為當前的房地產市場提供了穩定性。

Turning to PEM. Earnings and margins were pressured by two primary factors. First, PEM sales volumes were impacted by lower production levels due to a high level of planned turnarounds and unplanned outages, which impacted second quarter of 2025 EBITDA by approximately $110 million. As we discussed on our first quarter earnings call, we began the tie-in of our new VCM capacity at our Geismar site during its plant turnaround.

轉向 PEM。獲利和利潤率受到兩個主要因素的壓力。首先，由於大量計劃內週轉和計劃外停機導致生產水準下降，PEM 銷售量受到影響，導致 2025 年第二季 EBITDA 減少約 1.1 億美元。正如我們在第一季財報電話會議上所討論的那樣，我們在蓋斯瑪工廠的工廠週轉期間開始在該工廠整合新的 VCM 產能。

Following the completion of the turnaround in the second quarter, Geismar slowly ramped up its operating rate with production expected to improve during the third quarter. Second, the cumulative impact of several quarters of soft global manufacturing activity caused growth in global demand for many chemical products to fall short of industry supply additions, primarily in Asia and over that period of time.

繼第二季完成扭虧為盈後，蓋斯瑪緩慢提高了開工率，預計第三季產量將會提高。其次，全球製造業活動連續幾季疲軟的累積影響，導致全球對許多化學產品的需求成長無法滿足產業供應增加的需求，尤其是在亞洲。

The resulting global oversupply in some chemical chains has created pressure on PEM's average sales price and EBITDA margin. In response to these factors, we are taking aggressive actions to improve PEM's financial results. Our PEM profitability improvement strategy is three-pronged: one, improving plant reliability. We have challenged the teams at the plants to address reliability and operations, and we are already seeing production improvements during the third quarter.

由此導致的一些化學鏈出現全球供應過剩，給 PEM 的平均銷售價格和 EBITDA 利潤率帶來了壓力。針對這些因素，我們正在採取積極措施來改善 PEM 的財務表現。我們的PEM獲利能力改善策略是三管齊下的：第一，提高工廠可靠性。我們向工廠的團隊提出了挑戰，要求他們解決可靠性和營運問題，我們已經看到第三季生產的改善。

Two, reducing our cost to improve our global competitiveness. During the first half of 2025, we achieved over $75 million of company-wide cost reductions towards our full year target of $150 million to $175 million. While we are pleased with this progress, given the protracted nature of the current downturn, we are expanding the scope and nature of our cost reduction efforts to target an additional $200 million of cost reductions by 2026.

二、降低成本，提高全球競爭力。2025 年上半年，我們實現了全公司超過 7,500 萬美元的成本削減，朝著 1.5 億至 1.75 億美元的全年目標邁進。雖然我們對這一進展感到滿意，但考慮到當前經濟低迷的長期性，我們正在擴大成本削減措施的範圍和性質，目標是到 2026 年再削減 2 億美元的成本。

And third, optimizing our footprint -- our manufacturing footprint. During the second quarter of 2025, we announced the plant closure of our Pernis epoxy site in the Netherlands, which will put our epoxy business on a path to profitability.

第三，優化我們的足跡－我們的製造足跡。2025 年第二季度，我們宣布關閉位於荷蘭佩爾尼斯 (Pernis) 的環氧樹脂工廠，這將使我們的環氧樹脂業務走上獲利之路。

So to summarize the quarter, we were very pleased with the continued solid performance of our HIP businesses, our experienced teams, our leading product positions, our broad geographical footprint and a diverse position serving both new construction and repair and remodel to provide valuable earnings stability and cash flow to the company. We also expect our three-pronged PEM profitability improvement strategy to enhance our globally competitive position and improve PEM's financial results.

總結本季度，我們對 HIP 業務的持續穩健表現、經驗豐富的團隊、領先的產品地位、廣泛的地理覆蓋範圍以及服務於新建築、維修和改造的多元化地位感到非常滿意，這些為公司提供了寶貴的盈利穩定性和現金流。我們也希望，我們的三管齊下的 PEM 獲利能力改善策略能夠增強我們的全球競爭地位並改善 PEM 的財務表現。

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

現在，我想將我們的電話轉給史蒂夫，以提供有關我們 2025 年第二季財務業績的更多詳細資訊。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Jean-Marc, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, my comments regarding income from operations, EBITDA, net income and earnings per share all exclude the financial impact of these identified items. Westlake reported a net loss of $12 million or $0.09 per share in the second quarter on sales of $3 billion. Net income for the second quarter of 2025 improved by $28 million compared to the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to a seasonal increase in HIP sales volumes and margins, partially offset by an approximately $30 million higher impact from planned turnarounds and unplanned outages in PEM.

謝謝你，讓-馬克，大家早安。提醒一下，我對營業收入、EBITDA、淨收入和每股盈餘的評論均不包括這些已確定項目的財務影響。Westlake 報告稱，第二季銷售額為 30 億美元，淨虧損 1,200 萬美元，即每股 0.09 美元。2025 年第二季的淨收入與 2025 年第一季相比增加了 2800 萬美元，這主要是由於 HIP 銷售量和利潤率的季節性增長，但 PEM 的計劃內週轉和計劃外停機造成的約 3000 萬美元的更高影響部分抵消了這一影響。

When compared to the second quarter of 2024, net income decreased by $325 million due to higher North American feedstock and energy costs and lower average sales price in each segment. For the second quarter of 2025, our utilization of the FIFO method of accounting resulted in an unfavorable pretax impact of $13 million in our PEM segment compared to what earnings would have been reported on the LIFO method. This is only an estimate and has not been audited.

與 2024 年第二季相比，由於北美原料和能源成本上漲以及各部門平均銷售價格下降，淨收入減少了 3.25 億美元。2025 年第二季度，我們採用先進先出 (FIFO) 會計方法，導致 PEM 部門的稅前收益與採用後進先出 (LIFO) 方法報告的收益相比產生不利影響，為 1300 萬美元。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. Our HIP segment performed very well, and we are very pleased with the stability and resiliency of the portfolio of the business that we have assembled. At the same time, our PEM segment was impacted by production disruptions and the continued global oversupply in some chemical chains, but the profitability improvement strategy that we are implementing should result in better performance with an improved cost position.

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。我們的 HIP 部門表現非常出色，我們對所組成的業務組合的穩定性和彈性感到非常滿意。同時，我們的PEM部門受到生產中斷和某些化學鏈持續的全球供應過剩的影響，但我們正在實施的獲利能力改善策略應該會帶來更好的業績和更好的成本狀況。

Moving to the specifics of our segment performance. Our Housing and Infrastructure Products segment produced EBITDA of $275 million on $1.1 billion of sales. When compared to the first quarter of 2025, HIP segment sales rose 16%, driven by a 14% increase in sales volumes as a result of growth for pipe and fittings and a seasonal increase in building products demand. Average sales price increased 2% sequentially, driven by price increase initiatives in building products and global compounds to pass through rising input costs.

轉向我們各部門表現的具體細節。我們的住房和基礎設施產品部門的銷售額為 11 億美元，息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (EBITDA) 為 2.75 億美元。與 2025 年第一季相比，HIP 部門銷售額增長了 16%，這得益於管道和配件增長以及建築產品需求的季節性增長導致銷量增長了 14%。平均銷售價格較上季上漲 2%，這得益於建築產品和全球化合物的漲價舉措，以轉嫁不斷上升的投入成本。

The strong sales growth volume drove HIP segment EBITDA margin to a solid 24% from 20% in the first quarter of 2025. When compared to the second quarter of 2024, HIP EBITDA decreased $61 million due to 2% decline in sales volume and a 1% decline in average sales prices.

強勁的銷售量成長推動 HIP 部門 EBITDA 利潤率從 2025 年第一季的 20% 增至 24%。與 2024 年第二季相比，由於銷售量下降 2% 和平均銷售價格下降 1%，HIP EBITDA 減少了 6,100 萬美元。

The sales volume decline was driven by lower customer demand in our Global Compounds and Building Products business units as a result of slower residential construction activity that more than offset -- that more than offset volume for our pipe and fittings business, a result of solid demand for growth in the municipal water applications.

銷售下降是由於住宅建築活動放緩導致我們的全球化合物和建築產品業務部門的客戶需求下降，這抵消了市政供水應用需求增長強勁導致的管道和配件業務銷售的下降。

Our HIP strategy is and has remained clear. We're providing our customers with products to address affordability and adapting our product offering and manufacturing footprint as the market evolves. Turning to our PEM segment.

我們的 HIP 策略一直都很明確。我們為客戶提供滿足價格負擔能力的產品，並隨著市場的發展調整我們的產品供應和製造足跡。轉向我們的 PEM 部分。

Second quarter sales of $1.8 billion fell by $57 million from the first quarter 2025, driven by a 6% decline in sales volume as a result of a more significant impact from planned turnarounds and outages as well as export sales volume disruptions created by tariff uncertainty during the second quarter.

第二季銷售額為 18 億美元，較 2025 年第一季下降 5,700 萬美元，原因是由於計畫內檢修和停產的影響更為顯著，以及第二季關稅不確定性造成的出口銷售量中斷，導致銷售額下降 6%。

Average sales price increased 2%, driven by higher chlorine, caustic soda and PVC resin prices. PEM segment EBITDA of $52 million in the second quarter decreased by $21 million from the first quarter of 2025 as a result of the 6% decline in sales volume.

受氯、燒鹼和聚氯乙烯樹脂價格上漲的推動，平均銷售價格上漲了2%。PEM 部門第二季的 EBITDA 為 5,200 萬美元，由於銷售量下降 6%，較 2025 年第一季減少 2,100 萬美元。

On a year-over-year basis, PEM EBITDA of $52 million was below second quarter of 2024 EBITDA of $391 million due to $83 million of higher ethane and natural gas costs, a $67 million higher year-over-year impact from planned turnarounds and unplanned outages and a 2% decline in average sales prices driven by lower polyethylene and PVC resin prices.

與去年同期相比，PEM 的 EBITDA 為 5,200 萬美元，低於 2024 年第二季的 EBITDA 3.91 億美元，原因是乙烷和天然氣成本增加了 8,300 萬美元，計劃內檢修和計劃外停機造成的同比影響增加了 6,700 萬美元，聚乙烯和 PVC 樹脂價格下降 2%。

As Jean-Marc mentioned, during the second quarter, we announced a plan to close our epoxy site in Pernis in the Netherlands. Since this acquisition in February of 2022, profitability at this site deteriorated significantly as a result of higher European feedstock and energy costs due to the war in Ukraine and low-priced Asian exports entering the global market.

正如 Jean-Marc 所提到的，在第二季度，我們宣布了關閉位於荷蘭佩爾尼斯的環氧樹脂工廠的計畫。自 2022 年 2 月收購以來，由於烏克蘭戰爭導致歐洲原料和能源成本上漲以及低價亞洲出口產品進入全球市場，該工廠的獲利能力大幅下降。

As a result, Pernis experienced losses in excess of $100 million a year, which drove the June site closure announcement. Following the Pernis closure announcement, we believe that our epoxy business is now on a path to return to profitability in 2026.

結果，佩爾尼斯每年的損失超過 1 億美元，這導致該公司 6 月宣布關閉工廠。在宣布關閉 Pernis 工廠後，我們相信我們的環氧樹脂業務將在 2026 年恢復盈利。

Shifting to our balance sheet as of June 30, 2025, cash and investments were $2.3 billion and total debt was $4.7 billion with a staggered long-term fixed maturity debt schedule. For the second quarter of 2025, net cash provided by operating activities was $135 million, while capital expenditures were $267 million. We continue to look for opportunities to strategically deploy our balance sheet in order to continue to create long-term value.

截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日的資產負債表顯示，現金和投資為 23 億美元，總債務為 47 億美元，且採用交錯的長期固定到期債務計畫。2025年第二季度，經營活動提供的淨現金為1.35億美元，資本支出為2.67億美元。我們繼續尋找機會策略性地部署我們的資產負債表，以便繼續創造長期價值。

Now let me provide some guidance for your models. We completed our turnarounds and VCM tie-in at Geismar. However, our integrated fluorovinyl system is continuing to slowly ramp up production during the third quarter. We expect fluorovinyls production sales volumes to be better in the third quarter, and thus, we anticipate the impact to earnings from production disruptions in the third quarter will be less than we experienced in the second quarter.

現在讓我為您的模型提供一些指導。我們在蓋斯瑪完成了周轉和 VCM 連接。然而，我們的綜合氟乙烯基系統在第三季度繼續緩慢提高產量。我們預計第三季氟乙烯基的生產銷售量將會更好，因此，我們預計第三季生產中斷對收益的影響將小於第二季。

With the slowdown in North American residential construction activity since the beginning of the year, we now expect 2025 Housing and Infrastructure Products revenue to be in the range of $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion, with an EBITDA margin between 20% and 22%. We continue to expect total capital expenditures for the company to be approximately $900 million.

由於今年年初以來北美住宅建築活動放緩，我們現在預計 2025 年住房和基礎設施產品收入將在 42 億美元至 44 億美元之間，EBITDA 利潤率將在 20% 至 22% 之間。我們繼續預期該公司的總資本支出約為 9 億美元。

In the first half of 2025, we achieved over $75 million toward our 2025 company-wide savings target of $150 million to $170 million (sic – see slide 2, "$175 million"), and we're taking actions to drive an additional $200 million of cost reductions by 2026 as part of our PEM profitability improvement plan. For the 2025 year, we expect cash interest expense to be approximately $160 million.

2025 年上半年，我們已實現超過 7,500 萬美元的成本削減目標，即 2025 年全公司範圍內節省 1.5 億至 1.7 億美元（原文如此 - 參見幻燈片 2“1.75 億美元”），並且我們正在採取行動，力爭到 2026 年成本提高 2 億美元的成本，這是我們提升計劃的一部分。到 2025 年，我們預計現金利息支出約為 1.6 億美元。

Now let me turn the call over to Jean-Marc to provide a current outlook for our business. Jean-Marc?

現在，讓我將電話轉給 Jean-Marc，讓他介紹我們業務的當前前景。讓-馬克？

Thank you, Steve. Against the backdrop of soft macroeconomic conditions and slower North American construction activity, our HIP team is delivering sales similar to prior year levels by being a supplier of choice with faster-growing building product customers.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。在宏觀經濟條件疲軟和北美建築活動放緩的背景下，我們的 HIP 團隊透過成為快速成長的建築產品客戶的首選供應商，實現了與去年水準相似的銷售額。

Sales volume growth for our pipe and filling is driven by megatrends in water and supported by municipal infrastructure investment as well as the growing use of PVC pipe in municipal infrastructure as compared to competing materials such as concrete and ductile iron.

我們的管道和填料的銷售量增長受到水務大趨勢的推動，並受到市政基礎設施投資以及與混凝土和球墨鑄鐵等競爭材料相比 PVC 管道在市政基礎設施中的使用日益增加的支持。

HIP total margins also remain solid and are indicative of the strong value of our brands and the significant value that our service-oriented business model delivers to our customers. While the long-term outlook for the housing market remains favorable, driven by demographics and undersupply of homes, we recognize the current volatility and uncertainty, and we will continue to execute our winning HIP strategy in a disciplined manner to enhance the value of our business.

HIP 總利潤率也保持穩健，這表明我們的品牌具有強大的價值，而我們的服務導向的業務模式為客戶帶來了巨大的價值。儘管受人口結構和住房供應不足的推動，房地產市場的長期前景依然看好，但我們認識到當前的波動性和不確定性，我們將繼續以嚴謹的方式執行我們成功的 HIP 策略，以提升我們業務的價值。

Longer term, we remain very positive on the outlook for our HIP business to organically grow at a 5% to 7% compound annual growth rate. We expect this growth to come both from market growth such as the need for homebuilding to recover from the 10-plus years of underbuilding and our position as a leading supplier to the faster-growing customers in the market.

從長遠來看，我們仍然非常看好 HIP 業務的前景，認為其將以 5% 至 7% 的複合年增長率實現有機成長。我們預計，這一成長既來自市場成長，例如房屋建築需要從十多年的建設不足中恢復，也來自我們作為市場上快速成長客戶的領先供應商的地位。

We also continue to evaluate opportunities to grow our HIP businesses through acquisitions to broaden our product portfolio and deepen our relationship with our key customers. Overall, we continue to see a very bright future for HIP.

我們也將繼續評估透過收購來發展 HIP 業務的機會，以擴大我們的產品組合併加深與主要客戶的關係。總體而言，我們仍然看到 HIP 的光明前景。

Turning to our PEM segment near-term macroeconomic conditions show signs of demand stabilizing, albeit at lower levels than we would like. ISM manufacturing index readings in the US, Europe and China have fluctuated in a relatively narrow range at or slightly below 50 nearly every month this year.

轉向我們的 PEM 部門，近期宏觀經濟狀況顯示出需求穩定的跡象，儘管水準低於我們的預期。今年以來，美國、歐洲和中國的ISM製造業指數幾乎每個月都在50或略低於50的相對窄幅區間波動。

As we look ahead to the second half of 2025, we are seeing stable demand for our PEM materials, which combined with improved production rates should lead to an increase in our PEM sales volumes compared to the first half of 2025.

展望 2025 年下半年，我們看到對 PEM 材料的需求穩定，再加上生產力的提高，我們的 PEM 銷售量將比 2025 年上半年增加。

We are responding to the business environment in our PEM segment and are implementing our three-pronged PEM profitability improvement strategy to improve plant reliability, accelerate cost reduction plans to improve our global competitiveness and optimize our manufacturing footprint. These actions will meaningfully improve our PEM segment profitability and cash flows.

我們正在響應 PEM 部門的商業環境，並正在實施三管齊下的 PEM 盈利能力改進策略，以提高工廠可靠性、加快成本削減計劃以提高我們的全球競爭力並優化我們的製造足跡。這些措施將顯著提高我們 PEM 部門的獲利能力和現金流。

Before I open the call to your questions, I want to close by reminding you of Westlake's foundational strength, which serve us really well. These strengths include a diversified and complementary portfolio of businesses, our vertically integrated business model, our globally advantaged feedstock and energy position in the US and our investment-grade balance sheet with $2.3 billion of cash and securities.

在我開始回答你們的問題之前，我想最後提醒你們 Westlake 的基礎實力，這對我們非常有幫助。這些優勢包括多元化和互補的業務組合、我們的垂直整合業務模式、我們在美國全球優勢的原料和能源地位以及我們擁有 23 億美元現金和證券的投資級資產負債表。

As we progress through 2025, we will continue to lean on and improve these attributes to continue to create value for our shareholders.

隨著我們邁向 2025 年，我們將繼續依靠和改進這些屬性，繼續為我們的股東創造價值。

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

非常感謝您收聽我們的第二季財報電話會議，現在我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。

Gerald, we will now take questions.

傑拉爾德，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。

A question on the HIP guidance. I think previously, you had some price mix headwinds that have you pointing to the lower end of the margin range. And now the sales guide is lower, but the margin guidance is intact. Should we still expect margins on the low end? Or have some of those mix headwinds normalized versus your prior expectations?

關於 HIP 指導的一個問題。我認為之前你們遇到了一些價格組合阻力，導致你們的利潤率處於較低水準。現在銷售指導價較低，但利潤指導價維持不變。我們是否仍應預期低端利潤率？或者與您先前的預期相比，其中一些混合逆風是否已經正常化？

Yes, it's a good question, Patrick. And as we think about the guidance we're providing, we're simply reflecting the realities we see in the building -- residential building and construction markets. And so I'd still guide you to the range that we provided of 20% to 22%. Obviously, we delivered a strong quarter this year, and I would expect we'll continue to see results as we go through the stronger periods of 2Q and 3Q in the construction year. But our guidance still remains really in that 20% to 22% range.

是的，這是個好問題，派崔克。當我們思考所提供的指導時，我們只是反映了我們在建築物——住宅建築和建築市場中看到的現實。因此我仍然會指導您達到我們提供的 20% 到 22% 的範圍。顯然，我們今年的一個季度表現強勁，我預計，隨著我們經歷建設年度第二季和第三季的強勁時期，我們將繼續看到業績。但我們的預期仍在 20% 至 22% 的範圍內。

Great. And for my follow-up, the biggest change in the tariff regime has been fresh tariffs on Brazil, the threat of retaliatory tariffs. How should we think about the risk to both chlorovinyls and caustic soda, given this has been such an attractive export market for the industry and for Westlake?

偉大的。我的後續問題是，關稅制度的最大變化是對巴西徵收新關稅，並威脅報復性關稅。鑑於氯乙烯和燒鹼對於該行業和 Westlake 來說都是一個如此有吸引力的出口市場，我們應該如何看待氯乙烯和燒鹼的風險？

Yes. So Patrick, a good question on exports, let's say, caustic into Brazil, as you raised. Our sales are direct to customers in the alumina and paper markets. And those markets are really export markets. So there's an opportunity for them to access duty drawback. And so we haven't seen really an impact really in that -- in those tariffs at this point in time. We'll continue to monitor the situation, but we believe that we're well positioned with those customers.

是的。派崔克，正如你所提出的，關於向巴西出口腐蝕性物質，這是一個好問題。我們的銷售直接面向氧化鋁和紙張市場的客戶。這些市場其實就是出口市場。因此他們有機會獲得退稅。因此，我們目前還沒有看到這些關稅真正產生影響。我們將繼續關注情況，但我們相信，我們在服務這些客戶方面處於有利地位。

Duffy Fischer, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的達菲費雪。

I want to go back to HIP if we could. So you talked about earlier some areas of HIP that we're seeing pricing pressure, all of the low gauge pipe. Could you go through, I guess, two questions there. What percent of the portfolio do you think is actually seeing kind of excessive competitive pricing versus what part is holding stable?

如果可以的話我想回到 HIP。所以您之前談到我們看到 HIP 某些領域價格壓力，所有低規格管道。我想您能解答一下這兩個問題嗎？您認為投資組合中有多少比例實際上出現了過度競爭定價，而有多少部分保持穩定？

And then just the second part, at the midpoint, your revenue is now down 5%. But again, the margins are stable. So why isn't there a decremental margin degrading. Is there a mix shift improvement in there? Just kind of -- versus first quarter to today, why don't margins change?

然後是第二部分，在中間點，你的收入現在下降了 5%。但利潤率仍然穩定。那為什麼利潤率沒有下降呢？其中混合轉變有改進嗎？只是有點——與第一季相比，為什麼利潤率沒有變化？

And so Duffy, as you think about the commentary we provided, you've seen really the broad portfolio offering that we have and addressing and adapting to the market conditions within the Building Products business. I continue to call out the strength in our water business going into our pipes and fittings business, but continue to recognize that as large diameter for water. And that business is really being supported by the Infrastructure Act as well as state cities and counties.

因此，達菲，當您思考我們提供的評論時，您會看到我們確實提供了廣泛的產品組合，並且能夠應對和適應建築產品業務中的市場狀況。我繼續強調我們的水務業務在管道和配件業務方面的優勢，但繼續認識到這是因為水的直徑很大。這項業務確實得到了《基礎設施法案》以及州、市和縣的支持。

But certainly, I would say that we've certainly had to position the business and adapt with our compounds business, our building products -- exterior building products business and our pipe business to the conditions that we see. So the range of the products we think and the depth of the products we think continue to be able to be addressing this changing and evolving market.

但當然，我想說，我們必須定位業務，並根據我們所看到的情況調整我們的複合材料業務、建築產品——外部建築產品業務和管道業務。因此，我們認為產品的範圍和深度能夠繼續滿足這個不斷變化和發展的市場的需求。

Great. And then if we just go back from the less downtime in Q3 versus Q2 from the ramp-up of the plant, roughly how much less hit do you have from that? And what were operating rates chlorovinyls Q2 to Q3, how much do we actually get to improve operating rates?

偉大的。那麼，如果我們回顧一下第三季與第二季相比，由於工廠產能增加而導致的停機時間減少的情況，那麼大致會減少多少打擊呢？那麼，第二季至第三季氯乙烯的開工率是多少？我們實際上能將開工率提高多少？

As you can see in our prepared remarks that we continue to see improvements quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter, but you could also see that we're continuing to ramp up our chlorovinyl businesses in the third quarter. So while I see some improvement, we won't be fully clear of this in the third quarter.

正如您在我們準備好的評論中所看到的，我們在第三季度繼續看到環比改善，但您也可以看到我們在第三季度繼續擴大我們的氯乙烯業務。因此，儘管我看到了一些改善，但我們在第三季還不會完全清楚這一點。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

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

This is Adam on for Arun. If we were to dig a little bit more into bridging into the second half of the year, assuming by the end of the year, some of the planned and unplanned turnarounds are backed out, do you have any other major turnarounds planned at this time? And of that $110 million impact, approximately how much of that was planned versus unplanned?

這是亞當 (Adam) 代替阿倫 (Arun)。如果我們進一步深入研究下半年的情況，假設到年底，一些計劃內和計劃外的扭轉措施都會被取消，那麼您目前還有其他重大扭轉計劃嗎？在這 1.1 億美元的影響中，大約有多少是計劃內的，有多少是計劃外的？

Yes. As you can see, we've taken a huge effort in the first half of the year with planned outages, but obviously, we've had some of these unplanned outages. And so the great majority of this was the planned turnarounds.

是的。正如您所看到的，我們在上半年為計劃內停機做出了巨大努力，但顯然，我們也遇到了一些計劃外停機。因此，其中絕大部分都是計劃內的轉變。

As you recall, we had an ethylene turnaround as well as the VCM tie-ins in Geismar. The majority of this was obviously in the planned arena. As we look into the back half of '25, we really have gotten beyond the major turnaround activity in '25. And so I don't expect a continuance of these planned events for the back half of this year.

您還記得，我們在蓋斯瑪 (Geismar) 實現了乙烯轉產，並且實現了 VCM 連接。其中大部分顯然是在計劃好的範圍內。當我們展望 25 年下半年時，我們確實已經超越了 25 年的重大轉變活動。因此，我預計今年下半年不會繼續舉辦這些計畫中的活動。

Okay. And looking at your additional $200 million cost improvement for next year, how much of that -- is that all Pernis included in that, the $100 million improvement from that? And what would the balance be made up of? Is that primarily going to be additional footprint rationalization? Or is there some other headcount reduction included in that as well?

好的。看看您明年額外花費 2 億美元的成本改善，其中有多少——這其中是否包括了 Pernis 的全部資金，即由此獲得的 1 億美元改善？那麼平衡又是由什麼組成的呢？這主要是為了進一步合理化足跡嗎？或是其中還包含其他裁員？

Yes. Thank you for the question. These are really cost reduction initiatives that are across the entire PEM footprint. And so as we think about that, it allows us to address cost in all areas, whether they're in contract labor, whether it's in maintenance and a wide variety of other areas. But this is across the entire PEM footprint and not really targeted solely in the actions that we've taken in our Pernis location. This is really on top of the actions that we've already taken.

是的。謝謝你的提問。這些實際上是涉及整個 PEM 領域的成本削減措施。因此，當我們考慮到這一點時，它使我們能夠解決所有領域的成本，無論是合約工、維護還是其他各種領域。但這涉及整個 PEM 業務範圍，而不僅僅針對我們在佩爾尼斯 (Pernis) 地區採取的行動。這實際上是在我們已經採取的行動之上。

John Roberts, Mizuho.

瑞穗的約翰羅伯茲。

On M&A, could valuations become cheap enough in PEM opportunities that you would acquire something significant there? Or is your M&A focus exclusively over on the hip side?

在併購方面，PEM 機會的估值是否足夠便宜，以便您能從中獲得一些重要的收益？或者您的併購重點是否僅僅集中在時尚領域？

No, John, it's a good question. We continue to look across the broad spectrum of opportunities, whether they're in the HIP segment or in the PEM segment. And that really is -- the opportunity is really driven by the valuation opportunity we see in one or the other segment.

不，約翰，這是個好問題。我們將繼續尋找廣泛的機會，無論它們是在 HIP 領域還是在 PEM 領域。事實確實如此——機會實際上是由我們在某個領域看到的估值機會所驅動的。

So there isn't necessarily a strong bias one or the other. It's really where the most opportunities present themselves. The strongest side of our business clearly is on the HIP side of the business. But clearly, should there be value opportunities that we see in chemicals, we'll certainly act on those opportunities as well.

因此，不一定存在對某一方的強烈偏見。這確實是最多機會出現的地方。我們業務中最強大的方面顯然是 HIP 業務。但顯然，如果我們在化學品領域看到價值機會，當然也會抓住這些機會。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的文森安德魯斯。

In PEM, as part of the initiatives to improve plant reliability, will there be a CapEx component of that either onetime in nature? Or is there any risk that your maintenance CapEx needs to be revised higher?

在 PEM 中，作為提高工廠可靠性措施的一部分，其中是否會有一次性的資本支出部分？或者您的維護資本支出是否有需要上調的風險？

No, Vincent, we fully expect that the capital programs we have in place address this, and this is not an issue that requires a large capital outlay. So nothing incrementally beyond the capital programs that we've been discussing all year.

不，文森特，我們完全相信我們現有的資本計畫能夠解決這個問題，而且這不是一個需要大量資本支出的問題。因此，除了我們全年都在討論的資本計劃之外，沒有任何進展。

Okay. And then if I could just ask you in terms of HIP, is it a fair assessment from the answers already that we'll see a similar margin in 3Q as we saw in 2Q and then sort of the swing factor of where you wind up for the full year is going to be how soft 4Q is?

好的。然後，如果我可以就 HIP 問題向您提問，那麼根據現有的答案，是否可以公平地評估，我們將在第三季度看到與第二季度類似的利潤率，然後全年最終走勢的波動因素將是第四季度的疲軟程度？

Yes. The fourth quarter is always uncertain because of seasonal matters. And so we've seen periods of time where we continue to build through October and November. So it really is a function of the weather and the demand picture, of course, on top of that.

是的。由於季節因素，第四季度總是充滿不確定性。因此，我們看到十月和十一月的一段時間我們一直在繼續建造。因此，這實際上取決於天氣和需求情況。當然，最重要的是這些。

But typically, the strongest quarters are the second and third quarters, and we continue to see continued construction activity carrying us through July into August now. And so I have still an expectation that third quarter will continue to be that seasonal pattern that we've discussed historically.

但通常情況下，最強勁的季度是第二和第三季度，我們繼續看到持續的建築活動持續到七月至八月。因此我仍然預計第三季將繼續呈現我們歷史上討論過的季節性模式。

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research LLC.

米奇 (Frank Mitsch)，費米研究有限責任公司。

As someone who probably ought to go back and take a class on tariff impacts 101, I'm wondering if you could elaborate on the comment about your caustic exports to Brazil and the fact that some of that is being processed there and then you'll have a duty drawback.

作為一個可能應該回去學習關稅影響 101 課程的人，我想知道您是否可以詳細說明有關您向巴西出口腐蝕性產品的評論，以及其中一些產品在巴西進行加工然後您將獲得關稅退稅的事實。

So just conceptually, how much -- of the amount that you're exporting of caustic to Brazil, how much is subject to this duty drawback? And if you could just elaborate on what's exactly that all means.

那麼從概念上講，你們向巴西出口的腐蝕劑中，有多少需要繳納關稅退稅？如果您能詳細說明一下這一切到底意味著什麼的話。

Yes, Frank, it isn't really our ability to see in detail how much the paper and alumina business is exported out of Brazil, but I would say the great majority of it is, as we understand from our customers. So these are direct sales into those individual customers.

是的，弗蘭克，我們實際上無法詳細了解巴西出口了多少紙張和氧化鋁業務，但我想說，絕大多數都是出口的，正如我們從客戶那裡了解到的那樣。所以這些都是針對個人客戶的直接銷售。

As we understand the regulations and opportunities in Brazil, if those products are reexported out of Brazil, they have the ability to have duty drawback. And so as long as they're exporting some portion or a majority of the portion, as we understand, they're able to then have that duty drawn back and be insulated from that portion they export. That's our understanding from our customers.

據我們了解，巴西的法規和機會，如果這些產品重新出口到巴西境外，則可以享有退稅。因此，只要他們出口一定比例或大部分產品，據我們了解，他們就可以取消該關稅，並免除其出口部分的責任。這是我們從客戶那裡了解到的。

So that would -- it would go to 0. So if Brazil throws out a 50% tariff on caustic as long as the customer buys your caustic and reexport out the product, that 50% goes to 0. Is that how we should think about it?

所以那將會——它將變成 0。因此，如果巴西取消對苛性鹼徵收 50% 的關稅，只要客戶購買您的苛性鹼並將產品重新出口，那麼這 50% 的關稅就會變為 0。我們該這樣思考嗎？

That is how the duty drawback process works in Brazil, correct, as long as those products are exported.

這就是巴西的退稅程序，正確，只要這些產品出口即可。

Terrific. Very helpful. And Jean-Marc, just curious, you made the comment that you're already seeing plant reliability improvement here in the third quarter. Any color, any examples that you could provide on that?

了不起。非常有幫助。Jean-Marc，我很好奇，您評論說您已經看到第三季工廠可靠性的提高。您能提供任何顏色或任何範例嗎？

Yes. Thank you for the question. The -- as Steve said, we had quite a lot of planned and unplanned outages in the first part of the year. And a lot of them, I mean, the big, big ones were primarily over the first three, four months of the year. And since then, we had additional unplanned outages that have slowed down actually the ramp-up of the plants.

是的。謝謝你的提問。正如史蒂夫所說，今年上半年我們發生了相當多的計劃內和計劃外停電事件。其中很多，我的意思是，大型事件主要發生在今年前三、四個月。從那時起，我們又出現了額外的非計劃性停工，這實際上減緩了工廠的產能提升。

But we have started to see, I would say, sequential increase on a month-by-month basis, starting probably around late April, early May. So -- and that's really what we're expecting to continue in the third quarter. And by the end of the year, we will have pretty much everything behind us.

但我想說，我們已經開始看到逐月持續成長，大概從四月底五月初開始。所以——這正是我們預計第三季將繼續發生的事情。到今年年底，我們基本上就完成了所有的事情。

Aleksey Yefremov, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Aleksey Yefremov，KeyBanc 資本市場。

I wanted to go back to HIP margins. You revised your sales guidance down by 7%, but maintain the margin. So could you discuss what is going better than expected such that there's no negative operating leverage in this segment?

我想回到 HIP 利潤率。您將銷售預期下調了 7%，但保持了利潤率不變。那麼，您能否討論哪些方面比預期更好，以致該部門沒有出現負的經營槓桿？

Yes. So Alex, the broad and deep portfolio offering we have allows us to address the affordability issues that we see in our customers and our end customers. And so as we've addressed that with our exterior building products, the portfolio has allowed us to improve that positioning.

是的。所以亞歷克斯，我們擁有的廣泛而深入的產品組合使我們能夠解決我們在客戶和最終客戶中看到的可負擔性問題。因此，當我們透過外部建築產品解決這個問題時，產品組合使我們能夠改善這一定位。

The strength that we're also seeing in the infrastructure side of our pipes and fittings business. This is the larger diameter business that is really addressing state, county and city needs for infrastructure. So continuing to see strength in demand in that infrastructure water requirements. And so that's really where we're seeing the continued ability to deliver good results this quarter.

我們在管道和配件業務的基礎設施方面也看到了這種優勢。這是一項規模更大的業務，真正滿足了州、縣和市對基礎設施的需求。因此，基礎設施用水需求將持續保持強勁。因此，我們確實看到了本季繼續取得良好業績的能力。

And I was hoping you could give us some sense of monthly trends in HIP orders. Have you seen a negative inflection or are things steady as you went through the summer?

我希望您能讓我們了解一下 HIP 訂單的月度趨勢。您是否看到了負面變化，還是整個夏天情況都保持穩定？

Well, clearly, we've seen some reduction in overall construction activity over the course of the year. So going back to first and second quarter, we've seen housing starts trend lower relative 2024.

嗯，顯然，我們看到今年整體建築活動減少。回顧第一季和第二季度，我們發現 2024 年新屋開工率呈下降趨勢。

And so I would say the level we're at today, which is roughly 1.3 million starts, continues to be that level that we're seeing through the second quarter, and we do expect the seasonal effect to play through in the end of the year and fourth quarter, but I would expect that demand level to continue to persist in the third quarter.

因此我想說，我們今天的水平，即大約 130 萬台開工數，將繼續保持我們在第二季度看到的水平，我們確實預計季節性效應將在年底和第四季度發揮作用，但我預計這種需求水平將在第三季度繼續保持。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

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

If we rewind the clock three months, it seems to me that Wall Street analysts generally underestimated the industry operating rates in the ethylene chain, for example, and perhaps also for Westlake. And listening to you today, it sounds like those operating rates and the trade flows are in the process of normalizing.

如果我們將時鐘倒回三個月，在我看來，華爾街分析師普遍低估了乙烯鏈中的產業開工率，也許也低估了 Westlake 的產業開工率。今天聽您說，這些開工率和貿易流量似乎正在恢復正常。

So I was wondering if you could comment on how much harder you might be able to run your crackers and your polymer assets in the third quarter relative to the second quarter? Is it a low single-digit uplift or a high single-digit percentage uplift or somewhere in between? Any guidance on that operating leverage dynamic would be very helpful.

所以我想知道您是否可以評論一下與第二季相比，第三季運行裂解裝置和聚合物資產的難度有多大？是低個位數的增幅，還是高個位數的百分比增幅，還是介於兩者之間？任何有關經營槓桿動態的指導都將非常有幫助。

Yes. So I will take that question. So if you look at our cracker, since we went through the major turnaround beginning of the year, these crackers have been -- all of our crackers have been running at full capacity. So -- and as you know, we're a little bit short in ethylene, but they're running at full capacity. If you look downstream on our polyethylene, we're running at pretty high rates, too, since we finished some of the turnarounds.

是的。所以我將回答這個問題。因此，如果你看看我們的裂解裝置，自從我們在今年年初經歷了重大轉變以來，這些裂解裝置一直 - 我們所有的裂解裝置都滿載運轉。所以 — — 如你所知，我們的乙烯有點短缺，但他們仍在滿載運轉。如果你看一下我們的聚乙烯下游產品，你會發現我們的生產力也相當高，因為我們完成了一些週轉。

The issue has been for us more on the chlorovinyl side and epoxy. I mean, epoxy, we said we addressed the problem and by shutting down the site and basically buying liquid epoxy resins now from the market and also supplying from outside from the US.

對我們來說，問題更是出在氯乙烯基和環氧樹脂上。我的意思是，環氧樹脂，我們說我們解決了這個問題，透過關閉工廠，基本上從市場上購買液體環氧樹脂，也從美國外部供應。

But -- if you look at the chlorovinyl chain, the problem is -- I mean, the demand is certainly not as high as we would like it to be, but there is demand in the market, and it's pretty stable. And it's for us to capture that demand and by increasing our throughput. So how and where it's going to stabilize, I don't know, but we certainly have some leverage by bringing most of our chlorovinyl operating units back to what we consider as normal reliability.

但是——如果你看一下氯乙烯基鏈，問題是——我的意思是，需求肯定沒有我們希望的那麼高，但市場有需求，而且相當穩定。我們可以透過提高吞吐量來滿足這種需求。因此，我不知道它將如何以及在何處穩定下來，但通過使大多數氯乙烯運行裝置恢復到我們認為的正常可靠性，我們肯定具有一些槓桿作用。

Okay. And then as a follow-up, can you provide an update on your polyethylene resin pricing outlook? For example, have you settled any July contracts in the US? And how much pricing are you seeking for August?

好的。然後作為後續問題，您能否提供有關聚乙烯樹脂價格前景的最新資訊？例如，您是否在美國結算了任何七月合約？您希望八月的定價是多少？

Yes. So Kevin, when you think of polyethylene, we -- pricing for July has not yet settled, but there are a number of price initiatives out for July and for August. So we have in the industry between $0.06 to $0.07 announced for July and for August, there are announcements ranging between $0.05 and $0.08 for August.

是的。所以凱文，當你想到聚乙烯時，我們——七月份的價格尚未確定，但七月和八月已經推出了一些價格舉措。因此，我們行業內宣布的 7 月份利率在 0.06 美元到 0.07 美元之間，而 8 月份利率則在 0.05 美元到 0.08 美元之間。

We've seen demand begin to recover really starting earlier this year. But for the month of July, prices have not yet settled. There remains certainly an elevation in ethylene, as Jean-Marc just earlier noted. And so certainly, we're looking to recognize that with those elevated ethylene prices, we need to see some of these increases work their way through the system.

我們看到需求從今年早些時候開始真正復甦。但七月份的價格尚未穩定。正如 Jean-Marc 剛才指出的那樣，乙烯含量肯定還在升高。因此，我們當然希望認識到，隨著乙烯價格的上漲，我們需要看到部分漲幅在整個系統中發揮作用。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的麥可·西森。

So for them, you noted that volumes would be better in the third quarter. Can you talk about where you think industry margins sort of ended 2Q? Should they be better sequentially in the various chains, chlor-alkali, polyethylene and such in the third quarter versus the second quarter?

因此，對於他們來說，您注意到第三季的銷售量會更好。您能談談您認為第二季產業利潤率達到什麼水平嗎？與第二季相比，第三季各個產業鏈、氯鹼、聚乙烯等的表現是否應該連續更好？

Yes. So Mike, as you think about the comment I just added in polyethylene, we certainly have price announcements out in polyethylene. We have not settled July. We'll see if we get some of those nominations settled in July and into August. And I would say in PVC, July did settle flat for the month, but there are nominations out for later this quarter.

是的。所以麥克，當你想到我剛剛在聚乙烯方面添加的評論時，我們肯定會發布聚乙烯的價格公告。我們尚未確定七月的結算。我們將看看是否能在七月和八月解決一些提名問題。我想說的是，在 PVC 方面，7 月的數據確實持平，但本季稍後會有提名。

In August, there's a nomination of $0.03 in the industry. So as we think across the PE and PVC chains, we certainly have seen some announcement action. But obviously, we're still waiting to see if those prices take action and take traction.

8月份，行業提名金額為0.03美元。因此，當我們思考 PE 和 PVC 鏈時，我們肯定會看到一些公告行動。但顯然，我們仍在等待，看看這些價格是否採取行動並獲得牽引力。

Okay. And then what do you think about seasonality? Typically, the fourth quarter for you all is the weakest quarter. It's been an unusual year. So how do you think about the normal seasonal trends as we head into the fourth quarter, given you've had some tough turnarounds in the second, maybe those don't -- those all go away by the fourth. And just directionally, how you see that unfolding for the second half?

好的。那麼您對季節性有什麼看法？通常來說，第四季對大家來說是最疲軟的一個季度。這是不尋常的一年。那麼，當我們進入第四季度時，您如何看待正常的季節性趨勢？考慮到您在第二季度經歷了一些艱難的轉變，也許這些趨勢不會——到第四季度這些趨勢都會消失。從方向上看，您認為下半年將如何發展？

So as we think about -- and I'll start maybe with the PVC side, the reason we have price nominations out for August is to address construction needs. As I mentioned earlier, July settled flat. We'll see if we are able to get any traction on pricing. Again, ethylene pricing is up. So we're trying to push some of that higher feedstock cost through in our PVC chain. We need to see some of those price nominations get traction to gain margin growth.

因此，當我們思考時——我可能會從 PVC 方面開始，我們公佈 8 月份價格提名的原因是為了滿足建築需求。正如我之前提到的，7月走勢平穩。我們將看看是否能夠在定價方面取得任何進展。乙烯價格再次上漲。因此，我們正嘗試將部分較高的原料成本轉嫁到我們的 PVC 鏈中。我們需要看到其中一些價格提名獲得支持，以實現利潤成長。

As I mentioned earlier, July for polyethylene has not yet settled, and we have price nominations out for polyethylene as well. When we think about the caustic side of the equation, we're reaching the peak of demand for chlorine here in mid-summer.

正如我之前提到的，7月份聚乙烯的價格尚未確定，我們也公佈了聚乙烯的價格提名。當我們考慮方程式中的腐蝕性方面時，我們在仲夏時節達到了對氯的需求高峰。

And so as we think about the fourth quarter, to your question, we'll begin to ramp down chlorine requirements as we reach the end of the fourth quarter, and that will tighten up production of both chlorine and caustic soda. So really to summarize -- yes, to summarize the pricing environment, we've got a number of nominations out there, but we've obviously got some pressures on feedstocks.

因此，當我們考慮第四季度時，對於您的問題，我們將在第四季度末開始減少氯的需求，這將收緊氯和燒鹼的生產。所以，總結一下——是的，總結一下定價環境，我們有很多提名，但我們顯然在原料方面面臨一些壓力。

Josh Spector, UBS.

瑞銀的喬希·斯佩克特。

First, I wanted to follow up on HIP, and you've talked about this in various ways. But if I look at your updated guidance, in the first half in HIP sales, you were down around 3% year-on-year. Your second half HIP outlook is about up 3% year-on-year. So curious if you could talk to two things there. I mean, one, the visibility by the markets?

首先，我想跟進一下 HIP，您已經以各種方式談論過這個問題。但如果我看一下您更新後的指引，上半年的 HIP 銷售額年減了約 3%。您對下半年 HIP 的預期是年增約 3%。我很好奇你是否可以談論那裡的兩件事。我的意思是，第一，市場的可見度？

And then two, how you think we should think about your performance relative to housing, considering the outlook has gotten worse, but maybe your second half outlook has gotten a little bit better or maybe even unchanged?

其次，考慮到前景變得更糟，您認為我們應該如何看待您在住房方面的表現，但也許您下半年的前景會有所好轉，甚至可能保持不變？

When you think about the outlook we have, as you clearly can see, adjusted our revenue guidance down. But I would say the product mix that we have allows us -- and I'd say the product mix we have is a little bit different product mix than the others with our pipe and fittings and compounds businesses. The demand that we're seeing really in the infrastructure water business, this is coming from the Infrastructure Act passed several years ago, allows us to be able to address those needs in cities and counties.

當您考慮我們的前景時，正如您所清楚看到的，我們下調了收入預期。但我想說，我們的產品組合允許我們——我想說，我們的產品組合與我們管道、配件和化合物業務的其他產品組合略有不同。我們在基礎設施水務業務中真正看到的需求，來自於幾年前通過的《基礎設施法案》，這使我們能夠滿足城市和縣的這些需求。

And I think that is, as you can see, a nice contributor in the second quarter, and we'd expect that to provide a tailwind over time. Certainly, in our Exterior Building Products business, we've continued to adjust our portfolio and adapt to the affordability issues you hear much discussed.

如您所見，我認為這是第二季度的一個很好的貢獻者，我們預計隨著時間的推移這將帶來推動作用。當然，在我們的外部建築產品業務中，我們一直在調整我們的產品組合，以適應您所聽到的討論的可負擔性問題。

So again, recognizing that the back half of the year should begin to trail off depending on weather as we end the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, it's very weather dependent in terms of how volumes and margins unfold. So this is why we've really adjusted our revenue guidance but continue to stick to the margin guidance of 20% to 22% that we provided already.

因此，再次認識到，隨著我們進入第三季度和第四季度，下半年的業績應該會開始受到天氣影響，因此銷量和利潤率的發展很大程度上取決於天氣。這就是為什麼我們確實調整了收入預期，但仍然堅持我們已經提供的 20% 至 22% 的利潤率預期。

Okay. And then just one other clarification just around the Pernis shutdown. So $100 million drag on a trailing basis. Do you get a benefit in second half versus first half from the shutdown? Or is that more of a 2026 effect?

好的。然後，關於佩爾尼斯關閉，還有一點需要澄清。因此，以過去計算，拖累金額為 1 億美元。與上半年相比，下半年的停擺對你們有什麼好處嗎？或者這更像是 2026 年的影響？

It's largely a '26 impact. There will be some benefit as we begin to wind down and bring the plant fully down later this year. But the biggest benefit really is a '26 benefit.

這很大程度上是 26 年的影響。當我們在今年稍後開始逐步關閉並全面關閉工廠時，將會帶來一些好處。但最大的好處實際上是‘26 好處。

Bhavesh Lodaya, BMO.

Bhavesh Lodaya，BMO。

Within the HIP segment, can you size up the municipal water applications market for us? Like what's -- maybe what's the total size? How fast is it growing? And if possible, what -- who are the key competitors that you compete with over there?

在 HIP 領域，您能為我們評估一下市政供水應用市場嗎？例如——總尺寸是多少？它成長得有多快？如果可能的話，您在那裡的主要競爭對手是誰？

Yes. The large players in this market really are largely private players. This is the larger diameter PVC business. So you see that players such as Diamond Plastics is one of the larger players and JM Eagle is also one of the other larger players in this business. These are the key players really in the larger diameter PVC space.

是的。這個市場的大型參與者實際上大部分都是私人參與者。這是更大直徑的PVC業務。因此，您會看到，Diamond Plastics 等公司是規模較大的公司之一，JM Eagle 也是該行業其他規模較大的公司之一。這些確實是大直徑 PVC 領域的關鍵參與者。

We do compete in -- with other who are non-PVC producers, but these are the large PVC pipe producers. The market continues to organically grow very nicely, I'd say, in the neighborhood of 5% to 7% over time. And so as we think about the overall business of our pipe and fittings business, we're the only producer that is producing not only pipes, but also fittings to provide the entire integrated kit to meet needs that we see in the water business, addressing municipal requirements to solve water issues.

我們確實與其他非 PVC 生產商競爭，但這些是大型 PVC 管道生產商。我認為市場將繼續有機成長，隨著時間的推移，成長率將在 5% 至 7% 左右。因此，當我們考慮管道和配件業務的整體業務時，我們是唯一一家不僅生產管道，還生產配件的生產商，以提供整套整合套件來滿足我們在水務業務中看到的需求，滿足市政解決水問題的要求。

Got it. And as a follow-up, within this pipes and fittings, I would say, subsegment, I believe you mentioned pricing was down year-over-year, but obviously, your overall pricing is up 2% sequentially for the HIP segment. Would you say the pricing pressures we have seen in pipes and fittings are behind us? Or are you still seeing sequential pricing headwinds there?

知道了。作為後續問題，我想說，在這個管道和配件子細分市場中，我相信您提到價格同比下降，但顯然，HIP 細分市場的整體價格環比上漲了 2%。您是否認為我們在管道和配件方面看到的價格壓力已經過去了？或者您仍然看到連續的定價阻力？

No, I'd say we're continuing to deal with market issues day-to-day. This is something that we deal with and always deal with day-to-day in each discrete market in which we operate, whether it is in our pipe and fittings business or in our building products business, which were also nice contributors. But you have to be competitive. And in that competitive market, you have to meet competition. And so there is certainly, as you've seen resin prices have drifted lower, we've seen prices drift in pipe as well.

不，我想說我們每天都在繼續處理市場問題。這是我們在每個經營的獨立市場中每天都要處理的問題，無論是管道和配件業務還是建築產品業務，這些業務也都是很好的貢獻者。但你必須具有競爭力。在競爭激烈的市場中，你必須應付競爭。因此，如您所見，樹脂價格已經走低，我們也看到管道價格也在下降。

Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global Advisors.

Hassan Ahmed，Alembic Global Advisors。

A question around chlor-alkali supply, particularly within North America. I mean, over the last couple of quarters, there's been some fear in the marketplace that there's been some new projects announced. But I mean, as I look at it, it seems that there is one expansion on the table and, call it, two greenfield projects.

有關氯鹼供應的問題，特別是在北美。我的意思是，在過去的幾個季度裡，市場上出現了一些對一些新項目宣布的擔憂。但我的意思是，在我看來，似乎有一個擴張項目正在考慮中，也可以稱之為兩個綠地項目。

And one of those two greenfield projects doesn't even have an FID. And the expansion project, the number out there seems to be higher than eventually where it'll end up. So just would love to hear your views on what the supply picture looks like through the end of the decade. And should it be worrisome or not?

這兩個綠地項目中有一個甚至還沒有最終投資決定 (FID)。對於擴建項目，目前的數字似乎比最終的數字還要高。所以我很想聽聽您對本世紀末供應情勢的看法。這是否值得擔憂？

No. I mean, I will take the question. If you look into the market, I think that we see some stability going forward. And I think probably at the end of the decade, we're going to start seeing some uplift probably in the end market demand. And yes, that's the way we look into it right now.

不。我的意思是，我會回答這個問題。如果你觀察市場，我認為我們會看到未來的一些穩定性。我認為大概到本世紀末，我們將會開始看到最終市場需求的提升。是的，這就是我們現在研究的方式。

Understood. And just in terms of the products that you produce, be it on the ethylene, polyethylene side, be it on the chlorovinyl side of it, what rumblings are you hearing in terms of rationalization of those capacities in China in particular?

明白了。就您生產的產品而言，無論是乙烯、聚乙烯或氯乙烯，您聽過哪些關於中國產能合理化的傳聞嗎？

That's -- it's an interesting question. I think that we would -- when you look at the prices currently that you see in China, you would expect that some -- that there would be some restructuring. We haven't seen them. We haven't seen too much restructuring. I cannot predict what's going to happen in the future.

這是一個有趣的問題。我認為，當你看到中國目前的價格時，你會預料到會發生一些調整。我們沒有見過他們。我們還沒有看到太多的重組。我無法預測未來會發生什麼事。

And for us, as far as Westlake is concerned, I mean, we need to adapt and make sure that we can operate in an environment like that and make money in all of our segments in that kind of environment. So I think some of them are running really close to the edge. You would expect that there would be some restructuring. We haven't seen many yet.

對我們來說，就 Westlake 而言，我的意思是，我們需要適應並確保我們能夠在這樣的環境中運營，並在這樣的環境中在我們所有的領域中獲利。所以我認為他們中的一些人已經真的瀕臨崩潰了。您可能會期望進行一些重組。我們還沒見過太多。

Yes. And I would just add that the NDRC has made some announcements here. But as Jean-Marc said, we haven't seen any actions yet, but that will take time. That will take time.

是的。我想補充的是，國發改委已經發布了一些公告。但正如讓-馬克所說，我們還沒有看到任何行動，但這需要時間。這需要時間。

Peter Osterland, Truist Securities.

彼得‧奧斯特蘭（Peter Osterland），Truist 證券公司。

So first, I just wanted to ask what percentage of your volumes in PEM were sold into export markets during the second quarter? And how does that compare to what you see as normal? And how would you expect that mix between domestic and export sales to change in the third quarter?

首先，我想問一下，第二季你們的 PEM 銷售中有多少比例銷往了出口市場？這與您認為的正常情況相比如何？您預計第三季國內和出口銷售的比例將如何變化？

Yes. So Pete, when we think about our normalized exports, it varies a little bit by product. But if you look at all those products combined, it's in the 30s, mid-30s, but it does vary by product. But obviously, when you think about a normalized number, we were not selling as many pounds in the export market because of our planned and unplanned outage issues in the second quarter.

是的。所以 Pete，當我們考慮我們的標準化出口時，它會因產品而異。但如果你把所有這些產品加起來，它的價格在 30 多到 35 多美元之間，但因產品而異。但顯然，當你考慮一個正常化的數字時，由於第二季度的計劃內和計劃外停機問題，我們在出口市場上銷售的英鎊並不多。

A follow-up question I had, just on the $200 million of incremental cost savings that you announced today, do you have an estimate you can share for the incremental cash outlays that you expect in order to realize these new cost savings?

我有一個後續問題，就您今天宣布的 2 億美元增量成本節約而言，您是否可以估算一下，為了實現這些新的成本節約，預計需要多少增量現金支出？

Yes. These actions, we believe, are reasonable actions that we don't think require a lot of cash outlay. These actions are really going to deliver really largely in 2026. As you can see, we have initiatives already underway, but it's not a large cash outlay.

是的。我們認為這些行動是合理的，不需要大量的現金支出。這些行動將在 2026 年真正發揮巨大作用。如您所見，我們已經在實施一些計劃，但現金支出並不大。

David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

大衛‧貝格萊特，德意志銀行。

Jean-Marc and Steve, of the $110 million of outage impacts in Q2, how much can we add back for Q3?

Jean-Marc 和 Steve，對於第二季 1.1 億美元的停電影響，我們可以為第三季增加多少？

Yes. As you heard us earlier speak, David, I expect that as we slowly ramp up, we're still going to have some carryover from that. As you can see, we had $30 million sequentially from Q1 into Q2. So I do expect that you cannot add all of that $110 million back fully in Q3. But I don't have a number to give you today.

是的。正如你之前聽到我們說的那樣，大衛，我預計隨著我們慢慢加大投入，我們仍然會從中得到一些收益。如您所見，從第一季到第二季度，我們的收入連續達到 3000 萬美元。因此我確實預計你無法在第三季完全增加這 1.1 億美元。但我今天沒有數字可以告訴你。

Understood. And of the new cost savings of $200 million, how much would you view as permanent or structural? And how much would be temporary relative to when volumes do come back?

明白了。在新的 2 億美元成本節省中，您認為有多少是永久性的或結構性的？相對於交易量真正恢復時，有多少是暫時的？

No, I expect these to all be structural, David. And so I expect that $200 million to be structural and really sticky, therefore. We obviously have to recognize the inflation in the market, but frankly, we think these are structural changes that we're implementing.

不，我希望這些都是結構性的，大衛。因此，我預計這 2 億美元將是結構性的，而且非常具有黏性。我們顯然必須認識到市場中的通貨膨脹，但坦白說，我們認為這些是我們正在實施的結構性變化。

Matthew DeYoe, Bank of America.

美國銀行的馬修‧德約 (Matthew DeYoe)。

I apologize if you covered this a little bit because I know it's been a bit of a talking point in the discussion today, but you're net short ethylene and have been for a while now. And I know you've been comfortable there. But as your peers tie up some of this excess position, prices are moving higher.

如果您稍微涉及了這一點，我深感抱歉，因為我知道這在今天的討論中已經成為一個話題，但您目前是乙烯淨空頭，而且這種情況已經有一段時間了。我知道你在那裡過得很舒服。但隨著同業鎖定部分過剩部位，價格就會上漲。

And I know Lyondell is maybe delayed here, but I think they remain committed to Flex 2. So like does this change your view on how you want to position the business over the next five years? Is there any desire to kind of tie this up?

我知道 Lyondell 可能在這裡耽擱了，但我認為他們仍然致力於 Flex 2。那麼這是否會改變您對未來五年業務定位的看法？是否有任何想要將其聯繫起來的願望？

Yes, I'll take that one. So yes, no, you're right. We are short in ethylene. And I think for us, it's a matter of how much do we want to be short. And I think if we always have the opportunity to invest or make some acquisition or do things like that.

是的，我要那個。所以，是的，不，你是對的。我們缺少乙烯。我認為對我們來說，問題在於我們想縮短多少。我認為如果我們總是有機會投資或進行收購或做類似的事情。

Right now, I think we like where we are, but it's not to say that it couldn't change in the future if some opportunities present themselves to reduce that short depending on market conditions and if we see the downstream business grow over the next several years. So I think we're okay for now, but we will not -- we will look at everything that comes our way if we want to redo that shot.

現在，我認為我們對目前的狀況感到滿意，但這並不意味著未來不會發生改變，如果根據市場狀況出現一些機會來減少這種短缺，並且我們看到下游業務在未來幾年內成長。所以我認為我們現在還好，但是我們不會——如果我們想重拍那張照片，我們會考慮遇到的一切。

Okay. And look, HIP had a good quarter. It was definitely better than we were expecting. So I don't want to kind of dig too much on it. But I mean, the flip side to the stable margins, looks like it was an 80% decremental margin. And so is this kind of just a mix issue or want or to -- or tough comps, obviously, might be part of that, but I just want to get a little bit better sense of what's going on under the surface.

好的。看看吧，HIP 本季表現不錯。這絕對比我們預期的還要好。所以我不想對此進行過多的探討。但我的意思是，與穩定的利潤率相反，利潤率似乎下降了 80%。所以這是否只是一個混合問題，或者想要或——或者艱難的競爭，顯然，可能是其中的一部分，但我只是想更好地了解表面下發生的事情。

Yes. So the mix you could see was really -- and again, year-over-year was really driven by the building -- the exterior building products, not surprisingly giving lower construction activity. So in our compounds and exterior building products businesses, volumes were certainly lower given the reality of the construction activity level.

是的。因此，您可以看到，這種組合實際上是——而且，同比來看，這實際上是由建築物——外部建築產品推動的，因此建築活動減少，這並不令人意外。因此，考慮到現實的建築活動水平，我們的化合物和外部建築產品業務的銷售量肯定較低。

So I mentioned the water demand that we're seeing in the infrastructure business was some of the offset to that, but not fully offsetting some of the weakness we saw in our compounds and building products businesses year-over-year.

因此，我提到，我們在基礎設施業務中看到的水需求在一定程度上抵消了這一影響，但並沒有完全抵消我們在化合物和建築產品業務中看到的同比疲軟。

(Operator Instructions) Matthew Blair, TPH.

（操作員指示）Matthew Blair，TPH。

Just looking at spot PVC prices that are almost approaching all-time lows. Could you talk a little bit about the global supply-demand outlook for PVC? Clearly, the demand side is affected by weak construction trends. But what about the supply side? How much global capacity do you expect to be added in PVC this year and next year? And what are you seeing in terms of operating rates for China PVC plants?

光是看現貨 PVC 價格就幾乎接近歷史最低點。您能否談談全球 PVC 的供需前景？顯然，需求方面受到建築趨勢疲軟的影響。但供應方面又如何呢？您預計今年和明年全球PVC產能將增加多少？您看到中國 PVC 工廠的開工率如何？

Yes. So Matthew, when you think about the situation in PVC, certainly, a great majority of that does go into construction markets. And certainly, the weakness that you've seen in the Asian markets and the European markets continue to really impact kind of operating rates.

是的。所以馬修，當你考慮 PVC 的情況時，可以肯定的是，其中絕大多數確實進入了建築市場。當然，亞洲市場和歐洲市場的疲軟持續對營運率產生重大影響。

The issues that we've seen here in construction, we recognize that the underbuild in North America is just that. It's been a long-term underbuild for over a decade. And we think the demand picture here is ripe for change given the demographic demand for housing. But when you think of the global supply-demand balance, we don't see a significant amount of new capacity coming into the market incrementally from where we sit in 2025.

我們體認到，在建築領域看到的問題就是北美的建設不足。該項目已持續建設十多年。我們認為，考慮到人口對住房的需求，這裡的需求狀況已經到了需要改變的時候了。但當你考慮全球供需平衡時，我們看不到從 2025 年起大量新產能逐步進入市場。

You saw some of the comments or heard some of the comments that we made earlier in terms of some of these markets, some of these producers, especially those in Asia, are currently underwater. And I think this is why you're hearing commentary about the Asians and specifically the NDRC talking about some potential rationalization, which could take many, many years. But nevertheless, I think the market really needs some demand to rebound here in the North American and European markets, but the Asian markets will take longer to recover.

您看到或聽到了我們之前就某些市場、某些生產商（尤其是亞洲的生產商）所做的一些評論，目前處於虧損狀態。我認為這就是為什麼你會聽到關於亞洲人，特別是國家發改委談論一些潛在的合理化措施的評論，而這可能需要很多很多年的時間。但儘管如此，我認為北美和歐洲市場確實需要一些需求才能反彈，但亞洲市場將需要更長的時間才能恢復。

Great. And just looking at the pressures on free cash flow in the quarter, it looked like one pressure was due to another use of working capital. I'm showing a use of working capital year-to-date of almost $400 million.

偉大的。僅從本季自由現金流的壓力來看，似乎一個壓力是由於營運資金的另一種使用造成的。我顯示的是今年迄今營運資金的使用量接近 4 億美元。

Would you expect that to completely reverse in the back half of the year? And I guess, if not, like what are the factors that would determine whether you can recover that big use of working capital year-to-date?

您預計今年下半年這種情況會完全逆轉嗎？我想，如果不是，那麼哪些因素將決定您是否能夠收回年初至今的大量營運資金？

Yes. There were a large amount of dollars really in the payables side related to the turnaround activity and the unplanned outage activity. And of course, on the receivables side, specifically in building products, we saw a buildup in sales and therefore, a buildup in receivables. And I do expect that to turn in the second half of this year.

是的。應付帳款方面確實有大量與週轉活動和計劃外停機活動相關的資金。當然，在應收帳款方面，特別是在建築產品方面，我們看到銷售額在增加，因此應收帳款也在增加。我確實希望今年下半年情況能夠有所轉變。

That's the time allotted for our Q&A session. So it has now come to end. Are there any closing remarks?

這就是我們在問答環節所分配的時間。所以現在一切都結束了。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 third 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，討論我們的第三季業績。

Thank you for participating in today's Westlake Corporation Second 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 第二季財報電話會議。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。