Westlake Corp (WLK) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westlake Corporation third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded today, October 30, 2025. I would now like to turn the call over to today's host, Jeff Holy, Westlake's Vice President, and Chief Accounting Officer.

女士們、先生們，早安。感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加 Westlake 公司 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）提醒各位，女士們、先生們，本次會議於2025年10月30日進行錄製。現在，我想把電話交給今天的主持人，韋斯特萊克公司副總裁兼首席會計官傑夫霍利。

Sir, you may begin.

先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Stefan. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Westlake Corporation conference call to discuss our third-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.

謝謝你，斯特凡。各位早安，歡迎參加西湖公司電話會議，我們將討論2025年第三季業績。今天與我一同出席的有：執行董事長趙明；總裁兼執行長讓-馬克·吉爾森；執行副總裁兼財務長史蒂夫·本德；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.

在電話會議中，我們將提及我們的兩個報告部門：性能和基本材料（簡稱 PEM 或材料）；以及住房和基礎設施產品（簡稱 HIP 或產品）。今天的電話會議將由讓-馬克開始，他將首先就韋斯特萊克的表現發表一些評論。

Steve will then discuss our financial and operating results, after which Jean-Marc will add a few concluding comments, and we'll open the call up to questions. During the third-quarter of 2025, we recorded a noncash impairment charge of $727 million, representing all of the goodwill associated with our North American Chlorovinyls business unit. We also accrued expenses of $17 million related to previously announced facilities closures.

接下來，史蒂夫將討論我們的財務和營運業績，之後讓-馬克將補充一些總結性評論，然後我們將開放問答環節。2025 年第三季度，我們提列了 7.27 億美元的非現金減損費用，這代表了我們北美氯乙烯業務部門的所有商譽。我們還提列了與先前宣布的設施關閉相關的 1700 萬美元費用。

We refer to these expense items, which in aggregate were $744 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.

我們在獲利報告和本次電話會議中將這些費用項目稱為已確定的項目，總額為 7.44 億美元。本次電話會議中提及的營業收入、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，本次電話會議中的評論將圍繞我們使用非GAAP財務指標的基本業務表現。我們在獲利報告中提供了這些非GAAP財務指標與GAAP財務指標的調節表，該報告可在我們網站的投資者關係部分查閱。

Today, management is going to discuss certain topics that will contain forward-looking information based on management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. These forward-looking statements suggest predictions or expectations and thus are subject to risks or uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in Westlake's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other SEC filings.

今天，管理層將討論一些主題，其中包含基於管理層信念、假設以及目前可獲得的資訊的前瞻性資訊。這些前瞻性陳述包含預測或預期，因此存在風險或不確定性。這些風險和不確定性在 Westlake 截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的年度 10-K 表格和其他美國證券交易委員會文件中進行了討論。

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. This morning, Westlake issued a press release with details of our third-quarter results. This document is available in the Press Release section of our website at westlake.com. We have also included an earnings presentation, which can be found in the Investor Relations section on our website. A replay of today's call will be available beginning today, two hours following the conclusion of this call.

我們鼓勵您查閱這些提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件，以了解更多可能導致我們實際業績與預期不同的因素，這些文件也可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。今天上午，韋斯特萊克發布了一份新聞稿，詳細介紹了我們第三季的業績。這份文件可在我們網站 westlake.com 的「新聞稿」欄位中找到。我們還附上了一份收益報告演示文稿，可在我們網站的「投資者關係」欄位中找到。今天電話會議的錄音回放將於今天會議結束後兩小時開始提供。

This replay may be accessed via Westlake's website. Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, October 30, 2025, and therefore, you are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay.

觀眾可透過西湖學院的網站觀看本次比賽重播。請注意，本次通話中報告的資訊僅代表截至 2025 年 10 月 30 日的情況，因此，請注意，時效性資訊可能在任何重播時不再準確。

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. Now I would like to turn the call over to Jean-Marc Gilson. Jean-Marc?

最後，我要告知各位，本次電話會議正在透過網路直播系統進行現場直播，您可以透過我們網站westlake.com存取該系統。現在，我將把電話轉交給讓-馬克吉爾森。讓-馬克？

Thank you, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us to discuss our third-quarter 2025 results. For the third-quarter of 2025, we reported EBITDA of $313 million on net sales of $2.8 billion. Compared to the second-quarter of 2025, sales and EBITDA decreased as improved production and sales volume in our PEM segment was more than offset by lower sales volume in our HIP segment and PEM's lower average selling price. While North American residential construction demand has softened in 2025, HIP sales volume and total sales were comparable to those in 2024.

謝謝你，傑夫，大家早安。感謝您參加我們2025年第三季業績討論會。2025 年第三季度，我們公佈的 EBITDA 為 3.13 億美元，淨銷售額為 28 億美元。與 2025 年第二季相比，銷售額和 EBITDA 下降，原因是 PEM 部門的產量和銷售增加被 HIP 部門的銷售下降以及 PEM 的平均售價降低所抵消。儘管 2025 年北美住宅建築需求有所放緩，但 HIP 的銷售量和總銷售額與 2024 年相當。

This sales resiliency illustrates the strength of our relationships with key customers and our broad and deep portfolio as we continue to grow in this important market. As compared to the third-quarter of 2024, HIP's margin and EBITDA were negatively impacted by a sales mix shift to lower price and lower-margin products as our key customers work to address the home price affordability impact felt by home buyers.

這種銷售韌性反映了我們與主要客戶之間的牢固關係，以及我們廣泛而深入的產品組合，我們將繼續在這個重要的市場中成長。與 2024 年第三季相比，由於主要客戶努力應對購屋者感受到的房價負擔能力影響，銷售組合轉向價格更低、利潤率更低的產品，HIP 的利潤率和 EBITDA 受到了負面影響。

In addition, HIP's EBITDA includes some period-related administrative restructuring and integration expenses in the third-quarter of 2025 that are expected to be of a nonrecurring nature. Overall, our HIP business is performing well in light of the affordability headwinds facing the new home construction market.

此外，HIP 的 EBITDA 包括 2025 年第三季的一些與期間相關的行政重組和整合費用，預計這些費用將不經常發生。總體而言，儘管新建房屋市場面臨價格方面的不利因素，但我們的 HIP 業務表現良好。

We remain very positive on HIP's long-term growth outlook, supported by the need to rebuild the North American housing stock following over a decade of underbuilding of homes, and we have continued to invest in the HIP business to accelerate our growth.

我們對 HIP 的長期成長前景依然非常​​樂觀，這得益於北美房屋存量在經歷了十多年的住房建設不足之後亟需重建，我們也一直在投資 HIP 業務以加速成長。

The construction of a new PVCO pipe facility in North Texas to be completed in 2026, and the recently announced acquisition of ACI are some visible examples of our commitment to HIP through these exciting growth-oriented investments. The ACI acquisition significantly expands our global compound business by introducing silicone and crosslinked polyethylene compounds into our portfolio. And it is also -- and it also importantly widens our access to new automotive, electrical, and power markets. We expect to close the ACI acquisition in the first quarter of 2026.

在北德克薩斯州建造一座新的 PVCO 管道工廠，將於 2026 年竣工；以及最近宣布收購 ACI，這些都是我們透過這些令人興奮的成長型投資來實踐對 HIP 承諾的明顯例證。收購 ACI 將矽酮和交聯聚乙烯化合物引入我們的產品組合，從而顯著擴展了我們的全球化合物業務。而且，更重要的是，它拓寬了我們進入新的汽車、電氣和電力市場的管道。我們預計將於 2026 年第一季完成對 ACI 的收購。

Turning to PEM. Compared to both the prior quarter and prior year periods, our third-quarter earnings and margins reflect the soft global demand for many of our PEM products, particularly PVC resins. Our improved operational performance and resulting increase in sales volume in the third-quarter helped offset some of the reduction in prices resulting from the global supply-demand imbalance.

轉向PEM。與上一季和去年同期相比，我們第三季的收益和利潤率反映了全球對我們許多 PEM 產品（尤其是 PVC 樹脂）的需求疲軟。第三季度，我們營運業績的改善和銷售量的成長，有助於抵銷全球供需失衡導致的部分價格下降。

This global imbalance in supply/demand in the chlorovinyl chain coupled with the challenging macroeconomic environment has resulted in an extended trough. As a result, during the third-quarter of 2025, we took a noncash impairment charge of $727 million for all of the goodwill associated with PEM's North American chlorovinyl business. While significant, the charge represents only a small portion of our net investment in the business, and we remain positive in the outlook for chlorovinyls.

氯乙烯產業鏈供需失衡，加上宏觀經濟環境充滿挑戰，導致市場長期處於低迷狀態。因此，在 2025 年第三季度，我們對 PEM 北美氯乙烯業務相關的所有商譽計提了 7.27 億美元的非現金減損費用。雖然金額龐大，但這筆費用僅占我們在該業務淨投資的一小部分，我們仍然對氯乙烯的前景持樂觀態度。

We remain committed to this business as the global need for its products, which are critical to industries ranging from building materials to water to manufacturing remains intact. While the current trough continues to persist, we advanced several strategic actions to improve PEM's performance centered around three key pillars.

我們將繼續致力於這項業務，因為全球對其產品的需求仍然旺盛，這些產品對從建築材料到水處理再到製造業等各個行業都至關重要。儘管目前的低迷狀態仍在持續，但我們圍繞著三大支柱，採取了多項策略行動來改善PEM的表現。

Number one, improve plant reliability to lower production cost -- unit production cost. This pillar is beginning to show results in the third-quarter.

第一，提高工廠可靠性以降低生產成本－單位生產成本。這一支柱在第三季開始顯現成效。

Two, reduce cost. We are on track to achieve our $150 million to $175 million of company-wide structural cost reduction in 2025 and we are taking further actions to achieve another $200 million of structural cost reduction in 2026. Approximately 75% of these cost reductions are attributable to the PEM segment, and these cost reductions will lower PEM's cost and improve our global competitiveness.

第二，降低成本。我們預計在 2025 年實現公司範圍內 1.5 億美元至 1.75 億美元的結構性成本削減目標，並且我們正在採取進一步措施，以在 2026 年再實現 2 億美元的結構性成本削減目標。這些成本降低約有 75% 歸功於 PEM 部門，這些成本降低將降低 PEM 的成本，並提高我們的全球競爭力。

Three, optimize our manufacturing footprint. We have taken strategic actions to close facilities such as Pernis in the Netherlands and our Huasu PVC resin facility in China. We will take other appropriate asset optimization actions to improve our financial performance as needed.

第三，優化我們的生產佈局。我們採取了戰略措施，關閉了位於荷蘭的 Pernis 工廠和位於中國的華蘇 PVC 樹脂工廠等設施。我們將根據需要採取其他適當的資產優化措施來改善財務表現。

Our relentless focus on these three pillars demonstrates Westlake's continued efforts to adjust our cost structure in response to changing global macroeconomic conditions. Advancing these strategic actions in the coming months is a critical driver to improve our cost and return our PEM segment to levels of profitability that provide an appropriate return on investment.

我們始終堅持這三大支柱，這體現了韋斯特萊克為應對不斷變化的全球宏觀經濟狀況而不斷調整成本結構的努力。在接下來的幾個月裡推進這些策略行動，是改善我們成本並使我們 PEM 部門恢復獲利水平，從而提供適當投資回報的關鍵驅動因素。

So to summarize the third-quarter, our HIP businesses continue to perform well and provide a very valuable platform of earnings stability while profitability in our PEM segment is challenged by the ongoing trough. We believe our determined drive to deliver on the elements of this three-pillar strategy, will return PEM to profitability, improve the competitiveness of our assets, and deliver the financial performance we expect.

綜上所述，第三季度，我們的 HIP 業務繼續表現良好，為盈利穩定性提供了非常有價值的平台，而 PEM 業務的盈利能力則受到當前低迷時期的挑戰。我們相信，我們堅定不移地推進這項三大支柱策略的各個要素，將使PEM恢復獲利能力，提高我們資產的競爭力，並實現我們預期的財務表現。

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

現在我想把電話交給史蒂夫，讓他詳細介紹我們2025年第三季的財務表現。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Jean-Marc, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, my comments regarding the income from operations, EBITDA, net income, and earnings per share all exclude the financial impact of the identified items. Westlake reported a loss of $38 million or $0.29 per share in the third-quarter on sales of $2.8 billion. The loss in the third-quarter of 2025 was $26 million higher than the second-quarter of 2025, primarily due to lower average sales price, primarily in PVC resin in our PEM segment. The challenging global macroeconomic environment and imbalance in supply/demand for many of PEM's products has resulted in an extended trough.

謝謝你，讓-馬克，大家早安。再次提醒，我對營業收入、EBITDA、淨收入和每股盈餘的評論均不包括已確定項目的財務影響。Westlake公司第三季虧損3,800萬美元，即每股虧損0.29美元，銷售額為28億美元。2025 年第三季的虧損比 2025 年第二季增加了 2,600 萬美元，主要是由於平均銷售價格下降，主要是我們 PEM 部門的 PVC 樹脂價格下降。全球宏觀經濟環境充滿挑戰，PEM 的許多產品供需失衡，導致股價長期處於低迷狀態。

As a result, during the third-quarter of 2025, we took a noncash impairment charge of $727 million for all of the goodwill associated with PEM's North American chlorovinyls business. While this impairment reflects the near-term challenges in the North American chlorovinyl business faces, we believe the cost reduction actions we are taking, combined with the improved plant reliability will turn this business to levels of profitability that it is capable of generating.

因此，在 2025 年第三季度，我們對 PEM 北美氯乙烯業務相關的所有商譽計提了 7.27 億美元的非現金減損費用。雖然此次減損反映了北美氯乙烯業務近期面臨的挑戰，但我們相信，我們正在採取的成本削減措施，加上工廠可靠性的提高，將使該業務達到其能夠創造的盈利水平。

For the third-quarter of 2025, our utilization of the FIFO method of accounting resulted in an unfavorable pretax impact of $37 million compared to what earnings would have been if we had reported on the LIFO method. This is only an estimate and has not been audited. At a segment level, approximately $32 million of the unfavorable impact was at PEM and the remaining $5 million unfavorable FIFO impact was at HIP.

2025 年第三季度，我們採用先進先出法（FIFO）會計方法，導致稅前虧損 3700 萬美元，而如果我們採用後進先出法（LIFO）進行報告，則應有的收益會更高。這只是一個估算值，未經審計。從業務部門層級來看，約 3,200 萬美元的不利影響發生在 PEM，其餘 500 萬美元的不利 FIFO 影響發生在 HIP。

Before I discuss the details of our segment results, I want to provide some high-level thoughts on the quarter. Our HIP segment performed well, holding sales in line year-over-year despite the slowdown in North American residential construction activity, which highlights our important market position with our key customers, supported by our coast-to-coast market coverage and a wide range of product offerings.

在詳細介紹我們各業務板塊的業績之前，我想先就本季的一些整體情況談談我的看法。儘管北美住宅建築活動放緩，但我們的 HIP 業務部門表現良好，銷售額與去年同期持平，這凸顯了我們在主要客戶中的重要市場地位，這得益於我們覆蓋全國的市場和廣泛的產品供應。

While sales were in line with prior year levels, HIP's margins and earnings during the quarter were impacted by unfavorable changes in sales mix and several period-related expenses. Meanwhile, our PEM segment sales volumes benefited from improved plant reliability compared to the second-quarter of 2025. However, average sales prices decreased 4% quarter-over-quarter, which more than offset the impact of the improved sales volumes on segment's earnings.

雖然銷售額與上年同期水準持平，但本季 HIP 的利潤率和收益受到銷售組合不利變化和一些與期間相關的費用的影響。同時，與 2025 年第二季相比，我們的 PEM 業務銷售受益於工廠可靠性的提高。然而，平均銷售價格環比下降了 4%，這抵消了銷售量改善對分部收益的影響。

Moving to the specifics of our segment performance. Our HIP segment delivered EBITDA of $215 million on $1.1 billion of sales. When compared to the second-quarter of 2025, HIP segment sales volumes were 6% lower, particularly for pipe and fittings, which had exceptionally strong sales volumes in the second-quarter of 2025 that may have reflected some pull forward of demand. Sales volumes for global compounds also declined sequentially, driven by slower industrial and manufacturing activity. Meanwhile, demand for siding and trim and roof remained firm.

接下來具體分析我們業務板塊的業績表現。我們的 HIP 業務部門實現了 2.15 億美元的 EBITDA 和 11 億美元的銷售額。與 2025 年第二季相比，HIP 部門的銷售額下降了 6%，尤其是管道和配件，在 2025 年第二季的銷售額異常強勁，這可能反映了需求提前釋放。受工業和製造業活動放緩的影響，全球化合物的銷售量也較上季下降。同時，外牆板、裝飾條和屋頂的需求依然強勁。

Average sales price for HIP was unchanged sequentially. Lower sales volume, combined with the $20 million period-related expense items and the $5 million FIFO impact that I previously mentioned drove a decline in HIP's EBITDA margin to 20%. Adjusting for the period-related expenses and the FIFO impact, HIP's EBITDA margin in the third-quarter of 2025 would have been 22% compared to the 24% in each of the second- quarter of 2025 and the third-quarter of 2024.

HIP的平均銷售價格較上季不變。銷售量下降，加上我之前提到的 2000 萬美元期間相關費用項目和 500 萬美元 FIFO 影響，導致 HIP 的 EBITDA 利潤率下降至 20%。在調整期間相關費用和先進先出法的影響後，HIP 2025 年第三季的 EBITDA 利潤率為 22%，而 2025 年第二季和 2024 年第三季的 EBITDA 利潤率均為 24%。

Looking at HIP's results on a year-over-year basis, when compared to the third-quarter of 2024, HIP sales fell less than 1% as a 0.5% increase in sales volumes was offset by a 1% decline in average sales price. The year-over-year increase in sales volume despite the challenging backdrop for North American residential construction was driven by a solid double-digit sales volume growth in pipe and fittings.

從年比來看，與 2024 年第三季相比，HIP 的銷售額下降不到 1%，因為銷售量增加了 0.5%，但平均銷售價格下降了 1%。儘管北美住宅建築業面臨嚴峻挑戰，但銷售額仍實現了同比增長，這主要得益於管道和配件銷售額實現了兩位數的穩健增長。

And on a year-to-date basis, through the end of the third-quarter, pipe and fittings sales volumes have grown nearly 10% as compared to the first three quarters of 2024. Thus, our pipe and fittings business continue to perform very well with a solid outlook for growth supported by municipal water infrastructure investments and US government funding coming from the infrastructure bill.

截至第三季末，今年迄今為止，管道和配件的銷量與 2024 年前三個季度相比增長了近 10%。因此，在市政供水基礎設施投資和美國政府基礎設施法案的資助下，我們的管道和配件業務繼續表現良好，成長前景穩健。

To summarize HIP's results, the business continued to perform well in the face of the affordability issues surrounding residential construction, and we continue to be pleased with the stability and profitability of this business delivers. We continue to view HIP as a vehicle for inorganic growth as demonstrated by the recent announcement to acquire ACI's global compound solutions business.

總而言之，儘管面臨住宅建設方面的經濟承受能力問題，HIP 的業務依然表現良好，我們對該業務的穩定性和盈利能力感到滿意。我們繼續將 HIP 視為實現非內生成長的工具，最近宣布收購 ACI 的全球化合物解決方案業務就證明了這一點。

ACI brings important technologies and market access, particularly with global automotive manufacturers. We believe that this acquisition will greatly expand the breadth of our product offering and the market reach of our global compounds business, expanding our sales and earnings growth.

ACI 帶來了重要的技術和市場准入，尤其是在全球汽車製造商方面。我們相信，此次收購將大大拓展我們的產品範圍和全球化合物業務的市場覆蓋率，從而擴大我們的銷售額和獲利成長。

Turning to our PEM segment. third-quarter sales of $1.7 billion fell by $46 million in the second-quarter of 2025, driven by a 4% decline in average sales price that more than offset a 1% increase in sales volume. The decline in average sales price was the result of broadly lower chlorovinyl prices primarily for PVC resin and the shift in our sales mix toward export markets where selling prices tend to be lower.

再來看我們的PEM業務板塊。第三季銷售額為17億美元，比2025年第二季減少了4,600萬美元，原因是平均銷售價格下降了4%，抵銷了銷售量1%的成長。平均銷售價格下降是由於氯乙烯價格普遍走低（主要是PVC樹脂的價格走低）以及我們的銷售結構轉向出口市場（出口市場的銷售價格往往較低）所致。

Improved reliability and our global competitive feedstock and energy position in North America drove a 1% sequential increase in sales volume, resulting in a $38 million increase in EBITDA compared to the second- quarter of 2025. On a year-over-year basis, PEM's third-quarter sales of $1.7 billion were 13% lower, driven by a 7% decline in average sales price and a 6% decline in sales volumes.

可靠性的提高以及我們在北美地區具有全球競爭力的原料和能源地位，推動了銷售量環比增長 1%，與 2025 年第二季度相比，EBITDA 增加了 3800 萬美元。與去年同期相比，PEM 第三季銷售額為 17 億美元，下降了 13%，主要原因是平均銷售價格下降了 7%，銷售量下降了 6%。

As Jean-Marc discussed, the continued softness in global manufacturing and industrial demand, combined with low-priced Asian sales in the global marketplace have pressured pricing for many of PEM's products, particularly PVC resin. The lower year-over-year average sales price, combined with lower sales volume drove a decline in PEM's EBITDA to $90 million in the third-quarter of 2025 compared to $297 million in the third-quarter of 2024.

正如 Jean-Marc 所討論的那樣，全球製造業和工業需求的持續疲軟，加上亞洲產品在全球市場上的低價銷售，給 PEM 的許多產品，特別是 PVC 樹脂的價格帶來了壓力。年比平均售價下降，加上銷量下降，導致 PEM 2025 年第三季的 EBITDA 降至 9,000 萬美元，而 2024 年第三季為 2.97 億美元。

As Jean-Marc mentioned, we remain confident in our ability to improve PEM results and deliver meaningful profitability improvement in our PEM segment. Shifting to our balance sheet. As of September 30, 2025, cash and investments were $2.1 billion and total debt, $4.7 billion with a staggered fixed rate maturity schedule.

正如 Jean-Marc 所提到的，我們仍然有信心改善 PEM 業績，並在 PEM 業務領域實現有意義的獲利能力提升。前往我們的資產負債表。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，現金及投資為 21 億美元，總債務為 47 億美元，採用分期固定利率到期計畫。

For the third-quarter of 2025, net income provided by operating activities was $182 million, while capital expenditures were $239 million. We continue to look for opportunities to strategically deploy our balance sheet in order to create long-term value. Now let me provide some guidance for your models.

2025 年第三季度，經營活動產生的淨收入為 1.82 億美元，而資本支出為 2.39 億美元。我們將繼續尋找機會，策略性地運用我們的資產負債表，以創造長期價值。現在讓我為你們的模型提供一些指導。

We continue to expect 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% for 2025. However, given lower North American residential construction activity and the $20 million of period-related costs incurred in the third-quarter, we now expect to be towards the lower end of each of these ranges.

我們繼續預期 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。然而，鑑於北美住宅建設活動減少以及第三季產生的 2000 萬美元期間相關成本，我們現在預計每個區間都將處於較低水平。

We continue to expect total capital expenditures for Westlake in 2025 to be approximately $900 million. Through the end of the third-quarter, we achieved approximately $115 million toward our 2025 company-wide structural cost savings target of $150 million to $175 million.

我們仍預期 Westlake 在 2025 年的總資本支出約為 9 億美元。截至第三季末，我們已實現約 1.15 億美元，距離 2025 年公司整體結構性成本節約目標 1.5 億至 1.75 億美元還有一段距離。

And we are driving actions now to take an additional $200 million of structural cost reductions by 2026 as part of our PEM profitability improvement strategy. For the full year of 2025, we expect cash interest expense to be approximately $160 million. Now I'd like to turn the call back over to Jean-Marc to provide some thoughts on actions the business is now taking to grow earnings in 2026 and beyond. Jean-Marc?

作為PEM獲利能力提升策略的一部分，我們正在積極採取行動，力爭2026年再削減2億美元的結構性成本。預計 2025 年全年現金利息支出約 1.6 億美元。現在我想把電話轉回給讓-馬克，讓他談談公司目前正在採取哪些措施來提高 2026 年及以後的盈利能力。讓-馬克？

Thank you, Steve. Looking forward, we are taking proactive steps to improve our financial performance. Our HIP segment will continue to execute its successful strategy utilizing three key levers: First, winning with the winners. As we demonstrated this year, even in a slower market, the value of our brands and our broad national footprint delivers significant value for HIPs customers. As a supplier of choice to building product distributors and large national homebuilders, we expect to generate long-term organic sales growth of 5% to 7% per annum.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。展望未來，我們將採取積極措施來改善財務表現。我們的 HIP 業務部門將繼續執行其成功的策略，利用三個關鍵槓桿：首先，與贏家一起贏得勝利。正如我們今年所展示的那樣，即使在市場低迷的情況下，我們品牌的價值和廣泛的全國性佈局也能為 HIPs 客戶帶來巨大的價值。作為建築產品分銷商和大型全國性住宅建築商的首選供應商，我們預計長期有機銷售成長將達到每年 5% 至 7%。

Second, new product innovation. Our HIP business continues to commercialize breakthrough new technologies that create value for our customers such as our PVCO pipe products. This advanced molecular-oriented PVC pipe was introduced in 2021 and has experienced solid customer adoption by delivering water solutions with 40% less PVC. Construction on our new PVCO plant in North Texas continues with an expected start-up in the latter part of 2026 to meet growing customer demand.

其次，是新產品創新。我們的HIP業務持續將突破性的新技術商業化，為我們的客戶創造價值，例如我們的PVCO管道產品。這種先進的分子導向型 PVC 管道於 2021 年推出，透過減少 40% 的 PVC 用量，為水處理解決方案提供了保障，並獲得了客戶的廣泛認可。我們在北德州新建的 PVCO 工廠正在建設中，預計將於 2026 年下半年投產，以滿足不斷增長的客戶需求。

Third, acquisitions. HIP has demonstrated a proven track record of accretive acquisitions. Our HIP businesses compete in relatively fragmented industries with significant opportunities for both bolt-on and strategic acquisitions. We see significant opportunities to leverage our sales and distribution platforms that are currently in place to create synergies and drive earnings growth. Shifting to PEM. Our drive to return this segment to profitability revolves around our three-pillar profitability improvement strategy, which I have already detailed, and which is well underway.

第三，收購。HIP在加值收購方面已展現出良好的業績記錄。我們的 HIP 業務在相對分散的產業中競爭，並存在著大量補充收購和策略性收購的機會。我們看到了利用現有銷售和分銷平台創造協同效應和推動獲利成長的巨大機會。轉向PEM。我們力求使該業務板塊恢復盈利，其核心是我們的三大支柱盈利能力提升戰略，我已經詳細介紹過該戰略，目前該戰略正在順利實施。

While we are optimistic that global demand growth for PEMs product will improve, we are squarely focused on actions within our control while the global supply and demand picture improves. This includes improving the reliability of our plants so that we can predictably serve our customers.

雖然我們對全球對 PEM 產品的需求成長持樂觀態度，但在全球供需情勢改善的同時，我們仍將重點放在我們可控的行動上。這包括提高我們工廠的可靠性，以便我們能夠按預期為客戶提供服務。

As a reminder, in 2025, PEM's EBITDA was negatively impacted by approximately $200 million from operating issues. We also have identified significant operational cost savings as part of our company-wide $200 million cost savings target for 2026.

提醒一下，2025 年，PEM 的 EBITDA 因營運問題受到約 2 億美元的負面影響。作為公司2026年2億美元成本節約目標的一部分，我們也確定了可大幅節省營運成本的措施。

Finally, strategic asset optimization actions that we have already taken, such as the Pernis shutdown are expected to generate over $100 million a year in additional savings starting next year.

最後，我們已經採取的策略性資產優化措施，例如關閉佩爾尼斯工廠，預計從明年開始每年將產生超過 1 億美元的額外節省。

As we progress into 2026, we will continue to optimize our network and take action when and where necessary to drive improved profitability at our PEM segment. Before I open the call to your questions, I want to close by highlighting Westlake's foundational strength, which continue to serve us well.

展望 2026 年，我們將繼續優化我們的網絡，並在必要時採取行動，以提高 PEM 業務的獲利能力。在正式開始回答大家的問題之前，我想最後強調一下韋斯特萊克的基礎優勢，這些優勢將繼續為我們帶來良好的服務。

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 rated balance sheet with $2.1 billion of cash and securities. As we end 2025 and transition into 2026, we will continue to capitalize on these strengths to create value for our shareholders.

這些優勢包括多元化和互補的業務組合、垂直整合的商業模式、我們在美國擁有的全球優勢原料和能源地位，以及我們擁有 21 億美元現金和證券的投資等級資產負債表。在2025年即將結束、2026年即將到來之際，我們將持續利用這些優勢為股東創造價值。

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

非常感謝各位收聽我們的第三季財報電話會議。現在我將把通話轉回給傑夫。傑夫？

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. Stefan, we will now take questions.

謝謝你，讓-馬克。在開始回答問題之前，我想提醒各位聽眾，我們的收益報告（其中詳細闡述了我們的業績）可在我們的網站上找到，本次電話會議的錄音回放將在會議結束後兩小時提供。斯特凡，現在開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) David Begleiter, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員指示）David Begleiter，德意志銀行。

Jean-Marc, we've seen polyethylene an increasingly weakening spot market. How will that affect your earnings in the fourth-quarter? And what does that mean for -- if anything, for the October price increase you have out there for polyethylene?

Jean-Marc，我們看到聚乙烯現貨市場持續疲軟。這將如何影響您第四季的收益？那麼，對於10月即將上漲的聚乙烯價格來說，這又意味著什麼呢？

Yes. Thank you for the question. No, you're right. We are seeing a, I would say, a little bit of a weakening in polyethylene prices. At the same time, ethane is still seeing in the mid-20s in terms of price, and this is certainly putting pressure on our ethylene margins.

是的。謝謝你的提問。不，你說得對。我認為，我們看到聚乙烯價格略有走弱。與此同時，乙烷的價格仍然維持在 20 多英鎊，這無疑給我們的乙烯利潤帶來了壓力。

There is plenty of supply in the polyethylene segment. We have a very good position, very good operating efficiency in the quarter. We're expecting the same over the next quarter and we will do our best to gather and create as much value as we can in that segment.

聚乙烯市場供應充足。本季我們的處境非常有利，營運效率也非常好。我們預計下一季情況也一樣，我們將盡最大努力在該領域獲取和創造盡可能多的價值。

So overall, it's been tough, but I would say relatively stable in the ethylene segment. We are -- as you expect, the last quarter is always subject also to some seasonality, and that's probably what we're going to see in conjunction with a stable to a little bit lower prices in the last quarter. So that's what we expect getting into the last quarter.

總的來說，情況比較艱難，但乙烯領域相對穩定。正如您所預料的，最後一個季度總是會受到一些季節性因素的影響，這可能是我們將在最後一個季度看到的價格保持穩定或略有下降的原因。這就是我們對最後一個季度的預期。

And just for Albert, given the pressures you're seeing in the commodity chemical space, are you and the Board still committed to this current portfolio construct with a building products business with a petrochemical business? Or is there a thinking that perhaps these businesses at somewhere down the road are being separated?

就艾伯特而言，鑑於您在大宗化學品領域看到的壓力，您和董事會是否仍然堅持目前的投資組合結構，即建築產品業務與石化業務相結合？或者有人認為，也許這些企業將在某個地方被分割？

Yes. Certainly, we are looking at various combination of business. We believe in the strength of the two business being together, as you know that our PVC business is a major supplier to our HIP business in North America. And we believe that with the balance of supply-demand globally improving over the next few years that with our cost restructuring in our PVC vinyl business in the US, we will be much better positioned to serve our customer, both domestically and overseas.

是的。當然，我們正在考慮各種不同的商業組合。我們相信兩家公司合併後會更有優勢，您也知道，我們的PVC業務是我們在北美HIP業務的主要供應商。我們相信，隨著未來幾年全球供需平衡的改善，以及我們在美國PVC乙烯基業務的成本重組，我們將能夠更好地服務國內外客戶。

And as we see interest rate coming down, it will certainly help the housing construction business in the US that will also improve our HIP business as well as our PVC business. So we believe there are synergies being together, but we understand from the valuation of the chemical and construction building material business, they are different. So we are hoping that the market can see the sum of the parts, but we'll evaluate options as we go.

隨著利率下降，這肯定有助於美國的房屋建設業務，同時也將改善我們的HIP業務和PVC業務。所以我們相信合併會帶來協同效應，但我們從化學和建築材料業務的估值來看，它們是不同的。所以我們希望市場能夠看到各個部分的整體情況，但我們會根據實際情況評估各種方案。

Frank Mitsch, Fermium Research.

弗蘭克米奇，費米研究中心。

You discussed some of the weakness in the polyethylene markets. PVC hasn't exactly been covering itself in glory. What is your near and midterm outlook on the PVC side of things? And what will it take to get it back on track?

您談到了聚乙烯市場的一些疲軟之處。PVC產業一直以來都表現平平。您對PVC方面的近期和中期前景有何看法？要怎樣才能讓它重回正軌？

Yes. So -- yes, thank you for the question. I will -- I'll start and then will hand it over to Steve. The forecast for -- you're right. I mean, the chlorovinyl chain has been challenged this year with prices going down. And hence, we are taking, I mean, efforts on the cost side to bring -- to make sure that we are in a position to compete even at these low prices.

是的。是的，謝謝你的提問。我會的——我會先開始，然後交給史蒂夫。預測結果——你說得對。我的意思是，今年氯乙烯產業鏈面臨價格下跌的挑戰。因此，我們正在成本方面做出努力，以確保即使在如此低的價格下，我們也能參與競爭。

So that's why we have started the additional cost savings on top of previous ones. And we are hopeful that we will get back into a position where we will deliver acceptable financial returns in that segment in a not-too-distant future.

所以，這就是為什麼我們在先前的成本節約措施基礎上又增加了額外的成本節約措施。我們希望在不久的將來，我們能夠重新回到能夠為該領域帶來可接受的財務回報的位置。

And just to add on, Frank, as Jean-Marc was noting, big focus and actions being taken now for cost reductions, improving reliability, we're already seeing those results in the third-quarter. And here we are well into the fourth-quarter, already seeing improved operating reliability, which allows us to reduce that unit cost. So big efforts on that front. But admittedly, it may take some further supply reductions in the marketplace.

弗蘭克，補充一點，正如讓-馬克所指出的，目前我們正大力採取措施降低成本、提高可靠性，我們已經在第三季度看到了這些成果。現在我們已經進入第四季度，營運可靠性已經提高，這使我們能夠降低單位成本。所以這方面投入了很大精力。但不可否認，這可能需要市場上進一步減少供應。

And frankly, as you think about what is happening already and been announced in the European market, you've already seen reductions in chlor-alkali announcements, both in chlor-alkali as well as in PVC. So I think some of those higher cost players have already begun to take actions to address the oversupply and high-cost positions.

坦白說，當你思考歐洲市場已經發生的事情和已經宣布的事情時，你會發現氯鹼公告的數量已經減少，無論是氯鹼還是聚氯乙烯（PVC）領域都是如此。所以我認為，一些高成本玩家已經開始採取措施來解決供應過剩和高成本的問題。

And Steve, if I could follow up on the ACI acquisition. You noted in the release what the sales were in 2024. I was wondering if you might be able to give us an idea of what transpired in 2025. And are we looking at HIP margin type of business? Anything on D&A as we look to model 2026 with the ACI acquisition built into the company?

史蒂夫，我可以跟進一下ACI收購案嗎？你在新聞稿中提到了 2024 年的銷售額。我想知道您是否能為我們介紹一下 2025 年發生了什麼事。我們是在討論高利潤率類型的業務嗎？在考慮將 ACI 收購納入公司營運後，我們計劃對 2026 年進行建模，關於 D&A 有什麼需要注意的嗎？

Yes. So Frank, good question. And the ACI business is a very strong and it's a global compounding business in that crosslinked polyethylene and silicone business. And it does have good margins in that business. Of course, compounding businesses don't tend to very -- have very high-end ranges of margins.

是的。弗蘭克，問得好。ACI 的業務非常強勁，是一家全球性的複合材料企業，主要從事交聯聚乙烯和矽酮的生產。而且，這項業務確實利潤豐厚。當然，複利型企業的利潤率往往不會非常高。

But I would say the range that you're seeing in our HIP segment are reflective of what I would expect to be delivered as we integrate ACI into our business. We think we have compelling synergies with our existing compounds business that is already a global business. And so I do expect the margins that you see in our HIP segment should be reflective of what we achieve once we get these synergies achieved in the ACI acquisition.

但我認為，您在我們 HIP 領域看到的成果範圍，反映了我們把 ACI 整合到業務中後，我期望能夠實現的成果。我們認為，這與我們現有的化合物業務（它已經是全球性企業）具有很強的協同效應。因此，我預計您在我們 HIP 業務部門看到的利潤率應該能夠反映出我們在收購 ACI 後實現這些協同效應後所取得的成就。

Aleksey Yefremov, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Aleksey Yefremov，KeyBanc 資本市場。

I was hoping you could just discuss further in detail the sources of this revision to your HIP guidance and how it affects your maybe initial views of 2026 for the HIP segment?

我希望您能更詳細地討論一下此次對 HIP 指南進行修訂的依據，以及它將如何影響您對 2026 年 HIP 領域的初步展望？

I'm sorry, Aleksey, could I get you to say that again? You were a little faint as you were asking that question.

對不起，阿列克謝，你能再說一次嗎？你問這個問題的時候似乎有點暈倒了。

Apologies. I was just asking why the new HIP guidance is lower? What product lines or -- what was the reason behind it? And then any initial thoughts on HIP in '26?

抱歉。我只是想問為什麼新的HIP指導值更低？是哪些產品線？或者——背後的原因是什麼？那麼，對於2026年的HIP計劃，您有什麼初步想法嗎？

Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry. It was -- your question initially was a little faint. Thank you for that question. So again, I'd say that with the shifting in product mix that we saw occurred in the third-quarter addressing affordability by many of our customers, we saw a shift from the mix of products in that space. And as we think about the period-related costs we had in the third-quarter, it also had an impact in the overall 2025 guidance that we have provided.

是的。謝謝。對不起。沒錯——你最初的問題有點含糊不清。謝謝你的提問。所以，我再次強調，隨著第三季產品組合的轉變，考慮到許多客戶的購買力，我們看到該領域的產品組合發生了變化。當我們考慮第三季期間的相關成本時，這也對我們提供的 2025 年整體業績指引產生了影響。

I think a lot of those costs that we had that were period related are largely nonrecurring in nature. And so as we think about the outlook for 2026, our guidance for construction activities is similar to what we've seen in 2025. If you listen to some of the conversations that are occurring publicly with some of our larger homebuilders nationwide, they're guiding to similar levels of construction activity, and we are believing to work very closely with those homebuilding construction companies.

我認為我們遇到的許多與時期相關的成本，本質上都是非經常性的。因此，當我們展望 2026 年時，我們對建築活動的指導與 2025 年的情況類似。如果你聽聽我們全國一些大型住宅建築商公開進行的對話，你會發現他們都在引導建築活動恢復到類似的水平，我們也相信會與這些住宅建築公司密切合作。

So I think our expectation is while we see rates likely to continue to drift further down on the short end of the curve, I do expect that the longer end of the curve will drift lower. And we do expect there will be more activity in the construction level in '26. But I would still say we expect the range of construction activity to be 1.3 million to 1.4 million housing starts, frankly, very similar to 2025.

所以我認為，雖然短期利率可能會繼續進一步下降，但我預期長期利率也會下降。我們預計 2026 年建築業活動將更加活躍。但我仍然認為，我們預計建築活動範圍將在 130 萬至 140 萬套住房開工量之間，坦白說，與 2025 年非常相似。

But remember, only half of our HIP business is new construction. I want to remind you that the other half is repair and remodeling, and the repair and remodeling business has continued to perform very well. So this is why we think that we'll continue to see good continuing performance in 2026.

但請記住，我們 HIP 業務中只有一半是新建案。我想提醒各位，另一半業務是維修和改造，而維修和改造業務一直表現得非常好。所以，我們認為2026年我們將繼續看到良好的持續表現。

And I was hoping to get some color on caustic soda market, domestic and export. What is your view for the rest of the year?

我希望能夠了解一下國內和出口的燒鹼市場狀況。您對今年剩餘時間有何展望？

So I'd say the market in caustic is well supplied. We expect that as we look forward into the market, while the consultants have some indication of price momentum, I would expect that pricing in the market remain relatively stable at this stage. But I think the market is well supplied. I would say the same is true on the chlorine side as well.

所以我認為燒鹼市場供應充足。展望未來，儘管顧問公司對價格走勢給了一些指示，但我預期現階段市場價格將保持相對穩定。但我認為市場供應充足。我認為氯氣方面的情況也是一樣。

Patrick Cunningham, Citi.

派崔克‧坎寧安，花旗銀行。

Maybe just a follow-up on ACI, more of a general question. Are you seeing more opportunities on the PVC compounding or other sort of materials side relative to the building products space, just given where the difference in valuations is? And then maybe if you could just comment on what the pipeline in general looks like.

或許可以就 ACI 提出一個後續問題，或更一般性的問題。考慮到估值差異，您是否認為PVC複合材料或其他材料領域比建築產品領域有更多機會？然後，您能否就整個流程的整體情況發表一下看法？

Yes. I'd say, Patrick, that there are opportunities that we see in expanding the footprint of HIP, both in product offering and ranges, whether they're in the compounding sector or our pipe and fittings businesses or our exterior building products business, the Royal business. I'd say there's ongoing good dialogue that we have with parties who may choose to monetize some of those assets.

是的。派崔克，我認為，我們看到了擴大 HIP 業務版圖的機會，無論是在產品供應和範圍方面，還是在複合材料領域、管道和配件業務、外牆建材業務以及皇家業務方面。我認為我們與那些可能選擇將其中一些資產貨幣化的各方保持著良好的對話。

And it's always a function of how does that fit into our business and the associated synergies. So I'd say there's really good opportunity as we look forward, but we're always looking for those synergistic fits into our overall portfolio.

這始終取決於它如何融入我們的業務以及相關的協同效應。所以我認為展望未來，我們有很多很好的機會，但我們始終在尋找能夠與我們整體投資組合產生協同效應的投資機會。

Understood. And then maybe just on the quarter-on-quarter sequential weakness on PVC. You mentioned a shift to export markets. Is this sort of a reversion back to your normal level of exports given the better operating rates? Or is there something abnormal here in terms of higher split towards the export markets?

明白了。然後，或許只是因為PVC環比疲軟。您提到了向出口市場的轉變。鑑於營運效率的提高，這是否意味著出口量已恢復到正常水準？或者說，出口市場佔比偏高是否有異常情況？

No, I think the industry has historically exported PVC resin in the 40s percent of production. And our shift back to some exports was simply improving reliability over the course of the third-quarter. And I think going back, as you may recall, our historic levels of exports are below that industry average of 40 or so percent. We're in the mid-30s to low 30s on an average basis. So it's simply just improving reliability, improving production, and putting some of that extra production back into historic market levels as we have in the past.

不，我認為該行業歷來出口的PVC樹脂佔其產量的40%左右。我們恢復部分出口業務，只因為第三季可靠性有所提高。而且，正如您可能記得的那樣，我們歷史上的出口水平低於行業平均水平，約為 40%。我們的平均值在30多到30出頭。所以，我們只需提高可靠性，提高產量，並將多餘的產量恢復到過去市場水準即可。

John Roberts, Mizuho.

約翰·羅伯茨，瑞穗銀行。

Did you get an opportunity to bid for the OxyChem business? Or was the antitrust there just even too far for this administration and something Oxy maybe didn't want to deal with?

你有沒有機會參與 OxyChem 業務的競標？或者說，反壟斷法對本屆政府來說還是太過棘手，是西方公司不想面對的問題？

Well, I cannot obviously speak to transactions that we consider, it's a large transaction and we are a very large player in this space. So we do have to be mindful that there could be regulatory issues around such a transaction. But I would say that we're constantly looking for good opportunities and certainly, whether it be in the HIP side of our business or on the PEM side of the business. But there's always opportunities that we look to, to see if there's real synergy value and real opportunities to grow the business in a value-added way.

顯然，我無法對我們正在考慮的交易發表評論，這是一筆大額交易，而我們在這個領域也是一家規模很大的公司。因此，我們必須注意，此類交易可能存在監管問題。但我想說的是，我們一直在尋找好的機會，無論是在我們業務的 HIP 方面還是在 PEM 方面。但我們始終在尋找機會，看看是否存在真正的綜效價值和以增值方式發展業務的真正機會。

Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global Advisors.

Hassan Ahmed，Alembic Global Advisors。

Just trying to -- I know in your prepared remarks; you talked a fair bit about sort of cost savings and asset optimization and the like. But just trying to get a better sense of a bridge to 2026 EBITDA-wise. It seems you guys will get $200 million in cost savings in '26, an incremental $100 million from the footprint optimization. And if I heard correctly, you had operational issues in PEM, accounting for around $200 million in 2025, which won't be there in '26. So -- and then obviously, some accretion from the acquisition.

我只是想說——我知道您在準備好的演講稿中談到了成本節約和資產優化等等。但只是想更了解 2026 年 EBITDA 實現的過渡情況。看來你們在 2026 年將節省 2 億美元成本，其中 1 億美元來自佔地面積優化。如果我沒聽錯的話，你們在PEM遇到了營運問題，預計到2025年將造成約2億美元的損失，而這些問題在2026年將不復存在。所以——然後很顯然，收購也帶來了一些收益。

So I mean, is it fair to assume that via self-help and these things that I just laid out, I mean, on a year-over-year basis, all else equal, EBITDA next year would be $500 million higher than this year?

所以我的意思是，透過自助以及我剛才提到的這些措施，在其他條件相同的情況下，假設明年的 EBITDA 將比今年高出 5 億美元，這種假設是否合理？

Yes. No, I think as you think about the pillars that Jean-Marc spoke to and the efforts that we have underway for cost reduction, improved reliability and asset optimization, I think you've outlined well the guidance that we're trying to speak to in terms of the actions in Pernis, the cost reduction initiatives and the opportunity to improve reliability.

是的。不，我認為，當你思考讓-馬克所提到的支柱以及我們正在為降低成本、提高可靠性和優化資產所做的努力時，我認為你已經很好地概述了我們試圖在佩爾尼斯採取的行動、降低成本的舉措以及提高可靠性的機會方面所傳達的指導方針。

And when you think of the reliability challenges, the unplanned outage we had this year, a higher level of planned turnarounds in 2025, but also a number of unplanned outages as well. As we think about 2026, of course, there are going to be some planned turnarounds. And of course, there could be some unplanned outages.

考慮到可靠性方面的挑戰，例如我們今年遇到的計劃外停機，以及 2025 年計劃內停機檢修量增加，但同時也會出現一些計劃外停機。當然，當我們展望 2026 年時，會有一些計畫內的調整。當然，也可能會出現一些計劃外的停電。

But I think you've outlined the direction that we're moving to improve reliability, reduce our cost and really act on opportunities to rationalize assets that are not performing well to really improve the bottom line. So I think you kind of framed the thinking that we have well.

但我認為你已經概述了我們提高可靠性、降低成本並真正抓住機會合理化表現不佳的資產以真正改善盈利狀況的方向。所以我覺得你很好地概括了我們目前的想法。

Fair enough. And as a follow-up, kind of linking a couple of the past questions together, I mean, this $727 million impairment associated with the PEM segment, how should we think about that in light of some of the valuation data points provided by the OxyChem deal?

很公平。作為後續問題，我想把之前的一些問題聯繫起來，我的意思是，與PEM部門相關的7.27億美元減值，我們應該如何根據OxyChem交易提供的一些估值數據點來看待這個問題？

I mean, obviously, that says something about the fundamentals there, Berkshire coming in and maybe scooping these assets up at the bottom of the cycle. How does that fit into this impairment you guys took? And again, going back to one of the earlier questions, just potentially thinking about the overall portfolio, is there some sort of valuation leakage with the way the business is set up today?

我的意思是，很顯然，這說明了那裡的基本面存在一些問題，伯克希爾哈撒韋公司可能是在周期底部收購了這些資產。這和你們所經歷的這種損害有什麼關係？再回到先前的問題之一，從整體投資組合的角度來看，目前的業務架構是否存在某種估值漏洞？

So the impairment is a mechanical process that one has to undertake on an ongoing basis. And when you think about the extended through that we've seen in the chlorovinyls business, it was clear to us that impairment was necessary to be taken. But I think you saw from our prepared remarks that we see the business really in a condition to continue to see good demand over the medium to long term.

因此，這種損傷是一個需要持續進行的機械過程。考慮到我們在氯乙烯業務中看到的長期發展，我們很清楚，必須進行減損損失評估。但我認為，從我們事先準備好的發言稿中，你們已經看到，我們認為該業務目前處於有利地位，並且能夠在中長期內繼續保持良好的需求。

So we think it really positions the business to continue to return a very solid return on assets as we go forward. And the positioning that we have, we think, is well positioned to capture that value medium to long term. But clearly, we're in this trough conditions today. And those trough conditions really are the drivers behind that impairment that is really just a mechanical process that one has to undertake on a regular basis.

因此，我們認為這將使公司在未來繼續獲得非常穩健的資產回報。我們認為，我們目前的市場定位能夠很好地掌握中長期價值。但很顯然，我們目前正處於低谷期。而這些低谷期的情況，其實是造成這種損害的根本原因，而損害其實只是一個需要定期進行的機械過程。

But nevertheless, we think the investment that we've made is well positioned, and we'll continue to really reap the benefits of this investment over time. But that's not to say that we won't make sure all assets are performing well as they should. And if they don't, we'll assess where the right value proposition sits.

但即便如此，我們認為我們所做的投資是明智之舉，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續從這項投資中獲益。但這並不意味著我們不會確保所有資產都發揮應有的良好作用。如果他們不這樣做，我們會評估適當的價值主張在哪裡。

Josh Spector, UBS.

瑞銀集團的 Josh Spector。

I just wanted to ask around the $20 million of period-related expenses and HIP. Can you tell us what exactly that was? And is that really a one quarter cost? Or is that something that maybe lingers for a few more quarters?

我只是想了解一下與月經相關的 2000 萬美元費用和 HIP（健康保險計劃）的情況。你能具體告訴我們那是什麼嗎？那真的只佔四分之一的成本嗎？或者這種情況可能還會持續幾個季度？

No, I called these out as period related because they really are administrative, and transition and integration related. And so they really are nonrecurring in the nature of those items, which is why I call them out as period related.

不，我之所以把這些列為時期相關事項，是因為它們實際上與行政、過渡和整合有關。因此，這些物品的性質確實不具有重複性，這也是我將它們稱為與時期相關的物品的原因。

But would you expect more integration costs in fourth-quarter? And are these numbers included in that $200 million reliability bucket you've called out or is this entirely separate?

但您預計第四季整合成本會增加嗎？這些數字是否包含在您提到的 2 億美元可靠性預算中，還是完全獨立的？

I see those -- I do not see those at this stage in the fourth-quarter, and I don't see those as likely to be near-term repeating.

我看到了那些——在第四季度的這個階段，我沒有看到那些，而且我認為那些不太可能在短期內重演。

Matthew DeYoe, Bank of America.

馬修‧德約，美國銀行。

How are you thinking about operating rates in polyethylene? Because it feels like the industry is running a bit -- I guess, how you say, if the industry does run hot, it feels like product starts to back up domestically. And I think we saw that in July and August. But I don't know if I'm extrapolating too much off of shorter duration or shorter -- fewer data points. What's your perception there? And how do you think about your own utilization rates?

您如何看待聚乙烯的生產運作率？因為感覺這個行業有點——我是說，如果這個行業過熱的話，感覺國內產品就開始積壓了。我認為我們在七、八月就看到了這一點。但我不知道我是否因為時間較短或數據點較少而得出過多的推論。你對那裡有什麼看法？您如何看待自己的資源利用率？

As you think about operating rates, we recognize that operating these plants to service our customers is important. But at the same time, we're going to be operating these facilities in a manner that creates real value. And so if those operating rates are hovering today for the industry in the mid-80s to low 80s, we certainly had some planned plant maintenance that we undertook in the third-quarter.

在考慮營運率時，我們認識到營運這些工廠為我們的客戶提供服務至關重要。但同時，我們將以創造真正價值的方式來運作這些設施。因此，如果目前該行業的營運率徘徊在 80% 到 80% 之間，那麼我們肯定在第三季進行了一些計劃內的工廠維護。

And so I would expect that our operating rates for the year will be slightly lower than industry average. But as we think about our polyethylene assets, we'll continue to make sure the operating rates reflect the value add that we see in the marketplace. And if we need to adjust those operating rates accordingly, we will.

因此，我預計我們今年的營業率將略低於行業平均水平。但當我們考慮聚乙烯資產時，我們將繼續確保營運率反映出我們在市場上看到的增值。如果需要相應地調整這些營運率，我們會這樣做。

Duffy Fischer, Goldman Sachs.

達菲費雪，高盛集團。

If you back into the number for HIP, just with what you've given us because we've got the year at the low end at the 4.2% and the 20%, you get a little under $150 million, which is down 20% year-on-year, roughly equal to Q3, which was down about 20%, but you don't have the period cost you just said. So how should we think about that back half number basically being a base to grow into 2026? It seems like HIP numbers should be down next year just given how low we are in the back half relative to the year. But any guidance on that would be helpful.

如果只根據你提供的資訊反推 HIP 的數字，因為我們有 4.2% 和 20% 這兩個較低的年度成長率，你會得到略低於 1.5 億美元的數字，同比下降 20%，與第三季度大致相同（下降了約 20%），但你沒有你剛才提到的期間成本。那麼我們該如何看待後半部的數據，它基本上是為 2026 年的成長奠定的基礎呢？鑑於下半年的HIP數量相對於全年而言已經很低，明年HIP數量似乎應該會下降。但這方面的指導都將不勝感激。

Yes. So Duffy, we see the seasonal construction period begin to slow in Q4. And so if you think about the new construction activity that typically occurs in the fourth-quarter, it tends to be slower. But as we look forward, and again, I just want to remind you that half of our HIP business is repair and remodeling. So it's not entirely tied to the new construction markets that we see the nationwide builders dealing with at this stage.

是的。所以 Duffy，我們看到季節性施工期在第四季開始放緩。因此，如果你想想通常在第四季發生的新建築活動，你會發現它往往比較緩慢。但展望未來，我再次提醒大家，我們 HIP 業務的一半是維修和改造。所以它並不完全與我們目前看到的全國建築商所面臨的新建築市場有關。

And so we still remain very constructive in our outlook for 2026 in terms of how we see the HIP business continuing to perform. There, of course, is seasonality in the first-quarter and in the fourth-quarter. So as we look at the fourth-quarter that we're in today going into the early stages of first-quarter, there is naturally seasonality and this is why we're guiding not only to the lower end of this range for the period-related expenses we had in the third-quarter, but also some of the slowing that we typically see in the fourth-quarter.

因此，我們對 2026 年 HIP 業務的前景仍然非常樂觀，並相信它將繼續發展。當然，第一季和第四季存在季節性因素。因此，當我們展望如今已進入第四季度並即將進入第一季度初期時，自然會存在季節性因素，這就是為什麼我們不僅將第三季度期間相關支出的預期設定在區間下限，而且還考慮到我們通常在第四季度看到的增速放緩。

But as we look forward into 2026, recognizing that half our business is new construction, the other half is repair and remodeling, we still remain relatively constructive in our outlook. Those -- that constructive outlook is really tied to the dialogue that we're having really with these nationwide builders who, while they are working down their completed and unsold inventory, still seem to be moving forward with their construction plans.

但展望 2026 年，考慮到我們一半的業務是新建工程，另一半是維修和改造，我們仍然對前景保持相對樂觀的態度。這種建設性的看法實際上與我們正在與這些全國性建築商進行的對話有關，儘管他們正在努力減少已完工但未售出的庫存，但他們似乎仍在推進他們的建設計劃。

Fair enough. And then if I could just go back to the write-down in the PEM section, chlorovinyl, obviously everything has to be forward-looking, right? The fact we've been in a long trough, it's not a backward-looking write-down, it's your expectations going forward. So what's changed, I guess, kind of in your 10-year outlook for chlorovinyls? And how much of the hit is downstream and how much of the hit would be kind of at the chlor-alkali level?

很公平。然後，如果我能回到 PEM 部分的記錄，氯乙烯，顯然一切都必須著眼於未來，對吧？我們已經長期處於低谷期，但這不是對過去的回顧，而是對未來的預期。那麼，你對未來十年氯乙烯類化合物的展望發生了哪些變化呢？有多少影響發生在下游環節，又有多少影響發生在氯鹼環節？

Yes. This was, of course, just really on a chlor-alkali base. And so as we think about the discounted cash flows that one has to run for the assessment of goodwill impairment, you can recognize that the extended trough we have triggered that impairment. But when we think about the fact there was no impairment of the assets themselves, it signals really the fact that we believe that this business continues to perform and will perform well in the medium to long term. It's just the extended nature of this trough really in the chlorovinyls business.

是的。當然，這其實只是以氯鹼為基礎的。因此，當我們考慮評估商譽減損所需的折現現金流時，你會發現，我們已經觸發了這個減損。但考慮到資產本身沒有減值，這實際上表明我們相信這項業務將繼續保持良好業績，並且在中長期內也將表現良好。問題就出在氯乙烯產業，這個低谷期其實持續時間很長。

Vincent Andrews, Morgan Stanley.

文森安德魯斯，摩根士丹利。

This is Turner Hinrichs on for Vincent. So I wanted to level set a little bit for your comments on outages. You all mentioned earlier, of course, the issues constituting around a $200 million impact this year. And you also had the Petro 1 turnaround, I believe, in addition to that, $80 million. So in the absence of unplanned outages, how are you all thinking about maintenance costs next year relative to this year? And is that the right way of framing it?

這是特納·欣里希斯替補文森特上場。所以我想先稍微澄清一下你對故障的評論。當然，你們之前都提到過，這些問題今年將造成約 2 億美元的影響。我相信，除此之外，還有 Petro 1 的扭虧為盈，金額為 8,000 萬美元。那麼，在沒有計畫外停機的情況下，大家如何看待明年的維修成本與今年相比的變化呢？這樣表述是否正確？

Yes. And so as I say, 2025 was a much heavier year for planned outages, planned turnarounds. And so as I think about 2026, we don't have an ethylene cracker planned outage for turnaround. We only have some of the smaller units, and those occur on a pretty regular basis every two to three years, whether they are PVC or chlor-alkali or polyethylene assets, which typically turn every two to three years. And so the relative maintenance expense for turnarounds in 2026 should be much lower than they were in 2025.

是的。正如我所說，2025 年計劃停機檢修和計劃大修的次數要多得多。因此，展望 2026 年，我們沒有計劃對乙烯裂解裝置進行停產檢修。我們只有一些規模較小的裝置，而且這些裝置每兩到三年就會定期更換一次，無論是 PVC 裝置、氯鹼裝置還是聚乙烯裝置，這些裝置通常每兩到三年就會更換一次。因此，2026 年的檢修相對維護費用應該比 2025 年低得多。

Okay. I think that answers the question. How are you thinking about, if you can provide any color on this, go-forward CapEx, specifically, if the market environment remains relatively similar next year to this year, is it safe to assume that CapEx might still be in the $900 million range or perhaps $1 billion range?

好的。我覺得這已經回答了這個問題。您如何看待未來的資本支出？如果您能提供一些細節信息，特別是如果明年的市場環境與今年相對相似，是否可以合理地假設資本支出仍可能在 9 億美元左右，甚至 10 億美元左右？

Yes. We're continuing to finalize our budget plans for 2026, but I would say that I would expect it to be similar in relative size.

是的。我們正在繼續完善 2026 年的預算計劃，但我認為其相對規模應該與今年相似。

Pete Osterland, Truist Securities.

皮特‧奧斯特蘭 (Pete Osterland)，Truist 證券公司。

Within PEM, you had a $36 million tailwind from improved plant reliability in the third-quarter. Do you expect this to be a sequential tailwind in fourth-quarter as well? And what is a reasonable amount to expect there? Could it be another $35 million or so?

在 PEM 領域，第三季工廠可靠性的提高帶來了 3,600 萬美元的利多。你認為這會在第四季繼續保持順風嗎？那麼，合理的預期金額是多少呢？會不會是另外3500萬美元左右？

And so while we have seen some improved reliability, I would expect that we'll continue to see improved reliability in the fourth-quarter. The amount of that reliability dollar-wise is really attributable to the assumptions that you might have on pricing. And so I have to refer back to you in terms of what your assumptions are for pricing in the model, but we are seeing improved reliability in Q3 and in Q4. So I do expect a tailwind, but the quantification of that is really a function of what pricing assumption you might have in your models.

因此，雖然我們已經看到可靠性有所提高，但我預計在第四季度我們將繼續看到可靠性的提高。這種可靠性在金錢上的體現，其實取決於你對定價的假設。因此，我需要向你請教你在模型定價方面的假設，但我們在第三季和第四季看到了可靠性的提高。所以我預計會有順風，但這種順風的量化實際上取決於你的模型中可能採用的定價假設。

Got it. And then I also just wanted to follow up on your plans for the $200 million of cost saves in '26. Could you share the cadence you expect throughout the year for actioning those cost savings? And I guess how much of that $200 million do you expect will actually be realized in '26 EBITDA relative to 2025?

知道了。另外，我還想跟進您在 2026 年節省 2 億美元成本的計劃。能否分享一下您預計全年實施這些成本節約措施的節奏？那麼，您預計這 2 億美元中有多少會在 2026 年的 EBITDA 中實現（相對於 2025 年而言）？

Yes. And so I do expect actions -- I do expect those all to be pocketed in 2026. Actions actually are underway now. And so whether these are actions that relate to supply chain, to feedstock, to a wide range of what I would say, structural costs that are coming out of the business. So we'll begin to provide a little bit more color in '26 as we get into the actions in terms of the cadence.

是的。因此，我期待採取行動——我期待所有這些行動都能在 2026 年實現。目前行動正在進行中。因此，無論這些行動是與供應鏈、原料有關，或是我認為是企業正在產生的各種結構性成本有關。所以，隨著我們深入探討節奏方面的動作，我們將在 '26 中開始增添一些色彩。

But I do fully expect to pocket that $200 million in 2026 because actions clearly are underway, well defined and well actioned at this stage and beginning to materialize in '26. Of course, we have actions underway for 2025 as well. And as I mentioned, we've had $115 million achieved toward our $150 million to $175 million target in '25. So we expect that we are moving forward. And many of these leverages the actions in '25 that will continue to be additive in 2026.

但我完全有信心在 2026 年獲得這 2 億美元，因為目前各項行動顯然正在進行中，目標明確，行動到位，並將在 2026 年開始實現。當然，我們也正在製定2025年的計畫。正如我之前提到的，我們已經實現了 1.15 億美元，距離 2025 年 1.5 億至 1.75 億美元的目標還有一段距離。因此，我們預計我們將向前邁進。其中許多措施利用了 2025 年的行動，這些行動將在 2026 年繼續產生積極影響。

Matthew Blair, TPH.

Matthew Blair，TPH。

You mentioned a few times the affordability issues in the US housing market. How are you responding here? Are you introducing more low-cost products? Are you changing the raw materials on any of your existing products? Or maybe this doesn't warrant a change in strategy from you, but could you discuss that?

您曾多次提到美國住房市場的可負擔性問題。你對此有何回應？你們是否正在推出更多低價產品？你們是否正在更改現有產品的原料？或許這並不需要你改變策略，但你能討論一下嗎？

Yes. And so when you think about our HIP businesses, we do have the range of good, better, best range of products. And that allows us to be able to address the affordability issues that some of the builders may have as they think about trying to address the affordability issues of homes.

是的。所以，當我們考慮我們的 HIP 業務時，我們確實擁有好、更好、最好的產品系列。這樣一來，我們就能解決一些建築商在考慮如何解決住房可負擔性問題時可能遇到的可負擔性問題。

And so I spoke earlier about some of the product mix shift that we saw in Q3, and that's part of the reasoning behind some of that product mix shift is moving products from maybe good, better, best to be able to address the affordability issues that we see builders approaching us and discussing.

所以我之前談到了我們在第三季度看到的一些產品組合變化，而這種產品組合變化背後的部分原因是，我們將產品從“好”、“更好”、“最好”調整為“價格可承受性”，以解決我們看到建築商向我們提出並討論的價格可承受性問題。

Sounds good. And then could you also discuss why you re-upped the ethylene supply agreement with the MLP? Does this raise costs at a time when margin -- when the industry is in a tough spot? And -- or is it the general idea that just preserve your optionality in case the MLP equity markets ever come back?

聽起來不錯。那麼，您能否也談談為什麼您與 MLP 續簽乙烯供應協議？在產業情勢嚴峻、利潤率下降的情況下，這樣做是否會增加成本？或者，這是否意味著要保留選擇權，以防 MLP 股票市場有朝一日復甦？

Yes. Good question. But we continue to see, I think, good value in the partnership in its position today. And the extension of this agreement is actually very much as was originally envisioned back in 2014 when we constructed the partnership and launched that into the marketplace. It was designed to have an ability to extend that contract yearly year after year as the end of that 12-year contract expires, which is the end of '26.

是的。問得好。但我認為，我們仍然認為，就目前而言，這種合作關係具有很好的價值。而此次協議的延期實際上與 2014 年我們建立合作關係並將其推向市場時的最初設想非常吻合。協議的設計初衷是能夠隨著 12 年期合約的到期（即 2026 年底）而逐年延長。

So renewing that contract or moving forward with that is reflective of the original construct of that ethylene sales agreement that was originally put to place in 2014. If you look at the way the contract for the ethylene sales agreement is constructed today, actually, we're very close to that $0.10 margin already.

因此，續約該合約或繼續推進該合約反映了最初於 2014 年制定的乙烯銷售協議的原始結構。如果你看看目前乙烯銷售協議的合約結構，實際上，我們已經非常接近 0.10 美元的利潤率了。

So there's really no give up on either side of the equation. The C-corp as well as the partnership are getting in effect market pricing in today's market. And so if you look at cash margin, that's really not how the agreement is structured. It's really on a fully loaded basis. And so that's really where the market is today, and that's why both the C-corp and the partnership have agreed to extend this contract.

所以，雙方都沒有真正放棄的餘地。C 型公司和合夥企業在當今市場上都獲得了有效的市場定價。因此，如果你看一下現金利潤率，你會發現協議的結構並非如此。它確實是滿配版。所以，這就是目前市場的現狀，這也是 C 公司和合夥企業都同意延長這份合約的原因。

Arun Viswanathan, RBC Capital Markets.

Arun Viswanathan，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

So I guess just going back to caustic, you noted that caustic is well supplied, and you don't expect a price increase, or I don't know if that's what you said. But I guess I was under the impression that maybe there was a $50 increase announced, and you could get maybe $20 of that in the coming months. Maybe you can just elaborate on what you're seeing there in caustic soda.

所以我想回到燒鹼的問題上，你提到燒鹼供應充足，預計不會上漲，或者我不知道你是不是這麼說的。但我當時以為可能會宣布增加 50 美元，而你或許能在接下來的幾個月拿到其中的 20 美元。或許你可以詳細描述你在苛性鈉溶液中看到的現象。

Yes. And so Arun, there -- as I said, the market is well supplied. If you look at where the consultants are with their forecast for prices, they do have nominated in their forecast price increases. And this is the time of year where you see a curtailment of chlorine production as we reach a slowing season in construction, which impacts PVC slowing just because of the seasonality. So there is normally a slowdown in the production of chlorine and therefore, caustic soda production, which is the basis behind their driver for the price increase.

是的。所以，Arun，正如我所說，市場供應充足。如果你看一下顧問公司對價格的預測，他們確實在預測中提到了價格上漲。每年的這個時候，隨著建築業進入淡季，氯氣產量也會減少，這同樣會因為季節性因素而導致 PVC 產量下降。因此，氯氣的生產通常會放緩，燒鹼的生產也會隨之放緩，這就是他們推動價格上漲的根本原因。

And whether it be one consultant or another, they have roughly $25 a ton in their forecast. And so my comment really was that the market simply is well supplied. And to the extent there are opportunities to improve pricing, we'll certainly act on those.

無論是哪位顧問，他們的預測都大致是每噸 25 美元。所以我的評論其實是，市場供應充足。如果存在改善定價的機會，我們一定會採取行動。

Kevin McCarthy, Vertical Research Partners.

Kevin McCarthy，Vertical Research Partners。

With epoxy resins having been removed from Annex II, would you provide an update on how you see that market unfolding over the next several quarters?

鑑於環氧樹脂已從附件二中移除，您能否介紹一下您對未來幾季該市場發展趨勢的看法？

Yes, Kevin, it's -- with our shuttering of the Pernis facility in Europe and our ability to source feedstocks, both LER and BPA in a very cost-effective manner, our downstream businesses are beginning to perform much better with that lower cost input feedstock. And so our European and North American and Asian businesses in epoxy are expected to continue to perform well.

是的，凱文，隨著我們關閉了歐洲的佩爾尼斯工廠，並且我們能夠以非常經濟高效的方式採購 LER 和 BPA 等原料，我們的下游業務開始憑藉這些成本更低的投入原料表現得更好。因此，我們預計我們在歐洲、北美和亞洲的環氧樹脂業務將繼續表現良好。

The challenge we had in our epoxy business simply was the fact that we had higher cost of production in Europe. So as we see the market today, I see some improvement in overall epoxy pricing. But I'd say our focus these days is very much in the downstream formulated aspects of the epoxy business that we have in Europe, in the Americas as well as in Asia.

我們在環氧樹脂業務方面面臨的挑戰很簡單，就是我們在歐洲的生產成本較高。就目前的市場情況來看，我認為環氧樹脂的整體價格有所改善。但我認為，我們目前的重點主要集中在我們在歐洲、美洲和亞洲的環氧樹脂業務的下游配方方面。

And then as a follow-up or clarification, when exactly will the $100 million of goodness related to the Pernis closure begin to flow through? Does that happen in the first-quarter? Or how would you characterize that?

那麼，作為後續或澄清，與佩爾尼斯工廠關閉相關的 1 億美元善款究竟何時才能開始到位？這種情況會在第一季發生嗎？或者你會如何描述這種情況？

Yes. So the losses that we were incurring there, the plant has been shuttered and we're in the process of bringing the unit down or brought the unit down safely in the third-quarter. So the benefits that we're beginning to see are beginning to accrue in Q4 and forward into 2026. So of course, there'll be some severance costs and such that you'll see flow through, but the benefit that we're seeing to the bottom line will begin to come through in Q4 and into '26.

是的。因此，由於我們在那裡遭受的損失，該工廠已經關閉，我們正在逐步關閉裝置，或者說，我們已經在第三季度安全地關閉了該裝置。因此，我們開始看到的這些好處將從第四季開始逐步顯現，並持續到 2026 年。當然，會有一些遣散費之類的費用會逐漸顯現，但我們看到的利潤成長將在第四季和 2026 年開始顯現。

Michael Sison, Wells Fargo.

麥可西森，富國銀行。

Just curious, I think I understand some of the pluses for 2026. But if demand stays in the trough, which a lot of companies have said they haven't seen evidence that we're going to pick back up anytime soon. You noted polyethylene, PVC, caustic, chlorine are both oversupplied, and it feels like feedstock costs could go higher. So do you think margins -- industry margins for PEM could go lower in '26 given that scenario?

只是好奇，我覺得我理解了2026年的一些優點。但如果需求持續處於低谷，正如許多公司所說，他們還沒有看到任何證據表明需求會在短期內回升。您指出聚乙烯、聚氯乙烯、燒鹼、氯氣都已過剩，而且原料成本似乎還會持續上漲。那麼，在這種情況下，您認為2026年PEM產業的利潤率會下降嗎？

It's really hard to make that call, Mike. When you think about the market that we see today, the outlook we see, and I'm looking at outlooks for -- from the consultants on pricing, pricing remains fairly stable. If you look at the average prices, one of the better-known consultants for '25 and compare that to their forecast for 2026, it's basically flat for the course of '26 versus the year 2025. Certainly, we have -- and Jean-Marc made comment about this, our feedstock costs have certainly risen and so you're seeing some higher costs for ethane.

麥克，這真的很難做決定。當你思考我們今天看到的市場，我們看到的前景，我指的是——從顧問對定價的看法來看，定價仍然相當穩定。如果你看一下 2025 年的平均價格，並將其與一位比較知名的顧問公司對 2026 年的預測進行比較，你會發現 2026 年的價格與 2025 年相比基本持平。當然，我們的原料成本確實上漲了——Jean-Marc 也對此發表了評論——所以你會看到乙烷的價格上漲了。

And so there could be some further compression. But of course, that ethane is going into derivatives downstream. So if those derivatives downstream can't support that higher feedstock, then higher prices may not fully materialize in ethane.

因此，可能還存在進一步壓縮的空間。當然，這些乙烷下游會用於生產衍生物。因此，如果下游的這些衍生性商品無法支撐更高的原料價格，那麼乙烷價格的上漲可能不會完全實現。

But I would say, as we look forward, we're certainly looking at our customer demand picture and also looking at what our customers are saying and how we operate the business. But I would say the consultants suggest that prices should be relatively flat from '25 to '26 in the chlorovinyls business.

但我想說，展望未來，我們當然會關注客戶需求狀況，也會關注客戶的回饋以及我們的業務運作方式。但我認為，顧問們建議，從 2025 年到 2026 年，氯乙烯產業的價格應該會相對穩定。

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

問答環節至此結束。還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Thank you again for participating in today's call. We hope you'll join us again for our next conference call to discuss our fourth-quarter 2025 results.

是的。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 2025 年第四季的業績。

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

感謝您參加今天西湖公司第三季財報電話會議。提醒各位，本次通話結束後兩小時即可收聽回放。可以透過西湖高中的網站觀看比賽重播。再見。