Olympic Steel Inc (ZEUS) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Olympic Steel 2023 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到奧鋼 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意正在錄製此會議。

At this time, I would like to hand the conference over to Rich Manson, Chief Financial Officer at Olympic Steel. Please go ahead, sir.

此時，我想將會議交給 Olympic Steel 的首席財務官 Rich Manson。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Olympic Steel's earnings call for the first quarter of 2023. Our call this morning will be hosted by our Chief Executive Officer, Rick Marabito; and we will also be joined by our President and Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Greiff.

謝謝你，運營商。歡迎來到 Olympic Steel 的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天上午的電話會議將由我們的首席執行官 Rick Marabito 主持；我們的總裁兼首席運營官 Andrew Greiff 也將加入。

Before we begin, I have a few reminders. Some statements made on today's call will be predictive and are intended to be made as forward-looking within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may not reflect actual results. The company does not undertake to update such statements, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking statements. Important assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in the company's reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and the press releases filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始之前，我有幾點提醒。在今天的電話會議上發表的一些聲明將是預測性的，旨在根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款作為前瞻性聲明，可能不會反映實際結果。公司不承諾更新此類陳述、假設的變化或影響此類前瞻性陳述的其他因素的變化。公司關於 10-K 和 10-Q 表格的報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的新聞稿中列出了可能導致實際結果出現重大差異的重要假設、風險、不確定性和其他因素。

During today's discussion, we may refer to adjusted net income per diluted share, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, which are all non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided in the press release that was issued last night and can be found on our website. Today's live broadcast will be archived and available for replay on Olympic Steel's website.

在今天的討論中，我們可能會提到調整後的稀釋後每股淨收益、EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA，這些都是非 GAAP 財務指標。昨晚發布的新聞稿中提供了這些非 GAAP 措施與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的對賬，可以在我們的網站上找到。今天的現場直播將在奧林匹克鋼鐵公司的網站上進行存檔和重播。

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Rick.

這時候，我會把電話轉給里克。

Thank you, Rich, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss Olympic Steel's 2023 first quarter results. I'll begin with an overview of another strong quarter for Olympic Steel driven by our ongoing strategy to diversify and strengthen our company. Then Andrew will review highlights from each segment and provide some comments on market conditions. Following that, Rich will discuss our financial results in more detail, and then as always, we will open up the call for your questions.

謝謝你，里奇，大家早上好。感謝您參加今天的電話會議，討論奧林匹克鋼鐵公司 2023 年第一季度的業績。我將首先概述 Olympic Steel 的另一個強勁季度，該季度是由我們正在進行的多元化和加強公司的戰略推動的。然後安德魯將回顧每個細分市場的亮點並對市場狀況提供一些評論。之後，Rich 將更詳細地討論我們的財務結果，然後一如既往地，我們將打開您的問題電話。

Our year is off to a strong start. For the first quarter, Olympic Steel reported sales of $573 million and adjusted EBITDA of $28.6 million with balanced earnings from all 3 of our segments. Overall customer demand remained steady with metal distribution shipments increasing 3% from 1 year ago and significantly increasing 15% from the seasonally slower fourth quarter. And as we mentioned on our last call, after 6 months of declining steel prices, we began to see price increases in December of last year, and these supply-driven increases accelerated as we entered 2023.

我們的一年有了一個良好的開端。第一季度，Olympic Steel 報告的銷售額為 5.73 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2860 萬美元，我們所有 3 個部門的收益均衡。整體客戶需求保持穩定，金屬分銷出貨量較一年前增長 3%，較季節性放緩的第四季度大幅增長 15%。正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的那樣，在鋼鐵價格下跌 6 個月之後，我們在去年 12 月開始看到價格上漲，並且隨著我們進入 2023 年，這些供應驅動的上漲速度加快。

At the end of the first quarter, hot rolled index pricing was up 74% from the beginning of the year. Our acquisition of Metal-Fab in January was a highlight for the quarter. As the second largest acquisition in our history and our sixth acquisition in the last 5 years, Metal-Fab represents the latest success in our strategy to diversify and strengthen Olympic Steel.

一季度末，熱軋指數定價較年初上漲74%。我們在 1 月份對 Metal-Fab 的收購是本季度的一大亮點。 Metal-Fab 是我們歷史上的第二大收購，也是我們過去 5 年的第六次收購，代表著我們多元化和加強 Olympic Steel 戰略的最新成功。

As you'll recall, Metal-Fab broadens our product offerings, capabilities and geographic reach by producing venting and filtration products for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Products are manufactured primarily of coated carbon and stainless steel and aluminum in our 2 Wichita, Kansas facilities.

您可能還記得，Metal-Fab 通過為住宅、商業和工業應用生產通風和過濾產品，擴大了我們的產品供應、能力和地理範圍。在我們位於堪薩斯州威奇託的 2 家工廠中，產品主要由塗層碳鋼、不銹鋼和鋁製成。

Included in our Carbon segment, we're thrilled with the fast start in the performance of Metal-Fab. As Rich will highlight later the impacts of onetime acquisition expenses and purchase accounting adjustments are now behind us in the first quarter, and we will see the benefit of Metal-Fab's earnings in the second quarter of 2023 followed by meaningful synergies beginning in the second half of the year.

包括在我們的碳部分中，我們對 Metal-Fab 性能的快速啟動感到興奮。正如 Rich 稍後將強調的那樣，一次性收購費用和採購會計調整的影響在第一季度已經過去，我們將在 2023 年第二季度看到 Metal-Fab 的收益帶來的好處，隨後在下半年開始產生有意義的協同效應的一年。

While successfully integrating Metal-Fab is a priority for our team, Olympic Steel remains extremely well positioned to identify and pursue additional acquisition opportunities that advance our strategy. Our balance sheet is incredibly strong, and with the increase in our revolving credit line executed in conjunction with the Metal-Fab deal, we now have record levels of capital and borrowing availability to invest in organic growth initiatives, automation and further acquisitions that align with our strategic priorities. We're excited about the future of Olympic Steel and the prospects to build our business model for sustainable long-term success.

雖然成功整合 Metal-Fab 是我們團隊的首要任務，但 Olympic Steel 仍然處於非常有利的地位，可以識別和尋求推進我們戰略的額外收購機會。我們的資產負債表非常強勁，隨著與 Metal-Fab 交易一起執行的循環信貸額度的增加，我們現在擁有創紀錄水平的資本和借貸可用性，可用於投資有機增長計劃、自動化和進一步收購，以符合我們的戰略重點。我們對 Olympic Steel 的未來以及為可持續的長期成功建立我們的商業模式的前景感到興奮。

We also recently issued our second corporate responsibility report, which can be accessed on our website. The report highlights our progress in ESG, DEI, safety and our other core value initiatives at Olympic Steel. As we look ahead, we understand that the near-term macroeconomic picture is unsettled. However, demand from our industrial OEMs remains steady, and we expect the second quarter to look a lot like our first quarter.

我們最近還發布了第二份企業責任報告，可在我們的網站上訪問。該報告重點介紹了我們在 ESG、DEI、安全和 Olympic Steel 的其他核心價值舉措方面取得的進展。展望未來，我們了解到近期的宏觀經濟形勢並不穩定。然而，我們工業 OEM 的需求保持穩定，我們預計第二季度與第一季度非常相似。

We have demonstrated that our team's actions to diversify and grow Olympic Steel have made us a stronger, more resilient and consistent performer while navigating the impacts of market cyclicality.

我們已經證明，我們的團隊為實現奧林匹克鋼鐵的多元化和發展而採取的行動使我們在應對市場週期性影響的同時變得更強大、更有彈性和更穩定的表現。

So now with that, I will turn the call over to Andrew.

所以現在，我將把電話轉給安德魯。

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. As Rick noted, the first quarter was a strong start to the year with a solid and steady performance from each of our segments.

謝謝你，里克，大家早上好。正如 Rick 指出的那樣，第一季度是今年的一個良好開端，我們每個部門的業績都穩健而穩定。

Now for a look at our performance by segment, starting with Carbon. The favorable combination of increased shipment volume, an improving pricing environment and the addition of Metal-Fab delivered a strong quarter. Although results were adversely affected by onetime charges associated with the acquisition, Carbon contributed adjusted EBITDA of $11.6 million for the quarter.

現在，從 Carbon 開始，看看我們按細分市場的表現。出貨量增加、定價環境改善以及 Metal-Fab 的加入帶來了強勁的季度業績。儘管業績受到與收購相關的一次性費用的不利影響，但 Carbon 為本季度貢獻了 1160 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。

Team's hard work and discipline around inventory management enabled the segment to positively impact our results as our shipments rose 6% from 1 year ago, which does not include Metal-Fab as we do not report tons sold for this business. Congratulations to David Gea and the entire Carbon segment on their outstanding work and performance this quarter.

團隊圍繞庫存管理的辛勤工作和紀律使該部門對我們的業績產生了積極影響，因為我們的出貨量比 1 年前增長了 6%，其中不包括 Metal-Fab，因為我們沒有報告該業務的銷量。祝賀 David Gea 和整個 Carbon 部門在本季度的出色工作和表現。

Pipe and tube led by Bill Zelensky had its second most profitable quarter ever, contributing EBITDA of $11.3 million. The team's focus on margin improvement and fabricated product growth is driving positive results. In particular, the investments to improve the segment's fabrication capabilities are leading to enhanced laser speeds, reduced lead times and improved service to customers.

由 Bill Zelensky 領導的管材業務創造了有史以來第二個最賺錢的季度，貢獻了 1130 萬美元的 EBITDA。該團隊對提高利潤率和製造產品增長的關注正在推動取得積極成果。特別是，為提高該部門的製造能力而進行的投資正在提高激光速度、縮短交貨時間並改善對客戶的服務。

We are also targeting in May groundbreaking for our 30,000 square foot Des Moines, Iowa expansion with expectations to be operational by the end of the year.

我們還計劃在 5 月為愛荷華州得梅因 30,000 平方英尺的擴建項目開工，預計年底前投入運營。

Specialty metals, led by Andy Markowitz, faced industry-wide stainless steel headwinds leading to softer volumes and lower margins. The good news is we were still able to post another very profitable quarter, earning EBITDA of $10.2 million. We continue to organically grow in aluminum as our share of the market rose to a 2-year high following the divestiture of our Detroit operation in September of 2021. Our new white metals fabrication facility in Bartlett, Illinois, is near completion, and we expect it will be fully operational in the second quarter.

以 Andy Markowitz 為首的特種金屬面臨整個行業的不銹鋼逆風，導致銷量下降和利潤率下降。好消息是我們仍然能夠發布另一個非常有利可圖的季度，EBITDA 為 1020 萬美元。在 2021 年 9 月剝離底特律業務後，隨著我們的市場份額升至 2 年高點，我們繼續有機增長鋁。我們在伊利諾伊州巴特利特的新白色金屬製造工廠即將完工，我們預計它將在第二季度全面投入運營。

Overall, we expect second quarter demand to remain steady, similar to the first quarter. Our industrial OEMs continued to show a solid backlog and are performing to forecast. We are seeing a pickup in our food equipment and appliance segments, truck trailer customers and transplant automotive business in the Southeast. Thank you to our entire team for another outstanding quarter.

總體而言，我們預計第二季度需求將保持穩定，與第一季度類似。我們的工業原始設備製造商繼續顯示出大量積壓，並且表現符合預期。我們在東南部的食品設備和電器領域、卡車拖車客戶和移植汽車業務中看到了回升。感謝我們的整個團隊又一個出色的季度。

Now I'll turn the call over to Rich.

現在我將電話轉給 Rich。

Thank you, Andrew, and good morning, everyone. It was an exciting quarter for Olympic Steel, highlighted by strong performances in all of our segments, our successful acquisition of Metal-Fab and the increase in our revolving credit line from $475 million to $625 million, resulting in record availability for continued investments in acquisitions and organic growth opportunities.

謝謝安德魯，大家早上好。對於 Olympic Steel 來說，這是一個激動人心的季度，突出體現在我們所有部門的強勁表現、我們成功收購 Metal-Fab 以及我們的循環信貸額度從 4.75 億美元增加到 6.25 億美元，導致持續投資收購的創紀錄可用性和有機增長機會。

Please keep in mind that the inclusion of Metal-Fab in our first quarter 2023 results will make year-over-year comparisons more difficult. Metal-Fab, which is included in our Carbon segment, does not report tons sold and typically has higher returns than our distribution business. Additionally, there are several onetime acquisition-related adjustments that we highlighted in our adjusted EBITDA reconciliation.

請記住，將 Metal-Fab 納入我們 2023 年第一季度的業績將使同比比較變得更加困難。 Metal-Fab 屬於我們的 Carbon 部門，不報告已售出的噸數，而且通常比我們的分銷業務有更高的回報。此外，我們在調整後的 EBITDA 對賬中強調了多項與一次性收購相關的調整。

For the quarter, net income totaled $9.8 million compared with $37.3 million in the first quarter of 2022. No LIFO adjustment was recorded for the first quarters of 2023 or 2022.

本季度淨收入總計 980 萬美元，而 2022 年第一季度為 3730 萬美元。2023 年或 2022 年第一季度未記錄後進先出調整。

Adjusted EBITDA was $28.6 million for the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA excludes a onetime $2.1 million GAAP fair market value adjustment to Metal Fab's inventory and $2.6 million of acquisition-related expenses. We expect that our reported financial results will begin reflecting the full strength of Metal-Fab's earning power in the second quarter of 2023 as the acquisition-related charges will be behind us, and we expect to begin realizing metal supply synergies in the second half of 2023.

第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 2860 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 不包括對 Metal Fab 存貨的一次性 210 萬美元 GAAP 公平市場價值調整和 260 萬美元的收購相關費用。我們預計我們報告的財務業績將在 2023 年第二季度開始反映 Metal-Fab 盈利能力的全部實力，因為與收購相關的費用將在我們身後，我們預計將在下半年開始實現金屬供應協同效應2023.

Our total debt at the end of the first quarter was $258 million, an increase of $93 million since year-end 2022, which included the $131 million acquisition of Metal-Fab. During the quarter, we generated $52 million of cash from operations, resulting in a $38 million reduction in debt during the quarter. We expect additional debt reduction during 2023, primarily occurring in the second half of the year.

我們在第一季度末的總債務為 2.58 億美元，自 2022 年底以來增加了 9300 萬美元，其中包括以 1.31 億美元收購 Metal-Fab。本季度，我們從運營中產生了 5200 萬美元的現金，從而使本季度的債務減少了 3800 萬美元。我們預計 2023 年將進一步減少債務，主要發生在下半年。

At quarter end, our credit availability was a record $355 million, providing us with significant capital to continue our strategic investments in acquisitions, new capacity and automation to drive increased efficiency.

在季度末，我們的可用信貸額達到創紀錄的 3.55 億美元，這為我們提供了大量資金來繼續我們在收購、新產能和自動化方面的戰略投資，以提高效率。

Consolidated operating expenses, including Metal Fab, totaled $102.7 million in the first quarter, an increase of $14.6 million or 16.6% from the prior year quarter. The higher expense level reflects the addition of Metal-Fab's operating expenses, the onetime acquisition-related charges and the absence of a $2.1 million gain on the sale of our [Milan,] Iowa warehouse that occurred in the first quarter of 2022.

第一季度包括 Metal Fab 在內的綜合運營費用總計 1.027 億美元，比去年同期增加 1460 萬美元或 16.6%。較高的費用水平反映了 Metal-Fab 的運營費用、一次性收購相關費用的增加以及 2022 年第一季度出售我們 [米蘭] 愛荷華州倉庫時沒有獲得 210 萬美元的收益。

Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2023 totaled $7.4 million compared with depreciation of $5.1 million. We expect 2023 capital expenditures to total $30 million.

2023 年第一季度的資本支出總計 740 萬美元，而折舊為 510 萬美元。我們預計 2023 年的資本支出總額將達到 3000 萬美元。

Our effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2023 was 26.8% compared to 27.0% in the first quarter of 2022. Also, during the quarter, we paid the higher cash dividend of $0.125 per share, a 39% increase from our previous quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share. Our Board of Directors approved a $0.125 per share dividend payable on June 15 to holders as of June 1. Subject to board approval, we expect to maintain the quarterly dividend of $0.125 on a regular basis. We have now paid dividends for 72 consecutive quarters.

我們 2023 年第一季度的實際稅率為 26.8%，而 2022 年第一季度為 27.0%。此外，在本季度，我們支付了每股 0.125 美元的更高現金股息，比上一季度股息增加了 39%每股 0.09 美元。我們的董事會於 6 月 15 日批准向截至 6 月 1 日的持有人支付每股 0.125 美元的股息。經董事會批准，我們預計將定期維持 0.125 美元的季度股息。我們現在已經連續 72 個季度派發股息。

Looking forward, we are excited that our reported financial results in the second quarter and beyond will begin to reflect the full strength of Metal-Fab's earning power. The impact from Metal-Fab, along with the continued success of our strategic investments and diversification and organic growth gives us great confidence in the future of Olympic Steel.

展望未來，我們很高興我們報告的第二季度及以後的財務業績將開始反映出 Metal-Fab 盈利能力的全部實力。 Metal-Fab 的影響，以及我們戰略投資、多元化和有機增長的持續成功，讓我們對 Olympic Steel 的未來充滿信心。

Now operator, let's open the call for questions.

現在接線員，讓我們打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is from the line of Samuel McKinney with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Samuel McKinney。

Although HRC pricing has slowed in recent weeks, it had a significant run in the recent months before that. I know you have a heavy contract book, it tends to lag spot price rise. So what are your expectations for pricing for Carbon in the second quarter after it was basically flat sequentially in the first quarter?

儘管最近幾週熱軋卷價格有所放緩，但在此之前的最近幾個月裡價格上漲顯著。我知道你的合約很重，它往往滯後於現貨價格的上漲。那麼在第一季度基本環比持平之後，您對第二季度 Carbon 的定價有何預期？

Yes, it's a great question, Sam. So we expect -- as you've seen -- certainly, in the past few weeks, you've seen index pricing come off a little bit. You've seen futures come off certainly more than the index price. We think that we'll see a little softness as we come through the second quarter. But as you said, there is a lag. So we anticipate that margins will hold through the second quarter. And then we'll see where pricing goes from there.

是的，這是一個很好的問題，山姆。所以我們預計——正如你所看到的——當然，在過去的幾周里，你已經看到指數定價有所下降。你已經看到期貨價格肯定比指數價格下跌更多。我們認為我們會在第二季度看到一些疲軟。但正如你所說，有一個滯後。因此，我們預計利潤率將持續到第二季度。然後我們將看看定價從何而來。

And then in specialty metals, volumes were up slightly and pricing was down slightly sequentially. You mentioned the stainless dynamic earlier in the call, but if you could walk us more through those specialty metals dynamics during the first quarter and just directionally what you're expecting from shipments and volumes in the second quarter?

然後在特種金屬方面，銷量略有上升，價格略有下降。你在電話會議的早些時候提到了不銹鋼的動態，但是你是否可以讓我們更多地了解第一季度的這些特種金屬動態，以及你對第二季度的出貨量和數量的預期方向？

Well, the expectation -- a couple of things, Sam. So first, inventory levels at the service centers were relatively high coming into the first quarter. We've seen a reduction -- as you take a look at the [MSCI] report, you've seen inventory on hand come down from about 4 months down to about 3 months. We anticipate that, that will drop over the course of the next month, probably another month. Lead times from the stainless mills are pretty steady right now and imports are certainly going to play a bigger role as we come into the second half.

好吧，期望——有幾件事，山姆。首先，服務中心的庫存水平在第一季度相對較高。我們看到了減少——當你查看 [MSCI] 報告時，你已經看到手頭庫存從大約 4 個月下降到大約 3 個月。我們預計，這將在下個月，可能是下個月下降。不銹鋼廠的交貨時間目前相當穩定，隨著我們進入下半年，進口肯定會發揮更大的作用。

Our major customers from the food equipment side of it have started to pick up. So we think that volume will be a little bit better coming into the second quarter. Truck trailer, which is another big part of what we're doing, has improved. And our automotive business that we participate in has been very steady, and we've seen a little bit of uptick there as well. So I would think that second quarter will look a little bit better than the first quarter and would anticipate certainly on the inventory levels that everybody will be much more in line as we come through the second quarter.

我們在食品設備方面的主要客戶已經開始回暖。因此，我們認為進入第二季度後銷量會好一些。卡車拖車是我們正在做的另一個重要部分，它已經得到改進。我們參與的汽車業務一直非常穩定，我們也看到了一些增長。因此，我認為第二季度看起來會比第一季度好一些，並且可以肯定地預計，隨著我們進入第二季度，每個人的庫存水平都會更加一致。

And then lastly for me. The release last night mentioned that you expect to see the full effect of Metal-Fab earnings in the second quarter and synergies in the second half. Is there any way to frame up the sort of impact you expect that to have to your overall numbers? And should we just expect it to track the historical earnings that you provided in March?

最後是我。昨晚的新聞稿提到，您預計將在第二季度看到 Metal-Fab 收益的全部影響，並在下半年看到協同效應。有什麼方法可以確定您期望對總體數字產生的影響嗎？我們是否應該期望它跟踪您在 3 月份提供的歷史收益？

Yes, I think using the historical financials from the 8-K that was filed in March is a good starting point. I think the 2 biggest things that you won't see in the second quarter are the 2 onetime charges that we identified in the earnings release. So you want to have that $2.1 million write-up of the inventory that resulted in higher cost of goods sold, and you [won't] have that $2.6 million of deal-related expenses.

是的，我認為使用 3 月份提交的 8-K 的歷史財務數據是一個很好的起點。我認為您在第二季度不會看到的 2 件最大的事情是我們在收益發布中確定的 2 項一次性費用。所以你想要 210 萬美元的庫存增記導致更高的銷售成本，而你 [不會] 有 260 萬美元的交易相關費用。

And just to be clear, the $2.1 million affected the Carbon segment, the $2.6 million affected the Zeus cost center. So I think, as we said in the comments, second quarter is going to look a lot like the first quarter. You're just not going to have those onetime charges.

需要明確的是，210 萬美元影響了 Carbon 部門，260 萬美元影響了 Zeus 成本中心。所以我認為，正如我們在評論中所說，第二季度看起來很像第一季度。你只是不會有那些一次性費用。

And then I think, Sam, in the back half of the year, we commented a couple of times. We're pretty excited about some of the synergies we bring on the carbon supply side. And we think by beginning of third quarter, we're going to start to see those. So that will be a little power boost in the back half in terms of Metal-Fab's performance.

然後我想，山姆，在今年下半年，我們發表了幾次評論。我們對我們在碳供應方面帶來的一些協同作用感到非常興奮。我們認為到第三季度初，我們將開始看到這些。因此，就 Metal-Fab 的性能而言，這將在後半部分帶來一點動力提升。

Our next question is from the line of Dave Storms with Stonegate Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stonegate Capital 的 Dave Storms。

First one, a quick one. Just with the Iowa groundbreak in May, because that's an expansion, there won't be any downtime associated with that, correct?

第一個，一個快速的。就在 5 月愛荷華州破土動工，因為那是一次擴張，不會有任何與之相關的停機時間，對嗎？

That's correct. That is just purely expansion, 30,000 additional square feet, and we expect to see that effect more in 2024. It should be operational by year-end, but it would probably have more of an effect in 2024 than 2023.

這是正確的。這只是純粹的擴張，增加 30,000 平方英尺，我們預計到 2024 年會看到更多的影響。它應該在年底前投入運營，但 2024 年的影響可能會比 2023 年更大。

But no -- we don't anticipate any disruption in the back half while we construct and expand the building.

但不——我們預計在建造和擴建大樓時後半部分不會有任何中斷。

And then just on kind of the per tonnage cost for warehousing and distribution, that number just kind of seems to keep on climbing. Is there any green [shoots] on [up reef] there? Or is this the new normal that we live in?

然後就倉儲和配送的每噸成本而言，這個數字似乎一直在攀升。 [up reef] 那裡有綠色的 [shoots] 嗎？或者這是我們生活的新常態？

So really, that is kind of the effect of -- the businesses we've acquired in recent years don't report tons sold. They're more on the manufacturing side. And so what happens, if you're using the same denominator of tons, you're going to have a higher operating expense number that you're dividing those tons into. And so it looks like it's rising.

所以真的，這是一種影響——我們近年來收購的企業沒有報告銷售量。他們更多地在製造方面。那麼會發生什麼，如果您使用相同的噸數分母，您將獲得更高的運營費用數字，而不是將這些噸數分成幾部分。所以它看起來像是在上升。

So as we pointed out in the comments, we were up roughly -- I can't remember the exact number. I think it was around $14 million of expenses first quarter of 2023 versus first quarter of 2022. That's accounted for in Metal-Fab, the $2.6 million of deal-related expenses and then the absence of that $2.1 million gain on the sale of the [Milan] Iowa warehouse that occurred in 2022, which reduced operating expenses. Those are the 3 items that explain the entire increase in the operating expenses.

因此，正如我們在評論中指出的那樣，我們大致上升了——我不記得確切的數字了。我認為與 2022 年第一季度相比，2023 年第一季度的支出約為 1400 萬美元。這包括在 Metal-Fab 中，與交易相關的 260 萬美元支出，以及出售 [米蘭] 2022年發生的愛荷華州倉庫，減少了運營費用。這些是解釋運營費用全部增加的 3 個項目。

And so we're comfortable where the operating expenses are. We're actually seeing inflation kind of come down quarter-over-quarter as we've seen through the last 9 months or so. So I think that's the issue that you're comparing higher operating expenses that reflect manufacturing businesses that don't reflect tons sold.

因此，我們對運營費用感到滿意。正如我們在過去 9 個月左右的時間裡看到的那樣，我們實際上看到通貨膨脹率環比下降。所以我認為這就是你比較較高的運營費用的問題，這些費用反映了不反映銷售量的製造業務。

And then one more for me, if I could. You mentioned kind of industry-wide [inventory] levels coming down. Just curious as to how you think about industry-wide capacity going forward and how you see that changing through the rest of 2023 and maybe even into 2024?

如果可以的話，再給我一個。你提到了某種全行業的 [庫存] 水平下降。只是想知道您如何看待未來全行業的產能，以及您如何看待這種情況在 2023 年餘下時間甚至 2024 年的變化？

Well, you can take a look at it from 2 sides. So from a mill capacity, we see more product coming online in the Carbon side. Second half of the year some of the mills that have been a little behind in getting up and going seem to be in much better shape today. So we will anticipate that there'll be more product available in the second half of the year.

好吧，你可以從2個方面來看一下。因此，從工廠產能來看，我們看到碳方面有更多產品上線。今年下半年，一些在起床和運轉方面有點落後的工廠今天似乎狀況要好得多。因此，我們預計下半年會有更多產品可用。

On the stainless and aluminum side, domestic mills performing really well. You'll see certainly some imports. And the same thing on the aluminum mills. Aluminum mills are producing very well, and we'll see a little bit more on the import side of it. From the service centers and from the customers, you're going to see pretty much the way that it is now with the customers on the supply chain issues that we've seen. It's probably more labor today than raw material, but labor is certainly an issue. And the industrial OEMs are having challenges trying to [eat] into their backlogs.

在不銹鋼和鋁方面，國內鋼廠表現非常好。您肯定會看到一些進口產品。鋁廠也是如此。鋁廠生產得很好，我們會在進口方面看到更多。從服務中心和客戶那裡，您將看到客戶在我們所看到的供應鏈問題上的處理方式。今天可能更多的是勞動力而不是原材料，但勞動力肯定是一個問題。工業原始設備製造商在試圖 [吃掉] 積壓訂單時面臨挑戰。

(Operator Instructions) The next question is from the line of Chris Sakai with Singular Research.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自奇異研究公司的 Chris Sakai。

Can you shed some light on the margin expansion in tube and pipe and what drove that?

您能否闡明管道和管道的利潤率擴張及其驅動因素？

Yes, Chris, great question. And our pipe and tube business -- and we've been commenting on this for several quarters -- but the investment in more fabrication-type value-add assets are really starting to yield the results that you're seeing in the gross margin. So it's really the result of a very intentional strategy over the last several years to continue to expand the value-add equipment.

是的，克里斯，好問題。還有我們的管材業務——我們幾個季度一直在對此發表評論——但對更多製造型增值資產的投資確實開始產生你在毛利率中看到的結果。因此，這確實是過去幾年繼續擴大增值設備的非常有意識的戰略的結果。

Also, I might add, our stainless portion of the pipe and tube business is growing. And it tends to have a little bit of a higher return. So those would be the 2 primary reasons.

此外，我可能會補充說，我們的管道和管材業務的不銹鋼部分正在增長。而且它往往有一點點更高的回報。所以這些將是兩個主要原因。

And can you comment on your appetite for more acquisitions after the Metal-Fab acquisition?

在收購 Metal-Fab 之後，您能否評論一下您對更多收購的興趣？

Certainly, we continue to look at acquisitions as one of the pillars of our growth strategy I think as Rich mentioned in the prepared remarks and I did as well. The good news is even after the Metal-Fab acquisition, we're now at record availability, have an exceptionally strong balance sheet. So we've got plenty of capacity to do that.

當然，我們繼續將收購視為我們增長戰略的支柱之一，我認為正如 Rich 在準備好的發言中提到的那樣，我也是如此。好消息是，即使在收購 Metal-Fab 之後，我們現在的可用性也創下歷史新高，資產負債表異常強勁。所以我們有足夠的能力來做到這一點。

We continue to look at strategic acquisitions. It's just part of what we do strategically and every day in our operations right now. So you should expect us to continue much on the path that we've been over the last 5 years going forward on acquisitions.

我們繼續關注戰略收購。這只是我們現在每天在運營中戰略性地做的事情的一部分。因此，您應該期望我們在過去 5 年的收購道路上繼續前進。

Obviously, Metal-Fab was a big one. So we're very focused on the integration aspects of Metal-Fab, which, by the way, is going tremendously. It's -- really after 3 or 4 months, it's been a very, very smooth transition. But acquisitions are going to continue to be a growth driver for us, together with organic growth as you've seen in some of the projects that Andrew highlighted earlier.

顯然，Metal-Fab 是一家大公司。因此，我們非常專注於 Metal-Fab 的集成方面，順便說一句，這方面進展非常順利。這是 - 真的在 3 或 4 個月之後，這是一個非常非常平穩的過渡。但是收購將繼續成為我們的增長動力，連同有機增長，正如您在安德魯之前強調的一些項目中看到的那樣。

At this time, we've reached the end of our question-and-answer session. Now I'll turn the floor back to Rick Marabito for closing remarks.

至此，我們的問答環節已經結束。現在我將把發言權轉回 Rick Marabito 的閉幕詞。

Well, thank you very much, and thanks for joining us on our call this morning. We certainly appreciate your continued interest in Olympic Steel. We will be participating in the Sidoti & Company Microcap Virtual Conference, and that's on May 11, the KeyBanc Industrials Conference in Boston on May 31 and the KeyBanc Steel Roundtable Series in New York City in late June.

好吧，非常感謝你，也感謝你今天早上加入我們的電話會議。我們非常感謝您對奧林匹克鋼鐵的持續關注。我們將參加 5 月 11 日舉行的 Sidoti & Company Microcap 虛擬會議、5 月 31 日在波士頓舉行的 KeyBanc 工業會議和 6 月下旬在紐約市舉行的 KeyBanc 鋼鐵圓桌會議系列。

And to conclude, I just want to thank the Olympic team for a great start to 2023. We're really excited about our future, and we look forward to talking with all of you again soon. Thank you, and have a great day.

最後，我只想感謝奧林匹克代表隊為 2023 年開了個好頭。我們對我們的未來感到非常興奮，我們期待很快再次與大家交談。謝謝你，祝你有美好的一天。

This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。