Olympic Steel Inc (ZEUS) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Olympic Steel 2023 Second Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to hand the conference over to Rich Manson, Chief Financial Officer at Olympic Steel. Please go ahead, sir.

早上好，歡迎參加奧林匹克鋼鐵 2023 年第二季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。這次，我想把會議交給奧林匹克鋼鐵公司首席財務官里奇·曼森。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Olympic Steel's earnings call for the second 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，接線員。歡迎參加奧林匹克鋼鐵公司 2023 年第二季度的財報電話會議。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 也將加入我們的行列。

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 release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始之前，我有一些提醒。今天的電話會議上所做的一些陳述將是預測性的，旨在根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款做出前瞻性陳述，可能不會反映實際結果。該公司不承諾更新此類聲明、假設的變化或影響此類前瞻性聲明的其他因素的變化。公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格報告以及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. At this time, I will turn the call over to Rick.

在今天的討論中，我們可能會提到調整後每股攤薄淨利潤、EBITDA 和調整後 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公認會計準則指標與最直接可比的公認會計準則財務指標的調節表，並且可以在我們的網站上找到。今天的直播將被存檔並可在奧林匹克鋼鐵網站上重播。這個時候我會把電話轉給Rick。

Thank you, Rich, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss Olympic Steel's 2023 2nd quarter results. I'll begin with an overview of another strong quarter for Olympic Steel, then Andrew will review our segment performance and provide some comments on market conditions. Following that, Rich will discuss our financial results in more detail. And then as always, we'll 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 2023 年第二季度業績。我將首先概述奧林匹克鋼鐵公司另一個強勁的季度，然後安德魯將回顧我們的部門業績並對市場狀況提供一些評論。接下來，里奇將更詳細地討論我們的財務業績。然後，與往常一樣，我們將打開電話詢問您的問題。

Olympic Steel delivered another quarter of strong and steady performance as we continue to benefit from our diversification strategy and our investments in enhanced processing capabilities. We reported second quarter sales of $569 million with net income of $15 million and adjusted EBITDA of $31.2 million. These results are indicative of the success of our strategic actions, which strengthen our ability to deliver consistent profitability even in the face of market challenges.

奧林匹克鋼鐵公司又一個季度實現了強勁而穩定的業績，我們繼續受益於我們的多元化戰略和對增強加工能力的投資。我們報告第二季度銷售額為 5.69 億美元，淨利潤為 1500 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 3120 萬美元。這些結果表明我們戰略行動的成功，這增強了我們即使面對市場挑戰也能實現持續盈利的能力。

After benefiting from rising prices at the beginning of the year, this quarter, we faced headwinds in carbon steel as hot-rolled index pricing fell 24%. We also continue to navigate the industry-wide reduction in stainless steel shipments, while at the same time, absorbing a 10% reduction in Grade 304 surcharges.

受益於年初價格上漲後，本季度碳鋼面臨逆風，熱軋指數定價下跌24%。我們還繼續應對全行業不銹鋼出貨量的減少，同時吸收 304 級附加費降低 10% 的影響。

Despite these challenges, our adjusted EBITDA was up $2.6 million from the first quarter. Our second quarter results include the full earnings effect of Metal-Fab, which we acquired in January 2023. It was the second largest acquisition in our history. Metal-Fab was a strong contributor to our second quarter earnings, and we will begin to see the benefit of Olympic's supply synergies in the second half of 2023.

儘管面臨這些挑戰，我們調整後的 EBITDA 仍比第一季度增長了 260 萬美元。我們第二季度的業績包括我們於 2023 年 1 月收購的 Metal-Fab 的全部盈利影響。這是我們歷史上第二大收購。 Metal-Fab 為我們第二季度的收益做出了巨大貢獻，我們將在 2023 年下半年開始看到奧林匹克供應協同效應的好處。

In addition, several of our capital expansion projects came online during the quarter, and we continued to move equipment into our new fabrication facility in Bartlett, Illinois. We expect Bartlett will be fully operational by the end of the third quarter. Andrew will provide some additional details on our capital projects in his remarks.

此外，我們的幾個資本擴張項目在本季度上線，我們繼續將設備轉移到伊利諾伊州巴特利特的新製造工廠。我們預計 Bartlett 將在第三季度末全面投入運營。安德魯將在講話中提供有關我們資本項目的一些額外細節。

With a strong balance sheet and borrowing availability of more than $340 million, we continue to evaluate additional investments and actively seek acquisition opportunities that will further our strategy to expand into higher-return value-added products. We have a proven M&A track record, and we're confident in our ability to identify the right deals and execute seamless integrations to foster additional profitable growth for Olympic Steel and our stakeholders.

憑藉強勁的資產負債表和超過 3.4 億美元的可用借款，我們將繼續評估額外投資並積極尋求收購機會，以進一步推進我們向高回報增值產品擴張的戰略。我們擁有良好的併購記錄，我們對確定正確交易和執行無縫整合的能力充滿信心，以促進奧林匹克鋼鐵公司和我們的利益相關者的額外盈利增長。

While we continue to invest in our business, we are balancing these investments with our commitment to debt repayment and rewarding our shareholders. We reduced debt by $21 million during the second quarter, and we expect further reductions in the second half of the year. We also continue to pay our higher quarterly dividend rate of $0.125 per share, which allows our shareholders to directly benefit from our consistent performance and strong financial results.

在我們繼續投資業務的同時，我們正在平衡這些投資與償還債務和回報股東的承諾。我們在第二季度減少了 2100 萬美元的債務，預計下半年將進一步減少。我們還繼續支付每股 0.125 美元的較高季度股息，這使我們的股東能夠直接受益於我們穩定的業績和強勁的財務業績。

Now I'd like to take a moment to provide some color on how we are thinking about market conditions and our outlook for the rest of the year. While the near-term economic environment plays out, we do expect demand from our OEMs to remain steady in the third quarter, subject to normal seasonal trends. Longer term, we remain optimistic about the future of the domestic steel market. We expect that the solid outlook for manufacturers, increased government spending to support infrastructure and other projects as well as bipartisan support for steel tariffs and quotas will continue to benefit domestic steel producers and metal service centers.

現在我想花點時間介紹一下我們如何看待市場狀況以及我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。雖然近期經濟環境正在顯現，但我們預計原始設備製造商的需求在第三季度將保持穩定，但受正常的季節性趨勢影響。長期來看，我們對國內鋼鐵市場的未來保持樂觀。我們預計，製造商的光明前景、支持基礎設施和其他項目的政府支出增加以及兩黨對鋼鐵關稅和配額的支持將繼續有利於國內鋼鐵生產商和金屬服務中心。

In addition, our value-added processing capabilities put us in an excellent position to continue capitalizing on growing demand for fabrication as more customers look to outsource this work. I'm confident that regardless of what market environment we face, we have strategically positioned Olympic Steel to deliver more consistent results and higher returns than in the past. We are stronger than ever, and we will continue to execute on our strategy to further reduce the impact of market cyclicality on our business and deliver profitable growth. Now I'll turn the call over to Andrew to provide more detail.

此外，隨著越來越多的客戶尋求外包這項工作，我們的增值加工能力使我們能夠繼續利用不斷增長的製造需求。我相信，無論我們面臨什麼樣的市場環境，我們都對奧林匹克鋼鐵進行了戰略定位，以提供比過去更一致的業績和更高的回報。我們比以往任何時候都更強大，我們將繼續執行我們的戰略，以進一步減少市場週期性對我們業務的影響並實現盈利增長。現在我將把電話轉給安德魯以提供更多詳細信息。

Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. Olympic Steel continued to build on the strong start to the year in the second quarter. As Rick noted, we earned $31.2 million of adjusted EBITDA despite facing carbon pricing headwinds and industry-wide pressure on stainless steel demand and surcharge reductions. This performance reflects the great progress achieved to reduce the impact of market cyclicality on our business. The deliberate steps we have taken to strengthen Olympic Steel have made us more resilient and we are proving that we can deliver more consistent performance in any market environment.

謝謝你，瑞克，大家早上好。奧林匹克鋼鐵公司在第二季度的強勁開局基礎上繼續發揚光大。正如 Rick 指出的那樣，儘管面臨碳定價阻力以及全行業對不銹鋼需求和附加費削減的壓力，但我們仍獲得了 3120 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。這一業績反映了我們在減少市場週期性對我們業務的影響方面取得的巨大進展。我們為加強奧林匹克鋼鐵而採取的刻意措施使我們更具彈性，我們正在證明我們可以在任何市場環境中提供更一致的業績。

Now turning to our performance by segment. Our Carbon segment accounted for $18.4 million of adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. The carbon team's ability to maintain its discipline and focus on the fundamentals of inventory and expense management was critical to our success this quarter. Additionally, the ongoing successful integration of our Metal-Fab acquisition bolstered the segment's results. To date, Metal-Fab is performing extremely well, and the integration has been smooth. Congratulations to David Gea and the entire carbon segment on their outstanding work and performance this quarter.

現在轉向我們按細分市場劃分的業績。我們的碳部門本季度調整後 EBITDA 為 1,840 萬美元。碳團隊保持紀律並專注於庫存和費用管理基礎知識的能力對於我們本季度的成功至關重要。此外，我們對 Metal-Fab 收購的持續成功整合也提振了該部門的業績。迄今為止，Metal-Fab 的表現非常出色，並且整合也很順利。祝賀 David Gea 和整個碳部門本季度的出色工作和表現。

Our pipe and tube segment led by Bill Zielinski, also delivered very strong results with adjusted EBITDA totaling $10.1 million for the quarter. This is pipe and tubes fourth strongest quarter of profitability ever, a big accomplishment achieved by focusing on margin improvement and capitalizing on growing demand for our value-added processing capabilities.

由 Bill Zielinski 領導的管道部門也取得了非常強勁的業績，本季度調整後 EBITDA 總計 1,010 萬美元。這是管材行業有史以來盈利能力最強的第四個季度，這是通過專注於利潤率提高和利用對我們增值加工能力不斷增長的需求而取得的巨大成就。

We believe we are particularly well positioned in this segment due to our capacity to handle outsourced fabrication work, which is increasingly in demand among our customers, and we expect this trend to continue. As expected, specialty metals, led by Andrew Markowitz, continued to experience soft market conditions during the quarter. Despite these market challenges, specialty metals earned $7.7 million of adjusted EBITDA.

我們相信，由於我們有能力處理外包製造工作，我們在這一領域處於特別有利的地位，而我們的客戶對外包製造工作的需求越來越大，我們預計這種趨勢將持續下去。正如預期的那樣，由安德魯·馬科維茨（Andrew Markowitz）領導的特種金屬在本季度繼續經歷疲軟的市場狀況。儘管面臨這些市場挑戰，特種金屬仍獲得了 770 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。

We continue to make progress on our new fabrication facility in Bartlett, Illinois, which will provide additional capacity as we look to continue capitalizing on the strong demand in this area. To support the growth opportunity in both carbon and white metals fabrication we welcome Max Fitzgerald to the Olympic team and the newly created position of Vice President, Fabrication. In this role, Max will lead the execution of our fabrication strategy with a focus on strengthening the organization's fabrication-related commercial presence, facilitating operational standardization and implementing new technologies.

我們在伊利諾伊州巴特利特的新製造工廠繼續取得進展，該工廠將提供額外的產能，因為我們希望繼續利用該領域的強勁需求。為了支持碳和白色金屬製造領域的增長機會，我們歡迎馬克斯·菲茨杰拉德 (Max Fitzgerald) 加入奧運團隊，並新設立了製造副總裁職位。在此職位上，Max 將領導我們製造戰略的執行，重點是加強該組織與製造相關的商業影響力、促進運營標準化和實施新技術。

Supporting Max is Matt Grussing, who has been promoted to Director of Sales, fabrication. Matt will report directly to Max and focus on developing and implementing strategies to grow the company's fabrication business. We are excited to execute on our growth strategy and fabrication and look forward to helping them succeed in their new roles. We're pleased to report that a number of our capital projects came online this quarter.

支持 Max 的是 Matt Grussing，他已晉升為製造銷售總監。馬特將直接向馬克斯匯報，並專注於製定和實施發展公司製造業務的戰略。我們很高興能夠執行我們的增長戰略和製造，並期待幫助他們在新角色中取得成功。我們很高興地報告，我們的一些資本項目已於本季度上線。

At our Winder, Georgia facility, our second automotive stamping press, which includes a fully automated packaging line, is now fully operational and performing extremely well. At our Buford, Georgia operation, we installed 2 new 10k lasers, 2 new robotic welders as well as a new 20k laser, which provides high-speed precision cutting of thicker gauge material. We are operating very well. These investments support our strategy to prioritize automation and safety and are instrumental in driving increased efficiencies and growing our business.

在我們佐治亞州溫德工廠，我們的第二台汽車沖壓機（包括一條全自動包裝線）現已全面投入運行，並且性能非常好。在佐治亞州佈福德的工廠，我們安裝了 2 台新的 10k 激光器、2 台新的機器人焊機以及一台新的 20k 激光器，可對較厚的材料進行高速精密切割。我們經營得很好。這些投資支持我們優先考慮自動化和安全的戰略，有助於提高效率和發展我們的業務。

As Rick mentioned, while we work through the near-term market dynamics, we remain confident in the actions we have taken, and we are optimistic about our performance and the future prospects of the domestic metals industry. Thank you to our entire team for another quarter of steady performance. Now I'll turn the call over to Rich.

正如Rick所提到的，在我們研究近期市場動態的同時，我們對我們所採取的行動仍然充滿信心，我們對我們的業績和國內金屬行業的未來前景感到樂觀。感謝我們整個團隊又一個季度的穩定表現。現在我將把電話轉給 Rich。

Thank you, Andrew. It was another strong quarter for Olympic Steel and one that reflects our ongoing investment in the business and our capacity to meet customer demands. As we review our second quarter 2023 results, keep in mind that year-over-year comparisons will be more difficult due to the January 2023 acquisition of Metal-Fab whose results roll up through our carbon segment. For the quarter, net income totaled $15 million compared to $37.6 million in the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $31.2 million compared to $58.8 million in the prior year period.

謝謝你，安德魯。這是奧林匹克鋼鐵公司又一個強勁的季度，反映了我們對業務的持續投資以及我們滿足客戶需求的能力。當我們回顧 2023 年第二季度業績時，請記住，由於 2023 年 1 月收購了 Metal-Fab，其業績通過我們的碳部門匯總，因此同比比較將更加困難。本季度淨利潤總計 1500 萬美元，而 2022 年第二季度為 3760 萬美元。本季度調整後 EBITDA 為 3120 萬美元，去年同期為 5880 萬美元。

During the second quarter of 2023, we recorded $1 million of LIFO pretax income compared to no LIFO adjustment in the second quarter of 2022. Consolidated operating expenses for the quarter totaled $101.6 million compared to $94.8 million in the second quarter of 2022. Our operating expenses for the second quarter of 2023 totaled 17.9% of sales and $365 per ton versus 13.4% of sales and $346 per ton for the same period in the prior year.

2023 年第二季度，我們錄得100 萬美元的LIFO 稅前收入，而2022 年第二季度沒有進行LIFO 調整。該季度的綜合運營費用總計1.016 億美元，而2022 年第二季度為9480 萬美元。我們的運營費用2023 年第二季度的總銷售額為 17.9%，每噸 365 美元，而去年同期為 13.4%，每噸 346 美元。

Our second quarter and year-to-date operating expenses reflect the addition of Metal-Fab, which does not report tons sold. Therefore, operating expenses per ton at the consolidated level and for the carbon segment will appear higher year-over-year. Consolidated operating expenses for the second quarter include $10.5 million of Metal-Fab operating expenses and $6.6 million of lower variable incentive expenses when compared to the second quarter of 2022.

我們第二季度和今年迄今的運營支出反映了 Metal-Fab 的增加，該公司沒有報告銷售量。因此，綜合層面和碳部門的每噸運營費用將同比上升。與 2022 年第二季度相比，第二季度的合併運營費用包括 1050 萬美元的 Metal-Fab 運營費用和 660 萬美元的可變激勵費用。

Inflationary pressure on operating expenses has been declining over the past 2 quarters sequentially. We estimate the impact of second quarter 2023 inflation at just under 2%. We reduced debt by another $21 million in the quarter, bringing our total debt at the end of the second quarter of 2023 to $238 million. Cumulatively, since the $131 million Metal-Fab acquisition in January 2023, we have reduced debt by $59 million, and we expect additional debt reduction in the second half of the year.

過去兩個季度，運營費用的通脹壓力一直在下降。我們估計 2023 年第二季度通脹率的影響略低於 2%。本季度我們又減少了 2100 萬美元的債務，使 2023 年第二季度末的債務總額達到 2.38 億美元。自 2023 年 1 月以 1.31 億美元收購 Metal-Fab 以來，我們累計減少了 5900 萬美元的債務，預計下半年債務將進一步減少。

At quarter end, our credit availability was a near record $343 million. We remain in an excellent position to continue our acquisition efforts as well as investing in organic growth opportunities to further strengthen Olympic Steel. Capital expenditures totaled $15.1 million for the second quarter of 2023 compared to depreciation of $10.3 million.

截至季度末，我們的信貸可用性接近創紀錄的 3.43 億美元。我們仍然處於有利地位，可以繼續進行收購工作並投資於有機增長機會，以進一步增強奧林匹克鋼鐵公司的實力。 2023 年第二季度的資本支出總計 1,510 萬美元，而折舊額為 1,030 萬美元。

We continue to estimate 2023 capital expenditures in the $30 million range. Additionally, our second quarter 2023 effective income tax rate was 30.3% and compared to 27.1% in the second quarter of 2022. This increase in our effective tax rate is primarily attributable to increased Mexican transactional sales and profits which carry a higher effective tax rate than our U.S. operations. We expect our effective tax rate for the balance of 2023 to approximate 28% to 29%. Also, during the quarter, we paid our quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share.

我們繼續估計 2023 年的資本支出在 3000 萬美元範圍內。此外，我們 2023 年第二季度的有效所得稅率為 30.3%，而 2022 年第二季度為 27.1%。我們有效稅率的增加主要歸因於墨西哥交易銷售額和利潤的增加，其有效稅率高於我們的美國業務。我們預計 2023 年剩餘時間的有效稅率約為 28% 至 29%。此外，在本季度，我們支付了每股 0.125 美元的季度股息。

Our Board of Directors approved a $0.125 per share dividend payable on September 15 to holders as of September 1. We have now paid dividends to our shareholders for 73 consecutive quarters. Our [hearts] to diversify our product offerings and invest capital in higher-return opportunities helped drive our strong performance in the second quarter, even in the face of some challenging and uncertain market conditions.

我們的董事會批准於 9 月 15 日向截至 9 月 1 日的股東支付每股 0.125 美元的股息。我們現已連續 73 個季度向股東支付股息。即使面對一些具有挑戰性和不確定的市場條件，我們對產品供應多元化以及將資本投資於高回報機會的[心]幫助推動了我們第二季度的強勁業績。

Looking forward, we remain optimistic, and we will continue to seek opportunities to further diversify and strengthen our business. Now operator, please open up the call for questions.

展望未來，我們保持樂觀，並將繼續尋找機會進一步多元化和加強我們的業務。現在接線員，請打開電話詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Your first question comes from Samuel McKinney with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

您的第一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Samuel McKinney。

First, I wanted to start in pipe and tube. Gross margin was great in the first quarter, typically your strongest quarter, but those strong margins held firm in the second quarter, even though the second quarter typically doesn't see the rebate income that first quarter does? Do you attribute all that margin strength to the value-added lasers and outsourced work? And how sticky are those 30% margins moving forward?

首先，我想從管道開始。第一季度的毛利率很高，通常是最強勁的季度，但這些強勁的利潤率在第二季度保持堅挺，儘管第二季度通常不會看到第一季度的回扣收入？您是否將所有利潤優勢歸因於增值激光器和外包工作？ 30% 的利潤率對未來的粘性有多大？

So Sam, it's Andrew. Great question. We do see those margins continuing. As we take a look at value-added today, that probably represents somewhere in the 34% to 35% of sales. We think by the end of the year, that's going to get closer to 40%. It's been the objective of CTI to really get that number approaching 50%. So we've spent good money in value-added equipment and really do expect that, that's going to continue to grow elongating the margin.

薩姆，是安德魯。很好的問題。我們確實看到這些利潤率仍在持續。當我們今天看看附加值時，它可能佔銷售額的 34% 到 35%。我們認為到今年年底，這一比例將接近 40%。 CTI 的目標是真正讓這一數字接近 50%。因此，我們在增值設備上投入了大量資金，並且確實預計，這將繼續增長，從而提高利潤率。

Okay, Andrew. That's helpful. And then HRC pricing overall declined sharply during the second quarter and has continued to fall in recent weeks. I know your order books weighted more towards contract versus spot. But can you talk us through how you're thinking about carbon flat segment pricing into the third quarter, especially given the seasonal volume effects you're expecting?

好吧，安德魯。這很有幫助。隨後，熱軋卷定價在第二季度整體大幅下滑，並在最近幾周繼續下滑。我知道你們的訂單簿更傾向於合約而非現貨。但您能否向我們介紹一下您對第三季度碳扁平細分市場定價的看法，特別是考慮到您預期的季節性銷量影響？

Yes. Another great question. I'd say we're seeing -- as we take a look today, lead times on hot-roll is still running 4 to 5 weeks. We still see the market being very steady, but there is more capacity coming on stream. so we do think that prices will be a little challenged, but relatively steady, I think, to where we're seeing it today. And then would expect we'll see whatever seasonality there will be as we get into the fourth quarter. But I think the mills are running well. And I think at the moment, unless lead time really gets greater than 4 to 5 weeks, we're going to see consistency as we're seeing it today.

是的。另一個很好的問題。我想說的是，正如我們今天所看到的，熱捲的交貨時間仍然是 4 到 5 週。我們仍然認為市場非常穩定，但有更多產能投產。因此，我們確實認為價格會受到一些挑戰，但我認為相對穩定，達到我們今天看到的水平。然後預計當我們進入第四季度時，我們會看到任何季節性。但我認為工廠運轉良好。我認為目前，除非交貨時間真的超過 4 到 5 週，否則我們將看到今天所看到的一致性。

Okay. And then lastly for me, turning to specialty metals, inventory levels at service centers are continuing to fall, they are at their lowest level in the last couple of years. Can you talk specifically about the impact of those falling inventory levels and if you're feeling any import pressure?

好的。最後對我來說，轉向特種金屬，服務中心的庫存水平持續下降，處於過去幾年的最低水平。您能否具體談談庫存水平下降的影響以及您是否感受到進口壓力？

Yes. So I would say that for us, our inventory is probably a little bit higher than where we would like it to be. Import certainly is a big factor. We're seeing probably similar to what we have seen over the last 3 to 4 months not like we saw last year, last year around this time, we were seeing stainless imports in the 45,000 to 50,000 tons a month. We're not seeing it as high right now. But there certainly is pressure. Demand is relatively flat. And I think inventories still need to come down a little bit for the service centers to start feeling comfortable. You're right. They are down according to the metals activity report, but I think you'll see over the next month or 2, I think you're going to see them come down a little bit more.

是的。所以我想說，對我們來說，我們的庫存可能比我們希望的要高一點。進口當然是一個重要因素。我們看到的情況可能與過去 3 到 4 個月類似，而不是去年，去年這個時候，我們看到每月不銹鋼進口量為 45,000 到 50,000 噸。我們現在沒有看到它那麼高。但壓力肯定是有的。需求相對平淡。我認為庫存仍需要稍微下降，服務中心才能開始感到舒適。你說得對。根據金屬活動報告，它們有所下降，但我認為您會在接下來的一兩個月內看到它們，我認為您會看到它們進一步下降。

Next question, Dave Storms with Stonegate Capital Markets.

下一個問題是 Stonegate Capital Markets 的 Dave Storms。

Hoping you could just touch on -- a lot of the work you've done to diversify our offerings. It looks like it might have changed a little bit last quarter with carbon flat products taking up about 55% or more of your revenues. Is that just from the Metal-Fab acquisition? Or is there more to that story?

希望您能談談您為使我們的產品多樣化所做的大量工作。看起來上個季度情況可能發生了一些變化，碳扁材產品約佔您收入的 55% 或更多。這僅僅是收購 Metal-Fab 的結果嗎？或者這個故事還有更多內容嗎？

Dave, I think it's 2 points. I mean, I think in general, yes, it's up a little bit because of Metal-Fab -- I think the bigger story there has been on the stainless side. So industry-wide, it's been slower stainless sales, and we're not immune to that as well as the average price of stainless has come down. So yes, I think we popped -- I think it was about 50 -- it used to be about 53% on carbon flat. I think it was 55% for this quarter.

戴夫，我認為這是 2 分。我的意思是，我認為總的來說，是的，由於 Metal-Fab，它有所上升——我認為更大的故事發生在不銹鋼方面。因此，在整個行業範圍內，不銹鋼銷售放緩，我們也不能倖免，不銹鋼的平均價格也有所下降。所以，是的，我認為我們突然出現了——我認為大約是 50%——過去大約 53% 是碳平板。我認為本季度為 55%。

That's very helpful. And then just looking into the second half of '23, should we just expect typical seasonal factors? Or is there any unusual planned downtime or anything like that, that we should have on the radar.

這非常有幫助。然後看看 23 年下半年，我們是否應該只期待典型的季節性因素？或者是否有任何不尋常的計劃停機時間或類似的情況，我們應該注意。

Yes. I think, Dave, what we typically see Q3 sequentially after Q2, historically is 3% to 5% down just because of less effective shipping days kind of due to the holidays in July. And then what I would tell you is that 2023 has been very typical of a seasonal steel year. So I would kind of expect those trends to continue.

是的。我認為，戴夫，我們通常會看到第二季度之後的第三季度，從歷史上看，下降了 3% 到 5%，只是因為 7 月份的假期導致運輸效率較低。然後我要告訴你的是，2023 年是非常典型的季節性鋼鐵年。所以我希望這些趨勢能夠持續下去。

That's perfect. And one more for me. Just unemployment is still right around the 3.5%. Is that having any impact on your ability to get labor and maintain it?

那很完美。還有一張給我。只是失業率仍然在3.5%左右。這對您獲得勞動力和維持勞動力的能力有影響嗎？

We've -- this is Rick. We've seen a little bit of relief on the labor side, so it's a little bit easier to hire compared to last year and certainly 2 years ago. But at low unemployment levels and the demographics that we're looking at, I mean, I just think this is kind of -- where we are is kind of going to be the new reality in terms of manufacturing in the United States. But it -- the real pressure from the COVID impacts, we've seen a little relief from that.

我們——這是瑞克。我們看到勞動力方面有所緩解，因此與去年，尤其是兩年前相比，招聘要容易一些。但在低失業率和我們正在關注的人口統計數據下，我的意思是，我只是認為這將成為美國製造業的新現實。但新冠疫情影響帶來的真正壓力，我們已經看到了一些緩解。

Next question, Chris Sakai with Singular Research.

下一個問題是來自 Singular Research 的 Chris Sakai。

Just had a question on specialty metals flat. I wanted to get your sense of demand there and also the cost of the materials sold at specialty metals flat. What are you guys seeing for the rest of the year?

剛剛有一個關於特種金屬平板的問題。我想了解您對那裡的需求以及特種金屬銷售材料的成本。你們今年剩下的時間裡會看到什麼？

Well, I would tell you, Chris, that nickel plays, as you know, an important role in stainless. Nickel has been in that 59, 60 range. prognosticators think it's going to come up a little bit. Aluminum, again, is probably pretty steady. So just talking to the analysts, they think this is about where you're going to see it maybe now the balance of the year may be up a little bit.

克里斯，我想告訴你，正如你所知，鎳在不銹鋼中發揮著重要作用。鎳一直在 59、60 範圍內。預測者認為它會出現一點。鋁的價格再次可能相當穩定。因此，只要與分析師交談，他們認為這就是您將看到的情況，也許現在今年的餘額可能會有所上升。

And what I would tell you is if imports stay the way that they are in the domestic mills who are running pretty well, pricing is going to stay right around where it is. I mean we've seen a real falloff on the nickel surcharge these past 3 months. I think we're going to see a little bit of steadiness as we come into September. And then it's hard to really say for the balance of the year, but most are predicting that it's going to stay relatively steady, which will mean our prices are going to stay about the steady.

我要告訴你的是，如果進口保持與國內工廠運行良好的方式一樣，價格將保持在原水平。我的意思是，過去三個月我們看到鎳附加費確實下降了。我認為進入九月我們會看到一點穩定。然後很難說今年剩下的時間，但大多數人預測它將保持相對穩定，這意味著我們的價格將保持穩定。

Okay. Sounds good for that. And can you talk more about fabrication and what are your opportunities there?

好的。聽起來不錯。您能否更多地談談製造以及您在那裡的機會是什麼？

Yes, it's a great question. So it's a -- it's really a driving part of what we're looking at. So as we take a look at the industrial OEMs, Chris, what we have seen is that the need for value-add and fabricated parts has grown, and it's really taken off since COVID. The manufacturer today -- we really think about that they're looking in 3 key areas, and that's R&D, assembly and marketing and their real need for welded fabricated parts has grown.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。所以這確實是我們正在研究的一個驅動部分。克里斯，當我們審視工業原始設備製造商時，我們看到的是，對增值和製造零件的需求不斷增長，而且自新冠疫情以來，這種需求確實開始增長。今天的製造商——我們確實認為他們正在關註三個關鍵領域，那就是研發、裝配和營銷，他們對焊接製造零件的真正需求已經增長。

We have been fortunate to participate in that. We're continuing to invest heavily in downstream value-added equipment. It's why we brought Max Fitzgerald in to be our new Vice President of Fabrication and promoted Matt Grussing to be his #1 guy in this. It's going to be a big growth area for us, and we'll invest big in downstream equipment there.

我們有幸參與其中。我們將繼續大力投資下游增值設備。這就是為什麼我們聘請馬克斯·菲茨杰拉德 (Max Fitzgerald) 擔任新任製造副總裁，並晉升馬特·格魯辛 (Matt Grussing) 為他在這方面的一號人物。這對我們來說將是一個巨大的增長領域，我們將在那裡的下游設備上進行大量投資。

I would like to turn the floor over to Rick Marabito for closing remarks.

我想請里克·馬拉比托 (Rick Marabito) 致閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator, and thank all of you for joining us on our call today. We certainly appreciate your continued interest in Olympic Steel. And we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you, and have a great day.

謝謝接線員，也感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。我們當然感謝您對奧林匹克鋼鐵的持續關注。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。謝謝您，祝您有美好的一天。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與。