Albemarle Corporation

Expirations Q3 2023 earnings call. All lines have been placed on you to prevent any background noise. After your speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I will now hand it over to Meredith Brandy. Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability.

All right. Thank you, Sherelle, and welcome to Albemarle's third quarter conference call. Our earnings were released after the close of market yesterday, and you'll find the press release and earnings presentation posted to our website and at the investors section at albemarle.com. Joining me on the call today are Kent Masters, Chief Executive Officer, and Scott Tozier, Chief Financial Officer. Neffa Johnson, President of Specialties, and Eric Norris, President of Energy Storage, are also available for Q&A. As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call, including our outlook, guidance, expected company performance, timing of expansion projects, and growth initiatives, may constitute forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our press release and earnings presentation, which also applies to this call. Please also note that some of our comments today refer to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations can be found in our earnings materials. And now I'll turn the call over to Kent.

KENT COLLINS- Thank you, Meredith. Before we begin, I'm sure most of you have seen that this will be Scott's last quarterly call as CFO. Scott is transitioning roles to become a strategic advisor, while Neil Shorey will join the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer on November 6th. Scott has had a positive impact on the company since he joined in 2011. With his leadership, we've advanced Albemarle's growth strategy and maintained our commitment to operating with people and planet in mind. In this new role, Scott will provide strategic advice into our long-range plans and will also be on hand to assist with Neil's transition. I know you'll join me in thanking Scott for his contributions to Albemarle over the past 13 years. Our third quarter results reflect strong operating performance and continued volumetric growth in a challenging macro environment. Our net sales were up 10% in the third quarter versus the same period last year. However, adjusted EBITDA was down due to softer lithium market pricing and timing impacts of spodumene inventory from our JV-owned assets. Based on current market prices, we have revised our 2023 outlook, which still contemplates an increase in net sales between 30% and 35% year over year. We remain bullish about Albemarle's long-term growth, our role in enabling a more resilient world, and our strategy to deliver enduring value. In the third quarter, we made significant progress advancing these efforts. During the quarter, we signed agreements with Caterpillar to collaborate on solutions to support the full circular battery value chain and sustainable mining operations. As part of the partnership, we will purchase an all-electric mining fleet for Kings Mountain and make our North American-produced lithium available for use in Caterpillar battery production. We will also explore opportunities to collaborate with Caterpillar on R&D of battery cell technology and recycling techniques. With this collaboration, we and Caterpillar will be both customers and suppliers of each other, with shared goals to pioneer the future of sustainable mining technology and operations. We also received a $90 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to help support the expansion of domestic mining and the production of lithium for the nation's battery supply chain. The grant will be used to purchase a fleet of mining equipment in support of the Kings Mountain Restart. Earlier this month, we finalized simplified commercial arrangements related to our joint venture transaction with Mineral Resources. Under the revised agreements, Albemarle will take full ownership of the Kimberton Lithium Processing Facility and 50% ownership of the Wajana Spajami Mine in Australia. and retain full ownership of the Chenzo and Meishan lithium processing facilities in China. I'll now hand it over to Scott to walk through our financial results.