Good morning, and welcome to Elkem's first quarter results presentation. My name is Odd-Geir Lyngstad, and I'm responsible for Investor Relations here in Elkem.

To take us through today's agenda, we have CEO Helge Aasen and CFO Morten Viga. Helge will go through the highlights for the quarter, the market update, and the outlook for the second quarter.

CFO Morten Viga will then present Elkem's first quarter results in more detail. We will open for Q&A after Helge and Morten's presentations.

With that, I give the word to CEO Helge Aasen.

Thank you, Oddgeir, and good morning, everyone. Welcome.

We are expecting to close the sale of the silicones division to Bluestar today, 30th of April. This transformation will move Elkem towards a more pure-play metals and materials company.

Another goal and motivation behind this is to sharpen our strategic focus, tighten capital allocation, and improve earnings quality. We're also using this opportunity to streamline the organization and cut cost.

Following the transaction, we plan to raise new equity of 1.5 billion NOK through a publicly announced bookbuilding process. Of course, in order then to strengthen the balance sheet.

This equity offering is guaranteed, as previously communicated. In addition, we have secured an offer from our relationship banks for a fully underwritten debt refinancing of 1 billion euros.

The operational performance in the quarter was hampered by challenging market conditions. Visibility is quite limited, we have to say that, due to changing trade regulations and all the geopolitical uncertainty ongoing.

Silicon Products presented a weak result in the first quarter, mainly impacted by production curtailments at several plants in Norway, but primarily affecting the Rana and Salten plants. These stops had an estimated EBITDA negative impact of approximately 250 million NOK for the quarter.

Carbon Solutions is also impacted by negative sales mix with lower share of specialties and negative impact from currency due to a weaker US dollar. In addition, the division was impacted by our sales internally to the Silicon Products division.

The EBITDA for the first quarter ended at 249 million NOK, which gave an EBITDA margin of 6% for the company. These numbers do then not include silicones, and we have focused now on Elkem's continuing business throughout this presentation today.

Before we go into more detail on markets and result, I'd like to say a few words about ESG. The safety numbers on the right-hand side of the slide here are now excluding the silicones division.

Total injury rate is higher than what we have previously announced, but the graph shows a positive development reflecting our extensive focus on health and safety measures, which is a focus we've had over many years. When it comes to environmental issues, the sale of the silicones division will further improve Elkem's carbon footprint due to a significantly reduced operational footprint in China, where the energy mix is quite different from Norway.

We do, however, continue our efforts to reduce fossil CO2 emissions. As part of this work, we have recently been granted 87 million NOK from Enova.

This is to test and scale up the use of biocarbon in the silicon and ferrosilicon production facilities in Norway. In April, we signed a five-year offtake agreement for biocarbon from Char Technologies.

It's part of the announced sale of the biocarbon pellet pilot production facility that we have been working on in Canada. We will update our climate strategy after the closing of the silicones transaction.

The plan is to present this at the capital markets update. We haven't set the date yet, but it will be in the third quarter.

As you can see to the right, we continue to have strong ratings from CDP and EcoVadis as two, as two well-known leading ESG rating agencies. The sale of the silicones division has developed according to plan and is expected to close today.

I got the last message very early this morning that now everything is in place, and the papers are on the way to be notarized. The transaction was approved by the minority shareholders on the EGM on March 9th, and Elkem has obtained approval then from necessary majority of its lenders.

The creditor notice period expired on April 23rd, and Elkem obtained the last regulatory filing approval in France this week. The sale of the silicones division comprised all assets excluding three sites: Yongdeng, the silicon metal idle silicon metal plant in China; Roussillon, the upstream siloxane production in France; and a smaller downstream facility in India.

We will continue to evaluate strategic options for these plants together with the new board of directors. Roussillon, the French operation, has entered into a five-year supply agreement with Bluestar.

We've also secured additional offtake in the US. This will ensure stable operations, and we will gradually ramp this up to capacity.

We're also talking to other potential customers for products from this site. I think this will be turn out to be a good, a good solution.

We will also increase capacity utilization, as I mentioned. Yeah.

Always at that. The Yongdeng plant in China, which produces silicon metal, was idle in 2025.

We are currently in the sales process of this site. India, which is a much smaller facility, it's located just outside Mumbai, this was not included due to a very extensive regulatory approval process in India.

It's difficult for Chinese companies, especially state-owned entities, to do anything in India. We will then take care of this and divest this facility in due course.

I don't think that's going to represent any major problem. The sale of the silicones division, as now well-known, will be settled through a share redemption of all of Bluestar's shares in Elkem.

Following that, we will conduct a 1.5 billion equity offering. This will be done through a publicly announced bookbuilding process in order to strengthen the balance sheet.

As we also previously announced, the offering is guaranteed by a consortium consisting of Folketrygdfondet, Must Invest, DNB Asset Management, Nordea Investment Management, and Perestroika. There are plans for a subsequent repair offering of up to 300 million NOK, which will provide shareholders the opportunity to subscribe for new shares at the same subscription price.

Elkem's board will be responsible for the allocation of the new shares, and of course, we have not had a chance to sit down with the new board and talk about this, but we can assume that the board will adhere to common market practices, which secure the interest of all shareholders. In that, without going into too more too many details, current ownership will clearly be a key allocation criteria.

In addition to the equity offering, we have been working on the refinancing of our bank facilities. As I mentioned initially, we have secured a fully underwritten offer for refinancing of 1 billion euro from key relationship banks.

This financing is also subject to final approval from the new board of directors. In March, Scope resolved Elkem's rating status and affirmed an issuer rating of BBB- and assigned a negative outlook.

Elkem is committed to maintain its investment-grade rating and will sustain robust financial metrics by further cost and debt reductions. We'll then be back to that.

We are also reorganizing the company following the sale of the silicones division into three new or to three divisions: Elkem Silicon, Elkem Foundry Alloys, and Elkem Carbon. This has been done in order to improve the transparency around the key value drivers in the company.

Financial reporting based on this new structure will begin from the third quarter this year, and we plan to present these new divisions and their management in a planned capital markets update then after the third quarter presentation, I assume. In the second quarter, we will conduct a review of our asset portfolio with the new board.

As part of this process, we're going to assess some options, strategic options, for our Iceland operation. This is necessary due to a very weak profitability and negative EBITDA at Iceland since the fourth quarter of 2024.

There's some structural challenges at Iceland, which I'm sure we'll talk more about later, but that will be a key topic now quite soon. After closing of the silicones transaction, Bluestar's representatives on the board of directors and on the nomination committee will resign, and then with immediate effect.

The nomination committee has proposed new shareholder-elected board members to the annual general meeting, which will take place just after this presentation. I have been proposed as the chairman of the new Elkem board of directors, but will obviously then continue to serve as CEO until a successor has been appointed and is in place.

The other board members the nomination committee have proposed are Marianne Elisabeth Johnsen. She has been on the Elkem board since 2019.

She's actually the only one continuing from the old board of directors. Then we have Christian Must, co-owner and director of Must Invest, one of our largest shareholders.

Astrid Margrethe Hilde, she's Chief Legal and Community Relation Responsible in Glitre Nett. Rikard Olav Aas, now serving as CFO at Fred.

Olsen & Co. Following the reorganization of the corporate structure, we have also appointed our new senior vice presidents.

We have Luiz Simao, previously running the Carbon division, is now appointed SVP for Elkem Silicon. It's a Brazilian by origin.

Then we have Elkem Foundry Alloys, which will be led by Senior Vice President Inge Grubben-Strømnes. Then we have promoted Isaías Aentringer, also Brazilian, to the role as Senior Vice President of Elkem Carbon.

This team will be physically located here in Oslo. The SVPs will be presenting their respective visions on the capital markets update that I mentioned previously.

We are also, as I alluded to, implementing a significant cost reduction program. It's developing according to plan, I have to say that.

We have spent some time on the planning phase, but saw a kickoff a couple of months ago on this program. The estimated cost reductions amount to 600 million.

Approximately half of this will be realized by the year end of 2026. An important part of this is a rightsizing of the organization, and the global workforce will be reduced by approximately 300 full-time employees by year end.

This then represents about a 10% reduction of the remaining organization after the sale of the silicones division. In addition, we are targeting working capital and capital expenditure improvements totaling 1.3 billion NOK.

The inventory reductions already completed amounted to approximately 500 million, which is linked to the production curtailment I mentioned earlier in the presentation. Investments will be kept, reinvestments will be kept at a maximum of 1 billion NOK for the year.

This program is well underway. We had total investments of around 100 million during the first quarter.

We'll make a provision for the cost reduction program in the second quarter, and we'll come back with details on that when we report the second quarter in July. Then let's move on to market, the market update and the outlook.

It continues, I would say, to be marked by high uncertainty, low visibility. In addition to regulatory issues, we have regulatory issues that could have significant impact on prices and market development for our products.

Recently, the Middle East conflict has dominated the news. This has limited direct impact on our business, but higher transportation and energy costs will likely impact sales prices in the EU.

This could have a positive effect, definitely short term, but of course, this may very well be countered by lower economic activity overall. The implementation of safeguard measures for ferrosilicon and foundry alloys in the EU has had limited price impact in the first quarter.

We think this is due to combination of weak demand and quite significant stockbuilding that took place ahead of the safeguard implementation. Prices of ferrosilicon are expected to increase once stock levels normalize.

The production at Rana and Salten was stopped during the first quarter and partly restarted in late March, and both plants are now back in full production from the end of April. A positive factor for Elkem is that we have or we are eligible for 1.5 million CO2 quotas for the period 2021 to 2025 after the Ministry of Climate and Environment have approved our complaint case.

Following this decision, we have not purchased quotas in 2025. Adjusted for this, the net value of excess quotas amounts to approximately 1 billion NOK.

We expect to receive them, these quotas, in 2026. We have a constructive dialogue with the authorities on this matter, but I have to say that we do think this is taking far too long to conclude.

Silicon metal was not included in the safeguard measures in the EU when ferrosilicon measures were introduced. The silicon market in the EU clearly suffers from low-priced imports, particularly from China.

Protective measures are being assessed, we know that. In any case, if it's decided, it will take time, and we will come back to it as soon as we have more information on such potential measures.

On steel, a new safeguard regime will be implemented from 1st of July in the EU, which will limit imports into the EU to a maximum 18 million tonnes. The total consumption in the EU is around 150 million tonnes per year, and the import last year was 49 million tonnes.

Any imports above this level will be taxed with a duty of 50%. This is expected to increase steel production and capacity utilization in the EU, which again, we think will have a positive impact on the demand for Elkem's products, namely ferrosilicon, foundry alloys, and also electrode paste.

Moving on to the key market trends and indicators, automotive, as we talked about many times, is an important sector for Elkem, driving demand for many of our products. Silicon metal is an essential ingredient in electronics, batteries, lightweight materials.

The automotive production in Europe have declined, and the outlook remains weak due to soft demand and significant import pressure from China. A new minimum price mechanism on EVs imported into the EU could offer some protection.

Construction is another key market for us, and silicon-based products go into high-performance concrete, into building materials, into infrastructure. Europe is seeing some signs of a gradual recovery, but performance varies significantly across countries and segments.

US industrial activity is also relatively soft with growth in sectors such as data centers, power infrastructure, and also institutional-driven projects. PMI numbers are normally a good indicator, and for the economic sentiment, and globally, the PMI indices are showing a mixed, but at least stable picture.

Manufacturing remains soft, but we do see signs of this downturn now starting to ease, and we see some mild expansion in the US. Picture in Europe is mixed, and the German economy continues to contract.

It remains to be seen then how this Middle East situation will impact the markets longer term. If we take a closer look at specific markets for Elkem and start with silicon, the markets are still challenging with continued price pressure.

Silicon reference prices in the EU have declined in the first quarter and were influenced by continued weak demand and low import prices. It's quite remarkable when you look at the difference of price now in the US and the European markets.

In the US, prices increased slightly in the first quarter, mainly due to imposed tariff imports. I don't think I have ever seen prices in the US being double the level of Europe.

In China, silicon prices remained low, hampered by weak demand and significant overcapacity, also resulting in some stock buildup. The ferrosilicon markets have many of the same underlying drivers as silicon.

Markets are characterized by also here by weak demand, but the new safeguard regime for steel in the EU is expected to increase production and have a positive impact on the ferroalloys in general. Ferrosilicon prices in the EU have increased moderately after the implementation of safeguard measures, but as mentioned, the impact so far has been quite modest due to stock buildup prior to the implementation, and which we think is still ongoing to normalize.

In the US, ferrosilicon prices are impacted by tariff structures, and the demand is showing a positive development, and further improvement in market conditions are expected there. The market for carbon products is similar.

The market for carbon products is much smaller than silicon and ferrosilicon. We don't have reference prices here, but demand differs a lot by region and is influenced by steel, ferroalloys, and aluminum industries.

Global crude steel production declined by 4% in the first quarter this year compared with last year, primarily driven by lower activity in China, where output decreased by 7%. The European production decreased by 4%, while North American production was on a stable level.

Steel and ferroalloy markets continue to face challenges. However, Carbon Solutions' specialized product offering and also our wide geographic presence will provide resilience and stability in earnings.

As mentioned, the new safeguard framework for steel in the EU is expected to support higher steel production and could definitely positively impact markets for Carbon Solutions. Then moving on to the outlook the second quarter, the conflict in the Middle East, along with trade regulations and protective measures, is expected to keep impacting Elkem's markets and leading to continued uncertainty.

However, Elkem is well-positioned due to our diversified geographic presence and also strong market and cost positions. Silicon Products is still experiencing difficult market conditions, but the results are expected to improve gradually as production now returns to full capacity utilization.

However, the there will be an impact of costs related to restarting production and ramping then up to full capacity. Carbon Solutions anticipates generally stable financial performance in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.

I think with this, I'll give the word to Morten to take us through the financials.

Thank you very much, Helge, and good morning, everybody. Let's start with the overall numbers.

These numbers are excluding Elkem Silicones, where we expect to have the closing of the divestment later today. Elkem's operating income for the remaining business amounted to 4 billion NOK for the quarter, which is down 7% compared to the first quarter last year.

The reduction was applicable both for Silicon Products and Carbon Solutions. Elkem's EBITDA for the first quarter amounted to 249 million NOK, and this was a reduction by 65% from the first quarter last year.

The EBITDA was significantly impacted by the production stops at Elkem Rana and Elkem Salten, which was estimated to have a negative impact of 250 million NOK minus for the quarter. This resulted then in an EBITDA margin of 6% for the quarter.

As usual, we have provided an overview of some of the main financial numbers and ratios. I will not go through all of them.

As closing of the silicones transaction is expected today, we have focused on Elkem's figures for the quarter and what the key ratios will be for our continuing operations without silicones. As I said, the EBITDA amounted to 249 million NOK, where there was realized derivative effects in segment Other of only 1 million NOK in the quarter.

Other items amounted to 18 million NOK, and this consists of gains on power and currency derivatives of 40 million NOK, currency losses of 24 million NOK, and other items of 2 million NOK. The net finance income was 366 million NOK.

This consisted of net interest expenses of -102 million NOK, currency gains of +471 million NOK, and this is due to a significantly stronger NOK, which is the functional currency, versus euro, where we have the majority part of our loans. Net other financial items amounted to -3 million NOK.

The income tax was -63 million NOK, giving a tax rate of 26% for the quarter. Let's then take a look at the divisions and start with Silicon Products.

The silicon and ferrosilicon markets remain difficult, and the results were significantly impacted by the reduced production at several plants, particularly Salten and and and Rana, where we had a full production stop at at a part of the or during a part of the quarter. Total operating income amounted to 3.3 billion NOK, and this was a reduction of 5% compared to the first quarter last year.

The reduction in operating income was mainly due to lower sales prices for silicon, but this is partly countered by higher sales volume compared to the corresponding quarter last year. The EBITDA was 122 million NOK, which was down 75% compared to the first quarter last year.

This reduction is primarily driven by the full and partly production stops at several plants, including Rana and and Salten, but also at other plants in Norway, we had production curtailments for longer or shorter periods. As I said, the production stop had a negative EBITDA effect of approximately 250 million NOK in the quarter.

Lower sales prices this quarter also impacted the EBITDA compared to to last year's EBITDA. Sales volume, however, was 14% higher this quarter compared to last year, and sales volumes were higher across all product lines as we have focused a lot to increase sales in order to take down inventory and to reduce working capital.

The Carbon Solutions division presented a relatively weak quarter, but still generated an EBITDA margin of 23%. The first quarter was affected by negative sales mix, particularly lower share of of of specialty products.

Total operating income amounted to 722 million NOK, which was 16% down compared to the first quarter last year. The EBITDA amounted to 165 million NOK, which is a reduction of 37% from the first quarter last year.

In addition to the negative sales mix effects, the operating income and EBITDA were also impacted by currency effects. The weakening of the US dollar versus the NOK and and Brazilian reais has had a negative impact on the results.

The production curtailments in Silicon Products, which represent a major customer base for Carbon Solutions, also had a negative effect for the Carbon Solution results. We also experienced low demand in South America due to trade restrictions into the US.

Sales volumes were stable compared to the first quarter last year, but market conditions remain challenging due to continued idle capacity and low demand from the ferroalloys industries. Let's then take a look at some of Elkem's key financial ratios.

The EPS amounted to 0.56 NOK per share for the first quarter 2026, and this number is calculated excluding Bluestar shares, which will be redeemed in connection with the closing of the silicones transaction later today. Having said that, we should also remind you that the number of shares will increase in connection with the equity offerings later in in May.

Total equity for Elkem, adjusted for the sale of the silicones division, amounted to 11.6 billion NOK as per the end of the quarter, and this gives an equity ratio of 42%. Now if we adjust for the new equity offering of 1.5 billion NOK and the planned repair offering of 0.3 billion NOK, the pro forma equity ratio would be 46%.

This clearly means that the balance sheet remains solid also after the silicones transaction and the redemption of the Bluestar shares. By the end of the quarter, Elkem had net interest-bearing debt of 9.3 billion NOK, and this gives a leverage ratio of 5 based on the last twelve months' EBITDA of 1.9 billion NOK.

Adjusted for the already underwritten equity offering of 1.5 billion NOK and the planned repair offering estimated to 300 million NOK, the pro forma net interest-bearing debt was 7.5 billion NOK, and this then represents a leverage of 4 times EBITDA. Leverage is expected to be further reduced going forward by working capital improvements and effects of the cost reduction program, which will kick in from Q3 and and onwards.

We're also targeting a well-distributed maturity profile. As Helge said, we have then enter or we have got an offer for a favorable refinancing package, where there will be a refinancing of 1 billion euro, and we have secured a fully underwritten offer from four of our main relationship banks.

The interest cover ratio amounts to 6 by the end of first quarter 2026. As I said, it's a key priority to reduce working capital and also have a very disciplined program on capex in order to reduce debt and improve cash flow generation going forward.

Cash flow from operations was 169 million in the first quarter, and this was an improvement from the corresponding quarters despite lower EBITDA. We have, during the quarter, reduced inventories by approximately 500 million NOK due to higher sales and lower production, and this reduction will then be converted into lower working capital and and freed up cash during the next quarter.

The investments were very moderate and amounted only to 122 million NOK in the first quarter, where reinvestments amounted to 111 million NOK and strategic investments are basically at 0 or 11 million NOK. The reinvestments amount to 44% of depreciation and amortization.

This clearly is an indication that our program, our commitment to cap investments at maximum 1 billion NOK, is is is progressing well, and we will definitely deliver on on also on that target. We have not included silicones numbers in the previous slides, but, of course, we still are the owner of silicones until closing later today.

This is a slide summarizing the silicones performance in in in Q1. As the division has been classified in the accounts as assets held for sale and discontinued operations.

Overall, the division reported improved results compared to the corresponding quarter last year, mainly due to cost improvements. Total operating income was down 4% from Q1 2025, mainly driven by stronger NOK versus main business currencies.

EBITDA, however, was up 85% from Q1 2025, maybe mainly explained by lower raw material costs, higher sales volumes, and other internal cost improvements. Sales volume was up 10% from Q1 2025, driven by higher sales of commodities and and specialty products in in in main regions.

DMC prices in in China were stable in Q1, and there clearly is an effective program to to curb overproduction in in China. We see that anti-involution, similar anti-involution measures are underway in a number of sectors in in in China.

The measures from silicones producers have so far been effective at curbing overproduction and increasing sales prices despite weak underlying demand. Let me wrap up this presentation by summarizing the main headlines and and takeaway for the quarter.

We are streamlining the organization and implementing targeted cost measures to support a more focused business model. The target is clearly to improve Elkem's profitability in a very challenging market situation.

Of course, when market sentiment is improving, we will still have a great benefit for improving our cost position. We're also clearly implementing measures to strengthen the balance sheet, and we will conduct a guaranteed 1.5 billion NOK equity offering and plan a subsequent repair offering after closing of the silicones transaction.

As I said, in addition, we have secured a refinancing of bank facilities of 1 billion euro, 11 billion NOK, and this refinancing is underwritten by four main relationship banks. Following the guaranteed equity raise and the guaranteed refinancing, Elkem's financing position is considered to be very robust.

The first quarter was clearly weak, but profitability is expected to improve in the second quarter as production gradually returns to full capacity. Far, we have not experienced any tailwind from improved market conditions.

Trade regulations and protective measures are likely to continue affecting Elkem's markets, and we expect that market conditions will gradually improve. We believe that we continue to be very well-positioned due to strong market and cost positions when the markets improve.

Let me finish up there and hand over back to to Oddgeir, who will then chair the Q&A session.

Thank you for that. We will then open for Q&A and to start with the people here in the audience and see if there are any questions, and I expected that to be [laughter] Magnus, please.

No microphone or anything?

No, not needed. [laughter] Yeah,

just wanted to touch on the Silicon Products figures because the volumes were very high despite some production cutbacks. Can you say a bit about the dynamic there?

Are you back to normal or the desired levels in terms of tonnes of inventory? Is the quarter negatively impacted by you having to sell at a discount or something to get that much volume out in a relatively weak market?

You can probably add, Morten, but I think definitely, we see some positive signs on demand outlook, and otherwise, we couldn't have restarted production. I think the underlying sentiment is good in terms of sales.

You're right, it did pick up during the quarter. On inventory reduction, we can probably do more.

We'll always have an attention to that, but what we intended with this curtailment has been achieved.

I think the answer is yes to your questions. Our sales volume was high in Q1, but we had to sell deliberately also in marginal markets at low prices in markets that we usually do not sell big quantities into, but we did that in order to reduce inventories.

Obviously, the EBITDA impact from that was not great, but we will reduce inventories and working capital, and that was needed. Clearly, we also had a negative profitability impact from the sale of surplus power.

As we closed down the plants in Northern Norway in Rana and Salten, we had a major amount of surplus electric power that needs to be sold in the market. At the beginning of the quarter, spot prices were quite high, but due to heavy precipitation, the power prices had a drastic decline, we also had a loss on that impacting the quarter.

Going forward, I think the important thing is that we have now laid a basis for a significant reduction in inventories that will then cause a significant reduction in working capital.

Can you sort of quantify if you had normal production and you didn't have to sell those extra volumes at a bit of a or in soft markets, roughly how much higher EBITDA would be?

No, I think the number that we have announced of 250 million NOK, that represents the difference versus normal run rate given current market conditions.

Okay. Another question as well on the CO2 quotas that you're going to hopefully soon receive.

Can you say a bit about what is the hold-up? It's been almost a year since it seemed like the reverse, it was sort of a deal that you were getting these quotas, and is there any risk at all that it could be reduced

and not deliver? It has been confirmed in writing that we have support for our complaint.

This is the second round time we do this. We also had a similar process in the around the allocation.

Why the Norwegian government keeps creating problems like this, it's hard for us to say, but I cannot give any other than bureaucratic processes that takes much time. No reason to believe that we should not get this.

No, there is also a formal, let's say, notification process with EU on such matters. That's probably also a bit time-consuming, but Helge is absolutely right.

We have it in writing that we will get those quotas. Then

finally for me, it seems like you are sort of looking to potentially sell some of these units that you're left with in silicones and also sort of looking into the Iceland units. Can you, I don't know if you can give any indication of what you can be looking at in terms of sales prices or how much they are worth, or at least how much book value is tied up in these units so we can have some sort of idea on the value?

I think it's very hard to start guessing on the value in potential transactions. I don't want to do that.

I guess, what you have in your balance sheet.

I think we would like to, of course, first of all initiate the discussion with the new board to be elected later today, and I'm sure we will address these issues during Q2. I think it's a bit premature to start addressing this right now.

We are very open about the fact that there are, of course, three silicones assets where we have plants, and we're also quite open about the fact that we have a challenge in Iceland that we will solve, and we are pursuing, let's say, several options.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Other questions from the audience here before we go to questions on the web?

If not, there are also some questions here on the web, and one question is regarding sales that you touched upon also with regards to what we're seeing now in the second quarter and the potential to reduce inventories further. Is it fair to say that selling at lower prices could continue into the second quarter like in the first quarter?

No, that's not the intention.

Very short and clear. [laughter] The question is also, could you provide some more color regarding cost in the second quarter restating the facilities, Rana and Salten in particular?

No, there will always be some startup costs when you restart furnaces, not big amounts. We have then fully restarted both Salten and Rana in April.

Although capacity utilization will be higher in Q2 versus Q1, and as such, the profitability of these plants will be significantly better, we will not have a normal capacity utilization, there is a potential for a further increase then in Q3 and onwards.

There is a question also about Iceland that was mentioned in the presentation, that we look at our asset portfolio, and the question is if you could elaborate on the structural challenges in Iceland.

I think Iceland has one competitive advantage, that's hydropower, or renewable power. Other costs are, I think, historically on a higher level than what we see in Norway, for instance, compared with Norway.

I think that has become even more difficult combined with safeguard measures and especially as very strong Icelandic currency have deteriorated their competitive position. We need to look at all potential or all possible options for the future of Iceland.

I don't think it's right to speculate on what they are right now, but obviously, an important topic with the new board and will be we will definitely elaborate more on that in the second quarter presentation.

You mentioned safeguard, and safeguard has been implemented for ferrosilicon. Why hasn't the prices moved up further?

No, I think the obviously, low demand is still there, but the destocking that's been going on is the main explanation for that. We do expect to see some improvement in price levels now going forward.

There are also some positive signs from steel in general, which I think can support ferrosilicon in general.

With safeguard on ferrosilicon and steel being implemented, do we see similar measures for silicon metal going forward?

That's a more controversial issue in the EU. Look at the exposure of different consumers, I know that has been discussed for quite some time, but there doesn't seem to be any, say, consensus around how and when to implement such measures.

It's definitely needed because there is antidumping on silicon from China, but it's not enough to protect EU-based players. As a consequence, very little capacity utilization is taking place in the EU right now.

Yeah. Then there is a question about the refinancing package and if we can say anything about terms and conditions.

No. We're very happy to have this refinancing package in place.

We clearly believe it's a very good package, but it's up to the new board to finally approve it, and the board will be elected later today. Let's have the approval, and then we will disclose more details on the package.

Then

the last question here before we wrap up, if we can see any further working capital release in the second quarter as compared to first quarter.

Definitely. We have made a commitment.

We will take down working capital by 1 billion NOK during the year. I think a major part of that will be realized already during Q2.

We have already laid a good foundation with a reduction in inventories. There will probably be even more reduction in inventories.

Then we're working on other measures also on credit terms, which in total should exceed the working capital reduction to more than 1 billion NOK for the year, and then the major part already in Q2.

Very good. That was the last question, and that concludes our presentation today.

I would like to thank people in the audience for attending, and also those on the webcast following us there. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.