@LD99 it is due to a lag between production and receipts. Here...

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    @LD99 it is due to a lag between production and receipts. Here is a simplified example.

    Q1
    No sales
    Production 50kt @ $240pt $12.5mln cash cost
    Overheads $2mln
    Result - negative cashflow $14.5mln

    Q2
    Sale of product produced in Q1 50kt @ $340pt - $17mln cash receipt (cash profit on that batch across two quarters is $2.5mln)
    Production 50kt @ $240pt - $12.5mln cash cost
    Extra ramp up production 50kt @ $240pt - $12.5mln cash cost
    Overheads $2mln

    Result - negative cashflow $10mln
    Result (if no ramp up) - positive cashflow $2.5mln

    Q3
    Sale of product produced in Q2 100kt @ $340pt - $34mln cash receipt
    Production 100kt @ $240pt - $24mln cash cost
    No further ramp up
    Overheads $2mln

    Result - positive cashflow $9mln

    ---------

    The company has been ramping up production from 20kt per quarter to now 50kt per quarter. They will need to ramp up to 130kt per quarter. Obviously, they need to invest capital to increase production. That is called working capital, which they earmarked at $6mln, which I presume is net figure after they reinvested all other cash profit from ongoing production and sales. This is different to capital investment in infrastructure.

    In summary, the company is making cash profit per tonne of product. But they also ramp up production and increase working capital which is booked as an operating cash outflow and lags the future cash inflow from increased production.

    hope this helps

 
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