Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the ENCE second quarter 2023 results presentation. I will now hand over to Mr. Ignacio Colmenares, Executive Chairman, and Alfredo Avello, CFO. Gentlemen, please go ahead.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining ENCE's first half 2023 results conference call. Our CFO, Alfredo Avello, and our Head of IR, Alberto Valdes, are also connected to this call. After the presentation, we will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. I would like to start on slide six with the key financial highlights of the first half. Firstly, the EUR 100 per ton reduction in the cash cost achieved in the second quarter. This has allowed us to partially mitigate the 24% fall in the net pulp price during the same quarter. Secondly, the regulated energy price update in June will imply a cash generation increase of approximately EUR 26 million this year. Its adverse accounting non-cash effect is compensated by a higher remuneration from investment cash annually from 2023.
Thirdly, we have distributed EUR 140 million in dividends so far in 2023, against 2022 results, based on strong free cash flow generation and low leverage. Fourthly, as expected, our working capital normalized during the first half of the year, following the return of EUR 85 million excess ARPU collected in 2022, and the production normalization at Pontevedra. Our low leverage position, both in absolute terms and relative to our average through the cycle EBITDA, offers flexibility to size multiple growth opportunities. Finally, we closed the first half with a consolidated cash balance of EUR 376 million. Turning now to slide 7. You can see how the EUR 100 per ton cash cost reduction achieved in the second quarter has allowed us to partially mitigate the reduction of the pulp price over the same period.
Following the recovery of pulp prices in Asia during the second quarter, I think the pulp price in Europe bottomed out in July. At the same time, our cash cost is set to continue improving over the coming quarters and into 2024. Our expectation is that cash cost over the second half of the year should fall below EUR 500 per ton, as shown in the chart. Continuing with slide 8, let me share with you our midterm view of the market dynamic of global pulp supply and demand. We expect the current stocking in the paper industry to end soon. The displacement of higher cost integrated pulp capacity at current net price levels is now stimulating a recovery in market pulp demand. Industry specialists currently expect pulp price to recover as far from next year. I remain confident about the fundamental strength of the pulp industry.
We expect pulp demand growth to exceed supply growth over the next five years, thus strengthening pulp prices. There are no new pulp projects confirmed as from 2024. Wood availability is limiting competitive pulp capacity additions, both market and integrated. Demand growth should accelerate as a result of three positive structural market trends. Firstly, urban population growth and higher living standards in emerging markets. These trends are boosting demand for the fastest growing paper segments, such as tissue, packaging, and specialties, which now account for over 80% of market pulp demand. Secondly, continuing plastics and synthetic fiber substitution will strengthen pulp demand over the next few years. Finally, the lower availability of recycled fiber, due to the declining printing and writing paper consumption, will result in rising demand for virgin fiber.
As regards wood availability, I remind you of ENCE's unique, strong position, which is a result of our solid local wood sourcing and our location. Our biomills are surrounded by over 500,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations. Let's turn now to slide 9, where we explain the recent update of the regulated energy price applicable as from January 1st, 2023. At the end of June, the Spanish government approved a Royal Decree and published a Ministerial Order updating the regulatory price of energy and the remuneration parameters applicable at the group's renewable energy generation from 2023 to 2025. The regulatory price for the year 2023 was set at EUR 109 per MWh, compared to the EUR 208 per MWh set in December 2022.
These regulated energy price updates will imply a cash generation increase of approximately EUR 26 million this year. Its accounting non-cash impact of EUR 65 million on group EBITDA during the first half of the year is compensated by a higher remuneration for investment cash out. Remember that biomass plant regulations ensure a minimum return of 7.4% over the plant's life. I now invite Alfredo to further elaborate on our first half results.
Thank you, Ignacio. Continuing with our consolidated results on slide 10, group revenues reached EUR 459 million in the first half of the year, representing a 17% decrease compared to the same period of last year. This decline was mainly driven by the accounting non-cash impact caused by the regulated energy price update and the year-on-year decrease in the average pulp price. These two factors, combined with the higher cash costs year-on-year, caused by the delayed effect on inflation on raw material and energy costs, explain the 56% reduction in the group's EBITDA to EUR 65 million. Note that if we exclude the accounting non-cash impact of the change in the regulated energy price, group EBITDA would have been EUR 130 million in the first half.
Having said that, please note that regulatory change also has a positive effect in the IR, resulting in higher cash in revenues of EUR 14 million per year during the same period, starting in 2023 and ending in 2025, as well as lower tax outflows. The sale of our first PV project in Jaén during the first quarter contributed EUR 23 million to our EBITDA. As our chairman has already explained, it is important to highlight the EUR 100 per ton cash cost reduction in the second quarter. A significant improvement, which will continue during the coming quarters and into 2024. Attributable net income in the first half turned to be negative by EUR 4 million, following the previously explained accounting non-cash impact of the regulated energy price update.
If we exclude this negative impact, attributable net income would have been EUR 30 million in the first half of 2023. Moving now on to slide number 11, I will present our cash flow performance. As you can see, first half 2023 free cash flow was positive by EUR 7 million before the negative impact of the working capital normalization recorded during the first half of the year. Working capital changes include the return of EUR 85 million excess remuneration collected in 2022, following last year's regulatory adjustment and the normalization of our operations in Pontevedra after a temporary suspension of production during the second half of 2022, related to the severe drought we suffered.
Turning now to slide 12, you can see our strong shareholder remuneration related to 2022 results, which included EUR 140 million dividend distribution during the first half of 2023. Our dividend policy allows us the flexibility to increase shareholder remuneration in periods of a strong free cash flow generation and low leverage. As you can see on the following slide 13, we ended the first semester with a low leverage position relative to our average through the cycle EBITDA, despite the working capital normalization and strong dividends distributed over this period. This gives us flexibility to seize a number of different future growth opportunities. We have also amortized the EUR 63 million remaining from the convertible bond issued back in March 2018, for an amount of EUR 160 million, which was refinanced through 268 of new facilities.
Closed June 2023 with EUR 376 million in cash in our balance sheet. Our pulp business ended the period with a net debt of EUR 124 million. This includes liabilities from lease contracts, which amounted to EUR 39 million. The cash balance in our pulp business was EUR 326 million at the end of the quarter. Note that our pulp business financial debt is covenant-free, and our renewable business net debt at the end of the period was EUR 87 million, with a cash balance of EUR 50 million. Please note that we also have a fully undrawn EUR 130 million RCF maturing in 2026. Turning to slide 15, let's now review the financial performance of our pulp business. Pulp sales in the first half amounted to 462,000 tons.
This is 5% lower than in the same period last year, despite a 3% increase in production due to higher pulp inventories during the period, mainly linked to the plant maintenance shutdowns of our bio mills. Our differentiated products accounted for 16% of total pulp sales, compared to 19% in the same period of last year. Due to a temporary narrowing of the price spread versus softwood pulp. These higher value-added differentiated products are more sustainable and well-adapted to replace plastic and softwood pulp in multiple paper applications, and also deliver higher margins for ENCE. We are aiming to increase the sale of these products within the next five years towards a target of 400,000 tons.
Over 92% of pulp sales went to the European market, where our customers benefit from ENCE's unique wide portfolio of sustainable products and shorter delivery times versus other competitors. Over half of our sales were in the fastest growing tissue and hygiene product segments. As you can see on the following slide 16, our pulp business was also affected by the accounting impact of a regulated energy price update. This regulatory update had a EUR 25 million non-cash negative impact on both revenues and EBITDA, which will be compensated by a EUR 5 million higher IR and only cash starting this year, 2023. Excluding this accounting impact, pulp business EBITDA would have been EUR 59 million in the first half.
Our pulp business recorded a lower operating margin over this period, driven by a 4% year-on-year decrease in the average sales price, following the pulp price correction observed over the second quarter, and a 17% year-on-year higher cash cost due to the delay effect of inflation in raw material and energy costs, as well as because of the trials of our new water recovery system in Pontevedra. Nevertheless, our cash cost showed a significant improvement over the second quarter, which allowed us to partially mitigate the decline in pulp prices, as you can see in the following slide, number 17. Cash cost improved by EUR 100 per ton in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, falling to EUR 535 per ton, mainly due to lower energy, wood, and chemical costs.
Pontevedra's first trial phase of the water recovery solution, as well as the repairs of its energy turbine, implied an extra cash cost of EUR 28 per ton in the second quarter, down from EUR 46 in the first quarter. Note that we are finishing with installation of our own water recovery equipment in Pontevedra, we are progressing with administration in our order to receive the necessary permits to operate this equipment in a second trial phase in case of doubt. The repair works in Pontevedra energy turbine concluded in July. This will help us to continue reducing our cash cost to below EUR 500 per ton over the second half of the year. The downward trend in cash cost is expected to continue into 2024, fall towards the levels we had prior to the energy crisis back in 2021 over time.
Continuing into slide 19, I would like now to review the financial performance of our renewable business, mostly driven by the regulated energy price update in June. The regulated energy price for 2023 was reviewed downwards from EUR 208 to EUR 109 per MWh. This update had a EUR 40 million accounting non-cash impact on both revenues and EBITDA, which will be compensated by EUR 9 million higher remuneration for investment annually cash in as from 2023. Excluding this accounting impact, renewable business EBITDA would have been EUR 72 million in the first half. Energy sold was down year-on-year to 556 GWh, mainly due to the lower biomass availability, together with the maintenance works at Huelva 50 MW power plant.
During the first quarter, we closed the sale of our first PV project in Jaén, which contributed EUR 23 million to EBITDA, as you can see in the following slide 20. We expect further EUR 27 million contribution to EBITDA from the remaining PV project sales over the following quarters. Actually, I can share with you that we closed yesterday the sale of our second PV project in Huelva, with a EBITDA contribution of EUR 4 million and a cash collection of EUR 7. This last transaction is also part of the agreement signed with Naturgy back in December 2021. Turning now to slide 21, let me conclude my section, emphasizing once again, ENCE's continued and exceptional sustainability performance. We are leaders in sustainable forestry, in circular economy, in social commitment, in gender equality, and in corporate governance. Our best practices have been recognized by independent ESG agencies and indexes.
In its latest study, Sustainalytics confirmed ENCE for the third consecutive year as the most sustainable player in the global pulp market. We have been member of the prestigious FTSE4Good Index since 2021. In June 2023, ENCE was awarded with the EcoVadis platinum medal, the highest rating awarded by this platform. Let me also highlight some of our recent sustainability achievements. Firstly, in 2022, we reduced our total greenhouse emissions by 10%. Secondly, Navia and Pontevedra, as well our biomass power plants, continue to reduce their water footprint by 5%, 7%, and 6%, respectively, compared to a year ago. Thirdly, we continue to reduce the odor of both pulp bio mills, which is already below 1 minute per day. Fourthly, our health and safety record remains very solid, with no sick leave accident over the past 9 months in the renewable business.
ENCE's pulp business ended last year with the best safety metrics in its history, at levels that are 14 times lower than the benchmark values for the industry in Spain. I hand back now to our Chairman and CEO to review our 2023 outlook and update you on our multiple growth and diversification initiatives.
Thank you, Alfredo. Let's continue with slide 23, which summarizes our guidance for 2023. Our second half cash cost is expected to improve below EUR 500 per ton. Cash cost improvement is expected to continue in the coming quarters, moving towards the cash cost level we had prior to the energy crisis back in 2021. Pulp production is expected to normalize at close to 1 million tons. The pulp price in Europe is now bottoming out, following the significant correction in the second quarter, and after the price recovery in Asia. We expect pulp demand growth to exceed supply growth over the coming years, providing strong support for an improving pulp price outlook. The regulated energy price updates will have an estimated positive cash impact of EUR 26 million over the whole of 2023, resulting from the increased remuneration from investment and from lower taxes.
Finally, we expect a further EUR 27 million positive contribution to EBITDA from remaining PV project sales during the coming quarters. In fact, as Alfredo has already advanced, we closed yesterday the sale of a second PV project with an EBITDA contribution of EUR 4 million. Let me update you now on our growth and diversification initiatives. Starting with slide 25, the first phase of our Navia Excelente project remains on track. We continue to diversify our production towards our higher margin, differentiated pulp products and fluff pulp. Firstly, the project to diversify our production into fluff pulp was approved by the board today, and will be executed over 2024 and 2025, with an estimated investment of over EUR 30 million, and a targeted return on capital employed of over 12%. Fluff pulp is the raw material necessary to produce a wide range of absorbent hygiene products.
It's one of the fastest growing segments, with rising demand driven by an aging population. It has a significant price premium compared to the standard hardwood pulp. Secondly, we continue to diversify our production towards higher value-added, differentiated pulp products, with the aim of reaching 400,000 tons by 2027. Our higher value-added pulp products are more sustainable and are better adapted to replace softwood pulp in multiple paper applications. Importantly, they also command higher margins. CapEx in this project will be below the initial estimate, because we won't need to invest in new equipment to increase sales of our higher value-added products. Pontevedra temporary shutdown in 2022 obliges us to make them in Navia without this equipment. Let's move to next slide, number 26, the As Pontes project.
In June last year, we and the regional government of Galicia announced a new project at As Pontes for the production of bleached mixed fiber from recovered paper and from virgin pulp produced by us. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to offer bleached mixed fiber to our customers. As Pontes has been declared a project of strategic importance by the regional government. This will accelerate the permitting process. We aim to finish the engineering and the permitting process by summer next year. Hopefully, we should be able to take the final investment decision by the end of 2024. We believe wood will be an increasingly limited resource in the future, and note that none of the investments I have described will require more wood.
The timing of all these investments will be adapted and aligned to our cash flow generation throughout the pulp cycle and to our leverage policy. Our aim will be to maintain prudent leverage and an attractive remuneration for shareholders, while investing for future profitable growth. Turning now to slide 27, let me describe one of our unique competitive advantages, our local wood sourcing. Firstly, our biomills are surrounded by over 500,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations. Their excellent location allows us to source our wood at an average distance of less than 110 km. Secondly, ENCE is the largest forest manager in Spain. We manage over 65,000 hectares with an annual production of around 400,000 tons.
Thirdly, we benefit from our own wood supply team, which is able to source close to 1/3 of our wood needs directly from more than 10,000 landowners. Fourthly, we have also developed a long-term relationship with our network of very small local suppliers, from whom we source over 40% of our wood needs. These strengths allows us to locally source over 95% of our wood needs. We import less than 5% of the wood we consume, whereas our largest peers in the Iberian Peninsula already import approximately 1/3 of their wood needs. There is not enough local wood to supply new projects in the Iberian Peninsula. We believe imported wood will become even more expensive in the future. None of our growth and diversification projects require increased consumption of wood. These give us a unique competitive advantage.
Let's move now to ENCE Renewables, starting with ENCE Biogas in slide 28. ENCE Biogas is our new subsidiary created to develop and operate biomethane plants. Our circular business model is based on the recycling of local organic waste into biomethane, a high-quality organic fertilizer, and sustainability certificates. Our target is to develop 30 plants with a total capacity to supply over 1 TWh per year during the next five years. ENCE Biogas already has a portfolio of 15 projects under development in Spain. Six of these projects are at the engineering phase and are expected to start up by 2026. The estimated CapEx is around EUR 15 million-EUR 20 million on average per plant, with a targeted return on the capital employed of over 12%. We build these biomethane plants with EPC contracts using non-recourse project financing, just as we did in biomass.
Let's turn now to slide 29, which illustrates other growth opportunities within ENCE's renewables business. I wish to highlight three things. Firstly, we have developed three biomass projects with a combined capacity of 140 MW, which are ready to participate in future funding options. Secondly, we are working with potential industrial customers in Spain to help them decarbonize by replacing fossil fuel heating with renewable heating. We signed a first service contract in June. Thirdly, we are developing further 300 MW in PV on top of the projects that will be sold to Naturgy in the coming quarters. Let's now turn to slide 30, our management of forest in Spain. ENCE is the largest private forest manager in Spain. We manage 60,000 hectares, and we are a model of responsible and sustainable forestry.
Our managed forests constitute an important carbon sink and offer additional growth opportunities in the voluntary CO2 markets. We have already registered 387 hectares with the Spanish Climate Change Office, equivalent to the removal of over 60,000 tons of CO2 during the life of the plantations. Furthermore, we have identified 4,000 hectares within our current plantations, which are eligible to produce carbon credits. We aim to register even more hectares over the next five years. CO2 credits will allow us to double the revenues of these hectares as they produce roughly the same amount of CO2 as wood, and the price of CO2 credits is also similar to that of standing timber. Let me give you some closing remarks before we move to the Q&A session. We see the first signs of an improvement in pulp demand.
The pulp price in Europe is already bottoming out in July, and we see further price increases in third countries. Cash cost is expected to continue improving over the coming quarters. We are fully focused on cash cost reduction. We should be able to recover the cash cost levels we had prior to the energy crisis back in 2021. The future of our Portugal concession is clear now, and our balance sheet is strong. We are well positioned to pursue different growth and diversification opportunities in both businesses, while maintaining a prudent leverage and an attractive shareholder remuneration. Thank you for your attention. We will be pleased now to hear any questions you may have.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Q&A session starts now. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. You will have the opportunity to ask all the questions that you may have. We kindly ask you to ask only one question at a time to our speakers, instead of asking multiple questions at the beginning. Thank you. The first question comes from Enrique Parrondo, from JB Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for the presentation and for taking my questions. I have two, if I may. The first one will be on your short-term view for the sector. I was wondering if you could maybe give us more color on your expectations for pulp prices, in the sense of what's leading you to believe that this has bottomed out. Is it higher appetite from clients, sign? I believe that we haven't seen any signs of normalization in inventories yet. More importantly, where do you see the signs of upside that you recently mentioned for the Second Half? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Enrique. As I mentioned three months ago on the presentation of first quarter, at this time, prices were bottoming out in China. That was what happened, the prices went from low prices of around EUR 440, EUR 450, to prices between EUR 520 and EUR 530 in China. That's the level of prices of today. Today, we give you some announcement of price hikes for long fiber for Asia, for August. In Middle East, prices were at the same level as China, prices today are going up and are also on a range between EUR 500 and EUR 530. Those prices in the Middle East and in China are the same as the prices, the next prices of today, at a price of EUR 850.
It is very important to note that it is much cheaper to ship to Middle East or to Asia, where the incoterms are cheaper and where the product we manufacture and we sell is cheaper. To sell in Europe is more expensive because the incoterms and because the quality of the product we offer to the European customers. Therefore, it's very simple. On the last 3 weeks, the customers have stopped to ask for cheap deals in Europe, because they know we prefer all to sell to Middle East or to Europe. That's why I see prices have already bottomed out in Europe. On the other hand, I look our orders for August and September, and they are better than they were 1, 2, and 3 months ago. We have more demand from Europe, and we have more demand from the Middle East.
Things are selling in area, but I know that the demand in area is quite strong and quite good. We see that, and I'm convinced that prices have bottomed out in Europe, and prices are going to be stable during several months in Europe, and prices have started to increase slightly in third countries. Regarding inventories, it's very difficult to know what is happening on the graphic paper supply chain, but all the industry thinks that this problem is going to be solved very quickly. Customers on the graphic industry are going to buy soon again, at normal levels. On the other hand, the pulp inventories in the European ports are larger than normally, but they are at the same level than the previous month.
Was not the case on the previous months, where the stocks on the European ports have been increasing, increasing and increasing. This increase has stopped, and in July they are stable if you compare with June. Thank you, Enrique.
Thank you. Just one, one clarification, because I think the, the line broke a little bit, but you were mentioning price increases, small ones, obviously, but, for the, for the end of the year. Did I get that right?
Yeah. Well, all the analysts see better prices for next year. Well, what means the price increase at the end of the year? Yeah, we see the fundamentals. We agree on that because of the fundamentals I have explained to you.
Great. Great, thank you very much. The second one. My second question would be on cash costs. Maybe could you quantify or give us a little bit more color on what have been the moving parts for the cash cost decrease in the second quarter? What are your expectations also for the different cash cost components for the remainder of the year? Thank you very much.
Yeah, thank you. Well, we made a strong reduction on wood costs from first quarter to second quarter. We have also stopped the big costs we had in Pontevedra because the equipments we were renting and because the problem we have on the turbine. We have started to reduce price of chemicals, the price of the logistics, and the price of the overheads, the cost of the overheads. We will continue on working on the same items on the third quarter and on the fourth quarter. Our aim, as I have said to you, is to be on average on the second half of the year, below EUR 500 per ton.
Our aim is to come back to the normal levels we were before 2021, let's say, at the end of next year.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder, in order to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from the line of Álvaro Lente from Alantra Equities. Please go ahead.
Hi. My first question would be regarding the commercial discount. In the past, when prices were rising, you indicated that discounts were going up because you were selling some, the fact that the price is referenced to a couple of months lagging price index led to an optical effect that increased the commercial discount. Now that prices are falling, I would have expected the same thing to work in reverse, allowing you to lower your commercial discount, but it seems to be going up. Could you please explain why is this happening?
Yes, Alvaro, it's quite simple. You have a commercial discount agreed with the customers. You have a mathematical commercial discount when you compare your net price of the month with, let's say, the last price or the fixed price of the month. As you were saying, when spot prices are going up, we have many contracts linked to the previous month, well, your effective discount, your effective price is going up with 1 month of delay. When you calculate your net price and you compare with the fixed price of the end of the month, you have a higher discount. When prices are stable, it doesn't matter if it is at $1,200 or at $800, when prices are stable, both commercial discounts are the same.
Contract commercial discount and the mathematical calculated commercial discount at the end of the month, because prices are stable. When prices are going down, like it was the case on the last four months, you have two markets. You have the supplies at the price of the contract, and you are forced to do spot deals. Those spot deals, either in Europe or on the Mediterranean, are at lower price than the discount. Sorry, than the fixed price.
When you calculate at the end of the month, your net price, and you compare it with the fixed of the end of the month, from a mathematical point of view, your discount is higher. Which means that now that we think that on the next couple of months, prices are going to be stable, we are going to see a commercial discount very close to the commercial discount we have, in fact, in our contracts.
Okay, that's clear. Then another question, if currently spot markets in Europe, including the commercial discount, are already below $500 per ton, if I am not mistaken. With your current cash costs, even though they fall, let's say, to roughly $500 in Q3, that would mean that you would be selling at a loss in terms of gross margin. Would you rather not sell or what is...? I don't think we have seen this situation in the past in which the spot price is below your cash cost. How do we, how should we understand your commercial strategy in this situation?
As I was explaining to Enrique Parrondo before, on the last three weeks, we are not, signing any deal below the prices we can offer in China or the prices we can offer in the Middle East. Which means that if we can offer on the Middle East at $520, we will not sell in Europe at $500. The product is more expensive, and the transport cost is more expensive.
Okay, lastly, you're facing some debt maturities next year. Do you have paid a significant amount in dividends? I don't know, when do you expect to refinance this, or if you expect to just cancel the debt and reduce the outstanding levels of debt? Just to understand how could financial costs.
Yeah, Alvaro.
Evolve in the future.
Yeah, we have canceled our convertible bonds at the beginning of the year. We have raised fresh money from the system. All these amount of money we have raised on the second quarter, it's with a maturity of five years. It's bullet, it has no covenant. Today, we have a good, solid, and customized situation. Alfredo is going to give you more details. Alfredo?
Alvaro, what we have done is we have refinanced all these maturities in the next year with in the future years, with different bilateral facilities, almost getting up to EUR 300 on a five-year term, with two-year non-amortization period and three years later on. We have the full maturities in 2024 of EUR 82, which basically EUR 50 is just one facility that is refinanced, as I was telling you, and the rest will follow the same way. You also need to remember that we have a EUR 130 million undrawn RCF that will give us some leeway on that. If you look at our cash in hand, in the pulp business is right now EUR 326.
It will remain at those levels during the rest of the year. All that has been already refinanced. In the case of the energy business, as you know, there's only EUR 12 million left this year and EUR 33 million next year that will be perfectly taken care with the cash of the company. I mean, within that, we are in a very, very liquid position.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from Jaime Escribano from Banco Santander. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. One follow-up question from Alvaro. Could you tell us the interest rate that you are paying on this refinancing? Second, in terms of cash cost, the cash cost of this company used to be around EUR 380 per ton in the old days. What do you think it could be the new normality? Or asking in a different way, you say you are going to cut the cash costs below 500, but how much do you think you can make it at 450, 400? How much room you have for maneuver in that sense? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Jaime. Alfredo will start the interest rate, and he will continue with the cash flows.
Yeah, regarding our facilities are with a spread below 200, all of them, EURIBOR plus 200. We have IRSs for around 75% of it. You should think about 5%, something like that, all-in cost. On the other side, just remember that we have all this cash in, of the EUR 326 in pulp, and EUR 50 in the renewable business. We are getting remuneration from our bank accounts in the range of around 3%.
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you. Well, regarding cash cost, yeah, we are going to have on the second half of the year, cash cost below EUR 500. I cannot give you now a more detail if it is EUR 880 or EUR 899. It is below EUR 500. Our normalized level of cash cost is EUR 400. We had in 2019, EUR 404. We had in 2022, with all the commodities very depressed during COVID, EUR 387. We had in 2021, EUR 395. Let's say, we used to have a normalized cash cost of EUR 400.
We think that some things may not come back at the level they were four years ago, but at the same level, we are working in order to improve Pontevedra, we are working in order to improve Navia, and then we think that we should have something slightly below EUR 400 by the end of next year, as I told before.
Thank you very much. Ignacio.
Thank you, Jaime.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Luis de Toledo from Oddo BHF. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. One question from my side, it's regarding the diversification investments. The board has approved the flow of investment. I would like to know how do you rank the investments? Now, you usually refer to return on capital employed above 12%. I would like to know if with the regulatory changes, although them do not affect cash generation, I don't know if the future biomass opportunities, in which place are they ranked compared to further differentiation into pulp and all the biomethane and CO2 opportunities? Thanks.
I don't understand very well your, your question, Luis.
No.
I will try to answer the proper answer.
Ignacio, sorry, if you allow me. I mean, after all these regulatory changes, how do you believe the biomass future projects rank compared to solar PV, decarbonization, and so on?
Yeah. Okay, okay. Well, regarding biomass, it is extremely important to understand that with the low stakes is that we have a 7.4% return on our, on, in our investment. We, we are happy with this return in our investments we have already done. We have three projects, we are working in innovative ideas in order to improve this 7.4%, in order to go to future auctions of biomass published by the government, being able to make a bit more than 7.4%. That's regarding biomass. Regarding applications of biomass, we strongly believe there is a bright future for thermal biomass.
As I mentioned, we have already signed an important contract with the food and beverage industrial, where we are replacing his former gas heating solution by a biomass heating solution. We have quoted already to more than six big industrial companies, the substitution of gas or fuel heating by biomass or electrical heating. We see a smart and bright business and a good growth in this area, which is not regulated because it is business to business. We are developing these 20 biomethane plants in Spain. We want to have, in five years' time, 1 TWh of biomethane production, with roughly 400,000 tons of organic fertilizer production, and with all the certificates who can be exported. That's a good business, and we are looking for an interesting yield, as you know.
What we like of this business, it is very similar to what we developed in biomass. The, the raw material is the important thing, and we are people very, very close to the countryside, and it is our business to do that. It's plenty of investment companies trying to deploy biomethane in Spain, whether they are on a big building in Madrid, far away from the countryside. We think we have a strong advantage, and we're going to replicate what we did in biomass in order to avoid risks. We are going to sign EPC contracts. We have already hired, as I mentioned on the last conference call, Sener, to do the engineering of the plants, then non-risk of construction and non-risk of operation and non-technological risk.
We want to finance these investments through project finance by two reasons. The reason that everybody finance through project finance, you know, you don't have the cost to give to the main company. The other thing is because when a bank gives you a project finance, it makes you a very important audit about the raw material you really have, the technology you are using, and other things. That's how we are going to do that. That's in renewables, and at the same time, because we know how to develop PV assets, we will continue developing PV assets. I don't think we will build and operate PV assets. We are going to develop and to sell to large companies who have more difficulties in development.
Regarding the diversification on the pulp business, we have a flat project which has been launched today, gives an important increase of the EBITDA to the company. Gives tremendous opportunities to diversify the products we are producing. Today, we are on the range of 200,000 tons of differentiated products with higher margins, and we want that to be a significant amount of our sales in four years' time. In the other hand, we have this fantastic project in As Pontes, where we are going to produce recycled bleach fiber. That's a product that the customers love, because in terms of sustainability, they can offer tissue, or they can offer paper, or they can offer packaging to the customers with a mixed fiber. Virgin fiber coming from certified and long, sorry, and short-distance forests, and with non impact on CO2, and with recovered paper.
Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question comes from Enrique Parrondo, from JB Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi, just one follow-up on the As Pontes project. I recall from the full year results presentation that you commented that you expected to take a final investment decision towards the beginning of 2024, and I believe you recently or just commented that likely it's going to take place towards the end of 2024. What has been the change or the driver of this? Thank you.
Yeah, well, it took, a bit more than what we forecasted to, have the final agreement, with Endesa, the, owner of the land, to contract the engineering, to start to ask for the water permit, to start to ask with the, electricity permit, the engineering of the project, and the declaration by the regional government as an strategic project. Today, we think it is more realistic to think, end of 2024 instead of 2024.
Okay, perfect. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much. We will meet in October.