Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q4 and Full Year FY 2025 Earning Call of Hindustan Zinc. As a reminder, all participants' lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone.
I now hand the conference over to Ms. Raksha Jain, Director of Investor Relations of Hindustan Zinc Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you, Operator, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today to discuss the fourth quarter and full year results of FY 2025. In this call, we will refer to our investor presentation available on our company's website. Please note that today's entire discussion will be covered by the safe harbor clause mentioned on slide two of the presentation. Today, we have our CEO, Mr. Arun Misra, and CFO, Mr. Sandeep Modi. The management will be discussing the operational and financial updates for the quarter and full year followed by a Q&A session.
Now, I would like to invite Mr. Arun Misra to present the results. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Raksha. A very good evening to all of you. Thank you for joining us today for the fourth quarter and full year FY 2025 results briefing. Before we begin the presentation, I share with you, with deep sorrow and a heavy heart, that there has been an unfortunate incident at our Zinc Football Academy in Zawar, where we have lost a safety officer due to an unexpected collapse of a telecom tower during dismantling activities. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and want to assure them of our unwavering support during their extremely difficult time. Such incidents are truly heartbreaking, particularly as we strive to uphold a safety-first culture throughout every part of our organization. Following a thorough investigation, we are committed to implementing strong corrective measures and strengthening our safety protocols to prevent such tragedies in the future. These incidents serve as a stark reminder of the critical importance of constant vigilance and improvement.
Continuing with the presentation, I am pleased to share that Hindustan Zinc has delivered a record-breaking year with the highest-ever production of both mined and refined metal. This milestone further solidifies our positioning as the world's largest integrated zinc producer. Our leadership has also been mirrored in the sustainability performance, with notable improvements in ESG ratings across prominent platforms such as S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment and FTSE4Good, etc. We have delivered our second-ever highest revenue, EBITDA and profit after taxes, where our EBITDA stands at INR 17,465 crore, up 28%, and profit after taxes of INR 10,353 crore, marking an improvement of 33% over last year as compared to an increment of 18% in revenue from operations.
As a part of our sustainability journey, we have set ambitious goals for 2025, and our efforts over the past five years have meaningfully advanced us towards there. Notably, we have reduced our total recordable injury frequency rate by 55% from 2020 levels as against a target of 50%. We also achieved GHG emissions reduction of 0.67 million tons of CO2 equivalent against the 0.5 million tons target. This year, we have launched Asia's first low-carbon zinc, EcoZen, with a carbon footprint 75% lower than the industry average. It supports our customers' sustainability goals by reducing CO2 emissions. As we have stated before, and with the recent announcement by the London Metal Exchange on introducing a green premium for sustainable metals, EcoZen is well-positioned for stronger value realization.
Our CSR initiatives across key areas—education, health, water and sanitation, sustainable livelihood, sports and culture, women empowerment, and community development—impacted approximately 2.3 million lives, up from 1.9 million last year. Turning to the market update, last year has been favorable, with zinc and silver prices surging 16% and 29% respectively, driven by persistent supply deficits. While there are some uncertainties in the current global macroeconomic environment, the deficit is expected to continue into 2025 as well. Given the lack of any significant new zinc or silver projects, consequently, zinc prices are likely to stay resilient, and market sentiment for silver continues to be strongly optimistic. The global commodity landscape for zinc and silver continues to evolve amid geopolitical and economic shifts. Recent developments, including the retaliatory duties imposed by the U.S. administration, have impacted trade dynamics and introduced short-term volatility.
However, despite these headwinds, we believe India is uniquely positioned to benefit from the current environment. The government's sustained focus on infrastructure development, ranging from smart cities to railways and highways, is driving robust steel demand, which is expected to be 300 million tons by 2030, which in turn will catalyze increased zinc consumption for corrosion protection. This optimism is further reinforced by India's strong economic fundamentals, with a projected GDP growth of 6.5% by IMF and a manufacturing PMI of 58.5%, reflecting healthy industrial activity and continued momentum. As essential components in clean energy storage and sustainable technologies, zinc and silver are powering the global energy transition. As these metals play a pivotal role in the green revolution, Hindustan Zinc is proud to play a leading role in enabling a more sustainable world.
Moving to operational performance, with advanced exploration programs and strategic resource-to-reserve conversion to support our goal of sustaining a 10-year reserve mining life, we have crossed one milestone of 13 million tons of metal reserve for the first time since underground transition as at the March end. This represents an increment to over three times of metal reserves as compared to FY 2020 on a net production basis. Our total reserves and resources in both terms stood at 453.2 million tons, while the overall mine life continues to be more than 25 years. This quarter, we recorded some mined metal production of 310,000 tons, our highest-ever fourth quarter figure since underground transition, which is up 17% quarter-on-quarter, and refined metal of 4% quarter-on-quarter, and silver up 10% quarter-on-quarter.
I am also pleased to share that we achieved our highest-ever domestic zinc sales this year, capturing 77% of the domestic primary zinc market share. This is an important milestone that reflects our strong customer relationships and market leadership. Notably, we also increased the share of value-added products in our portfolio to 22% in a year, including 10,000-ton production from Zinc Alloy Plant, reinforcing our commitment to delivering differentiated solutions and driving greater value across the supply chain.
We continue to drive sustainable cost leadership and achieved a 16-quarter lowest cost of production of $994 per ton during the quarter end and four-year lowest $1,052 per ton on a full-year basis through focused efficiency and optimization, enhanced automation and digitalization across our operations, leading to record production volumes, better mined metal grades, and recovery, increased domestic coal and renewable energy usage, and better by-productions, further supported by softened coal and input commodity prices and operational efficiencies year-on-year. I believe you all appreciate the way the company has increased its production sustainably every year despite its transitioning to underground mining and delivering more than 1 million ton of mined and refined metal production, with minimal CapEx, showcasing our strong focus on capital efficiency, prudent resource allocation, and agile execution.
At our present, 160,000 tons per annum Roaster project, the commissioning activities have started and will be commissioned by mid-quarter one FY 2026. Further, we are also implementing an innovative technology to recover lead and silver from the smelter waste as an alternative to fuming technology. This technology will recover additional 27 tons per annum silver and 6,000 tons per annum lead, and is scheduled for commissioning in quarter four of next financial year. While the smelter de-bottlenecking at Zawar and Chanderiya are set to be completed in quarter two and quarter three of FY 2026, the fertilizer plant at Chanderiya is expected to be commissioned as per schedule by quarter four of FY 2026.
With a well-structured capex roadmap in place, we are confident in sustaining the strong performance in the year ahead with mined metal production expected to be 1,125,000 tons per annum, meaning 1.125 million tons per annum, plus or minus 10,000 tons, and a refined metal production of 1.1 million tons plus or minus 10,000 tons, with an expected refined silver production in the range of 700-710 tons, zinc production at a cost of $1,025-$2,050 per ton. In conclusion, with a strong focus on operational excellence, sustainability, and long-term value creation, we are well-equipped to navigate change and capture future opportunities. Our commitment to innovation, safety, and responsible business practices will continue to guide us. With a pipeline of high-value projects and leadership in future-facing metals, we are confident in our ability to deliver sustained returns and drive shareholder value in the years ahead.
With this, I now hand over to Sandeep for an update on the financial performance.
Thank you, Mr. Misra, and a very good evening everyone. As Mr. Misra mentioned, our ambition to consistently challenge ourselves and drive year-on-year growth distinguishes us from other major zinc players globally. Through disciplined capital allocation and strategic balance between ESG commitment and fiscal prudence, we continue to strengthen our operational efficiencies while delivering sustainable and robust financial performance with a strong balance sheet. A key enabler of this success is our continuous focus on innovation and leveraging technology, process improvements, enhancing recovery, and elevating governance standards, particularly in the reporting and transparency practices. Before dwelling into the performance numbers, I would like to update you on our pioneering initiative at Vedanta, where we have taken the lead in non-ferrous sectors for price discovery through e-auction platform in case of metal sales, which happened through Vedanta Metal Bazaar.
I'm happy to share that nearly 100% of our silver and 70% of our zinc in India was sold through e-auction platform during the quarter. This progressive transition has helped us to have our premium linked to the market as well as improved transparency and customer centricity. Driven by our record operational performance and better zinc and silver prices, I'm happy to share that Hindustan Zinc has recorded its best-ever fourth quarter PAT, second-highest annual revenue, EBITDA and profit after tax, along with the four-year lowest zinc cost of production for the full year, with an industry-leading EBITDA margin of 51%, a 400 basis points improvement year-on-year. Looking deeper into performance, we have recorded our highest-ever fourth quarter revenue from operations of INR 9,087 crore, up 20% year-on-year, driven by higher net volume and increased zinc and silver prices, further supported by strong dollars, partially offset by lower zinc and silver volume.
For the full year, we achieved the second-highest revenue of INR 34,083 crore, up 18% Y-o-Y, driven by highest-ever metal production, high zinc and silver prices, and strong dollars. This is further supported by strategic hedging gains and higher sale of residue, partially offset by lower silver volume and lower sales prices. We achieved our zinc cost of production of $994 per ton for the quarter four and $1,052 per ton for the full year, better 6% Y-o-Y , resulting in the second-highest fourth quarter EBITDA of INR 4,816 crore, up 32% Y-o-Y , driven by higher zinc and silver prices, softer input commodity prices, and better by-product sales. The quarter EBITDA margin stood at 53%, up around 500 basis points year-on-year.
On an annual basis, we have recorded second-best EBITDA of INR 17,465 crore, up 28% Y-o-Y , in line with the record metal volume, structurally leaner cost of production, higher zinc and silver prices, and strong dollars, partially offset by lower silver volume and net prices. Profit after tax recorded its highest-ever fourth quarter figure of INR 3,003 crore, up 47% Y-o-Y , in line with robust EBITDA. The full-year PAT stood at its second-highest figure at INR 10,353 crore, up 33% Y-o-Y , in line with EBITDA. We have successfully generated a strong free cash flow from operations at INR 13,784 crore during the year. Our return on capital employed of 58% reflects the best return across the industry. With a strong commitment towards delivering value-associative returns for all our shareholders, the company has distributed INR 12,253 crore in dividend to shareholders during the year and contributed INR 18,730 crore towards the exchequer, significantly increased by almost 42%.
This includes contributions towards income tax of INR 4,500 crore and royalties to the government of Rajasthan around INR 4,200 crore, which is 35% of total royalty income of the Rajasthan State Government. During the year, we delivered one of the best total shareholder returns in the country of 68%. This is 13x of Nifty 50 returns and 7x of Nifty Metal Index. I am proud to share that Hindustan Zinc is among the top three companies in Nifty Metal Index, with a market cap of approximately INR 2 lakh crore. On an overall basis, it has improved its ranking from 62nd as of March 2024 to 39th as of March 2025 end in terms of market cap. Hindustan Zinc is also the highest market cap company among its global zinc players.
Furthermore, with the company's recent inclusion in the F&O segment on the NSE, the company's daily turnover has grown significantly, which opens ample opportunity for further value creation. Coming to the outlook on zinc COP, it is expected to stay around $1,025-$1,050 per ton during the year, coming down with increasing renewable power usage, which is expected to grow to 30%-35% versus the 13% in FY 2025, and better production volume. The overall capex for the growth capex projects, which is approved till now, is expected to be in the range of $225 million -$250 million. Please note that with any further growth projects approved by the board, the capex guidance will change. To conclude, Hindustan Zinc's robust financial performance, fundamentals, structurally leaner cost base, strategic corporate discipline, and leadership in critical metal positions us to outperform throughout the commodity cycles.
Our resilience is not by chance but by design. As we contribute to prioritize stakeholders' value, sustainability, and returns, we are confident in our ability to lead the industry and deliver consistent superior performance across all market environments. With this, I now hand over to the operators for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
We'll take a first question from the line of Amit Dixit from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good evening, everyone, and congratulations for a good performance. I have two questions. The first one is actually on the guidance, particularly for cost of production and silver. If I look at cost of production guidance for FY 2026, that is higher by $50 per ton compared to Q4. I mean, at the lower end of the range. Just wanted to understand the reasons for the same. Do you expect any element of cost to rise, or what is the thinking that goes ahead? Because our production we have guided it will also rise. Just wanted to understand that particular aspect. The second bit on guidance is on silver volume. Now, silver volume, if I compare it with FY 2024, I'm not comparing it with FY 2025. We see that the guidance for FY 2026 is lower than the actual volume achieved for FY 2024.
Is it that we will be doing more of zinc this year and less of lead and silver at this stage? That's why this guidance has been kept this way?
Thanks, Amit. Coming to the cost, I think it's better to always look for the full year, $1,052, and compare with that. Q4 has, you see, the best-ever production of 310 KT of the metal with a 7.85% grade. Obviously, the grade in quarter four has been significantly higher compared to the full year of 7.5%. That's the major reason. If I compare with the year-on-year, we are doing the guidance. This year also, we delivered the lower end of the guidance. I'm sure you can expect the similar kind of delivery at the year-end. The major driver for cost reduction will happen with the renewable energy, as I said, 13%-30%, which will take cost around $10-$12 lower, and also the volume.
Obviously, let us remain a positive element of surprise at the year-end when the cost and every quarter when we deliver. Coming to the silver guidance, FY 2024, we ran almost the whole year on the pyro on the lead mode. That is how you would see the silver number much higher compared to the FY 2025. This year, number 700-710 number, which we were given, is assuming at this point of time, producing the more zinc, as you said rightly, with the zinc and lead mode for the whole 12 months.
Okay, great. The second one is actually a very interesting comment you made on implementing an innovative technology for recovery of lead and silver from smelting wastes at Dariba. Can you throw some more light on this innovative technology? If we are successful at Dariba, will it be extended to the other parts of the company as well?
Yeah, this is a new technology, which is to recover lead and silver take from Zawar site instead of doing it in the fumer route that we do, where we take the weak acid leaching residue into fumer, burn that to produce the oxides and then the sulfides and all that. Instead of that, this will be a tape that would be produced, and it's a direct process, and we will do that in Dariba. Once it is successful, it will form the future of all fuming processes in Hindustan Zinc. We will have this implemented everywhere and will not follow the typical process of fumer that we have now.
There are just two subparts here. One is that since you mentioned that it will be instead of fumer and it won't involve burning, and also, will it be more environment-friendly in that case?
Yeah, yeah. It will be more environment-friendly. Absolutely correct.
Can you just repeat the number that you mentioned in the prepared remarks on the additional volume of silver and lead that we expect?
I think for the FY 2026 guidance, we have not factored anything out of this technology because we have to appreciate this is the first time out of the European side. We are first time implementing, and we do not want to have any negative surprise later on. Let us keep that positive element in our hand. In case this technology becomes successful, we can achieve whatever the numbers we have sent in the IR tech, around 25 ton of the silver and 6 KT of the lead on an annual basis. Of course, the results which come in the Q4 only when we got to know.
Okay, okay. Great, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you, Amit.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Manav Gogia from YES Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi. Very good evening, and thank you for the opportunity.
Absolutely, sir. Manav, can you use your handset mode, please? Your line is not very clear.
Yes, I'm on the handset mode. Is it better now?
Yes, it's okay. It's okay.
Hello.
Hey, Manav.
Manav, go ahead. Go ahead.
Manav, we are unable to hear you now. We will check his connection. Meanwhile, we'll take the next question from the line of Shivani from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Operator?
Hello?
Operator?
Hello. Hello.
Did you disconnect?
Hold on.
No, it's okay. Operator got disconnected. Our signal is there. Hello.
Hey, buddy.
Center number.
Oh, correct.
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Can we pause one minute?
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I'll arrange for both and a board meeting.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for this. We will begin the question and answer now.
Yes, please.
Yeah, that. Mr. Manav? Mr. Manav Gogia from YES Securities, are you with me there?
Hello.
Yeah. Can you please go ahead with your question?
Yes.
Thank you.
I'm really sorry for the trouble. First of all, congratulations on the good performance for the quarter. I wanted to ask one particular question on how should we see the power cost going forward? We have mentioned the increase of renewable energy in the share. What would be that percentage for Q4? Where do we stand right now?
Q4, it was around 15%. As I said, in the full year, for the next year, we are targeting 30%. Power cost, it is the way to look at. Power as a spend base will always remain 32%-35%. Because now the next phase of cost reduction, of course, the power has a lot. Further power cost reduction as an overall level will also happen through the power cost only. Your both numerator and denominator will go down. With the 13%-30%, when we go through the renewable energy, $10 cost reduction should happen through the power cost itself. Of course, the domestic coal materialization has been almost 46% in Q4 and the full year 44%. We expect to remain around 45%. You can expect $10-$15 further power cost reduction at the full year level in FY 2026.
Got it. Sir, can you just provide me the split of the percentage of domestic coal that we have in our coal mix right now?
For the full year, it was 44%, and quarter four, it was 46%.
Okay, okay. Sure, sir. Sir, secondly, for the zinc alloy plant, can you give me the generated EBITDA for the particular quarter and the path?
For the full year basis, we generated EBITDA of INR 100 crore for the Hindustan Zinc Alloy Private Limited and with the overall production of 10 KT. At full capacity, when we run next year, the plant capacity is 28 KT. This year, it was a fast operation. At a full year, it should be around INR 250 crore - INR 275 crore of the EBITDA at full capacity.
Sure. Got it. I'll rejoin for more questions. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Pallav Agarwal from Antique Stockbroking. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. Just want to check in what were the strategic hedging gains that were booked during FY 2025 and whether we have any more outstanding hedges right now.
We booked INR 150 crore during the whole year. At this point of time, there is no outstanding strategic hedging position.
Sure. Also, just coming back to, again, the cost of production, I think you've given the sensitivity levels. Assuming that both zinc and lead spot prices have been weak of late, current spot price is below the FY 2025 average levels. If this continues, can cost savings offset the negative impact of lower L&E prices?
Cost of production have in our case, if you feel a major cost of fixed cost is around the oil and other thing, manpower, and the commodity-linked prices are like power cost, what I said in terms of the coal cost. Coal cost is also going down. We expect that if that kind of things continue, there is a further room to reduce the cost by $25-$30 in terms of the cost. Current level of LME, we believe it's more like a volatile environment. Even within the month of April or 20th, 324 days, and LME working days of 1890, we have seen a plus minus $250 to $250. It has gone around $2,550 also. It has been jumped around $2,800 also. That is more of a volatile environment.
In our view, the stable prices should be remaining around $2,800-$2,900 for the zinc, lead around $2,000-$2,050. Silver, I think, is quite bullish currently, $3,300, $3,400, may go $3,700, $3,800. At the cost of production, we will keep working upon that. We believe that lower end of the guidance because it is just the start of the year. I want to keep the numbers $4,025-$2,050. Of course, the reduction in the commodity input cost, majorly on the coal, Metcoke and diesel, if the diesel price is thrown to us because there is a quantity restriction in case of the coking coal by Government of India for the crude, of course, it has fallen, but the prices have not been passed on to consumers. These two large commodities, we are not able to get passed on.
For the coal, which has gone the index down, we are able to get passed on benefit.
Sir, lastly, on silver, we had a target of 1,000 tons. What is, is it the grades? What is hampering our ramp up to that 1,000 ton level in silver?
At a production plan of 1.2 million tons in our internal workings, we said that we'll be close to 750 tons of silver. While 1,000 tons silver making capacity we are anticipating or we are trying to execute in our Pantnagar plant was with the assumption that the metal making capacity will go up to 1.5 million tons. Those are the kind of numbers we had thought of. The reality is we are at around 1 million tons to 1.1 million tons metal. In that case, anywhere between 680-690 up to 725 tons of silver is possible depending upon the grade that we mine. Last year, we encountered inferior grade in SK Mine, which has reflected in the silver production.
Next year, we'll be producing more of zinc, looking at the LME and likelihood of the LME remaining at 27-28 kind of a number. Silver should be around 710-720 tons.
Sure, sir. Yeah, thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Shivani from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, I just had two questions. By when should we expect production to come from Bamnia Kalan mine? Another one is, how do you see the price going forward considering the U.S. trade war?
The Bamnia Kalan is currently development is taking place in terms of portal formation and all that. It will take another two years' time, so roughly about 24 months for the mineral to be struck and first production to come. Second was, what was your question?
So like--
The price is looking at the current. Yeah, current situation, this trend will continue for a couple of quarters till the time the world supply chain in the new order or restore to old order happens because of various tariff negotiations or countries joining hands to set new area to business with each other. I think that's a very changing space, changing almost every day, every hour. As far as we are concerned, we are primarily domestic player, and Indian growth by 5%, 6% will remain as long as the tariff or the economic situation does not impact overall prices of oil or coal. We are safe as far as our cost is concerned and as far as our volume or ability to sell is concerned.
Okay, thank you.
Okay.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Raashi Chopra from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just to understand on the cost, I may have missed it. On a sequential basis, the improvement, did you also see any improvement in the coal prices, or this was more metal grade and better volume sequentially?
There was a both combination. 2/3 was on account of the metal grade and 1/3 was on account of the commercial efficiencies in case of the coal and other items.
Right. So coal prices were also lower sequentially?
Yeah, yeah.
Okay. In the hedging gains that you mentioned, how much of them were recorded in the fourth quarter?
For the full year basis, it was basically, so fourth quarter is around INR 55 crore.
Okay. My next question is on the CapEx. The total CapEx, I think, was about INR 4,300 crore, right, for the year?
For the year, yeah, yeah. Total growth CapEx and sustaining CapEx put together INR 4,300 crore.
Okay. So how does break that up between the growth and sustaining?
Growth CapEx was around INR 1,500 crore, and remaining INR 2,800 crore was the sustaining CapEx.
Sustaining should continue until the next year as well.
Sustaining should be in the, yeah, sustaining should be in the range of INR 3,000 crore-INR 3,200 crore on annual basis.
Got it. Yeah, okay. That's all. Thank you.
Okay, thanks.
We'll take a next question from the line of Ashish Kejriwal from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good evening. Thanks for taking my question, sir. Think, is it possible to share our average coal price and sulfuric acid prices in fourth quarter or at least the change which we have seen on a quarter-on-quarter basis?
While now, as he did a recovery that we do, perhaps it will not be proper for me to share the exact prices, but we can say we always benchmark with the ad hoc prices on the sulfur, and we follow that model. Yeah, it is competitive in the market.
Yeah, we do in the auction basis. As I said, we use more like now selling anything through auction. Everything is getting discovered through auction, we got from the market accordingly.
Chief, sir, I'm not asking for the absolute number, but is it possible to share how much price increase we have witnessed in sulfuric acid and how much price reduction we have seen in coal in this quarter versus third quarter?
From the acid, I do not think we will be able to share. It is not a standard disclosure. Coal prices have fallen by 2%-3% in terms of the overall power cost I talked about. Our overall power cost has fallen by 3% compared to quarter-on-quarter.
That fall is because of coal?
Largely on account of the coal.
Okay. Second, for the last six months, we have been saying that we are preparing for the next phase of growth where we plan to expand our mine metals from 1.2 million to 1.5 million and then 2 million tons. We have not heard anything of that. By when can we expect some announcement or can we be motivated to comment on that?
No, to have design, we are absolutely aggressively working on it. First, it will see there are eight mines. While we are preparing the design right now, we have almost frozen design in two of the largest mines, which is Agucha and SK Mines. We will now extend the design onto the balance mines, which is Rajpura Dariba and the four mines in Zawar. Of that, almost we are ready with the numbers between Agucha expansion, corresponding concentrate plant, and corresponding smelter. There are a few loose ends that have to be tied up, and we should be finally doing it in a month's time, take board approval, and then go public and announce the number for the first phase of that 1 million ton expansion work. That does not mean that other works are not happening.
It will be in a time span of say 15 days to one month from one announcement to another. We hope that in three to four months of time, we complete all the announcements related to 1 million ton.
We are going ahead to 2 million ton, and we can expect announcement related to that within next quarter.
Correct. Absolutely.
Okay. Even after that, do we think that we will have our mine metals or mine reserves, which normally we have 25 years plus? Are we working on those lines also to maintain our mine reserves for 25 years?
Absolutely. We are in the process of global tendering, going for global exploration agencies to help us to increase the resource base and actually double the resource base that we have currently.
Sir, lastly, in any case, because we are going for a huge CapEx, then is there any capital allocation policy that beyond some net debt to EBITDA or something like that, we will not go ahead with it?
We do look at it like this. Our operations, as you have seen, consistently also huge cash producers. This kind of expansion is almost commensurate with our ability to produce cash. There is no worry on that front at all.
Okay. No, because why I'm asking is because we normally give higher dividend also. So both these will do one to hand.
As long as we are able to produce cash, as long as we can phase the expansion, that is not that we wait for neither we wait for whole 2 million ton design to be over, nor we wait for whole 2 million ton expansion to be completed. There will be one part will come up very fast. Whatever is the low hanging fruit, we'll catch it as fast as possible. We'll generate the delta cash that is required to fund the project and also in case the board so decides how to keep the shareholders happy. We'll take care of that as well.
That's phases. Lastly, only that when you are saying 1 million to 2 million ton, it will be in phases. From 1.2 million , can we expect 1.5 million first and then 1.8 million or something?
You are spot on. First one is 1.2 million -1.5 million . That announcement we should make very quickly.
Okay. Yeah, great, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Jainam Shah from Indsec Securities & Finance Limited. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir, can I add this?
Yes, please.
Go ahead.
Yeah. Congratulations on the good success. My question would be that in the opening comment, you said that zinc will be in deficit going forward, right? Recently we saw the zinc outlook by International Zinc Study Group, and they said that it is going to be in surplus. Just wanted to understand what is your theory and how that deficit is going to be for FY 2025?
No, see the production centers of zinc production as a mine metal, production centers as a finished metal in terms of standardized measures and integrated measures, and consumption centers where the growth of emerging economy, the growth of steel is required. We are basing our calculations based on India's ambition to have 300 million tons of steel production. You must have heard one of the largest Indian steelmaker making an announcement in Maharashtra. They will put up world's largest steel plant, right? Not even Indian largest, world's largest steel plant. We believe that in another two to three years' time, at least projects worth 300 million tons of steel will be launched in India. That would require the 2 million ton kind of a demand for zinc plus lead in India itself.
We want to capture that opportunity, and hence we are very bullish as far as demand for zinc is concerned. Globally, if you look at geographical area-wise, that imbalances will continue. We are not so much targeting that we produce and sell in other parts of the globe. We are completely focused in domestic India. Maybe our nearby growth centers in Southeast Asia up till Middle East. Otherwise, we are very bullish as far as demand of zinc in India and its nearby areas is concerned.
Your deficit is based on India as a standard level, right?
Correct.
Okay. Also sir, in silver, we basically have a very lower guidance when it comes to silver sales and production. Why is that? If you could just give an idea.
No, it's all the factor of production strategy based on the metal prices, at the same time the grade of the ore that we mine. Last year, the year before last, we operated mostly on lead more. Hence, we produced the highest amount of silver. Last year, we operated quite good time in lead plus zinc more, and also we encountered lower grade in the SK Mine. This year, we are slightly conservative on that count, and we are putting the numbers around 700 tons. We will see if we really encounter good grades. This year, the change in strategy is the whole year we'll operate in zinc plus lead more. To that account, silver production will also be affected. If the metal price is very differently or we hit very high grades in SK, we may change our strategy midway.
Okay. Sir, just like you answered the previous participant when you were saying that they are going to go from 1.2 million to 1.5 million . Can you specify a timeline for that?
No, no. As I said, that 1 million ton expansion may be all announcement because these are designs that are happening in part by part. One mine is getting designed, a smelter module is getting designed. Maybe an announcement will phase out between two to three months to complete the complete 1 million ton announcement. As I look at the project implementation effort versus ease of implementation metrics, then 1.5 million is the next best option, most economic option to do, followed by other expansions.
Can we assume that by FY 2027 end, we'll be able to reach at 1.5 million ton?
Twenty-seven end, let me put it this way. Say another one month, if I'm able to make the announcement and place order, then yes, another 24 months for completion of the project. That could go up till 2027, 2028 March or so.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Sumangal Nevatia from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, sir, for the chance. First question is to reach 1.2 million tons in terms of mine metal production. What is our constraint? Because since long, our capacity is now 1.2 million tons, but our production guidance is still well below that. This year also, we are almost 10% below that. Just want to understand what is the constraint. Is it the smelting capacity or is it the grade or some other factor?
No, it's the smelter capacity. Mine metal-wise, you look at consistently in a few years, in the last quarter, we have demonstrated 300 KT production of mine metal. There is no doubt in that. It is just that every year we have finally settled with huge stocks of mine metal. Whereas finished metal, our design capacity is about 1.1 million -1.3 million ton on the smelter. The debottleneckings, we said that we would do once the mines achieve their capacity. Those debottlenecking projects are on. Yeah, by the next year, we should be there in 1.2 million ton metal exit capacity in the next fiscal year itself.
Okay. In the past, you've also sold mine metal, refined or?
No, no. We have never sold. We have never sold. Maybe I am talking very, very long, but I am here for five years. I have never sold. Maybe it is 10-12 years back, and we are not in the business of doing this. We always want to remain integrated players.
Understood. Understood. Sir, can you remind us how many, which all mines and what proportion of today's production will be coming up for re-auction in FY 2031?
You are saying as 2030, mining is an option of the mines.
Yes, that's right, sir.
I think Sindesar Khurd mine is still 2048. Rest, I think 2049 is SK Mine. TAAG is 2048. Rest all mines, RD, Agucha, Zawar, are at 2030.
Okay. Sir, the next phase of expansion, will we be spending and working on capacity expansion at the mines which are expiring in 2031?
Nothing is expiring. In our mine, all the mines are with us and will continue to be with us, and hence we'll spend.
Okay, sir. We are of the view that we will be able to retain the mines given the option of first right of refusal. Is that the right way to understand?
Whichever way you understand, they will remain with us.
Okay. Because this is, I mean, if you can give us some more clarity on the thought process because this is a very substantial development.
1 kilometer below ground, we have invested, developed the mine. Is it possible for us to let it go or anybody else to come and just take it over and operate? It's not possible.
Okay. Okay. Do we expect any change in policy or are we confident of retaining it by matching the highest bid?
As of late, we are confident, and as I say, fortune favors the brave. Who knows?
Okay. Okay. Can you share what is the change in royalty we are anticipating in our internal estimates when we are kind of spending or working towards expansion at these mines?
No, no. We are far away from that. We are planning everything as we stand today. We are not factoring in the royalty increase and things like that.
Understood. All right, sir. That's all. Thank you and all the best to the team.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Prateek Singh from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. As a policy, given the volatility that we are seeing right now in commodity prices, and you said that $2,800 and then $2,900 zinc is something which you see coming or you're comfortable with, if you see that kind of a pricing, would we be open to hedge again opportunistically or hedging is out of the question right now?
I think it will all depend on the dynamic situation. We have been always agile. We do not want to be, there is no, at this point of time, it is only all like what we say is opportunistic, which we say is strategic hedging. Given our EBITDA margin of 53%-54%, even if I take the LME of current LME, that also gives me 51% of the EBITDA margin at the zinc, overall Hindustan Zinc level. I think we remain opportunistic and see what level we should do. Of course, we would not be too much aggressive about it. We will go in line with the market and whatever market and other feedbacks come to us. We remain open for it.
Understood. Just hypothetically, from your experience, if you really want to hedge, what kind of quantity can you hedge maximum? I mean, obviously, we cannot hedge, there is a cap on how much you can hedge. From your experience, what kind of quantity we can hedge if we really want to?
15%-20%, not more than that.
Understood, sir. Is there any hedging instrument for silver as well?
We remain plain vanilla forward option.
Okay. Understood. Sir, we have seen gold move up a lot. Silver also kind of is considered a store of value like gold. Along with that, the industrial application of silver is also quite decent. In your view, what is it that's holding silver behind? I mean, why is it not following gold? The gold to silver ratio is at all-time highs right now. What is it that's holding it back?
I think you are the best people who knows about this thing. In our view, silver should be also crossing in a way that gold has been there. It's only a timing issue. There is no new silver mine coming globally. Silver consumption has increased significantly in the industrial users. We believe that gold has already rallied, and this is now the turn of the silver. Silver should also rally in a similar manner.
Thanks. My last question is also, so if I'm understanding correct, that there has been a delay. I think the last call was supposed to come mid-February. Now you are saying mid-1Q?
Yeah. You can say technically a couple of months delay, but we took a very aggressive position. It's not what the suppliers were telling that when they can commission. We always make them run three, four months ahead of what they commit. To that account, we are putting the pressure on. Yes, we'll be very happy if we start production from maybe by May 10th or 12th.
Understood, sir. Thanks. That's all from my side. All the best.
Thanks. Thanks.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Aditya Welekar from Axis Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Just one question once again on the silver production guidance of 700-710. Is it fair to assume that in 2027 this level will be a sustainable level, or it can fall, or it can rise to 800 million tons, depending upon the Zawar mine silver grade? If you can throw some light on that.
No, you have already answered it. It will rise. You have answered correctly that the more Zawar expands, we will get from the Baroi mine good silver concentrate from Zawar. SK Mine will expand in that 2 million ton program, we will get more good silver content. Agucha, as we go below now in the further expansion, at many zones we will cut the Galena zone, and we expect that at the Galena, it will be full of lead and silver. We will get more silver out of there. Yes, we are very hopeful in that 2 million ton expansion plan. We should be hitting 1,200-1,300 tons of silver.
Got it, sir. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take a next question from the line of Shreyans from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking my question. My question is on the dividend policy. Do we know when does the board sit for the next announcement of dividends? Thanks.
No, we only know they only have the sales and sole power for declaring dividend.
Okay. That's it from me. Thanks.
Thanks.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the floor over to Ms. Raksha Jain for closing comments. Over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, operators. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today on this call. If there are any follow-up questions or any clarifications required, you can reach out to the investor relations team. Thank you.
Thank you, members of the management team. On behalf of Hindustan Zinc, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.