Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited Q1 FY 2025 earnings call within IIFL Capital Services Limited. As a reminder, all participants' lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation continues. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Ranjit , IIFL Capital Services Limited. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Priya. Good evening, Mr. Hey. I was attending the Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited Q1 FY 2026 Earnings Conference call. From the company, we have with us Mr. S. C. Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director; Mr. Subhash Anand, President and Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Tarun Sinha, President, Technical Ammonium Nitrate; Mr. Subhara Jaine, Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance; and Mr. Devasheesh Kedia, Senior General Manager, Corporate Finance. We would like to begin the call with brief opening remarks from the management, following which we will have the forum open for a Q&A session. I would now like to invite Mr. S. C. Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, to make the initial remarks. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Yeah, thank you. My voice is clear, right?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir, please.
Okay. So a very warm welcome to all of you once again. I hope you had a chance to review the results that we have uploaded on the website of the testing. At the outset, I'm again happy to share that in the quarter that we just closed, we have had a 17% improvement in the top line and a 22% jump in the bottom line over the same quarter last year. The net debt reduced by over INR 225 crore, resulting in a net debt to EBITDA ratio improvement from 1.72x to 1.5x despite the CapEx cycle still going on. Also, our journey from commodity to specialty continues, where now almost 80% of our top line is emerging from the shift. Of course, the biggest contributor has been the crop nutrition business, where we are seeing excellent traction.
As regards to the two major ongoing projects, Gopalpur, the TAN project, there we are seeing almost 90% of the total plant and machinery is already ordered, or I would say 100% of the tagged equipment, meaning equipment, machinery, control valves, panels, packages, are all ordered. Only some of the bulk items now would be balanced, which is normal in any project. As far as the Dahej asset project goes, while 63% of the total plant and machinery is already ordered, 100% of the tagged one is already ordered. Both the projects we are looking at commissioning in Q4 FY 2026. Both the projects are in a space where we've been there since the last 40 years. In comparison to any kind of competition, we have a number one maximum proximity to customers. In some of the products, we are on the boat to coast.
That gives us the lowest freight deliveries to our customers. We are having multiple facilities, which gives a huge assurance to the consumers because they will have a fallback kind of a thing from multiple manufacturing facilities. We have a complete ready supply chain right from all the transportation, warehouses, and dealers and retailer networks. There is 40 years of solid experience right from raw material sourcing, operations, safety, health, environment, all the regulatory frameworks, linkages with, you know, on the sales and marketing side. Last but not the least, unique that is going to be with us is that we are an integrated player right from LNG gas to ammonia to the building block nitric acid right up to all the finished products.
This is going to be something which, you know, will pan out in terms of, you know, further strength to our foundational projects and products that are there. As far as the quarter goes, I thought of sharing a few interesting insights. Now, as many of you may know, ammonia contributes or constitutes almost 75% - 80% of our key chemical variable cost of production, 75% - 80%. Ammonia has seen a volatility in the pricing right from, say, 10% to 200% over the last five Q1 quarters, if I might take it that way. Yet, our contribution margin in the downstream of our market-determined key products, that is, technical ammonium nitrate acids, has hovered around 40% +, and our consolidated EBITDA margins have hovered around 18% - 20% over the last five Q1 quarters.
What it tells very clearly in terms of these actual facts is that the business model, the businesses have a very strong resilience and robustness, which is evident from some of these financial figures. The second insight I might want to share is that our plant OP, OP is operational efficiencies, have now improved from 78% odd to almost 86%, and some plants over 93% over the last five years of hard work. As per global benchmarks, this sits in what they would call a very efficient operations category. The manufacturing setup and facilities are also on a very strong wicket. The third insight I might share is that with over 25% of our revenues now emerging thanks to the move from commodity to specialty, the specialty shift has given us price premiums from 15% to almost 40% over the old commodity pricing.
Net net, you know, the above all of this confirms and validates for us that the three major strategies that we have been working on over the last, I would say, five years, namely, number one, that we grow in the area of our expertise, where we have the expertise over the last 40 years. The second strategy that we need to look at is backward integration as a risk mitigator. Third, most important, that we get close to the end consumer based on not just products, but tech-superior services. All these three strategies get validated that, you know, we are in the right direction and that it will deliver good shareholder value quarter on quarter or year on year.
With these, I would say, broad insights, let me hand you over to our CFO, Subhash Anand, who will take you through the details of the workings of the quarter and as we see things pan out. Subhash?
Thank you, Mr. Mehta. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, all of you, joining us today to discuss the financials and operational performance of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited for quarter one, FY 2026. We are pleased to report a strong start to the fiscal year, marked by disciplined execution, improving operational efficiency, and a healthy financial performance. Our strategic priorities are translating into tangible progress, and we continue to strengthen our foundations for long-term sustainable growth. Let me now take you through the key financial highlights for the quarter. Operational revenue stood at INR 2,659 crore, a robust 17% increase YOY, driven by broad-based growth across segments. Notably, our differentiated specialty product portfolio in the crop nutrition business contributed 45% of revenue, and the B2C segment in TAN accounted for 16%, underscoring the success of our market-focused approach.
On EBITDA, operating EBITDA reached INR 513 crore, up 10% YOY, and 7% sequentially. Among our strongest Q1 results, EBITDA margin improved to 19.3%, a 130 basis point increase YOY, reflecting improved product mix and disciplined cost management. On profitability, the net profit grew 22% YOY to INR 244 crore, with a PAT margin of 9.1%. While the PAT declined sequentially 12%, that was due to INR 37 crore DapperTech reversal booked in quarter four of FY 2025. If we adjust to that, the PAT is largely flat, and that reinforced our underlying earnings strength. Coming on segmental performance, the fertilizer segment delivers stellar YOY growth of 125%, driven by higher value-added products and favorable market dynamics. On the chemical front side, the profit declined 9% YOY due to pricing softness in isopropyl alcohol and ammonia.
The rest of the verticals have shown an improvement or are almost at a similar level of profitability. On the balance sheet and CapEx, we invested INR 377 crore in CapEx during this quarter, yet successfully reduced the net debt from INR 3,305 crore to INR 3,078 crore. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio improved to 1.5x from 1.72x in March 2025. The net debt to equity remained comfortable at 0.43x. Let me share one of the legal updates which happened just a couple of days back. In our Mahazan AgriTech Limited, we received a favorable ITAT order ruling for assessment years 2016, 2017 to 2021. The ITAT deleted all additions made by the income tax department, eliminating tax demand totaling INR 581 crore. Corresponding penalty orders of INR 479 crore are expected to be withdrawn, providing significant regulatory clarity.
On the segmental highlights in our CNG crop nutrition business, the segment posted another strong quarter. Manufactured bulk fertilizer sales reached 1.8 lakh metric ton, up 3% YOY. For Uptech, our specialty bulk products are 73% YOY growth, demonstrating growing farmer adoption. Specialty fertilizers like Bencyl's water-soluble grade recorded 21% YOY and 99% quarter-on-quarter growth, respectively, supported by sharp market penetration. Talking about outlook for our CNG business, with a favorable monsoon, increasing adoption of high-value solutions like CropTech and Solutech, and a sharper marketing, we anticipate strong momentum for the FY 2025 region. On our mining chemical business, the sales volume rose 7% YOY to 146.80, supported by full capacity utilization. Elgin volume declined 15% YOY due to early monsoon impacting mining activities. Reducing volume grew 15% QOQ, falling marginally 2% YOY on account of lower Elgin uptake as we just talked about early monsoon impacting activity.
In terms of outlook, we expect Q2 to be seasonally muted due to monsoon. However, the enhancement of our export quota to 50,000 metric ton per year is a strategic positive, positioning us for growth in H2. Our focus remains on differentiated high-value offering to mining and infra customers. Coming to the industrial chemical segment, the nitric acid volume reached 74.80, growing 15% YOY and 3% QOQ. IPA volume surged 27% YOY and 51% QOQ, benefiting from plant upgrade completed in quarter four. The continued softness in IPA pricing is a key factor weighing on the margins of our industrial chemical segment this quarter. On outlook, while we foresee some pricing pressure in IPA and nitric acid due to seasonal and inventory-led dynamics, our growing specialty portfolio and targeted customer segmentation efforts position us to weather these short-term challenges effectively.
On our projects of Dahej and Gopalpur, we continue to advance our strategic CapEx project. The combined investment of INR 4,661 crore across the Dahej and Gopalpur project. Gopalpur TAN projected at 80% complete stage, and the Dahej nitric acid projected at 57% complete. We are firmly on track to commence commercial operations by end of FY 2026 and with tight control on timeliness and execution. In summary, Q1 FY 2026 demonstrates our continued resilience and agility in a dynamic market environment. Our integrated strategy, anchored in innovations, operational excellence, and customer centricity, is delivering consistent performance across all business lines. Each of our segments aligns strongly with India's core economic growth pillars: agriculture, mining infrastructure, and pharmaceuticals, providing us a robust platform to create enduring value for all our stakeholders. We deeply appreciate your continued trust and support in our journey. I now welcome any questions you may have.
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 their 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. The first question is from the line of Yash Gupta from Asit Koticha Family Office. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everyone. My first question is on the TAN value addition business. How meaningful is the TAN value addition business for us? Where do we see ourselves in the next two to three years with this value addition services?
Currently, as we just informed, 16% of our total revenue comes from the B2C segment. In terms of how things are going to span out, Tarun, you would like to?
Sure. Just to check, Tarun, am I audible?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir, you are here.
Thank you. Thank you for your question. In terms of value-adding business for the Technical Ammonium Nitrate portfolio, as we have been talking about in the previous industry calls as well, we pursue a model which is called the total cost of operations model, which is really the value for the end consumers, and these end consumers being the mine owners, the mine operators, mining contractors, and in the infrastructure sector, different kinds of projects where rock excavation takes place. This model was started about a year and a half ago, roughly, from now. In simple terms, it's about how can we help these end consumers optimizing and potentially reducing the cost of rock extraction or cost of mineral extraction if it is a mine. That's the value-added model, at a high level, that we are pursuing. It has got a combination of specialty products.
It's got different kinds of technological interventions. It's got people capabilities, so on and so forth, which we have been building over a period of time. This journey, and the important part that I would like to underscore here in this value-added part of our business, is the proof of concept. This total cost of operations that we have embarked upon has been proven in the industry in different kinds of mining conditions, in different kinds of minerals deposits as well. That's some good news. We are working on a plan to scale it up going forward, which will require further capabilities to be built, further investments to be made, so on and so forth. That's where I will leave it at this point in time. Certainly, it's moving in the right direction.
Our initial phase was more to build or, I said, prove ourselves on a proof of concept, which we did successfully. Now it's time for us to look how do we accelerate and take into the next level. That's where we are in our journey.
If you can throw some light on EBITDA margin, like suppose in the normal business of the TAN, our EBITDA margin is this much. If we are going with the value addition services, our EBITDA margin for that particular service is this much. It will be better to help us to understand.
No, in fact, as Mr. Mehta spoke in his address, any specialty product or B2C segment helps us to have a price premium. This business also, we do have a differential margin portfolio to our normal TAN business to a specialty or a B2C business. That differentiation, we expect to continue. That's where we are adding value, and we expect that to go further up, not come down, because we wanted a proof of concept. The more we go in commercial, it will improve further.
Okay, sir. The second question is on the Gopalpur project. We expect it to achieve 75% of our capacity by FY 2027. How are we going to achieve this new capacity? Have we done any trial preserves now?
No, it doesn't mean the tires are actually started. This business is, so far, today in India, as it is, is a short, there is more demand than supply. The additional capacity, what we expect, will help us actually to be more self-sustained in India. Yes, there are many activities currently which we are undergoing, which we are picking up to ensure we have the right marketplace to wholesale or to go down in this and replace this material. Tarun, you would like to add to all of this?
Yeah, sure. Just adding up to what Mr. Subhash Anand mentioned, right now, as many of you would be aware who are tracking the market closely, roughly, we see annual imports of ammonium nitrate to the tune of 400,000 metric tons. Obviously, that's the first thing to replace when these capacities are coming up. That's the first point, how these additional domestic capacities will be used up. At the same time, the domestic market is projected to grow at a CAGR of anywhere around 6% - 7%, which in simple terms would mean every three years, close to 250,000 metric tons- 300,000 metric tons of additional demand getting created. If you combine these two, the import substitution to the extent I talked about in the quantities that I talked about, and the extra demand creation which is taking place in India, there is no need to be at the location sun.
The other advantage we have with at least Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited's Gopalpur plant is it's on the East Coast. It is the only ammonium nitrate plant in the country on the East Coast at that scale. There's another satellite plant of our own only in Srikakulam on the East Coast. Therefore, we will have, due to the location advantage, as Mr. S. C. Mehta also pointed out, of having ammonium nitrate plants on the West Coast as well as on the East Coast of India, it will give us a very unique position in terms of optimizing the logistics cost, cost of delivery to our customers. That will further help in capacity utilization. If we combine all of this, we are easily replaced from a longer perspective.
Sir, if we talk about like 400,000 metric ton we import as overall in India, are we price competitive in terms of what's the imported landed cost and what we are planning to sell?
As we thought earlier in the very first question, although it was from a different caller, I think, it was about value. At least Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited does not have a business model which competes on price. We have a business model which competes on value, and that's what we will continue to do.
Okay. Sure. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, we would like to remind participants you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Adarsh Jaine, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you very much. My question is related to the export quota of TAN, which was recently increased to 50,000 metric tons. What was the earlier quota and how much, I mean, were we able to utilize the earlier quota in full?
Yeah, thank you. I can take that question. Do you have permission?
Yes, yes, please.
The previous quota was 20,000 tons, which was valid till December 2024. That was fully exhausted. That was the first part of your question. The new export quota, which we have got from the Government of India, is 50,000 tons. It is per financial year at this stage. Once we start delivering those numbers, we are reasonably confident that eventually the Government of India will remove this quota system completely as far as the export of ammonium nitrate is concerned.
Okay. This 50,000 metric ton quota is allocated to Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited or the agreed manufacturers of India?
Technically, it is to Deepak because Deepak is the only exporter of ammonium nitrate as we speak.
Okay. Okay. One more question related to the Australian subsidiary. I think before some time, we had bought some additional estate in the Australian subsidiary from the local institutions in Australia. What are we doing there? How much revenue are we generating from there and what is the plan of scaling up the Australian business?
Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for that question as well. You're right. A few months back, we were a 65% shareholder in our Australian subsidiary company, and the name is Platinum Blasting Services. A few months back, we acquired 20% additional shares of that company, which has brought us to 85% as we speak. Certainly, it's a move by Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited in the right direction when we earlier talked about the value-driven, total cost of operations-driven business model that we are rolling out again. This enhancement of shareholding in the Australian subsidiary is also a move in the same direction as far as the Australian market goes for us, where we will be playing a much more pronounced, I would say, role in Platinum and accelerating the growth of that subsidiary company in the Australian market.
Secondly, by virtue of increasing our stakes in the Australian entity, it allows us to have exchange of knowledge, a transfer of knowledge, intelligence, technology, because Australia is a much more advanced country compared to India when it comes to mining. There's a lot of other benefits to be gained through our Australian subsidiary by way of this shareholding enhancement by us. That is for the Indian market. Yeah.
In terms of overall numbers, yes, there is a qualitative benefit, what Tarun spoke about, meaning we get a lot of knowledge coming from our Australian entity. Currently, the RBCO model, what we are looking in India, yes, we get a lot of knowledge benefit coming from that entity. Financially, this entity is profitable to contribute in a decent amount to our bottom line. Everything is strategically the right fit for us. That's what prompted us to holding in that entity.
Okay. Are we exporting TAN from here to Australia?
Yes, there is a plan to do that once we have our Gopalpur plant on the East Coast up and running. If you visualize the world political map, it will be closer, you know, from India East Coast to Australia compared to currently the only plant there to Australia either is a long shot. The answer is yes.
Currently, we don't have any surplus capacity in TAN. Even if we want, we can't because of demand-supply shortage. Yes, there is a plan.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of S. Ramesh from Nirmal Bang Equities. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and good afternoon. If you're talking about your Australian subsidiary, can you share what is the investment in the cost of which you have acquired this additional 20%? What is the size of the company in terms of revenue and profits?
The last year, if we talk about the total revenue of the company, it's around INR 600 crore, approximately.
How much was the profit last year, EBITDA or EBITDA?
We don't have a share. Profitability is specific, so you need to wait for that number. In terms of acquisition, the total entity value at which we acquired was approximately INR 80 crore, somewhere in that range. That's the 15%. We'll check back and get back to you with that. That's sort of the magnitude.
20% at INR 80 crore, right?
Around that. Yeah, don't hold me to that number because I have to check that.
Is there any debt in that entity?
Small debt is there in that entity, not very high.
What is the value of the 65% investment in balancing?
No, I will not have that value of that number, but if you see the total valuation on 15% equity, if I go with the number, it's roughly around INR 500 crore, INR 500 crore, INR 500 crore, INR 550 crore. That's what would be the total equity value which has come.
You said 15% equity. No, you said 65% shareholding share.
That's the value of the company as being 15%. The acquired value is around INR 75 crore, INR 76 crore. That's what we have paid for 15% share. You can do a reverse computation and see the total equity or enterprise values of that company.
Okay. You're saying from 65% it's gone up to 80%. Earlier, I thought the 65 %+ was 80%.
Now it is 80%.
85%.
Sorry, 85%. We 65 %+, 20%, so 85%. Yes.
20%. The value of that 20%, you've got the number, the 77.
That's what I'm saying. Yeah, INR 7 crore. INR 7 crore. I was saying INR 80 crore, ballpark, but that's the number. Equity value of around INR 400 crore. That's what we have paid for that entity to acquire this stake.
This is the equity value. Okay, INR 80 crore for 20%. Fine, understood. If you see the B2C mining revenue, it is flat. Is it because of monsoon, and do you expect that to improve in the next nine months?
Don't expect this number quarter on quarter to improve because this is a proof of concept, and we are moving in that direction. The ramp-up will take some time. It's not a number which every quarter needs to be tracked, but directionally it gives where the company is focusing and how it's moving. You'll continue to be, slightly mid to long term, you'll continuously keep seeing things moving in this direction.
Okay. I have two more thoughts. One is, given that you have a larger share of the higher margin business where you're seeing margins under pressure now, you're going in the first quarter. How do you see the margins in the chemical segment moving the next one, two years? Secondly, on the TAN business, can you share what is the current absolute demand in India and the current capacity? How do you see the capacity addition in the next two to three years? Coal India is talking about a backward integrated capacity addition by 2029. That does raise some concern about the Coal India demand for the entire industry. If you can give your thoughts on the capacity addition and, particularly that of Coal India, and secondly, how do you see the margin profile in the next one, two years?
Okay. In terms of industry capacity is coming, let Tarun give more insight. How about the Coal India plant?
Yeah, Coal India.
Okay.
See, I don't want to go out of turn in trying to answer what Coal India might be doing. That's the first thing I want to put on the call. They are our customers at the end of the day. Secondly, I'm sure the way, you know, things are panning out, there are think tanks in the government who are also looking at this thing, whether Coal India should have its own ammonium nitrate plant or not. The critical thing is it's not important whether it's ammonium nitrate plant or something else. Where this all started from is, see, India has got abundant coal reserves, as we all know. That means there's a lot of carbon we are sitting on. On the other hand, as a country, we import a huge amount of carbon in the form of coal, natural gas, crude oil, so on and so forth.
This is what prompted, you know, the policymakers in our government, as you know, some years back, how is it possible that we are, on one hand, we are importing so much of carbon? On the other hand, we are sitting on the world's third largest, you know, carbon reserves. This is a complete contradiction in terms of how it should be. That stemmed this whole thought process that, okay, how can we put India's carbon, which is the coal reserve, to different uses? That's where Niti Aayog started to do some work seven years back. They came up with various initiatives. One of the themes they came out with is what is called in India today as coal to chemicals, which means starting with coal that we have in India, how can we produce different kinds of chemicals?
That theme then got further evaluated, and there's a long list of chemicals which can be produced through coal gasification process. Now, coal gasification technology for Indian coal itself is not proven commercially at this stage. It's work in progress. That's how it all started. That's where it is. Today, you know, somebody might be thinking, "I will start from coal and produce ammonium nitrate." That's not the only thing. If at some stage, people may realize that India has a deficit of many other chemicals which can be produced through coal gasification process, which India is currently importing all those chemicals. Why do we do that? Now all this is work in motion.
You know, I'm not, of course, in any of those government committees, but I can definitely say this with some comfort and confidence that these things will be looked at by the government over a period of time as to how best to put this Indian coal to which kind of use. No point creating assets and products which we already have enough of. Rather focus on producing things which we have deficit of. That's where government will intervene at some stage, is my view.
In terms of.
Just to get things in perspective, are we to assume that the definite capacity additions will be Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals, then GNFC, and Chambal? You are not in the camp that believes that the Coal India project will make progress, although it's been announced in Parliament and they have set up a JV and they're talking about, you know, executing by 2029.
Our expectations.
That's the opinion.
That is about 60% of current consumption. For an investor, is there any discussion between government to say that you know this is possibly not in the best interest of the industry and you expect a serious reconsideration, or are we to assume that you will be able to, you know, grow despite that capacity coming up? How should we look at that?
As I mentioned earlier, we are not, first of all, we are not sitting in any of those government committees or think tanks who are making these policies. Hence, we are not in dialogue with government or anyone else on this matter. We are purely going by rationale, how the industry will look at things, what to produce. A thing which is already insufficient in the country, to produce more of it, even if it is not required, or to produce other things which are possible to produce from coal gasification, which the country has a deficit of. Somebody has to answer that question at some point in time. Deepak is not the one who will answer that question.
Okay. If you take the private industry capacity addition, what would that number be in the next two years? Do you think the 6%-7% CAGR is enough to help everybody operate at, say, 85%-90%? What is the kind of data you can share on that?
Yes, the answer is yes. Because as we talked earlier, there will also be some exports, which will be taking place from India. The sort of capacity utilization numbers that you talked about, as a combination of everything, the answer is yes.
A couple of things I just added to what Tarun just spoke about. New capacity, which is coming up towards the end of this year, I call it, will not become operational from day one. Neither we nor anybody else will have 100% capacity utilization immediately. The capacity utilization will get built up for everybody. The CAGR of 6%-7% additional demand also will be coming. As Tarun spoke about, the three-year put together adds to around another 300,000 ton additional demand in this. If we see a shortfall of current shortfall of capacity and an additional demand which will come in the three years, we'll again be reaching to a net net short capacity for India is concerned. It's not a question of oversupplying if somebody is looking midterm. It's a question of demand supply getting balanced and we continue to build up in space.
Other things which are important for us, which your next question was, margin protection. We are continuously working on margin expansion, various initiatives on margin expansion. TCO is our downstream journey, is one of that, which Tarun spoke about because that's what will help us margin expansion. Export is another thing, doing more and more export, seeing how can we protect our margin. Other things, Gopalpur, with Gopalpur coming in place, will be among the largest producers of TAN, not just in India, but one of among the world, I call it. The size and scale and efficiency what we'll have will definitely give us a competitive advantage. That's what we, some of the few things which we know will help us to sustain, maintain, or expand the margin in the near future or in the coming time.
Thank you very much. I'll join the queue and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please limit to two questions per participant and come back in the queue for a follow-up. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Niraj Mansingka from White Pine Investment Management, PVP Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you. A few questions. One, what are the CapEx completed in INR for both the projects? Second, what is your view on the outlook of ammonia demand supply on the global situation? I understand there's an Indian market, but as well as global, how you see the panning out of that? Thirdly, on the fertilizer, some specialty fertilizer has been, you know, there's an export cap from China. Any impact on Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals because of that?
Yeah, sorry, can you repeat the question?
CapEx of each, how much amount has been spent till date of the product? Ammonia outlook that you see globally and fertilizer, specialty fertilizer curbs of China, how can it positively or negatively impact Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited?
Okay. If you see ammonia supply at this point of time, there's no shortage of ammonia at this point of time. I'll call it that way when it comes to overall demand supply of ammonia is concerned. Ammonia prices have soft. We continue to maintain that at this point of time. If somebody is looking at ammonia prices, the ammonia prices are running at almost at a low of many, many years average. In fact, this is one of the lowest ammonia prices currently what we have seen or what we have seen in the last quarter. Two things, what we expect globally, ammonia demand will catch up because a couple of things which normally happen with ammonia in H2. Some of the plants, Europe, both were shut down, and that's already started.
On top of that, the gas prices demand supply also changes globally in quarter two or in H2. That brings the ammonia prices up in H2, and that will happen, or that's what is expected to happen, I call it, in terms of ammonia pricing is concerned. Demand supply, currently, I don't see there's as much challenge in demand supply of ammonia. Ammonia is available. It's more of a pricing which is more important, and that's what we need to keep a watch on. So far, we are concerned for our PCR or ammonia profitability is concerned. In terms of total CapEx done so far, yes.
Is this CapEx for Gopalpur?
Yes.
Okay.
We have done roughly around INR 1.7 billion CapEx so far.
Can you give me the individual number, if possible?
Not this time. I don't have it right now in front of me. We can give you offline. You can reach out to one of us.
Okay, what is the view on the China specialty chemical export curves?
China's basically fertilizer export curve. That's what we know as a specialty, I call it. Now, there are two things which have happened with that curve coming in. A lot of specialty fertilizers which come into India come from China. With that happening, the demand or the supply has moved out from China to other countries like European countries, including Israel and other countries. That has finally, it has increased the cost for everybody because most of the supply of specialty is from outside India, not in India. That cost has been passed on. Next month, we don't there's no impact to profitability is concerned. The cost of buying what it used to be earlier when it was coming from China has gone up. The moment supply has moved out from China to other countries.
How much percentage are we buying from China for your SmartTech?
Not SmartTech or SmartTech. It's more of a specialty chemical. Most of the specialty chemical has some share of the traded volume which comes from China.
Okay. The impact is the traded volume is just a higher number because of higher realization because of pass-on, but is that the right thing to look at?
Yes. In fact, traded volume, not the bulk I talk about, the specialty, if we talk about it, overall specialty volume, we do have some traded element part of that. That has gone up. That has moved out from China to European countries.
Okay. Is there any inventory gain sitting in for this on this specialty?
Not.
Is it not meaningful?
Yeah, not meaningful.
Okay, great. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Subham Dashmanna from Ashit Kotecha Family Office. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for taking my question. Hello?
Yes, we can hear you.
Okay. When we say that the new plant is going to start in Q4 FY 2026, are we expecting some kind of loss in a quarter or two due to low volumes?
No, no, we don't expect loss in that quarter. It's only expected towards the end of FY 2026. No, nothing specific, impact is visible for that quarter. Only thing, yes, it will have a low capacity utilization in the initial time, but that will be for the first quarter as expected.
Okay. Sir, what would be the break-even point for both the plants? My second question is, sir, there used to be explosive, let's say, TAN export from Russia. Are we seeing any of that in this scenario?
Break-even is not a question in terms of which project is concerned because the kind of a margin this project has, break-even will not, I will not think that that's a concern for us at this point of time. For TAN from Russia is concerned. Don't you like to talk?
What was the concern from Russia?
Yeah, just Russia. Can you elaborate your question regarding Russia? Hopefully, we'll.
I think so. Before the conflict, Russia-Ukraine conflict, I think there was a supply of TAN from Russia to India.
Yes. Okay. Now let me start and then turn back to that. Basically, there was a time when the Ukraine war started, and since Russia comes under a lot of restrictions, there was a lot of import. India being the market, a lot of import happened from Russia during that time. That had an impact, but that was more FY 2024. That's the phenomena which was seen. If we go back and see the last one, one and a half years or last five quarters, primarily, barring I'd say a recent phenomena of the capacity, if we see the import in India of TAN is now broadly spread. It's not just only focused on Russia if we see. It has a mixed spike from other countries also. Off late, again, yes, Russia's spike has gone up, but that's seasonal. The spike keeps switching from one to another.
If we are looking slightly longer, now the spike is broadly distributed among four or five countries. That's the way it used to be.
Okay, thank you for taking my question.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Harsh Shah from Seven Rivers Holding. Please go ahead.
Harsh Shah, why is this cracking? I'm not able to hear?
How is it?
Looks slightly better. Go ahead, please.
Hello?
Yes, yes, Harsh.
The question is, why is the crop nutrition business segment decreasing well into the industry?
No, again, your voice is bad. I'm not able to hear.
Let me try again.
The next question is from the line of Maitri Shah from Sapphire Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good afternoon. Am I audible?
Yes, we can hear you.
Yeah, this quarter, we had a really good margin improvement QOQ. We are at 19.32%. Do we expect our EBITDA growing from the current quarter, or will it stay in this range for the rest of the year?
What's the question in respect to?
Hello?
Your question is not clear. Can you repeat the question?
Yeah, I was asking when the EBITDA margin was 19.3%, are we going to grow quarter on quarter on these, or are we going to remain stable in this range for the rest of the year?
No. In fact, if you see our last few quarters, now we are in a range. We are somewhere between 18% - 20% range. Because our business is a mix of three businesses, and these businesses have their own profitability and the seasonality, it moves within the quarters depending on which business is contributing more. We are confident we'll be able to hold on to our range while we are maintaining.
Can we expect the EBITDA margin to now still be close to about 18.7%? Maybe a growth on that, is that possible?
Keep fingers crossed. We all want to do it better. Let's see how things go. Our range, that's what I said. We are keeping a range and we will continue to be in that range. That's what our idea is.
Okay. On the top line, two of our plant additions are coming at the end of the year. For this year, what sort of growth are we expecting in our revenues and with the duration of two years' time?
This year will not be a major impact because we don't hope to do it end of this year. You'll see an impact coming in FY 2027 for us, not this year.
What sort of capacity utilization are we targeting from the two new plants, and how will the growth pan out in 2027?
We do see somewhere between around 70% capacity utilization in first year. That's what our number or our estimate at this point of time. We have already talked about or given a number of what capacity addition which we have. It's a simple math after that for anybody on how things will pan out once we move 20% utilization next year.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Deepak Pawar from Vasuki India Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
I would like to congratulate the team first for the excellent setup. My question is on our Gopalpur plant. Can you give me a ballpark figure that the revenues would be achieved by next year on 70% or 80% utilization, as you said?
I just spoke about the capacity addition is around 380,000.
30,000.
30,000. It's 380,000. You take 70% capacity utilization, and you have certain pricing already with you. We publish every quarter. A simple math can help everybody.
Yeah, I understand. Secondly, sir, this year, during this quarter, the nitrate asset prices were in pressure. Despite that, we were able to achieve good numbers over there. Do you see any growth in nitrate asset prices in the next two quarters or will it remain stable? What's your view on that?
Nitrate asset is not under pressure. Nitrate asset pricing, it was an IPA pricing which is more in pressure to actually keep it up. We have spoke about even in our earlier communication also last quarter. IPA is going through a difficult cycle. H2 was very good for IPA, and after H2, every quarter on quarter, we are seeing IPA pricing getting further stuck. This demand supply gap of IPA route, quantity is not an issue. Demand is there, but it's the pricing which is more challenging. We expect that to continue for some more time.
That's all from my side. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Chirag from KEYNOTE Capitals. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you for the opportunity. My first question is, is there any progress on the isopropyl alcohol that we were creating for semiconductor?
Not right now. We are still in our, I'll say, drawing board and trying to evaluate various options, what is the right way for us to move. You need to wait for some more time till we make it some concrete plan and come back and share it with me.
Sure, sir. The second thing I wanted to know, we have planned to procure almost 25 DB2 annually. Will that suffice the requirement of the ammonia plant that we have on the West Coast, 629,000 capacity?
Okay. You're talking about ammonia supply, right?
Yes.
Natural gas?
Yeah, yeah.
The natural gas contract we have is enough or more than enough for what we need for our ammonia plant. We don't have any shortfall or any further requirement of natural gas to be tied up. Our current contract is taken care of the battery.
Just for better clarity, could you give me a ballpark number like how much tons or Nm3 of natural gas is required for 100,000 tons capacity of ammonia?
Just give me a minute. I'll give you broadly. Broadly, we need around 200 to 200,000 or no, 20, 20 DBU. That's our requirement, what we have for our Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited plant.
The requirement is 20 DBU.
Yeah, that's around the approximate requirement what we have for that. That's the reason we're saying the contract what we have is good enough for us to meet our requirement.
The next question is related to the pricing of ammonia which is going on today. At what price of ammonia do we do a break-even on EBITDA levels and PBT levels?
We have shared it in the past, around INR 300, INR 325 for Middle East. For FOB, we are at EBITDA break-even. At around INR 425, we are a DBG break-even.
Fair enough. Last question from my side, I just wanted to check, do we have any supply contracts on the east side of India where the Gopalpur plant is expected to come? Do we require any ammonia on that side?
No, the supply ammonia will be imported ammonia from Gopalpur, and we are already in the process of tying it up because ammonia, as I spoke earlier, ammonia quantity is not a challenge. That will happen.
Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir.
Okay, thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand over the conference to management for closing comments.
Thanks, everyone. Thank you once again for joining us for Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited Q1 FY 2026 earnings call. We look forward to engaging with you further in the coming quarters ahead. Thanks, everyone.
Thank you. On behalf of IIFL Capital Services Limited, this concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.