Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q2 and H1 FY 2023 Earnings Conference Call of Oriental Carbon & Chemicals Limited. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Akshat Goenka, Joint Managing Director of OCCL Limited. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to everyone. Along with me, I have Mr. Anurag Jain, CFO, and SGA, our investor relations advisors. We have uploaded our results and investor presentation for the quarter and half year ended 30th September 2022 on the stock exchanges and company website. Hope each one of you have had a chance to go through the same. The global economy has witnessed numerous headwinds in the last two to three years. Despite the challenging environment, the company delivered a top line growth of 22% year-on-year in quarter two FY 2023 and 39% for the H1 FY 2023. Our margins were impacted due to higher input and freight costs. However, on a half yearly comparison, EBITDA profitability is almost the same.
We expect these costs to rationalize and hopefully the company is likely to achieve an EBITDA in the range of INR 100 crore for this year if the demand is maintained during the coming two quarters. Even quarter one and quarter two, one of the main differences in profitability has been due to this inventory adjustments. If you normalize those, it's the performance between quarter one and quarter two is quite similar. The domestic tire industry is experiencing pent-up demand from OEM and replacement segments, currently supported by the gradual recovery in economic activity, thrust on infrastructure spending, favorable trade rates and stable financing environment.
Demand from commercial vehicle segment, which was low during the quarter, is expected to return on the back of increased investments in road infrastructure by the government, along with the freight movement, which we've anticipated to increase, strengthening the uptake of commercial vehicles. OCCL has strengthened production process to increase efficiencies and moderate energy costs. The company has also institutionalized an exercise to moderate fixed costs and also strengthen its R&D facility with investment in equipment and technical talent. We are focused on consuming less and manufacturing more while minimizing our environmental impact. OCCL has progressively produced insoluble sulfur from greener alternatives. It continues to invest in low carbon technologies that translated into enhanced resource and energy efficiency. We invested in renewable energy, also reducing our carbon footprint further. I'm also very pleased to share that during this quarter we have achieved Great Place to Work status.
We also got a very prestigious award from the Indian Chemical Council, which recognized us for the company in the sub-1,000 crore category as having the best HR practices across all chemical companies. This is. We are very happy to receive this honor from them. Now I would like to hand over the line to Mr. Anurag Jain to update you on the financial performance of the company.
Thank you, Akshat. Now I will take you all through the standalone financials of the company. The board declared an interim dividend of INR 7 per equity share of face value of INR 10 each for the six months ended 30th September 2022.
Total income for Q2 FY 2023 stood at INR 122.7 crore as compared to INR 100.9 crore in Q2 FY 2022, a growth of 22% year-on-year, and stood at INR 259.9 crore in H1 FY 2023, a year-on-year growth of 39%. Growth was on account of better realization and higher volume. EBITDA for Q2 FY 2023 stood at INR 20 crore as compared to INR 24.9 crore in Q2 FY 2022, and EBITDA for H1 FY 2023 stood at INR 47.7 crore as compared to INR 47.2 crore in H1 FY 2022. Margins were impacted due to higher freight costs and input costs.
Profit after tax for Q2 FY 2023 stood at INR 7.8 crore as compared to INR 12.6 crore in Q2 FY 2022, and stood at INR 21.7 crore in H1 FY 2023 as compared to INR 25.1 crore in H1 FY 2022, mainly due to higher interest and depreciation due to commissioning of IS and SG plants at Porvorim. With this, I would like to open the floor for questions and answers.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may please press star and one on their touchtone phone. 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 have the first question from the line of Chirag Setalvad from HDFC Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello, good morning. Two questions from my side. The first was you mentioned that adjusted for inventory the second quarter looked similar to the first quarter. If you could quantify and elaborate that point. The second is when you look at margins going into FY 2023, where do you see profitability normalizing from an EBITDA margin perspective, if you can, speak about that as well. Thank you.
In the first quarter, that is the quarter ending June 30, we see that there is an entry where the inventory for about INR 12.85 crore. In this quarter we are getting a charge of INR 7.84 crore, which is mainly due to adjustment in inventories due to lesser production as well as due to decrease in raw material. We are seeing a decrease in the valuation of inventories. These are the two things.
Sales. The sales are also slightly less in quarter two as compared to quarter one.
Yeah. These are the two things which have impacted the inventories. If you look at contributions,
Sir, sorry to interrupt. Your voice is breaking.
If you consider the contribution for metric ton is better in Q2 versus Q1.
Just to repeat, if I could understand that correctly, there is an INR 12 crore gain in the first quarter. How much was the negative impact in the second quarter?
The second quarter, there is a positive of INR 7.34 crore. There is a charge of INR 7.34 crore, which is mainly due to adjustment in the valuation of inventory due to lower raw material cost and also due to reduction in inventories because of rationalization of production.
Sure.
Yeah. Now your second question regarding the half year margins. One more point on this. The sale in quarter two was also slightly lower than the sale in quarter one. That also played a part in the profitability. Major chunk came from the inventories as well.
Sure. No, my second question was in terms of how do you see normalized profitability for next year?
Coming to that, when you're talking about the half year, you will see that the margins on a retail level are coming down. If you look at it on a per ton basis, it's not coming down. What has happened is because of increased raw material costs, we have had to increase sales price. Even if the margins per metric ton are the same, as a percentage of the sales price, the margins come down.
Sure.
That is the major factor which is coming.
Okay. Lastly, if you could comment on volumes and utilization.
We expect the utilization to be better in Q4. We are looking at improved utilization from Q4 onwards.
What was it in the first and second quarter?
In the second quarter it was about between 70%-75%.
Lastly, if you could highlight the expansion plans.
Chirag, regarding the expansion plans, from our side everything is ready. We will trigger it as soon as we see better visibility on the capacity utilization. When I say visibility, I mean confirmed orders. When we think that our capacity utilization confirmed is heading up to 85%-90% onwards, which could well happen in the coming months, we can immediately trigger. There is not much of pre-work or preparation. All that is done.
Sure. Just a follow-up to the earlier question on margins. You highlighted that margins on a per ton basis have stabilized but on a percentage basis have come down. When you look at it on a percentage basis level, because we don't get volumes on a quarter to quarter basis, is this likely to be the new normal, which is this 16%-17% or as freight normalizes and raw material normalizes this can move up?
This will depend a lot on the raw material and freight costs in here. For example, if the raw materials cost were to come down and if only your sale price was to be adjusted, then the margins will go up. If the raw material costs remain the same and our sale prices remain the same, then this is the kind of margins we are looking at. In the event that there is no improvement.
Sure. Great. Thank you very much.
Again, the margins are on a quarter basis, right? So if the overall cost of production goes up, then the overall margins which we make on a retail level will come down. Even when we are getting better margins which we did this quarter with the quarter of better margins. Even if you get better margins, then it will still remain the same.
Sure, understood. Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Aditya Khetan from SMIFS Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, first on the freight cost. You have mentioned that the freight cost has been, so there is an impact which you have taken on the freight cost. Sir, when we look at the freight index, that is actually coming down and many companies in this quarter they have reported benefits because of the lower freight cost. Even the other expenses also in this quarter, they have been actually down by roughly 18% on a decline of 7% in revenue. That seems to be like rationalized. Is there some net coming here which can impact margins in the coming months?
Not been able to understand your second question, Mr.
Khetan. Sir, on the freight cost I was trying to understand. Freight cost actually has been coming down.
No. You're asking some second question which I have not understood. Second, I was asking that, even the other expenses, that is also down by roughly 15% on a decline of 7% in sales. Definitely there is a benefit of lower freight cost, it seems like in the numbers. You are saying that, so there is an impact into the freight cost. Just wanted to know that. What is happening here is the freight costs for us are also coming down. When I'm talking about the impact, I'm talking about on a half yearly basis or from last year to this year basis. If you talk about freight costs vis-à-vis Q1 to Q2, they have come down.
Obviously the full impact is not there, so there will be an additional impact of freight in the coming quarter. That impact is going to be there. They have started coming down. You are absolutely right. When you talk about other expenses being down as a percentage, what are your comparatives? Can you tell me you're talking about Q1 to Q2 or. That's Q1 to Q2. Q1 to Q2. Again, you know, other expenses include fixed expenses. As I explained earlier, my sales price have gone up to adjust for higher raw material costs. Therefore, even though they have gone up in absolute terms, it looks little.
Okay. Okay. Sir, second question. There is an 8% decline in top line on quarter-on-quarter basis. This is largely because of realization or even volumes were impacted?
No. This is mainly because of volumes. Realization has been flattish on quarter-on-quarter basis? On quarter-on-quarter basis, there has been a marginal increase in realization. There has been a marginal increase in realization.
Yes. Okay. Sir, considering now the exports have started to see an impact considering the inflationary trend and demand is trickling down. Considering now that, there should be an impact on the realization. You have... What is leading to this?
A lot of your questions can be answered by saying that we have a long sales cycle. From the time an order leaves our premises to the time the sale is booked, because a lot of the places we are selling Delivered Duty Paid, we are not selling CIF. Whereas other companies that you're comparing to will be selling CIF. There is always an extra month or so in the sales being booked in our books, and that is reflected in all these things that you're asking regarding freight and sales price and all of these things.
Okay. Okay.
If we dispatch something in June as per June freight and as per June sales price, it will start hitting our books only in September. Similarly, if we do whatever the Q2 dispatch and agreements are, we'll actually hit our books in Q3.
Okay. Okay. Sir, the pipeline is healthy, so from the tire side, are we facing some sort of demand drop or are we getting reduced inquiries from the customer side?
What I can say is that currently, if you look at the current customers, the demand from the current customers is similar to what it was in Q2. We are looking at the same kind of demand from the current customers.
Okay. Okay. Sir, the expansion of 5,500 tons which we have done recently, what would be the utilization on that capacity?
That will depend. As Mr. Akshat Goenka has pointed out already, once we cross the 85% capacity utilization on the current capacity, then we will trigger the next expense, obviously. But I was asking on to the recently expanded 5,500 tons, which we had expanded. What would be the utilization on that capacity? The overall capacity, as I said earlier, of the company is about utilized about 70%-75% as of today. 70%-75%. Okay.
Yeah, we cannot aggregate that this capacity is live and this is not utilized.
Okay. Sir, if you can highlight on to the raw material prices, so sulfur and coating oil, so how is the trend now as compared to quarter-on-quarter basis?
In the last quarter the sulfur prices have started to come down and they came down quite appreciably. From October onward, again, we are seeing an increase in trend in sulfur and coating oil also is now stabilizing. The coating oil prices are stabilizing, yes.
Okay, sir. Thank you, sir. That's it from me.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question, please press star one now. We have the next question from the line of Umang Shah from IndiaBridge Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the question. Sir, with the increasing power cost in Europe, are we seeing any advantage to us as compared to the manufacturers making in Europe?
See, what has happened is that, you know, the increasing power cost obviously will increase the price of production of insoluble sulfur in Europe. But at the same time, it is also having an impact on the production of tires as well. Right. If you look at it from demand side, obviously there is no upsurge in demand from Europe. Right.
Where is this tire production moving to? Is it still in Europe?
No, it's not moving anywhere. Okay. The overall production itself is less.
Right, sir. Sir, with Eastman, what is the status of the ramp-up of Eastman's chemical plant in Malaysia? I believe that they have a capacity of 40,000 tons there. Are we seeing increased competition from them?
We don't have data on their ramp-up. There is no new competitive intensity that is coming from Flexsys, so that's what we're asking.
Right, sir. Sir, one more final question would be, what would be the difference in price of the highest grade of Crystex and the highest grade of [Asura]? I cannot give all that information out, please.
No problem. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Dhruv Muchhal from HDFC Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Your guidance about INR 100 crore EBITDA, does this also include other income? Secondly, this also is implying about INR 50 odd crore to the hedge. Management commentary seems the utilization can improve going ahead and also the RMs have fallen. Is this more in a conservative sense? Just trying to understand.
Yes, when we are talking about EBITDA, we are talking on an annualized basis. If that is your question.
That includes other income or no?
Yes. Yes.
Including other income. Okay.
Yes.
Okay. The second part that you were mentioning about utilization improving, RM falling. The EBITDA is implying about INR 50 crore remaining for the remaining half. Just trying to understand what could be missing.
If I am understanding your question right, you are saying that if the utilization of tire are going to go up.
Yeah.
Why are the levels are going to remain the same?
Yeah. The utilizations are improving. I believe also the RM has fallen significantly. Sulfur has fallen. Obviously there's some increase, but it is still much below what it was in the, I believe, the last one year. Also the freight seems to have fallen.
No, they are not. They are still above whatever in the last one year. They are better than what they were in Q1, which was the worst quarter as far as the raw material prices was concerned. Obviously even in Q2, because we carry inventories and therefore the impact of the profitability was there in Q2 because the inventories are finished goods as well as the of the raw material. Therefore that is why I'm saying that and we have got an EBITDA of 47 .5 crore, which when we say around INR 100 crore, we are saying maybe it will go up to from 47 .5 to say around 55, 53. So there is a. We are taking an upside a little bit, and that is why we are seeing.
Also it comes back to my original point that if we see increased ramp-up of utilization in Q4, by the time it starts hitting the books at sales, there'll be a gap.
Okay.
You know, that is a factor in mind.
Perfect, sir. The second was on the freight. Just trying to understand quantifying the freight benefit. We have seen the freight increase significantly. Now they've started to decline. In past, when I see the freight cost for you from your a percentage of sales was about 6%-7%. In FY 2022, it had increased to about 11%-12%. This is from your annual report. Now the freight declining by, should we assume that this benefit will start reflecting that 6%-7% or that 5% increase, the impact that you had seen on sales will start to reflect back in your EBITDA margins now?
Right now the freight has still not fallen to the earlier levels. Now even in the first half of the year, the freight is upward of 10% of the cost of the sales price.
I understand that. The freight has only started declining now in the last one month or so.
Yeah. What I'm saying is that, you know, it's declining from a level of 10%+.
Okay.
Yeah. In Q4 it is still not down to those old levels that you are referring to. It is down. Freight rates are down from the peak, but they're still not down to those bottom levels.
Sure. The understanding is fair that the decline in freight benefits you because your competitiveness to Europe improves.
Yes. Yes. You have to keep one more thing in mind that when we ramp up sales, it will be more from exports. Therefore, the per ton rate will, even though the margins will be, the per ton rate will be meant to be a little higher, because as a percentage of total sales, the value of the share of exports will increase.
Sure. Sir, just to follow up on one of your earlier comments, you mentioned that on a per ton basis, your contribution or EBITDA margins are okay. When you say okay, are you referring to on a YoY basis or you're referring to a longer-term trend? Because if I'm not wrong, your commentary from earlier, you know, calls and earlier, even from your annual report suggests that the margins have been a bit weak and on a per ton basis. If I think that was also on a per ton basis.
Yes. They are better. Yeah. Yes. They are better on a year-on-year basis. They are better than last year.
Okay. Versus the historical trend, I mean for the last five years, seven years.
You know, on average, we have not yet come up to those levels. We are still below those levels.
Okay. Any sense, if you can give, you know, what would play out, what will have to play out for this to improve to your historical levels or some trigger that you're looking for?
It will be too speculative to say.
Okay. Generally.
It will be too speculative to say.
Sure. Lastly, on demand, you did mention about it in Europe. You're not seeing a significant negative implication on demand given how the situation there is. I believe Europe is a big market for you.
Yes, there has been some impact in.
Sir, sorry to interrupt. We couldn't hear you. Your voice was breaking. Can you please repeat that?
Can you hear me clearly now?
Yes, sir. Please kindly proceed.
Okay. There has been some impact in Europe and which we can see in our quantities coming down in Q2 versus Q1. That impact is visible and we think that this impact of Europe could continue in Q3 as well.
Okay. Sure, sir. Thank you so much and all the best. Thanks.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Prashant Rishi from Cascade Capital. Please go ahead.
Good morning, sir. You said that volumes have been hit quarter-on-quarter, even though there was a marginal increase in realization. Can you just quantify roughly how much the volume hit would be, either in mid-single digits or percentage-wise? How much is the volume?
You know, we do not give numbers of on sales, you know. So that will be very difficult for me to say.
Okay. All right. What is the reason why volumes are getting hit? I mean, in India, we know that the auto cycle is on, tire production is increasing. Can you give me the reason why volumes are hit quarter-over-quarter again?
We have already said that one of the major reasons for decrease in volume has been Europe. In India, there has not been any significant change from Q1 to Q2.
Okay. What's happening in Europe that is causing it?
I think it's the Ukraine war and the gas, energy crisis.
Okay. Those are primarily as a result of Ukraine war.
The gas and energy crisis. Yes.
Okay. All right. Sir, the increase you also mentioned that there was an increase in your input prices, which is hitting the margins. Can you tell me what will be the prevailing global sulfur prices right now? You said they have started stabilizing after October.
It's come down. They have started going up again. It is for the fact that I said that, they have now stabilized and are gradually coming down.
Okay.
Had gone up to $500, then it came down to $132-$135 odd. I'm talking about CFR India. Now they, it has gone up to around $200 again. That is how the sulfur has moved.
Okay. $500, it got to $130, and then now it's again back to $200, and the future we don't know where it'll go. Okay. Sir, last question. The price that you charge to your customers, how frequently is it adjusted? For example, obviously if raw material prices goes up, it is in our interest to charge a higher price to the customers. But I understand that things happen both ways.
Normally the contract with our customers are either on a quarter basis or on a half yearly basis.
Okay.
I think it is on a quarterly, half-yearly basis.
Half-yearly basis. Sir, the margin hit that we're seeing with respect to high, say, sulfur prices, for example, I understand that has not been adjusted right now or not fully adjusted so far with the customers. That's why our gross margins are hit. Is there a chance of that getting adjusted in coming one or two quarters?
From last quarter, they improved a little bit, because we had taken a slight price adjustment, not the whole of it, but slight price adjustment to partially offset the increase in costs. Obviously, when you talk about the peak price of sulfur, that is not my average price of purchase. It is lower because we also plan our purchase accordingly. That is why, if you say that, you know, the margins are going to increase certainly by $200, that's not going to happen.
Okay. Any particular adjustment of price which is expected in next one, two quarter, any significant one? Because our margins are 8%, so our cost of material is high compared to what we're charging the customer, which is.
We did adjust the prices in the last quarter, that is July, August, September. Now since the raw material prices are not going to go up again, so we do not expect any increase in prices now because the prices of raw material has come down rather from the July quarter.
Margins should improve then.
Sorry?
Margins should improve then. Even at the same prices, margins should improve then.
Yeah. How will the margins play out? We expect to maintain the margins. That is our endeavor. How it will play out is something that has to be seen.
Oh, okay. All right. Okay. Thank you, sir.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Gunjit Singh from [CICI IPA]. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Sorry if this is a repeat question because I wasn't able to clearly hear you. I have a question regarding the raw material pricing only. How have they moved quarter-over-quarter? If you could elaborate that.
No, quarter-on-quarter consumption of raw material is not the exact reflection of the reduction or increase in price. If I were to look at my per ton raw material cost, it has come down by about 6%, 5%-6%.
All right. I see that,
Raw material prices from quarter to quarter, not previous year. Q1 to Q2.
Another question I have is that I observed that pre-COVID, around financial year 2018, 2019, we had operating margins around 29%, 28%, 30%. Are we going to reach those margins again going forward?
As I said, that, you know, the margins are in our business calculated on a per ton basis. Now, for example, I just give an example, that if my margin is, say, INR 50 per ton or INR 60 per ton, and my selling price is INR 120 and my margin is INR 60, then, before fixed cost, it is 50% of my selling price, right? Now, if I maintain that 60% margin and my selling price becomes INR 180 and my cost becomes INR 120, then that 60 becomes 30% of my margin. Whether go up back to those 28%-29% will depend on this, you know, this dynamics of how the raw material and selling prices move.
For example, if tomorrow raw material prices were to come down by half, you know, to the levels that were prevailing three, four years back, then my margin percentage would again go up. So would the sales price. The sales realization.
Right. I got it. What you're saying is that essentially, the margins are.
Hello? I lost you there.
Mr. Guljit, we are not able to hear you.
What you're essentially saying is that EBITDA per ton has remained almost constant or not decreased as much as the margins have, right?
What I'm saying is that we look at margin per ton, and then of course, the fixed costs will reduce from there. Not EBITDA, margins are the variable cost. There is a slight difference.
Oh, right.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Saravanan from Jambavan Equity Research. Please go ahead.
Hi. It's 24 number. Last concall, you mentioned about the North American expansion. I want to-
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Saravanan. I would request you to kindly use your handset, please. We are not able to hear you clearly.
Yes. I'll repeat it again. The last con call, you spoke about expansion in the North American market. Could you elaborate more on that front?
Well, expansion where?
North American market. Yeah, expansion in the North American region. We want to again grow or tap into more market share in North American market, right?
That is still going on. We have nothing to report as of now. Reporting nothing.
Okay, how about, like, the demand outlook looking with increase in electric vehicle segment, since the insoluble sulfur component that goes in the tires of EVs, it is significantly much-
Your voice is, you know, getting
Yes.
I think our network.
It is getting distorted, and we are not able to hear you clearly. I would request you to rejoin the queue, please. We move on to the next question, which is from the line of Aditya Khetan from SMIFS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the follow-up. My question was onto the recent acquisition which has happened. It's one of the Japanese player that is Tsurumi Chemical. They have acquired the business of Nippon Kanryu chemical company. Just wanted to know, so do you have any idea on to the deal size or what is the capacity of the company which has been acquired?
You know, about the Japanese transaction, to be honest, we also heard about those companies and that from the news itself. Before that, we had also never heard of this company. At first glance, it appears to me that they make a different kind of product, not the same kind of product that all of us make. It appears to be something different. It does not appear to be the same industry at first reading.
Okay. In the media news and what they have mentioned, the company produces insoluble sulfur, which is under the brand Chemi OT and Chemi Sulfur. It has been majorly used for the tire players only. I think it is insoluble sulfur only, you know, sir.
You are right. You are right that that is what they have said. I actually went to the website and read it. To me it appeared that the product was slightly different. In any case, I mean, we had never heard of that company before the transaction, and we have still not heard of it after the transaction. Okay. It does not show up in any insoluble sulfur industry reports.
It does not show up in any conversation with customers. It does not show up in any conversation with industry experts. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Because we also heard it when we saw it in the news like that.
Okay, sir. Got it. Sir, just one more question, sir. Sir, recently they expanded this capacity of 5,500 tons. I was not able to get the environmental clearance document of the same. Have you filed the document, sir, with the government regulatory authority?
It is not required. We don't qualify for that. We may not done it.
Okay. Okay. Do we have actually filed it and it is not available in the public domain? Is that the case or no case?
It is not applicable to us.
Okay. Cool. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have Mr. Saravanan M from Jambavan Equity Research. Kindly proceed, Mr. Saravanan.
Yeah. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Sir, my question is on. With the advent of more electric vehicles, will there be a significant pent-up demand for insoluble sulfurs with more EV adoption?
Sir, your voice is breaking. We are not able to hear you clearly.
Yeah. My question is on electric vehicles and insoluble sulfur.
Mr. Saravanan.
Okay.
The management's line is breaking.
Now you can hear me?
His voice is breaking.
Can you hear me clearly now?
Yeah, I can hear you.
Sir, please proceed.
Okay. What I'm saying is that electric vehicles will use radial tires like any other vehicle, though typically the structure of the tire would be different. I would assume that the insoluble sulfur ratio might be a little bit more. Whether it will actually impact the consumption of insoluble sulfur, I think that does not, because they might use a little bit lighter tires.
Sir, I'm sorry, but your voice was breaking. We couldn't hear the last line you said.
I said, so they will be using, and if at all they would be using better quality radial tires, which means that the ratio of IS to rubber could go up slightly. That is what I said. However, whether they would be using lighter tires, in which case the consumption of insoluble sulfur might not be impacted on a per tire basis.
Got it. What is your current market share in the North American markets, sir? I remember last time you mentioned somewhere close to 20%-13%. It has remained the same or it has gone up slightly?
Correct. It is around the same, that only.
Around 13%, is it?
What it was earlier, yes. Currently it continues to be the same.
Okay. Got it. Yes. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as that was the last question that the management could answer, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Sir, any closing comments from your end?
I hope we have been able to.
Sir, your voice is breaking.
Is it better now?
Yes, sir. Please proceed. Ladies and gentlemen, kindly stay connected while I try to reconnect the management. Ladies and gentlemen, the line of the management has been connected. Sir, kindly proceed.
I take this opportunity to thank everyone for joining on the call. I hope we have been able to address all your queries. For any further information, kindly reach out to us or Strategic Growth Advisors, our investor relations advisor. Thank you once again.
Thank you. On behalf of Oriental Carbon & Chemicals Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.