Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Archean Chemical Industries Limited Q1 FY 2025 earnings conference call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as of 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 touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ranjit Pendurthi, Managing Director of Archean Chemical Industries Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We wish you all a warm welcome to our Q1 FY 2025 earnings call. Thank you all for being here today. Today, we are joined by Mr. N. R. Kannan, our Executive Director, Mr. Raghunathan, our CFO, Mr. Rajeev Kumar, our DGM Finance, and SGA, our Investor Relations Advisor. I assume everyone had an opportunity to go through the financial results and investor presentation, which has been uploaded on the stock exchange and on our company website.
I will further give you a quick snapshot on the industry and recent developments of the company as well. Post that, Mr. Raghunathan , our CFO, will walk you through the operational and financial performance of the company. To start with, the industry highlights. As you know, the chemical industry has been seeing some green shoots recently, and after a brief period, we also are witnessing the same.
There is some restoration and stabilization of demand in the chemical industry in the last few months. Although it seems momentary, as demand across the end-user industry remains a bit weak and China continues to struggle to revive its economy, we, on the other hand, have experienced some delays on availability of vessels, containers, and increased freight costs, which pose some challenge for Indian manufacturers.
This has impacted the overall dispatch and business momentum across the board. The same, of course, has affected many major Indian exporters, especially in the chemical industry. As you may already know, export accounts for more than 70% of our total business. This recent logistics-related challenge has had a bearing on the delivery schedules as well as some impact on shipments. However, to note, we continue to have healthy inquiries across all the products and expect to have a good recovery in the coming quarters.
We have been consistently reviewing our internal measures to mitigate any rising costs as well as to stabilize dispatches in a timely manner. Our team, of course, is in constant touch with all our clients and is grateful for their support. To give you a quick glimpse on the recent developments on respective products, to start off with bromine, we continue to see a steady demand from the domestic market as well as encouraging market pickup on the export side from all end users like agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and flame-retardant manufacturers overseas.
The export market as well had an uptick in demand in this quarter and should gradually improve in the coming quarters. We aim to produce nearly 22,000 - 25,000 metric tons of bromine for the year, including captive requirements. On the industrial salt front, industrial salt suffered some dispatch delays in Q1 FY 2025, and as you're aware, export markets account for the majority of this business, greater than 95%.
To give you more insight on the same, a large fleet of trucks are being engaged on a daily basis for movement of industrial salt from the plant through both Jakhau and Mundra ports for exports and vessels. The quarter gone by had been difficult to manage due to the shortage of trucks and as well as the non-availability of berthing schedules at Mundra and Jakhau. This switchover generally happens before the monsoon period starts in April, and we lost a couple of weeks in the shipment movement from switching from Jakhau to Mundra. Hence, the dispatches were reflected in the quarter being lower than the similar quarter last year.
However, the demand remains firm, and customer contracts continue to be in place, and we only believe this to be temporary. We continue to remain optimistic in the salt segment and expect a good recovery in FY 2025. However, this growth will be contingent on how these external challenges ease out in the coming quarters. Here, we will focus more on improving our processes and cost efficiencies as well as the logistics.
SOP, the third product that we produce, and the SOP, we continue to make significant headway over the last few months, and recently, I've commissioned the pilot plant at the technology provider's lab with a larger sample size, and we continue to contemplate to make a secondary SOP, and we're seeing some inquiries from both the global and domestic markets, so we should start seeing some sales in the third quarter.
It's a work in progress, as we have said before, and we continue to expect meaningful contributions in H2. Moving on to Acume, our subsidiary for the bromine derivative business, the Clear Brine Fluids, and the PTA Synthesis business, the response to CBF and PTA Synthesis is very encouraging and has already received approval from around 10 odd clients. We are in discussion with more than one-third of our total client base.
Given that this product is more technical than elemental bromine, we're actively engaging with clients to conduct trials and determine specific requirements. We have seen favorable progress in these products and expect a healthy contribution in FY 2025. The fifth part is Oren Hydrocarbons. We received the NCLT order on the 9th of July 2024 for acquiring this unit. This unit focuses on the hydrocarbon space and serves the oil and gas and drilling industries.
The key rationale behind this acquisition was to offer a product basket to clients by adding specialty mud chemicals and CBF products. This will help to build a long-term relationship with them because these derivative products are complementary to each other as well as to our bromine derivative business. We've made some investments in these units to refurbish them and restart the plants, and we will expect business to start from H2 FY 2025.
Going forward, we will be establishing relationships with new clients, broadening our product portfolio, and ensuring the stability of our new manufacturing site. We are certain that we will grow gradually in the coming years. That's it from my side. Now, I would request our CFO, Mr. Raghunathan, to run through the financial performance.
Thank you, sir, and a very good morning to all the participants on the call. We are pleased to report a notable performance for this quarter. To give you a quick financial summary of Q1 of FY 2025 on a standalone basis, the total revenue for this quarter stood at around INR 2,234 million, with a drop of around 37% on a one-year basis. As highlighted by MD, the drop is predominantly due to the logistics challenges at the ports.
Export market accounted for around 72%, and the balance is 28% from the domestic market. Bromine contributed around 55% of the total revenue, and industrial salt has contributed around 44%. The balance of 1% has come from SOP. EBITDA for this Q1 stood at around INR 849 million with a margin of 38%. Various operational efficiency measures have been undertaken across all activities to hold on to this margin range. Net profit after tax for this quarter stood at around INR 285 million. With this, we conclude the speech, and the floor is open for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone 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 Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, sir. Good morning. Thank you, thanks for taking the question. First, I want a break-up of the revenue and volume for the salt, bromine, and SOP for this quarter. What is the revenue as well as volume sales?
Good morning, Mr. Sanjesh.
Good morning, sir.
The revenue of salt for this quarter is around INR 1,172. Bromine is around INR 937, and SOP is around INR 22.
SOP is?
SOP is INR 22.
INR 32?
INR 22.
INR 22. And volume?
Volume, the sold quantity of salt is around 660,000.
Okay.
Bromine is around 4,700 +, and SOP is around 66 tons.
66 tons. Great. Great. Thank you. This is, Ranjit, the entire lower volume in salt is attributed to the dispatch problem, or this is a significant pressure on the caustic and soda ash player in terms of realization. Has that also started catching up?
So thanks for the question, Sanjesh. So as you all will be aware, we have fixed contracts on salt, and those contracts continue to run. So there is no challenge for us on the sales side. All those contracts have already been signed and continue to come through. Our challenge has purely been on the fact that, as I mentioned, in April, we had a switchover from Jakhau to Mundra, as we do every year.
However, in this particular case, we lost almost two weeks because the weather turned abruptly bad, and as you know, monsoon has come a bit early there as well in that region. So we had to move to Mundra, and we had some delays. Hence, there was a drop in volume, as I also indicated. But having said that, there is no issue with regard to all our exports on the customer side. All of them continue to offtake the contracts as signed.
Got it. And again, precisely on the monsoon, this time monsoon has been very good, particularly in the western part. And you have said that the monsoons were early as well. Are we seeing any weakness for the second half, which generally gets impacted by the monsoons and production gets a little bit slower than other quarters?
I think monsoon has been extra good this year. So I think it bodes well for the country and the economy, considering that it has a large impact on the agriculture sector. And if the agriculture sector does well, the agrochemical sector does well, thereby we do well. I think that is the run-up to us also coming through with better performance. So I think as that sector improves its outlook over the next few quarters, I think we'll probably run parallel to that improvement in what we do as well.
So coming to you specifically on the second half, yes, historically, it's a bit weaker simply because of the rain, and there is some amount of dilution in the concentration levels and the brine. But I think we are prepared for that as we are every year, and I don't think we will deviate too much from what we set out as targets, even historically.
Fair enough. Fair enough. The next on the bromine side of it, last quarter, we were looking at a volume of 25,000-28,000 metric tons for this year, and now in your opening remarks, Ranjit, you said 22,000-25,000. There is a small dip in the expectation of the bromine volume. Any particular reason you are seeing a little softer first half impacting the volume, or you expect the recovery should be more gradual than what you thought earlier?
I think on the volume basis, I think we've done better than we did last year, same period. So I think we are a bit ahead. I wouldn't say largely ahead, but marginally ahead. So I think that's the healthy side. I think as derivative plants ramp up, I think we will start consuming a bit more there. I think we've just been a bit conservative on what we have said in the beginning, what I have mentioned, in fact, 22,000-25,000 . I think we're just, like I said, being conservative and not being unnecessarily aggressive.
Got it. Last on the.
Sorry, just to clarify, I think on the demand side, we have no issue because as you would see, the exports have come back on stream. We're doing quite a bit on export, and the domestic market, as I mentioned, remains healthy.
Fair enough. Fair enough. On the Acume side, it's been two quarters we have been manufacturing, and you rightly said that we have 10 approvals from the 10 clients. When should we expect the supplies to accelerate, is it more second half, and do we still stick to that 50% kind of capacity utilization for this FY 2025?
I think the sales will start coming through in H2, as I indicated. At the moment, I think we'd probably be in a better position to tell you maybe on the next call or over the next couple of months. The ramp-up is going on, and on the demand side, I think we remain encouraged seeing the response we're getting. And also, I think it's giving us a chance to do some specialty products that others are not doing. So I think you will start seeing the sales come through over the next couple of months, starting maybe September. But to be, again, on the safe side, I think from October, the second half.
Got it. Got it. One last question on Oren. Now that we have all the approvals, when should we start the plants? I believe they had some five or six plants. Are we commissioning all the plants, or it will be more phased way?
I will take the second part first. I think it will be in a phased manner because there are different plants, so we're exercising caution. We don't want to jump in and start spending money everywhere. So I think we would like to be a bit more pragmatic in what we think we should start. So we're starting the two plants that have a direct connection to the oil and gas drilling industry as well as the Clear Brine Fluids products. So I think we're going segment-wise. That's where we're going first.
From the product, it will be all starch, barytes, and bentonite. All will be there, or it will be more of a starch?
It will be starch and barytes.
It will be starch and barytes. Yeah. Thanks, Ranjit, for all those answers, and best of luck for the coming quarters.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants, please limit yourself to two questions per participant. The next question is from the line of Yashita Banka from Ratnabali. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, this is Abhinav Chandak here from Ratnabali. Thanks for the opportunity. I have one clarificatory question on the volumes that you said. So I wanted to know your salt volumes you said was 660,000 tons for the quarter, correct?
Yes.
Okay. So why this dip is something you said because of logistics? So you assume that or you feel that next quarter the volumes would pick up and the loss for the current quarter would be made for? Or what is your guidance for the salt volumes?
I think we don't necessarily see quarter to quarter in terms of how we do the business because the contracts by nature are long-term, one year, two years. So I think we measure what we're delivering to customers and we only backlog in any certain customers, and those shipments will also be completed. So our contractual obligation is to complete the contracts we have in place before March. So we will do whatever is required to ensure that we stick to that overall volume.
Okay. So are you giving any overall volume guidance for the year also for the salt? Like you gave for bromine 22,000-25,000 is there anything for salt also?
I believe we have given in the previous calls, but.
So you'll maintain that?
I think, yeah. Well, we don't see a reason to change it at the moment.
Okay. So I had one more question on one of your subsidiaries which you have recently formed in some semiconductor business. Can you throw some light on what exactly they are doing, what acquisition they have done, and IIT Bhubaneswar tie-up. What exactly is it? Can you throw some light on that?
I think it's a work in progress. We do have a tie-up that we signed with IIT Bhubaneswar. We just started some groundwork on silicon carbide crystal growth, which, as you know, is in the semiconductor space. But I think over the period of the next few months, we'll probably have more to speak about that beyond what I've mentioned now.
What exactly will be doing there, sir?
With IIT, all projects generally are research and development in nature, R&D. So I think we've kicked off an R&D. Like I said, I think what we do with it will probably be clearer over the next few months.
Okay. As far as this Oren acquisition is concerned, you mentioned that from H2 FY 2025, the numbers would start to come in. How much of a delta would this give to our margins if you could give some guidance on the margin also for the year?
At the moment, I don't have a guidance on the margin because the plants we just got the NCLT order only in July. So we've effectively been able to only start work on plants, refurbishment, renovations, etc. So our team actually has got to the site physically into the sites only post NCLT order because that only gives us the legal basis to get in there. So I think the business, we hope, like I said, will start in H2. So that's, I think, what we are maintaining. Specifically, guidance, I think we'll probably have to wait.
Okay. I have one last question, and there are two sides to that question. So one question is on the guidance on the bromine prices, the way you see bromine prices from here, say, next one, two years from now. The other question is, are there any large serious players who are also entering the Rann? Because what I read from articles, there are a couple of players who have got sizable land parcels allotted in Rann. Do you see some significant competition or large competition coming and hitting this space, or the allotment is for some other purpose?
I think competition in any industry is going to happen. It's just about having a first-mover advantage. So there are, I think, a couple of more people who are producing. I think the question will always remain the capacity that we have, the infrastructure that we have, and the ability to deliver the volumes that we have. It's similar to salt. I think salt is an 80-year-old industry. Many players in it.
But I think today, if someone has a large contract for supply that they would want, I think we'd be one of the very few that would be able to do that on a consistent basis on a one-year, two-year contract. So same with bromine. I think bromine is not going anywhere. Having said that, end users, I think, are increasing and continue to be some critical end users.
In terms of, I think, your first part of your question on pricing, I won't have a guess on price, but I think I've said this even maybe over the last couple of years whenever the calls have happened, that I think the pricing that we are seeing now, I think, is stabilized over the last couple of quarters, and I don't see a reason for it to drop.
Okay. That's comforting, sir. I'll join back the queue for my further questions, if any.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Archit Joshi from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Good morning. Thanks a lot for taking my questions. So my first question is on the project that we have held back for some time, which was the Phase II of our derivatives expansion that we have delayed a bit. Any progress on that account, sir?
I think we have the process of finalizing the technology, and I think it goes back to my last call or the previous one before that, where I said we're going to do it in a realistic way, in a measured manner. The market as such is not going anywhere, given that we have captive bromine. So I think we will take our time to do this.
The first thing is, I think, goes back to someone else who asked on the call earlier. We want to get the first phase up and running and hit the volumes there. And I think we will continue to progress on the Phase II in a measured manner. So we'll get all the permissions and all those other things in place as we speak for Phase II.
Right. Any timelines that you might venture out over here with respect to commissioning of the plant?
For sure, we won't do it before March 2025.
Right. Sure, sir. So speaking of the same flame retardants as an industry, even though there's some bit of a derailment with respect to our plant, could you comment on how the global dynamics are working out to be? I think a large part of bromine is consumed in flame retardants globally. The industry volumes, I think, if I take a year-on-year look for the last maybe three or four years, at least our bromine volume offtake has been pretty much similar. Would you allude that to the global challenges in flame retardants? Are they on the verge of an improvement? Any comment that you might want to give out globally?
I think you've asked me a very global question, so I'll have to also give you a global answer, not a specific one. So industry, I think, will stay intact. We don't see the bromine industry or end use changing too much. I think the agrochemical use and the flame retardant use both, I think, continue to be healthy. Of course, each one is dependent on a different set of factors. But having said that, I think we're ideally positioned from an India context to be a strong producer and supplier of bromine, both domestically and exports. So I think our leadership position on that front, we expect to hold on to that.
Sure, sir. A short global question again, sir. Sir, has there been any shift with respect to in the supply chain, rather, when it comes to us having a stronger hold in the Chinese market, India as a country, when it comes to bromine exports into China? And some of the reports suggesting that because they have found their own reserves in Laos, Djibouti, and some of these geographies, they have kind of shifted away from that earlier phenomenon, which was driving our exports growth for India as a country. Is this holding true even now? What would be your opinion on that?
I think there are some new geographies that are producing, but I think the logistics is a challenge for them. Some of these are not in the easiest of places to evacuate from or connectivity or probably don't even have a port in their own country, so I think on that front, we will continue to have an advantage, and of course, the geopolitical situation from Middle East, etc., I think with uncertainty there, no matter what the price is, at least the buyers all know that it's certain to be supplied from India, so I think it's positive in one sense for us as a country, and I think neutral in terms of no downside, I think, from any other source affecting the supply.
Sure, sir. One last I'd like to squeeze in. There's a press release by IIT Bhubaneswar saying that the estimated cost of this SiC crystal is approximately INR 450 million. Would that funding entirely be done by Archean Chemicals?
Not entirely. I think the collaboration is IIT Bhubaneswar. So as you know, working with government institutions has various components, but safe to say a large part of it will come from us. But there will always be some amount of, I think, government grants or any such thing that IIT will also be able to access, s o.
Sure, sir. Sure, sir. That answers my question. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Krishan Parwani from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my questions. Just a couple of clarifications. So can you please give a breakup of bromine exports and domestic in this quarter and last quarter, please?
Give some time. I'll get towards the numbers for you.
Okay, and the second is on the derivative side, I mean, bromine derivative side. Can you please indicate the CapEx for bromine derivatives? This is ex- flame retardants that you have incurred till now, and what is the remaining CapEx?
CapEx on bromine derivative plant, what we incurred, so the total project cost is around INR 252 million, of which we have spent around INR 140+ million till date.
INR 140 + million. And how much is remaining? This is use of ex-flame retardants I'm asking.
The balance that we have to spend will be around INR 10 crores-INR 15 crores to meet our CBF and catalyst to PTA products to produce.
Understood, so the rest, let's say INR 100 crores is kept for the flame retardants, correct?
Yes.
Yes. I'm coming to your first question. My domestic sale of bromine is around INR 58.8 crores, and the exports are around INR 34.9 crores.
Okay. And the pricing is same, or pricing is different for the domestic and export market?
Alm ost the same.
Almost the same.
Okay. So just a follow-up on that. So I mean, if you look at the China spot prices, they have been around $2.83 or so. So are we seeing any uptick in our bromine pricing, or will there continue to be a disconnect between that?
I think spot price is something that we feel happy seeing, but not necessarily we sign on those rates. I think the way we see the spot price is that it's a good sign that the demand is healthy. But from a contracts perspective, the contracts probably assigned before movement in these prices. So sometimes they go down, sometimes they go up as you're aware. So our prices are a little bit lesser than the spot prices. These are long-term contract prices, right? So.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I understand. Okay. And just a small bit on Oren Hydrocarbons. So I think you mentioned in your opening remarks or probably in one of the answers earlier that you would be making some investments to, let's say, refurbish the plants. Can you please highlight the quantum that you're spending apart from the INR 70 crore or INR 70-odd crores that you've already invested to acquire through NCLT? So what will be the quantum for this?
So I think we anticipated that we would spend maybe at the outermost about INR 40-odd crores. So I think we're well within budget, and that was for all the plants. But at the moment, we are only starting with two, so it will be considerably less.
Noted. And in terms of salt, how much I think volume probably is it 4.5 million per ton, or how much is it?
Per year?
For this. Yeah.
That's been a little bit around those. Yeah. Sure.
In that range, right? 4.5?
Yes. Yes.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much for answering my question. Wish you all the best, sir.
Thank you, Krishan.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya Khetan from SMIFS Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, my question is onto the bromine derivative side. Sir, as you mentioned in your presentation also, that some new products you are planning to add as a part of part two. So sir, just wanted to know, these new products are into the CBF, then can you highlight these new products? And when we add these new products, will there be an increase in capacity, or it will be the same capacity only of 13,000 tons?
Sorry. You mean we're adding new products in Phase II?
No. In phase two, you have mentioned it. So I believe these new products you are adding into the CBF only, right? Into the clear products.
Okay. Right. No. No. So yeah. So those products are not CBF or PTA synthesis. They're other specialty products of bromine. So there's a CBF category, and then there's a PTA synthesis catalyst category. So apart from that, there are other products that we are adding as well that we already have the permissions for. So I think those are bromo-related derivatives. So those also, the trials and tests have been done with customers. So those also will start when we start ramping up.
Sir, when this is coming down, sir, we started the construction.
Sorry, your line is not clear.
Hello? I'm I audible?
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Khetan. I request you to come a bit close to your handset and speak.
Is it audible now?
Yeah. Better.
Yeah. Sir, I was asking about this bromo-related derivative. So this construction has been started, and what is the timeline we are looking for for this expansion?
Construction is already finished. It's part of the plant that we've already commissioned in March. So there's no new additional construction for these products.
Okay. And sir, excluding the flame retardants, so I believe earlier you had stated that the bromine consumption would be around 12,000-15,000 tons. Now ex- flame retardants, so what is the guidance for internal consumption of bromine?
I think that we'll probably have, as we move forward through the year or the next couple of quarters, as we ramp up the derivatives business, I think it will become clearer. But we would think that we should probably be a little bit less than what you have mentioned.
Got it. Got it. So just one last question, sir, onto Oren Hydrocarbons. So we are investing INR 40 crores for this refurbishment. What sort of revenue we are targeting for FY 2025 and FY 2026?
So I think, just to be clear, we're not investing INR 40 crores at one time. That's for all the plant refurbishment. So we're only taking up two right now. So it will be considerably less. And having said that, I think we are still hoping to reach the 200+ mark on the sales. And I think that's what we're endeavoring to. But given that, like I said earlier in the call, that we're only starting with two plants, right, the revenue obviously will be dependent upon that. As I said, given all that's going on in the chemical industry, we're just being conservative and taking a very measured approach.
Got it. Got it. Sir, just one last question. So generally onto the export side, we do the contract on FOB basis or in CIF basis?
Salt is a combination. Bromine is all CIF inside, insurance included.
Bromine CIF?
Both.
Both. Okay. Good. Good. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dipak Saha from D.R. Choksey FinServ Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. So my first question is, in one of the previous calls, you alluded to the fact on bromine derivatives. We have engaged with 50, 60 clients, and out of those, 10 have already approved. So two parts. Now, those 10 who have already approved, how many of them are part of the existing client set? And on the remaining 20, 30, I think you said in the previous phone call that the response is favorable. So what is the progress on that remaining 20, 30 where you got good response overall? So these are the first two parts on the first question.
Thank you for all the questions. So I think a majority of the customers will be new. There's only a few that will overlap because these are all, I think, companies that deal in different specialty chemicals sector. So I think the customer base is not necessarily the same largely. And second part of your question on the other customers that we've approached, I think that is a work in progress. I think everyone's, well, including us, we want to start doing the first deliveries to some of these customers, and then I think the traction picks up. Then we have a better leverage with marketing the products. So the dialogue remains active, and we want to start some deliveries, then I think they'll start converting into orders.
Okay. Sir, on the Oren part, I think in the previous call, you said around 250 crore odd you can attain. The range was 100-250, and right now you're saying 200+. So how should we read it? It's like you are a little bit getting conservative with the number, and that 250 crore might be out of the park right now and next year that we should target. If you can share some color on this.
I think those who've been investors or shareholders with us for a long time know that we are quite conservative when it comes to how we perceive the market and what we convey. In that context, the last time when I did speak, the number was taking into account that we had an earlier startup with the plants. But as you know, the NCLT order only has come now, mid-July. Legally speaking, right from what you call activating the company in ROC, getting power connections, etc., are all only possible post-NCLT order. The startup is delayed on account of receiving the NCLT order. Accordingly, we get pushed back a bit. In that context, I have said 200.
Okay. Okay, sir. And then on the margin front, if we see sequential basis, there are certain improvements, considerable improvements. So what are the driving factors on the EBITDA margin front? And going ahead, do we see improving ourselves year-on compared to where we delivered on Q1?
I think EBITDA margin improvement is an aim of ours. We consistently and constantly keep an eye on costs, for sure, ensuring that that stays within whatever we have planned for. And the second one is other improvements in efficiencies, etc. So I think things like turnaround times, downtime management, plant efficiency management, raw material consumption management. I think all those play a factor.
But an important part also in the last quarter, I think, has been power. As I indicated in earlier calls, we are trying to move away from the cogeneration plant to a grid system. So half the capacity now comes from the grid. That savings is what you're seeing also helps improve the EBITDA margin. And subsequent quarters, you'll see a better improvement as we further enhance the grid capacity and take most of the power from the grid, which is cheaper than the cogeneration plant. Plus, very importantly, also helps with the carbon footprint because we move away from the coal cogen.
Okay. That's really helpful, and last point, if you can squeeze in.
Mr. Saha, I request you to rejoin the queue for more questions.
Okay. Sure. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vinay Nadkarni from Hathway Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Just one question I had. It was regarding that you said I have not followed your last two quarters phone calls. The SEZ lease that you have with the government of Gujarat, has that been renewed? And if yes, for how many years?
Thanks for the question. So I think that's a work in progress. The position has not changed since the last call. I think we continue to actively engage with the government, and we are hoping sooner than later on that front.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Wahid Ahmed from Napean Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for giving the opportunity. Just one thing. So you have mentioned that the reason for decline, which we saw in earlier times on account of logistical issues. But just want to check that our exports business would be, I think, primarily impacted by that. But if I look at the revenue mix, we still continue to have around 72%, which you mentioned, exports and 20% domestic, which does show that there was a pressure on our domestic side of the business also. So any comments on that?
I will answer the question assuming that I've understood correctly, sir. So if I'm not answering it, please feel free to ask the question again. So I think the slippage in the volume on the salt has come because of the shift we had to abruptly do from Jakhau Port to Mundra Port because of the weather change. And hence, the volume came below what we had planned for the quarter. But overall, for the year, we're still aiming to do what we set out to do. And on the revenue mix, the salt is all 100% exported. Bromine has a domestic and export mix. So there's a slight dip in the export percentage because the salt volume has dropped a bit.
No, sorry. So that's a point that the exports percentage, if I look at it, exports are a percentage of revenue. That has remained consistent compared to the previous quarter. In fact, if I look at it in quarter four, 69% of our revenue was from exports. And this quarter, it is 72% from exports.
That's because the bromine exports have increased.
Okay.
In May and June, there's a larger volume of bromine exports. In February, March, it was minimal, in fact, negligible.
But sir, if I just want to clarify, if I look at it, in Q1 of last year, we had done around INR 113 CR of sales in domestic and INR 92 CR in the last quarter. So this quarter, if I look at your number, this comes out to around INR 60 CR for domestic sales across the segment. So that's why I wanted to understand if we are having any pressure.
No, there's no pressure. I think it's primarily due with maybe the value has dropped on the bromine pricing. So if you're comparing quarter to quarter last year to this year, that will be quite a significant change.
Understood. Nothing from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we have reached the end of the question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Ranjit Pendurthi for closing comments.
Thank you everyone for joining us in this earnings call today. We appreciate your time and showing interest in our company. And we continue to remain encouraged by all the feedback we receive. And we will continue to work hard for all our shareholders as we go forward. In case of any queries, please do get in touch with us or SGA or investor relations advisor. And we look forward to meeting all of you very soon. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Archean Chemical Industries Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.