Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Aether Industries Post Results Conference Call, hosted by HDFC Securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in 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. Nilesh Ghuge. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, all. On behalf of HDFC Securities, I welcome everyone to this Aether Industries conference call to discuss the results for the quarter ended June 2024. From Aether Industries, we have with us today Dr. Aman Desai, Promoter and Whole Time Director, Mr. Rohan Desai, Promoter and Whole Time Director, Mr. Faiz Nagariya, Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Shubhangi Desai, Executive IR. Without further ado, I will now hand over the floor to Ms. Shubhangi Desai to begin with the earnings call for Q1 FY 2024. Over to you, Shubhangi.
Thank you. A warm welcome to everyone. Today, on July 19, 2024, our board has approved the financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024, and the same has been filed with the exchanges, as well as updated over our website. Please note that this conference call is being recorded and the transcript of the-
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Okay. Please note that this conference call is being recorded, and a transcript of the same will be made available on the website of Aether Industries Limited and exchanges. Please also note that the audio of the conference call is the copyright material of Aether Industries Limited, and cannot be copied, rebroadcast, or attributed in press or media without specific permission from the company. Let me draw your attention to the fact that on this call, our discussion will include certain forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other estimates about future events. These estimates reflect management's current expectations and future performance of the company. Please note that these estimates involve several risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied.
Aether Industries Limited or its officials do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events or otherwise. Now, Mr. Rohan Desai will begin by sharing Aether's business outlook, then Mr. Faiz Nagariya will cover the financial highlights for the period under review, and Dr. Aman Desai will share the ongoing expansions and strategy of the company going forward. Now, I shall hand over the call to Mr. Rohan Desai for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Good evening, everyone. I hope everybody is doing well, and I'm glad to connect with you all to discuss the performance of our company for quarter one. During the quarter under review, we witnessed growth in overall volumes, but the prices have been impacted due to China dumping. We feel the prices have already bottomed out, and we are optimistic for an upswing in the business scenario, with numerous inquiries pouring in in all the three business models of Aether. The accident-affected Site Two is being revamped and is expected to be up and running 100% by August 2024 in a highly compliant and safe manner. Our Greenfields Capex expansion are on track. Site Four will see a ramp-up in production from Q2 of FY 2024-25 onwards, with a strategic supply agreement for 6 products that we will manufacture for Baker Hughes.
Out of the total 15 MW solar power plant order, initial commissioning of 5 MW solar power plant was successfully completed in Q1, which is set to improve the bottom line of the company. The remaining 10 MW power plant will be commissioned in quarter two. This is a major investment, which will be crucial in saving of electricity costs and further aid in improving operating margins of that company. With respect to Aether's business model, we have seen 66% contribution of the total top line coming from last mile manufacturing, 18% coming from contracts plus exclusive manufacturing, and 14% coming from contract research and manufacturing services business model during the quarter one. We have witnessed volumes growth in all the three business models.
Contract plus exclusive manufacturing is set to show a good growth in quarter two or from quarter two onwards, where the commercial orders towards the SSAs signed with Baker Hughes will start to be manufactured and to be dispatched. Our export revenues stood at 42% of the total revenue, and domestic sales stood at 58%. Today, we are excited to announce that we are introducing a new business segment focused on sustainability and renewables. Aether Industries is likely the first company in the chemical industry, especially in India, to launch such a segment. This segment includes a notable initiative and partnerships.
...Number one, Converge polyols. A product which has up to 40% carbon dioxide by weight. This is a joint development and scale-up of novel technologies for manufacture of sustainable polyols with Saudi Aramco technologies. First commercialization and product launch has been done with H.B. Fuller, and many more are in the pipeline. Technology to transform post-consumer plastic waste to high-quality virgin monomer and polymers. An active collaboration with Novoloop for pilot validations and commercializing of this technology is on the path. Our contribution towards sustainable and greener transportation, the first-time manufacturer in all-in India for organic electrolyte additives, backed with supply agreement with the major global lithium-ion battery producers. This is very exciting segment for us. We are working on numerous projects in this overall platform and anticipate several positive developments within near future.
Furthermore, as we need to meet the minimum shareholding pattern, we have taken an enabling resolution to raise funds, which we will propose to our shareholders in the upcoming AGM. This will further aid us for the expansion of our visionary greenfield manufacturing Site 5, and also for expansion of our R&D and pilot plant facilities. With this, I would conclude speaking, and I would request our CFO, Faiz Nagariya, to touch upon the financial highlights for the period under review. Over to you, Faiz.
Thank you, Rohan, and good evening, everybody. I'm glad to present the financial results of Aether Industries Limited for Q1 of financial year 2025. I'll touch base upon the consolidated numbers. The total consolidated revenue of the company stood at INR 1,920 million in quarter one of financial year 2025, as against INR 1,291 million in quarter four of financial year 2024, resulting in a EBITDA of INR 521 million in Q1 of financial year 2025, as against INR 144 million in quarter four of financial year 2024, a significant increase in the covering periods. EBITDA margins stood at 23% in Q1 of FY 2025, as against 11% in Q4 of FY 2024.
EBITDA amounted to INR 299 million in Q1 of financial year 2025, as against a loss of INR 14 million in Q4 of financial year 2024. EBITDA margins stood at 15% in Q1 of financial year 2025, as against loss in quarter four of financial year 2025. During this quarter, we have received INR 210 million from the insurance company as an on-account payment towards the insurance claim that we have submitted of total INR 1,000 million. This on-account payment also indicates that the insurance company has admitted our claim. Revamping of the affected site is progressing as per the plan, with certain delays from our regulatory, still we anticipate and expect operations on the affected site by end of September 2024.
The debtor days is at around 140 days, our inventory days have reduced to 160 days by end of quarter one of financial year 2025. It has increased to 210, 10 days as on 31st March, 2024. The commercialization of the SSA, which is anticipated to have the better debtor days in the future. Now, I would request Mr. Aman Desai to share updates on Aether's ongoing expansion plans and strategies going forward.
Thanks, Faiz, for the financial highlights. Good evening, everybody. I'm pleased to connect with you all again. To begin with, we've been working diligently in augmenting our capabilities with our ongoing CapEx, integrated with the incremental additions in chemical reaction capabilities, beginning from R&D all the way to commercial scale, which is aiding us in enabling and developing innovative technologies. The efforts to broaden our range of end-use industry applications, we have successfully proved our method by entering again into the oil field services area of oil and gas sector, with execution of the strategic partnership in contract manufacturing for the first time with Baker Hughes in India. We have signed a multi-year extendable contract to manufacture 60 products for Baker Hughes globally.
We will be the first ones in India manufacturing these products, and the supply will be to the global Baker Hughes locations, with a focus on India's oil and gas sector as well. This Make in India project will be primarily executed by Indian sub-Aether subsidiary, Aether Speciality Chemicals Limited. It also further strengthens our partnership with Baker Hughes and lays the groundwork for significant future collaborations, all of which have started in a preliminary manner as well. During this quarter, we showcased at the most significant specialty chemical exhibitions, including Chemspec Europe, ChemCon America, in the USA, CPHI in China, and all of these gave us great insights into the prospects of the current dynamic business landscapes and helped us position our capabilities globally. We have been witnessing a significant influx of business inquiries in our client business model.
The client business model has grown quarter on quarter. A huge increase in inquiries was on the backdrop of our expanded innovative state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge technology innovations and core chemistry practices. Also, as the world innovators have resorted to diversify their supply chain in India, the focus of all global innovators is in India. We are very favorably positioned today to harness this potential with our capabilities and offerings. CapEx at our Site 3+ and 3++ is underway as per schedule, with ongoing civil work and initiation of procurement of machineries, equipment shortly. The commissioning of Site 3++ is expected by the end of quarter four of financial year 2025.
The phase-wide expansion of the greenfield manufacturing Site 5 in Panoli is progressing well, with phase I development ongoing, with the civil work and procurement of equipment, machineries with longer lead times. All the statutory and regulatory approvals are in place for the same as well for the site plan. phase I of Site 5 is expected to be commissioned by end of fiscal year 2025. Expansion of phase II is set to begin from quarter four of fiscal year 2025 onwards. We have been working relentlessly to leverage the learnings from the upheavals that we faced because of the fire accident in the past year. The continuous improvements and enhancements to implement stringent safety measures, which are also progressively being watched by our numerous clients, led by various regulatory bodies, as well as our innovative customers across the globe.
Several of them have audited our HSE practices since then in this quarter, and we have successfully passed all these audits and have reinvigorated our collaborations with these innovators. Our R&D expenses for the quarter one of fiscal 2025, which is the current quarter, passed, so that INR 143 million, i.e., 7.3% of our total revenues, was R&D spending. We successfully expanded and commissioned a pilot plant, which is now set to aid us in enhancing chemical development and scale-up of lighthouse molecules , as well as further expanding our CRAMS portfolio. Thank you, everybody. Looking forward to the questions, and Shubhangi, back to you.
Thank you, Dr. Aman. We shall now request the moderator to open the forum for question and answer.
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 touchtone 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, you are requested to please restrict your questions to two per person. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Priyank Chheda from Vallum Capital . Please go ahead.
Hi, Aman. Hi, team. My question is on what was the revenue contribution from the Otsuka Japan project, which was expected to start in April 2025 from Site Two? I know we are running at 75% utilization, so any contribution coming up from that project? That is question number one.
Yeah, hi, this is Rohan here. I'll take this question. For the quarter one, we had zero revenue from Otsuka Chemicals. We are renegotiating the pricing because of the Japanese currency being devalued quite a lot. So we will reworking on the pricings and the business will start onwards from quarter two. And we are seeing the projections the same as before, so it will be a good number by the end of the year.
So a renegotiation of the prices is just particularly for this project, or is it for many other projects which you would like to highlight for us? And I believe that this was a 300 metric ton project for INR 1700 per kilo, as a, as a, as a ASP. Anything that you would like to highlight for all the, any other projects which, where we are facing such kind of a renegotiation?
All the contracts which are perennial or per year contract, every year, the pricings have to be renegotiated based on various parameters which are put in under the contract. So every year the prices are renegotiated based on the current scenarios, as the prices are crashing or whenever the prices are going up, the prices have to be renegotiated by the customers and us. It's a general phenomenon. There is no problem at all.
Cool. Got it. Coming to the site three, if you can allude what is the utilization levels that we are working on right now. We were expecting to increase the utilizations from this time with the launch of five molecules in the, on the pharma side at the ASP of around INR 2000 per kilo. Anything that you would like to highlight on this project where we have spent, you know, around INR 200 crore, and we were expecting a potential revenue of around INR 400 crore with the additional launch of new products. Anything that has also changed over the year, which you would like to highlight for us?
The capacity utilization at Site 3 currently stands at 49%, and the total revenue we have earned is around INR 48 crore in the first quarter. Regarding the margin realization, I think Rohan will give the...
The prices have corrected up to 30%-35%, on this product, so on an average. So the realizations are less at the moment, but the pricing have bottomed out already. So, in the near quarters or the upcoming quarters, we will see the uptrend happening on in terms of the pricing. So which will help us to increase the revenue share of this site.
No, we understand the prices have corrected, Rohan. So the point is, since long time now, we are stuck at utilizations which we would not like to operate at, which is suboptimal below 50. Anything, any corrective action plan for us over here to, you know, make sure that even if the prices were to sustain at this level... What could be the, you know, the action plan to inch up the utilizations from this plant?
Yeah, we are already trying to resolve this issue by adding new products in this plant. And already approvals are ongoing on, with several customers on the new products which we are going to launch in this plant. So we can launch the products earlier in this plant. That is the plan as of today. So as soon as we get the approvals, we'll launch the products in the existing assets, and this will change, the revenue model of this plant, that is, site three.
Perfect. Coming to site four, anything, any, did this site, site four, did contribute anything in terms of revenue in Q1? And if you can, again, highlight the way you highlighted for Otsuka, there are three projects, which are large projects. One is on US Oilfield, the second one is Aramco, and the third one is Baker Hughes, which we would be supplying it from site four. So anything changes in terms of expectations with respect to the realizations from these projects, which we had thought earlier and, and the current status on this would be helpful.
Yes. So, site four, we have not seen any revenue coming in for the one, because the SSA took slightly longer time because of the fire accident which happened. So the re-audit happened in quarter four of the financial, last financial year, and then we had to complete the SSA agreement, which took some time, which was natural, because of this accident. From Q2, the site four will ramp up into production and dispatch, and you will see the sales coming on from site four, from Q2 onwards, and Q3 and Q4 will be on the optimum level. We are seeing a top line revenues of INR 250 crores approximately from the site four as of today, which was supposed to be approximately, at optimum level, at INR 400 crores.
So this means that US Oilfield project, which was $3-$4, would have also corrected. Saudi Aramco, which was at, say, $8-$10, would have also corrected when you are guiding for a revised potential revenue of INR 250 crores from site 4 versus earlier potential of INR 400 crores. Is that what I've got right?
The pricing have not been revised in both the companies.
No, sorry. So what I failed to understand is that we had a potential revenue of INR 400 crore from all the projects put together. Now, we have an additional project of, say, Baker Hughes. With all this put together, you are guiding for a potential revenue of INR 250 crore versus our earlier ex- Yeah. Sorry?
Yeah, from site four, we are guiding INR 250 crore revenue.
Got it. So I'm just trying to understand what is the correction on this side? Is it on the realization side, or is it on any of the project side, or is it on the volume side?
We already lost. We were supposed to start in quarter four of the last financial year. We are now starting in quarter two of this financial year, so we have almost lost six months because of the fire accident which took place and which triggered a QAS audit at that site also, which we have successfully completed. So we have lost time basically over there, and with that, whereby we have lost the top line also over there because of time.
Which project did we lose out? Is it US Oilfield?
We lost two quarters of manufacturing and sales in quarter... in site four, which is Baker Hughes.
No, I get it. So we have lost the timeline, but we have not lost the project. So what I'm, what I'm again trying to correlate is the potential, total potential revenue remains intact, right?
Yes. Yes, absolutely, Priyank. We signed in Q4 of the last financial year, we signed the SSA agreement. Sorry, in Q1, sorry. In Q1 of this financial year, that is June, we signed SSA agreement, which we announced here also.
Perfect. So, anyways, the potential revenue from this site, which is the total potential revenue of, say, around INR 400 crore, remains intact. There is a delay in the execution of the project.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Okay. Thank you for answering all the questions.
Thank you.
So, just if you can, just to come back, the new segments which we have started, right? We used to report a revenue contribution from this sector, which is pharma, agro being large ones. And so we have stopped reporting those segment revenues. It would be great if you continue certain data points which we have been sharing in the past. If you continue over there, on those same data points as a good disclosure practice would be great. Thank you.
Oh, sure. We'll do that. We'll do that.
... Thank you. To ask a question, please press star one now. The next question is from the line of Sachin Jain from Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes.
Rohan, Aman, first of all, congratulations for quickly ramping up after the fire incident, and I see a lot of traction on innovative side, and you're working with. But I fail to understand, if I see last three year, three years financials, you're not generating optimization. One of the reason is the level of Working Capital, which is also significantly increasing with the increase in the operation. So how do you see this Working Capital evolving the next couple of years when everything normalized? So how, how should we, how should I read Working Capital in context of high scale of operations, say, in 2027? That's my question.
Yes, hi there. I will take this question. So Mr. Sachin, we already as in the earnings call transcript also, as I spoke, that our inventory levels were high on 31st March, which we already reduced to 160 days. Even the debtor days is constant at 140 days, and the new products coming up in contract manufacturing with the Baker Hughes already announced, and the ramping up is starting in this quarter. And more contract manufacturings are expected to start, and we see that debtor days will also go down. So by 2024, you can always expect the positive cash flows and working capital cycles being narrowed down more and more.
Okay, okay. So it is 140 days are going to be the normalized or you see meaningful reduction on that side?
Yeah, debtor side, we, we see a reduction by which we should come around 120 days by end of financial year 2025. And, and by 2026, we should be coming up. So 120 days would be normal in this current scenario of chemical industry going forward.
And second, this 18%, you have to bring down to 75%. What is timeline? Is it May 26th?
May 25.
May 25. Okay. Okay. That's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Others who wish to ask questions, may please press star one at this time. Our next question is from Priyank Chhed a from Vallum Capital. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah, hi. Sorry. Thanks for the opportunity again. The SSA agreement that you have signed with Baker Hughes, if you can, you know, highlight what is the kind of capacity, volumes, and the realizations from this agreement with you?
Aman, would you like to take this one?
Yes, I can take this. Hopefully I'm audible. I'm audible, right?
Yes, yes, clear.
Yeah. So, with the SSA that we have signed, it's on six products. And in terms of the volumes, of the SSA, they are range that has been put in the SSA between 15,000-19,500 tons, over the six products, potential annual basis. And, the price points range are between $3.5 to about $5-$6 a kilo. And so the realization off of that, I think the calculation is tremendous. Now, these are potential volumes, over the year, but it has been put down in in white in the SSA. And the goal is to reach these volumes, within a reasonable short period of time. And, these products will be made by Aether for seven years.
These are all advanced products and in many cases, finished goods of Baker Hughes, which we will sell on their behalf to the global locations, including several Indian locations. Baker Hughes is one of the top three oil field services company, globally. Their operations extend from the U.S., Canada, Middle East, Africa, a lot in Africa, Southeast Asia, India. So it's going to be very promising, the initial products. Over the last few months, since the SSA has been signed, we have been already discussing several new products and several new exciting opportunities.
So this places us in a position to be a strategic manufacturing partner for Baker Hughes, their first one, in fact, and so we are in the driver's seat in terms of all new product discussions that happen. So it should be very interesting. Hopefully, that answers your question.
Yeah, it does. Does it have any product overlap with the first US oil field product, the four strategic products for contract manufacturing of 16,000 metric tons that we had signed? Does it have a similarity or any synergies between these two products?
That was the letter of intent for signing this, this SSA. This SSA, this strategic supply agreement, is the actual contract, the actual strategic supply agreement. The first one we had signed was a letter of intent, and that letter of intent did not disclose the name of Baker Hughes because they're not given permission, but the SSA we have them.
Oh, okay. So, so this is the same, same US Oil field company, which is now Baker Hughes, which we have exposed after entering into a SSA?
Yes. Yes, correct.
Got it. Okay. Now, on site 3+ and 3++ , where we are undergoing a CapEx, given the agro intermediates and the agrochemical prices where they are today, do we need to change our thought process around, you know, spending INR 200 crore over there? Would it really change the ROI that you would have thought of making these two molecules, plus one another material sciences molecules on this site? Anything that changes for us on the CapEx, on the CapEx side of INR 200 crore, and the expected realized expected sales of INR 400 crore from this site?
I will take it up, Priyank. There is no change. The plan is the same. 3, 3 and 3 + 1 product, which we are going to launch over there. So, instead of it falling into agro and material science segments of chemical industry, we are still confident that this product, which we will be manufacturing for the first time in India, as compared, and in competition with a company, in mostly in China and Japan, we think that we will have a good edge and good margins over there, and we firmly believe that we are going to pack this product and make it successful.
Perfect. And the follow-on question is on the project Saudi Aramco, which is polyol platform. For FY 2025, we were targeting around 500 metric ton, and this 500 metric ton going towards 2,000 metric ton eventually in two years. Anything that changes on this side, with respect to whatever we have lost in terms of the production days, if you can highlight on this? And then also, if you can touch upon the realizations, which is $6-$10 remain same, or does it or are there any renegotiations that have happened on this side?
As you are migrating from a traditional polyol to a sustainable polyol, this migration is taking time with 50-100 companies, where the samples have been signed and the qualification contracts have been signed. So that's the only problem as of today, Priyank, on this side of the business, is that the qualifications are not happening as per our expected timelines, and they are going back by two or three quarters for each company. Now, each of these companies are big multinational companies operating like H.B. Fuller, and so they're taking their own time to qualify. This also requires a lot of testing at their end, because the product is going to the consumer market, which should not have any problems at their end.
So we are. This year we will see 200 tons of uptick, and now, on the next year, we are seeing that we'll reach the 500 metric tons mark. And on a, on a very larger-
... May we request that you return to the question queue for follow-up questions, as there are several participants waiting for their turn? The next question is from Krishan Parwani from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir, congrats on the good set of numbers. Just a couple of clarification from my side. Firstly, on site four, I think you mentioned INR 200 crore-INR 250 crore additional revenue in 2025, and in FY 2025, it could probably go to INR 400 odd crores. Is that correct?
Yes.
Okay. On the secondly, I think, on in Site 3++, you have certain, I think, agrochemicals and electrolyte additives. Is there any other product that, you know, we are missing, or could you clarify on that?
We have agrochemicals and material science products.
Okay. The electrolyte additives is in Site 3++, or is it somewhere else?
In Site 2 only.
In site two. Okay. Okay. So, so the potential from 3++ is, again, I think you mentioned INR 400 crore, correct?
INR 350 crores.
INR 350 crore. Noted. So that is actually coming on stream in end FY 2025, the Site 3++. And all the work is in progress, correct?
Yes.
Got it. And, finally, with all the CapExes that we have planned, I think, what we are CapEx like run rate in 2025, 2026, would it be around INR 300 crore?
Yeah, it should be around INR 300 crore-INR 350 crore in both the years.
In both the years. Noted. I think you also mentioned about working capital cycle. So what's the target for 2025 and 2026? Is it like 200 days?
2025, we... Yes, we should, we should be reaching around 200 days by end of 2026, so that, you know, we can ramp up and make it more better by 2027.
Perfect. So 2027, probably, you know, you could come down to more like 4.5, five months. Is that correct?
Yes, correct.
Understood. Understood. No, no, this is very helpful, sir. I wish you all the best.
Thank you.
For the future quarters. Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one.
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Hi, good- [audio distortion]
Atishray has dropped from the queue. Our next question is from Krishan Parwani. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Sorry, just to follow up, I missed out. So in terms of the, you know, margin trajectory, we have seen a, you know, a great improvement, and back to 22%. So you think, with the higher utilization, the margin trajectory should come back to, let's say, you know, 29% kind of a level by FY 2026, or is that achievable in 2025?
So we see that in 2026, we should be able to come back to 20 and 30 levels, for sure.
Understood. Understood. In terms of quarterly run rate, that's only INR 80 crores, I think. Rohan, sir mentioned that, you know, the prices have bottomed out. So, is that fair to say, you know, ex-apart from, let's say, this, Baker Hughes , our base portfolio should also grow on a quarterly basis over the next couple of quarters. Is that correct?
Yes.
Understood. Understood. So, so is it a, like, INR 180 crore or INR 200 crore, INR 200 crore, seems fair on a quarterly basis?
Yes.
Apart from the Baker Use.
Yes, yes.
Understood. Understood. Yeah, no, no, this is very helpful. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Atishray Malhan, Pegasus Strategy. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah, hi, sorry about that earlier. Good evening to the team. Just a quick clarification from my end. From the site four, are you manufacturing anything else except for the Baker Use products?
No.
So that's just Baker Use, right? So then I think you mentioned INR 250 crores top line from Site 4 in FY 2025. So that's essentially the four products from Baker Use, right?
Six products.
Sorry, six. Six products, okay.
Six products.
And six products, okay. Can you maybe provide an update on the Novoloop contract, when you expect that to be commercialized by?
Aman?
Yeah, I'll take this. We are currently doing the pilot plant validation of the Novoloop technology, and that is successfully completed in terms of the first few phases, and now we are going through the extended integrated pilot plant validation of the Novoloop technology, and that's under discussion right now. If it all works out, if it all goes forward, we'll be looking at commercializing and doing the first demo plant in the range of 2026. And as a initial market development demo plant, it will be, you know, a few thousand KTA, a few thousand tons per year, and then looking at 2028, 2029 as a full scale commercialization, if all things go forward.
Okay. That's, that's calendar year 2026, right?
Correct. Yeah. Yes.
Okay. Okay.
That is the current estimated timelines.
Okay, fair enough. Thank you, and good luck for the forthcoming quarters.
Yes, thanks a lot.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask question may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from Priyank Chheda from Vallum Capital. Please go ahead.
Sir, what was the realization per kilo, overall for Q1 and Q4, previous quarter?
Yes, the Q1 realization is 1,307, which was 1,303 in last quarter.
Okay. Okay. And, Aman had mentioned about Novoloop project, which is right now comes, which is at the pilot, stage right now. So I guess we are manufacturing it from site one, right? And if it, if it has to commercialize at something, at 3,000 tons, what can be the realization per kilo that we should think of in case this has to go to a commercial scale?
Aman, can you repeat the last part of the question? If it goes to commercialization, what is the question?
So once this product goes on a commercial, commercial scale of 3,000 tons, what can be the realization per kilo that we should think of?
It depends in terms of what kind of polyols and what kind of monomers we make it from it. But you can look at, say, maybe single digit dollars per kilo, so we're talking about, you know, $60-$70 per kilo, kind of, kind of, range. Because we're, we're going into the polyols industry again, and that would be in the case in which is the coatings, adhesives, and elastomers, and so that, that's what the kind of realization we'd be looking at, again, this is, estimation.
... Got it. And, just on the overall, the CRAMS business and our strategy to, you know, take these molecules from the kilo lab scale to a large scale manufacturing, we haven't heard much in last six months, which were the products among the R&D lab which has migrated to a large scale manufacturing or exclusive manufacturing. Anything that we are looking very soon to, you know, to be announced in from this migration strategy that we have?
Yeah, the strategy is still alive. The strategy is still the core focus of all the things that we do in CRAMS. We do not do any single discovery research work. All our research work is based on process research and taking molecules to commercialization. And several of these died on the way, of course, because that's public learning of all the innovators. But when you work with innovators, which are global top innovators in their respective fields, HSE participation and HSE focus is a tremendous one and top priority for all these innovator customers. And so, as you can imagine, the accident had put a pause on numerous activities, numerous discussions that were going on at very advanced stages with all these innovators. But they all put us on it. They all give us time.
They all come back in audits, which has happened in many innovators cases already, and which were successfully passed already. So basically, everything on these terms was put on pause for almost two quarters, six months now, which are the two quarters we are looking at. And that's why there's basically no activity there. But now, you know, we had two major audits last month. Instead, we have three major audits coming up now in the next few weeks, and we are looking at reinitiating and reengaging with those partners. And all of those discussions are happening in a very positive manner and positive domain only. And we should be looking at reinitiating a lot of these discussions now in this quarter and the next quarter, and this will come, which is the focus of the business.
If you see the CRAMS business and what we have announced this quarter as compared to last quarter or the last two quarters or the last three quarters, it has grown quarter on quarter for this quarter, and so that's a very promising sign, and we should continue to grow.
No, perfect. So, should we expect, right, the, say, in H2 of FY 2025 should reach around 65%-70% kind of utilization, which was our earlier, expectations to, you know, end FY 2024 at 65%? While what, whatever the delay that has happened because of the fire, should we expect site three with all the new product launches, trials, audits, site three, what should be the utilization that we should look forward in H2 of FY 2025?
Rohan?
65% .
So H2 should be 65%?
Yes.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next question is from Nitin Agarwal. Please go ahead.
Hi, so thanks for taking the question. I mean, on the, picking up from the point that you made last time, that you're taking some more validation customer validations and audits to justify going forward. So, you know, in, I mean, these are largely the newer verticals that you mentioned, or they are spread across, I mean, they, still you guys still having conversations with the pharma, agri-chem, verticals also?
Hello? Hello.
[audio distortion]
These are basically, I know I asked you a question, right? But these are across the industry sectors, and all not only oil and gas, renewables, but also pharma and ag. We don't do very much, CRAMS research in, pharma. These are primarily ag materials versus in oil and gas, and the, these engagements are happening across the board, across the sectors, and they're all moving positively forward.
And in that kind of conversation that you've been having, the size of potential contracts that you're looking to sign are increasing in scope, and so what kind of conversation...?
I didn't get the last part of the question. You were cutting off.
I mean, in the sense of the quantum of the size and quantum of some of the potential transactions that you're discussing with the various partners, are we looking at much larger size contracts versus what you've done in the past? I mean, both from a complexity perspective as well as the size of the contract perspective.
Both, yes, because that's the aim of having these partnerships with these partners. Basically, all the smaller projects, the smaller value projects, the smaller complexity projects, and then as the partnership develops and blooms, they trust you with more and more of the complex things and the high-value things, which is what we're currently doing. And so yes, the size and the scope and the value should be increased progressively. And that's what, hopefully we'll be showcasing to our shareholders in the quarters to come.
Let me take a last one. On the, you know, if I assume the most of the trans- conversations around some of these, transactions will be happening around when the project are in the pilot stages. So is there a sense for us to, can you share in term, how many products that you're working on, that they are in late stage of this pilot, in the pilot phase scale-up?
That's a number we'll have to go and compute, and we'll have to get back to you on that. But we don't share that information because it's the number doesn't matter, but the it's all confidential information to the customers and so. But you know, we can compute it. So at any given time, we have, I think, 20-25. Overall 50, on a very high level, overall 50 projects going on in R&D. Typically, half of them are in-house, and half of them are external, customer-driven. We'll be looking about 24, 25 customer-driven projects at any given time. More than half of these projects are towards the late stage final validations and final supply campaigns and product launches and market development quantities towards launch. So-
Okay.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for participating in the call. We hope that we have addressed majority of the questions. If you still have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you.
On behalf of HDFC Securities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.