Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited Q4 FY 2026 earnings conference call hosted by Valorem Advisors. As a reminder all participants lines will be in a listen only mode and there will be opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. If you need assistance during this conference call please signal operator by pressing star then two on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to you all. My name is Purvangi Jain from Valorem Advisors. We represent the investor relations of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited. On behalf of the company and Valorem Advisors, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings call for the fourth quarter and financial year ended 2026. Before we begin, let me mention a short cautionary statement.
Some of the statements made in today's earnings call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management's belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management. Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in making any investment decision.
The purpose of today's earnings call is purely to educate and bring awareness about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Let me now introduce you to the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for their opening remarks. We have with us Mr. Abhay Baijal, Managing Director, Mr. Narinder Goyal, Business Head, Manufacturing Operations, Mr. Anuj Jain, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ashish Srivastava, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mr. Tridib Barat, Vice President, Legal and Company Secretary, and Mr. Vivek Misra, Business Head of TAN. Without any delay, I request Mr. Abhay to start with his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Purvangi, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us in this conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and financial year ended 2026. The Indian fertilizer industry faced a challenging environment in 2026, marked by global geopolitical uncertainties, elevated energy prices, volatility in key raw material markets. India's agricultural fundamentals remained resilient, supported by a favorable southwest monsoon at 108% of the long period average.
Healthy reservoir levels at 126% of normal and strong crop sowing activity across both Kharif and Rabi seasons. Kharif acreage stood at 112 million hectares, and Rabi sowing at around 68 million hectares, resulting in record food grain production of nearly 348 million tons. The Indian agriculture sector grew around 2.4% in FY 2026 despite uneven climatic conditions.
India achieved a record fertilizer production of 503 lakh metric tons during FY 2026 across both urea and NPK, DAP sectors, reflecting continued capacity expansion and improved product availability across regions. Fertilizer demand also remained healthy during the year while the government continued to support the industry through stable urea pricing, robust subsidy allocation, DBT implementation, and close coordination with industry participants to ensure uninterrupted supply across the country.
Ahead of the Kharif 2026 season, the total fertilizer inventory stood at around 200 lakh metric tons, equivalent to about 51% of seasonal requirement, as compared to the normal level of 33%, supported by strong advance stocking and efficient logistics management. During Q4 FY 2026, geopolitical tensions in West Asia led to sharp volatility in global fertilizer and energy markets. India continues to remain dependent on imports for key raw materials such as LNG, ammonia, and sulfur. During the quarter, disruptions in supplies from Middle East resulted in volatility in availability and pricing across the industry.
For instance, ammonia prices increased sharply to about $850-$900 per ton, while sulfur prices also increased from $900-$950 per ton. Elevated LNG prices further pressured input economics for the industry. Given India's import dependence for key raw materials, the sector faced higher sourcing costs, supply disruptions, and logistics constraints during the quarter. Although the government raised the NBS subsidy rates upwards by about 10%, industry margins would remain under pressure due to high raw material and costs and rupee depreciation.
During the quarter, the government also took measures to prioritize gas availability for domestic urea manufacturers, which helped limit the impact on production to a very large extent. Our lower gas availability during part of the quarter impacted the capacity utilization slightly and energy efficiency for the sector. Domestic phosphatic fertilizer production increased during FY 2026, while imports of DAP and NPK fertilizers also rose sharply to ensure availability.
Within the phosphatic segment, NPK fertilizers continued to gain share while companies increased diversified sourcing across Southeast Asia, Africa, Canada, Russia, and China to reduce supply chain risk and improve sourcing security. From an agricultural perspective, the year remained broadly favorable. Reservoir levels across key agricultural states remained healthy and supported strong crop sowing activity during both Kharif and Rabi seasons.
Rabi acreage witnessed healthy growth led by wheat, pulses and oilseeds, while early indicators for the upcoming Kharif season also remain encouraging. Rural demand trends remain supportive for fertilizer consumption across regions. With this backdrop, let me move to our operational and financial performance for the fourth quarter for whole year 2026.
Our crop protection chemicals and speciality nutrients business delivered another year of strong growth during FY 2026, driven by higher market penetration, expanding product portfolio and improved contribution from value-added offerings. Business continued to witness strong growth in both revenues and margins, with contribution increasing by around 27% YoY. During FY 2026, we launched 17 new products, including expanding herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, further strengthening our presence across key crop segments and geographies.
We also continued to build healthy innovation pipeline with 14 new crop protection products and one specialty nutrient product planned for FY 2027. The biologicals business continued to scale up well with robust increase of about 30% in volumes and 57% growth in revenues, reflecting increased farmer adoption of sustainable agricultural solutions. Uttam Pranaam, our biogenic nano phosphorus product introduced in Q1 FY 2025, witnessed significant increase in contribution during FY 2026.
The product is developed through a biogenic process and contains 10% P2O5 with encapsulated biomolecules such as polysaccharides and lipoproteins. Two of our biological products, Uttam Superrhiza and Uttam Pranaam, have now covered almost 3 million acres since launch, supported by increasing awareness and field level demonstrations. During the year, we also introduced a water-soluble variant, powder variant of Uttam Superrhiza, targeted at precision farming, drip irrigation and high value crops.
Further strengthening the portfolio, we have launched four new biological products across fungicide and nematicide categories during the year. Additionally, we partnered with TERI to establish the CFCL-TERI Centre of Excellence for Advanced and Sustainable Agriculture Solutions, which will focus on research and development of next-generation agricultural technologies.
Coming to our seeds business, we expanded our portfolio during FY 2026 with the introduction of new products across wheat, maize, mustard and bajra categories. The initial farmer response and field performance have been very encouraging, and we continue to strengthen our product portfolio. The coming year will be increased emphasis on cereal and research variety. Our bulk fertilizers business delivered a robust performance during FY 2026 despite a volatile-.
Sorry to interrupt in between, sir. If you're speaking, you're not audible. Sorry to interrupt again, sir. You're not audible. Ladies and gentlemen, the line for the management has been disconnected. Please stay connected while we join them back. Ladies and gentlemen, the line for the management has been connected. Over to you, sir.
Yeah. Coming to our seeds business, we expanded our portfolio during FY 2026 with the introduction of new products across wheat, maize, mustard and bajra categories. The initial farmer response and field performance have been very encouraging, and we continue to strengthen our product portfolio. The coming year will be seeing increased emphasis on cereal and research varieties. Our bulk fertilizers delivered a robust performance during FY 2026 despite global volatile operating environment.
The phosphatic and potassic fertilizer portfolio segment performed well during the year, supported by effective sourcing strategy, inventory planning, and timely market placement. We also secured product availability for upcoming Kharif season despite continued uncertainty in global market, raw material market, and supply chains. The urea volumes for the year were more or less marginally lower due to an unscheduled shutdown at one of our plants in quarter one, which temporarily affected production during the quarter.
During FY 2026, we continued to strengthen our farmer engagement initiatives through digital platforms and outreach programs. Our social media presence expanded significantly during the year with both Facebook and YouTube platforms crossing 100,000 subscribers, while our YouTube channel received the Silver Play Button recognition. The Chambal Uttam Krishak Mitra app crossed 100,000 downloads during the year, reflecting growing farmer participation and engagement.
We also conducted multiple digital knowledge sessions, product awareness campaigns, and farmer education initiatives aimed at improving outreach and strengthening connect with the farming community. Our technical ammonium nitrate project has significant progress during FY 2026 and has now entered the commissioning phase. Dry runs for the weak nitric acid plant have commenced, and subsequent commissioning activities for downstream plants, including AN melt and HNAP products, are also underway.
The pro-project is being developed using state-of-the-art technology from Casale Switzerland and has a capacity of 240,000 metric tons per annum, representing Chambal's strategic entry into industrial mining chemicals, marking another important step in the company's growth trajectory. The initiative is aligned with India's broader focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat, domestic manufacturing, infrastructure development, and energy security, while also creating a new long-term growth avenue for the company.
Finally, let me walk you through the details of the financial performance for the period under review. On a stand-alone basis, the fourth quarter FY 2026 revenue from operations grew 14% year-on-year to about INR 2,785 crore. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 155 crore, up 56% year-on-year, with EBITDA margins at 9.16%. Profit after tax was INR 145 crore, up 46% year-on-year, with PAT margins of 5.22%.
For the financial year as a whole ended 2026, stand-alone revenue operations increased 25% year-on-year to INR 20,794 crore. EBITDA rose 8% year-on-year to INR 2,679 crore, with EBITDA margins at about 12.88%. Profit after tax for the period grew 18% year-on-year to INR 1,950 crore, with PAT margins at 9.38%. Our subsidy receivables and subsidy flows, we received a subsidy of around INR 2,048 crore during the quarter as compared to INR 1,592 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
During FY 2026, our subsidy receipts stood at approximately INR 12,276 crore, broadly in line with INR 11,945 crore received in the same period during last year. As of March 31st, 2026, total receivables stood at about INR 2,075 crore, comprising market debtors of INR 121 crore and subsidy receivables of INR 1,954 crore. Coming to segmental performance, our urea segment delivered stable performance. Urea revenues in the quarter came in at about INR 2,432 crore, an increase of 8%. EBIT margins improved significantly to about 7.83%.
Sales volume was marginally higher at 6.72 lakh metric tons as compared to 6.3 lakh metric tons in the same quarter. During FY 2026, we saw a minor decline in the urea segment at around revenue being to INR 12,566 crore, lower by 5%, while EBIT margins remained steady at 14.6% growth. The sales volumes declined 2% to stand at 34.06 lakh metric tons as compared to 34.7 lakh metric tons last year.
In the complex fertilizer segment, revenues increased significantly to over INR 323 crore in the quarter, reflecting year-on-year increase of 94%. Sales volume also rose 0.65 lakh metric tons compared to 0.3 lakh metric tons, reflecting strong demand and steady increasing adoption of balanced fertilizers. Complex fertilizer segment continued to outperform during FY 2026, with revenues increasing sharply to INR 7,025 crore, reflecting year-on-year growth of 175%.
Sales volume increased 12.31 lakh metric tons during FY 2026 as compared to 5.64 lakh metric tons, led by strong growth in DAP, TSP, and NPK fertilizers. EBIT margins stood at around 4% during FY 2026. The CPC specialty nutrients and seed segment witnessed a decline in performance in this quarter. Revenues lowered by 21% year-on-year.
Our EBIT margins remained healthy. For FY 2026, the segment reserve delivered strong performance, revenues increasing by 30% year-on-year to INR 1,203 crore as compared to INR 926 crore in FY 2025, and EBIT margins remained healthy at around 23.5%. Our joint venture, IMACID, is performing well. The increase in P2O5 production capacity from 5 lakh metric tons- 7 lakh metric tons is expected to be implemented in December 2026.
For the sulfuric acid capacity is also being increased, which is expected to be implemented a year ahead in FY 2027. Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of INR 6 per share, totaling to INR 11 per equity share for FY 2026. Overall, FY 2026 reflected resilient execution across our core and value-added businesses despite a volatile global operating environment. While the urea business continued to provide operational stability and healthy cash flows, the complex fertilizer segment delivered strong growth driven by DAP, TSP, and NPK volumes.
At the same time, our crop protection chemicals, specialty nutrients, and biologicals business continued to scale up well, improving contribution, product expansion, and increasing farmer adoption. Progress in technical Ammonium Nitrate project continued investment in sustainable agriculture solutions further strengthen the diversification and long-term growth profile of our operating portfolio. With this, I would like it hand to back to the moderator and open for question and answer set. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin with the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star then two. Participants, you are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. A reminder to all, you may press star and one to ask a question. We will take the first question from the line of Aman Kothari from Aequitas Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Am I audible? Hello?
Yes, you are audible.
Yeah. Firstly, congratulations, sir, on the wonderful set of results. Sir, the first question that I have is, I think the last time we talked, you said the gas costs were above INR 20. Can you give us an idea what the current gas costs are looking like for the first quarter?
They will be around the same number. We are still in the midst of the quarter. Currently, what I understand it is INR 18+, INR 18.5+. It may be around the same number.
Okay. sir, this quarter we have seen a jump in receivables. I think, we've raised almost from INR 367, INR 2,000 crore- INR 2,075 receivables, and we have also seen an increase in short-term borrowing. Can you give us an idea on what those are?
These are some short-term, as far as short-term borrowings are concerned, these are small, cash flow mismatches which happen, but they will be eventually evened out during the course of the year. The company is more or less, on a stable keel as far as finances are concerned, as you know.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
As far as the increase in receivables are concerned, we have a process called escalation and de-escalation. Sometimes what happens is that the government have compensated us on a base of a higher gas number, that continues. When you are actually consuming at a lower cost, you tend to accumulate cash because you get more subsidy than what you would be actually spending.
Reverse starts happening if they have de-recognized that subsidy or taken it back. You get a different set of equations. Secondly, as we go forward, as you know that the prices are going up from the base- There will be some forms of escalation, which we have taken up with the government to give us, interim relief in terms of cash flow. I am very hopeful that the government will look into this very favorably.
Sir, if we see the gas prices elevated for the rest of the year, do you think that this could be a problem that could pop up and continue probably till the end of the year?
I See, there is a cycle. First of all, what they give is a provisional price for the previous.
Yeah.
Which is applicable for the next one or two quarters. What we are going to tell them, in fact, what the industry is continuously telling them is that there has been a dollar increase, there's a gas price increase.
Yeah.
Can you give us interim relief pending final calculations, which I think they are very sympathetic to hearing to. That's what, we are hopeful that we will be able to manage this issue. Not a big problem.
Okay. Sir, right now I think we are all aware that government is running a bit thin on its reserve. We today saw the petrol and diesel price increase. We are seeing the other, you know, expenditures that they'll have to make in terms of phosphating and for urea also. Do you think that situation like the last time we had this in 2022, 2023 could arrive, let's say, in terms of receivables bloating up?
No, I don't think that is going to happen. This government in particular are very clear that fertilizer is a very, very important sector to support. We have seen the kind of support that they are giving.
Yeah.
In terms of, purchasing at very even higher costs. There is a clear focus on, farmer being a very important element of the economy. This support, I think, is likely to continue despite the costs. I would hazard a guess as to how much the amount of increase in subsidy is going to be. I hear from, the concerned quarters that whatever it takes is the word line there. Whatever it takes to support the segment will be available.
Got it. For the TAN, I think April 30th is the commencing, and I think you gave the update on the same. At this current year, do you see the capacity reaching to 75%-80% that we could have done in a year?
Yes, definitely that Mr. Narinder Goyal has promised me that by all means he will add 75%, 80%. That is his commitment to me.
Yes, Abhay Baijal.
It is his commitment to me, and I am sure that he will meet that commitment.
I'm sure sir you're aware TAN prices are up by 40%. We've had Russia also pulling up from putting a curb on the TAN exports to India.
We keep a tab on what's happening in the market. Mr. Misra keeps me, gives me a daily report on what the daily prices of, are.
Sure. Got it. Sir, just last question. This year we had a very good growth in terms of complex fertilizers, particularly DAP, NPK and TSP. Do you think in this year, in terms of volumes, do you see that we'll be able to deliver a growth on this? Because there will be limited availability, let's say you said just at the current prices that are elevated.
No, you are very right that this year's availability, especially in the phosphatic segment, is likely to be constrained. We do hope that their better sense will prevail in terms of it is not a question of production, it is a question of logistics. First of all, let's understand that. We have many ships, about 28 or 29 ships, which are stuck up in the Hormuz.
They are carrying material, they are there loaded up and so on. It is more a question of logistics than production. That is firstly one thing to understand. That means if we have an opening up of the Hormuz in the next one month or so, even if we take a delayed, you know, adjustment because the shipping takes some time to adjust.
Yeah.
In three months time, things should return to normal. That is one thing. Secondly, as far as Chambal is concerned, we did make some strategic purchases very big early in the beginning of the year, and we are covered at least till July, August in terms of our stocks.
For complex fertilizers?
Yes.
Got it. Sir, just last question. I think in the last concall you hit upon a new CapEx that we could be looking at and a substantial CapEx. I think there were two, three ideas that you guys had in mind. I think first one was the urea, a new plant that we could set up or a TAN expansion or a new product line. Is there any further guidance you would like to give on the same?
The only guidance I would give is that the government looking to the situation that is there are very, very serious in terms of pushing out a policy to attract investment. For our part, we are very ready in the sense that we have land. We have the environmental clearance. I am happy to report to you on that issue. We have the water requirements tied up, and we have already started talking to the technology suppliers.
TPC?
Some of them have visited our plant. We are ready. The moment the government pushes the button, within five, six months we'll be on the block to run to this particular situation. That is one. Secondly, what you talked about, the TAN and so on, they will be subsequent developments, but we are also ready with that in terms of making an analysis-
Yes.
...where and how we should put that plant. That is in the works, and I will not be able to reveal much more on that. As far as the fourth plant in terms of urea are concerned, we are very, very advanced in terms of execution of this.
Okay. Got it. Thank you so much, sir. I will just join back in line.
Yeah.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Prashant from [Biyani]. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, this quarter we have seen a significant growth in EBITDA per ton for urea. What has led to this sharp jump in the quarter? How to ascertain this quarterly volatility in EBITDA per ton? Because for the last three quarters it has been more or less flat, but we have seen a sudden jump in Q4.
No, it is more to do with the product mix. We do know that we do sell a certain amount of ammonia, so we had better margins there.
How much was the ammonia volume for this quarter?
Okay, that you will discuss offline with Mr. Anuj Jain.
It was primarily because of maybe higher volume and price of ammonia?
No, no, it is not. There is a price increase, no doubt. Of course production of urea was also there. The sales of urea also was higher by about 30,000 tons, 40,000 tons. All of that taken together.
Sir, regarding urea volume, two years back, same quarter, we had more or less same number of urea sold.
Yeah, because so-
EBITDA per ton was half.
You know, sometimes what happens is that you are doing maybe two plants at that time in terms of annual turnaround. Debits of that nature also occur. This year we did one plant, not two. That has impacted, although we had planned to do something much earlier, but we did not do because of gas shortage and so on. That debit in terms of the cost of repair and maintenance also went on a smaller base, it makes a bigger difference in terms of percentages.
Right. sir, this entire year we had around 3.4 million tons of urea sales. Last year it was 3.47 million tons. Would we be touching around 3.5 million tons this year? Is that in the realm of reality?
We had to have two shutdowns. This year was in the end of the year, and then in the beginning of the year, we are currently undergoing one shutdown for Gadepan-I. Which is a slightly longish shutdown, which will tend to be happening till about June, middle June. The number that is there that we are going to do is more or less the same, although we'll ramp up and try and ramp up once the once we have completed the turnaround, run it at a little higher rate. We are confident that we will do better than last year, but whether we'll touch 3.5 million tons, we will have to. It's a touch and go there, but we will definitely exceed what we did this year.
Sir, how much would be urea inventory with the company at the end of FY 2026?
It's about INR 1.30 lakh around.
Okay. Sir, for quarter one, till date, how much of our quarterly requirement of gas for all the three plants combined we are getting from the government or from the GAIL and other OMCs?
No, we have no issues in terms of gas availability as of now, thanks to very active procurement by the government, which for which I should thank them. They have really been proactive on this issue.
I'll jump back to the queue.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Manas Belekar from SR Equities. Please go ahead.
Yes, thanks for the opportunity. As we commission the TAN plant, can you throw some light on the TAN and WNA, as this will be the important chapter for the CFCL for the future growth? Can you give some idea about what will be the EBITDA margin range for the TAN when we will operate at the full capacity? And how does the market for the TAN looks like?
I'll start with the last question first. The market for TAN is buoyant, I would say. The demand is there. You know that the continued emphasis on mining and infrastructure and all that is a strong growth driver for this particular for this particular segment of the market. My view is that we, for this year at least, we do not have any issues in terms of the demand.
As somebody just said before this, the questioner before this had made the comment about Russia not supplying so that the import market is also a little short. On this basis, I don't think there is an issue in terms of the demand as such. Second part that you questioned in terms of what would be the EBITDA, I think our budgeted numbers are very well there. In fact, they will be exceeded in terms of what the margins could be. That's my feeling at the moment.
Oh, for sure. Secondly, are we expecting the high working capital requirement for next quarter due to these high gas prices? Because as you mentioned in the starting comment that the government increased the price for the subsidy by 12%. Is it par with our cost we incur or it is below our cost?
No, I, if I could understand what you are saying, Mr. Belekar, is that you are talking about the India price or you are talking about-
Which stock?
...NPK?
Urea.
Urea. If you understand this business, this is basically a cost plus kind of business. Government recognizes the cost, and therefore, in terms of higher prices of gas, except for that impact on working capital, we are able to pass on the cost to the government in the form of subsidy, increased subsidy. It would not be a problem for us.
Oh, sure. That's from my all side. I'm best with this for the future growth. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all, you may press star and one to ask a question. We have the next question from the line of Sandeep Mukherjee from SKP Securities Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. Sir, what was the actual Gcal of G 1 and G 2 and G 3, G 1 + G 2 and G 3 for the quarter, for the full year, sorry?
Could you repeat that, please?
Sir, what was the actual energy consumption Gcal per metric ton for G 1 and G 2 and G 3 for the year?
They're definitely below the government norms by a percentage, good percentage. Normally, we do not reveal these numbers publicly, but we are well below the established norms. Therefore, a certain amount of energy gain does accrue to us.
Right, sir. Sir, can you tell the sales volume of G 1, G 2, G 3 for the quarter?
I will ask Mr. Anuj Jain to answer this question.
Sales volume for the quarter, in the quarter G 1 was 2.67 lakh ton. G 2 is 1.52 lakh ton, and G 3 is 2.53 lakh ton.
Okay, sir. Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Vishal Thakur from Balaji Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah, good morning, sir. I just wanted to ask you about, with the current capacity, new capacity coming up, can you give me some guidance about the turnover you're expecting in this financial year?
Which-
The new.
...capacity are you talking?
The new expansion you have done which is coming up today. The production is going to start today.
That you are talking about TAN?
TAN, yeah. TAN, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. TAN, we normally our production level is about 700 tons per day.
Okay.
Assuming that we are able to start, we'll start with WNA production.
Nitric acid.
Nitric acid. It goes to MELT production, it goes to HDAN, which will come by the end of the month or a little bit later than that. Let's assume that we have got about nine months production to be very conservative. We are saying that we have roughly about 160,000-170,000 tons of production would be possible.
sir, can you give me some revenue guidance roughly or It can add to the-
At that this is a very volatile product in terms of pricing. Somebody just said that the TAN prices are up by 40%. Normally they used to. Revenue guidance is dependent on what the number is. Our budgeted number normally for this is about-
38%.
...about INR 37,000-INR 38,000 a ton. That is the normal number that you might think about.
Okay. Thank you. Are you also looking at this year any buyback? Also you are thinking about coming up with buyback because we do see promoters buying back the shares in last quarter, so are you looking at buyback and considering buyback?
There's no such proposal on the table as of now.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Viraj from Simpl. Please go ahead.
Yeah. First question is on the TAN. Would you be able to reach a 60%, 70% or even higher utilization in the first year itself? Any color on the market dynamics, you know, given challenges on imports of TAN into the market. Is the market right now very tight or, you know, how would you describe the market structure right now?
Market at the moment is short. I think the people want material and in fact, the sooner we get it to the market, the better. That's what the issue is. That is one. The second is that going forward, it depends on what the geopolitical situation pans out at and what will be the stance of Russia in terms of exports and But I can say there is an underlying growth in about 6%-7% in the explosive segment, and therefore, that translates back into ammonium nitrate increase. It, it's about 6%-7%, and it's a healthy growth, I would say, given that we are already at 1.2 million tons or so of demand.
If we are saying 6%-7% growth, we are talking about 70,000 tons per year add on year to all year, that kind of number. As of now, I don't think it is more a question of how we produce and how we place it in the market and what is our connect with the customers and so on. There's enough room for everybody to play at the moment.
In the first year, should we expect or close to full utilization?
We have a track record that we know how to run continuous process, chemical plants. It all depends on how we successfully commission it, which I'm very hopeful that we will be doing it. We have the best technology. We have a brand new equipment, and we have a competent team to operate it. I don't see, in terms of production, why we should have an issue. That's certainly not a constraint.
In terms of, key feedstock and raw material availability, especially for urea or be it for TAN, do you think you are covered well for the Kharif and rest of the year?
I couldn't get you, but I thought you were talking about raw material availability. For this is basically ammonia. Ammonia is self-produced in our case because we have got three plants producing ammonia, and we have about 4%, 3%-4% , 5% surplus on account of technical reasons. We don't see any shortfall coming from that side as far as TAN is concerned. We are there in terms of quantities for matching quantities for ammonia.
On urea, sir?
On urea, of course, gas is the main component. We first make ammonia, then we make urea. As I've told you that the government are very proactive in getting the gas for the-
Fertilizer.
...plants, fertilizer plants. That I don't think is also a constraint. It's only a question of price.
Okay. Given where the prices are for urea and ammonia, do you think that, you know, it would be remunerative for you to produce, you know, above REC, you know, any color you can give?
No. I would suggest that you also have a look at where the IPP for-
Yeah.
...urea is. It is $900, sir. Way, way above. It is not a problem in terms of production beyond REC.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We will take the next follow-up question from the line of Aman Kothari from Aequitas Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. So sir, I think you had mentioned some cost structure and how we would be going about urea plant. Can you just help me understand if we are potentially setting up a new urea plant, how would the project costs go, and how would we look at funding it?
See, we have checked around and what has been happening in the sector lately. The prices will be INR 9,500 crore- INR 10,000 crore. That is the upper bound as far as brownfield projects are concerned.
For 1.4 million tons?
for 1.3 million tons, roughly the same.
Okay.
Now that, you know the balance sheet of Chambal-
Yeah.
...there is much of a challenge in funding that. That is one.
Yeah.
Second of all, in terms of the government policy, now that is the open question, what exactly they are going to offer on the plate. Whatever other information that we have and we have been discussing, it's a doable project.
Got it.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all, you may press star and one to ask a question. We will take the next follow-up question from the line of Prashant from [Biyani]. Please go ahead.
Sir, what would be the CapEx number for FY 2027, and what would be the areas of investment?
FY 2027, there would be some balance expense on account of the TAN project of course, and plus there would be the normal routine CapEx of the order of about INR 170 crore-INR 180 crore, which is there every year. Which are in terms of either replacement or new more efficient equipment such as, for instance, steam turbines or CO2 compressors and so on. So those are the standard kind of INR 160 crore-INR 170 crore that we spend.
What is the balancing amount in TAN?
Total put together should be around INR 500 crore. Balance, I mean, urea and TAN put together.
Okay. Sir, once we commission WNA, we would be taking some time to start ANS and HDAN. Is it that, we will store WNA till the time we produce HDAN or we will sell WNA in the market?
Obviously, we'll sell it in the market. There's a ready and good market for WNA at the moment. I don't think there is. Yes, you are right that there is a sequential commissioning in this process. Our plants on both sides are more or less ready. As you know that we have to run two dry runs both sides and then commission and so on. It will take a little bit of time. We are there. As far as the most important component of the plant is WNA itself.
Right. sir, have we also evaluated making automotive grade urea? while it may does not come under the subsidy regime, but, 75% of India's requirement is imported. Any thoughts if you have ever evaluated, on this?
No, it is definitely possible with our plants, at least one stream or two streams we can take out to do that. We are in fact, having some very, very preliminary discussions on this issue. We are telling the government also that you should allow us to do this.
Technical grade.
Technical grade urea for automotive purpose. It is very nascent. I would not put any, you know, I won't give a timeline onto this. That depends on government policy.
We would require government approval because gas has to be supplied through them.
Yeah, yeah. Obviously, obviously this is a requirement that they would allow us like they have allowed, for instance, GNFC and GSFC to do that.
Sir, any clarity on G3 profitability starting next calendar year?
What I can say is that, what I said last time, that the government are seized of the matter. The file has started. We have had one or two preliminary discussions. Too premature to give you any guidance on this, but it is moving. That much I can say because we have to be in this regime from December 1st onwards. The government are quite aware. Currently they are a little busy with other things, as you know, in terms of sourcing and so on. I'm sure in the fullness of time, maybe within a few, maybe one month or so, we'll engage more effectively with the government on these issues.
Just lastly, how much would be the net cash on balance sheet?
I think at the end of the year, we were balanced with both, I think it was INR0, INR 0 almost.
Around.
Net cash was, whatever cash on the books was more or less counter, by the amount of, short-term borrowing. Somebody asked that question in the very beginning. This is a fluctuating number. Once our subsidies get released in the first quarter and so on, this will go down. I am sure we are already surplus, as Anuj informs me. We are already surplus.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you. We will take the next follow-up question from the line of Aman Kothari from Aequitas Investments. Please go ahead.
Sir, I think, you had also mentioned something about setting up a phosphatic fertilizer business, primarily in a manufacturing side. Has there been a push by the government that you've seen for, you know, increasing these capacities also?
The government are I know informally talking, I cannot say anything about this, and it would not be proper for me to say this, that they are thinking of something on this area as well. We have, as I've said, in terms of phosphatic capacity, we are and we remain very keen on this. There are two or three important issues which need to be sorted out in this sector, apart from of course the scale and.
DAP pricing.
The value addition. Huh?
The DAP pricing.
I couldn't get. What did you say?
Yeah, I just meant that DAP pricing is also an issue.
No, no. DAP pricing is definitely an issue. More than that are issues with respect to GST, for instance, in this sector.
Okay.
which is quite a problematic area which they have to sort out. We have been at it for quite some time with them. That's a tax issue which is easily sorted, but they have to rework their entire GST around this particular sector. That is one part. The second part is the upfront investment vis-a-vis the value add, which you rightly said is suppressed because of controlled pricing. We'll have to see a situation where we are relatively free in terms of pricing power before we can take this forward.
These two things, I think, are the important issues which we are waiting for in terms of production inland. Our thoughts are not only limited to India, by the way. That is something that, as we have said, hinted in the past, this is something that remains an ongoing issue. We have had one or two engagements with somebody who could provide us possibilities outside India, and that is an ongoing affair. At the moment, we have had a breakoff due to this Gulf War situation and all that.
Yeah.
We are ready to engage at some point of time in very near future on this issue.
Sir, that would be a JV kind of a structure that we'll be looking outside?
Yes, sir.
Got it. Sir, last question on the CPC and biologic segment. I know we are gearing up with product launches for this year. What do you think is the strategy or the outlook that we have for this segment? How big do you think that we can get it in the next two, three years? Considering, I think last quarter you had mentioned multiple international companies that you were talking to, Nutrien, Corteva, Syngenta. How are you thinking about this segment?
I would tell you that Nutrien are already more or less, done in terms of, engagement. We have got, long-term agreements more or less in place. We'll be starting with their products, very soon.
Sir, those would be potash products?
No, no. They are specialized, nutrient use efficiency products.
Okay.
Yeah, somebody should understand that the agriculture is moving in a different direction.
Yeah.
It is no longer bulk. It is more precision. It is more specific to soil conditions. It is also very specific to nutrient use efficiency and application capabilities. We have to now move from a very generic to kind of specialized agricultural inputs. That is the way it is going, and we have to work with some of the international companies to bring products that really work.
One of them is what we are going to do. It's called, I think, Uttam Carbonates or something, which we are coming in with Nutrien. It's content to increase the carbon content in the soil. It will improve the nutrient use efficiency. These kind of products. Plus Corteva, we are already there with them in terms of some of their products we are already co-marketing.
Got it. Sir, how big do you think this could get for us in terms of an output?
Well, when we were talking to Nutrien, they said that, "Look, what is the total market in India?" We indicated in the region of $1 billion by the next five years. You can understand what kind of percentage they would be looking for. Maybe 10%-
Yeah.
...would make a very large number.
Yeah. Got it, sir. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen you may press star and one to ask a question. As a reminder you may press star one to ask a question. Thank you very much. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference back to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, Purvangi. I would like to thank you all for joining the call today and hope we were able to address all your queries. If you have any further questions, you can reach out to our IR partners at Valorem Advisors. Thank you once again for participating in the call.
Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of Valorem Advisors, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.