Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Jindal Stainless Q1 FY 2026 earnings conference call hosted by Motilal Oswal. 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 touchstone port. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Alok Deora from Motilal Oswal. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you and welcome everyone to the Earnings Conference Call for Jindal Stainless . I would first like to thank the management for giving us the opportunity to host the call. From the management team, we have with us today Mr. Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director, Mr. Tarun Khulbe, CEO, CFO, and Whole-time Director, and Ms. Shreya Sharma, Head of Investor Relations. To start with, I'll hand over the call to Shreya and pose the introduction by Mr. Jindal. You can take up the Q&A. Over to you, Shreya.
Thank you, Alok. Good evening, everyone, and a warm welcome on Q1 FY 2026 Earnings Call. We have here the Q1 FY 2026 earnings presentation with the topic changes, which is also available on the company's website. Today's call discussion will be on the same line. Please note some of the information on this call may be forward-looking in nature and is covered by the disclaimer on slide 2 of the earnings presentation. Now, I would like to hand it over to our Managing Director, Mr. Abhyuday Jindal. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Shreya, and a very good evening to everyone and welcome to our earnings call. I will first describe the key business highlights for the quarter ending June 2025, following which Mr. Khulbe will take you through our operational and financial performance. Building on the positive momentum from last quarter, our sales volume in Q1 FY 2-26 grew by 8% year-on-year and remained steady quarter- on- quarter, mainly supported by sustained domestic demand. Focusing on specific segments, auto sector deliveries increased on account of specia l-grade materials, with segments such as lift elevators , railways, white goods also delivering a healthy performance in the quarter. Our special product division continued to support the momentum, contributing across key applications. Overall, domestically, we're witnessing increased adoption of stainless steel in large scale infrastructure projects such as metro rail, airports, railways, among others, signaling a growing shift towards long-term sustainable materials used in public infrastructure.
The global trade environment, as we all know, is extremely dynamic, driven by tariff disruptions and ongoing realignment of global trade flows. Amidst challenging global trade conditions, we are strategically prioritizing the domestic markets, which offers compelling opportunities to maintain our growth momentum. Our flexible market strategy supports our commitment towards volume growth. I'm happy to share that owing to the success of our co-branding initiative in the pipe and tube sector, which supported our growth in this segment, the Jindal Saathi campaign is now extended to kitchenware and sink categories. This initiative reinforces our commitment to quality and will lead to enhanced business opportunities. In the context of trade measures, the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association has submitted an application to DGTR on behalf of the stainless steel industry, seeking action on certain cold rolled stainless steel flat products from China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Considering the increasing adoption of trade protection measures worldwide, we trust appropriate measures will be adopted to curb the injury to domestic industry. On the sustainability front, we continue to make strong progress towards decarbonization. In FY 2025, we achieved a 14% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 of GHG emissions through our ongoing initiatives. Reaffirming our commitment to sustainability and safety, we received the LEED Platinum Certification, the highest level of certification under the globally recognized LEED Green Building Rating System. In addition, we are fully compliant with CBAM's quarterly reporting requirements and remain strongly committed to reducing our CO2 emissions. As the framework evolves, we remain agile and dedicated to staying ahead of compliant obligations, ensuring we continue to serve the European market with confidence, transparency, and a strong focus on sustainability. With this, I would like to hand over to Mr. Khulbe to discuss our operational and financial performance.
Thank you, Abhyuday. Good day, everyone. Welcome to the call. I would like to begin by providing a detailed overview of our operational and financial performance. Our deliveries exceeded 602,625 metric tons in Q1, an increase of 8% on a year-on-year basis, but remained flat QoQ. Our Q1 EBITDA increased 8% YoY and 23% QoQ to INR 1,310 crores, while our CapEx stood at INR 715 crores, an increase of 11% YoY and 21% on QoQ basis. During the quarter, we benefited from an enhanced product mix, which increased volumes of value-added products and special grades. Our digitization initiatives, including the Stainless mart and QR code loyalty program for pipe and tube, are leading to seamless customer experience and driving deeper customer engagement. Other initiatives, such as the Stainless Academy and Fabricator Training Program build a robust ecosystem to support the stainless steel usage across industries.
On the balance sheet side, there is an improvement in our net debt position with a reduction in net debt to INR 3,869 crores as on June 30, 2025, underscoring our ongoing emphasis in maintaining a healthy balance sheet. The prudent approach positions us well to navigate the prevailing global macro-economic headwinds. This is also being reflected in our leverage ratio, which remains comfortably stable with a net debt-EBITDA ratio of 0.81, well below 1, and net- debt- to- equity of 0.22. On the subsidiary front, revenue continues to ramp up in line with our expectations, with capacity utilization reaching approximately 60%-65% in Q1 FY 2026. Our other subsidiaries have also delivered a satisfactory performance in terms of capital contribution and growth levels. Meanwhile, our SMS project in Indonesia is progressing well and remains on- track within the defined timeline.
Looking ahead, we remain confident in the continued growth of domestic stainless-steel demand, driven by strong economic activity and infrastructure-led consumption, reflecting a broader shift towards long-term sustainable material use in public infrastructure. This brings my remarks to a close. I would now like to hand it over to the moderator to begin the question and answer session.
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 the touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Amit Dixit from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good evening, everyone, and thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations for a good performance in very interesting quarter. A couple of questions from my side, sir. The first one is essentially on if you could highlight the performance, particularly of Rathi, and the on progress of ongoing CapEx at Jajpur plant, with respect to downstream capacity and logistics infrastructure that we mentioned earlier. That would be very helpful.
Rathi, now we are almost running at 80%-85% of capacity utilization. While definitely our original plan was to produce more of rebar from here and sell it, so far, we have not been able to do so. The majority of our production, almost 70% of the production, is a wire rod. Our endeavor is to get more and more into rebar, and that is what as a company we are continuously making efforts.
Generally, during the monsoon period anyway, as we all know, construction infrastructure projects do take a slowdown. The same way, Rathii, for rebar side, we saw the slowdown, which we expect next coming quarter to pick up now. Also, in some private places, we can see that some people showing interest even in the stainless steel rebar for the building purpose as well.
On the CapEx front, so far as the spending is concerned, we had given a guidance of around INR 2,700 crores CapEx for this FY 2026. Out of that, in Q1, we have already done INR 665 crores. Broadly, all the CapEx are in line with the timeline that has been given earlier. Basically, our downstream, as you were asking, in FY 2027 is what we had given the number. Broadly, they are so far, they are on- track.
They are as of now, they're all on- track.
Wonderful. I'm glad to hear that. The second one is a very interesting point you have made in the press release that we are supplying to defense, particularly the stainless steel required for ATGMs. Now, considering that in India, defense is catching a lot more traction, particularly with respect to marine platforms or even aerospace or missiles, do you see this particular segment as something very promising for us? If you could just draw a sense of.
Absolutely. It is still in terms of low in volume, if I can say, but very high in value and extremely prestigious also. We have always been a company to support our country. We have to be self-sufficient (Atmanirbhar). We should not be depending on special grades from outside India. We do see it as becoming an important division of ours.
I know you can't divulge a lot of details with respect to defense, but if you could highlight the best, are we carrying some R&D here? Are we developing some new grades? Broadly, what are the platforms you are looking to cater to in the future?
It is a mix of all, Amit. It is also currently substituting certain grades that are being imported. As always, our R&D team is working on new variants, better performance grades in a lot of applications. I mean, we are catering to all three. R&D also, aviation also, navy as well, and even aerospace, ISRO and HAL. We are present. Again, the volume is still relatively small.
Okay. Great, thanks and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. First, congratulations for a good set of numbers. Sir, just trying to appreciate a quarterly improvement in EBITDA per ton. Like one can think of a few variables. One is Chromeni. Second is probably product mix, which could probably also include CR to HR ratio, which might have improved because of Chromeni. Third could be potentially inventory gains or probably a reason to have losses, probably what we had in Q4 into Q1 that could have reversed. Fourth could be 200, 300, 400 change in mix. Can you help us understand basically broadly these four variables and any other variables which would have contributed to improvement and spread on a sequential basis please ?
You have answered the question extremely well, Ritesh. These are the main factors. Q4 was abnormally low. Q4 of last year was abnormally low because of these factors, you know, like you were mentioning. In Q1, there has been a healthy increase of our CR capacity due to Chromeni, which definitely impacts. There's been increase in special grade sales into auto, lift elevator, white goods sector. That is why we are seeing improvement.
For that reason, when you have a guidance, even after Q4, we maintain INR 19,000-INR 21,000.
Yes. After Q4 of last year, we did not dip our guidance, and we maintained it because Q4 was an aberration quarter totally. Now we're quite confident of delivering these numbers.
Sir, would it be possible for you to indicate some numbers on CR to HR volumetric mix, Chromeni contribution at the EBITDA level? Third is basically what was inventory loss. Is there any inventory gain in this particular quarter?
In terms of Chromeni, definitely, I think now we're at 65% capacity utilization, and every month we should see that increase.
In H2, we tend to take it to around 80%-85%.
80%-85% by H2 of this year. From an EBITDA perspective, you know, we give always a blended number. We're sticking to that between INR 19,000-INR 21,000. We're still likely to stick to that.
CR to HR, for where we are aware, the aspiration is for these?
If we compare from Q4 to Q1, in the CR, almost 12% increase, we have already done. As we said that once Chromeni further ramps up, this number should go to 15%- 20% over Q4. And. In terms of in CR to CR increase.
Aspirationally, our target is to take our total CR capacity to at least 75% of our melting capacity. That is an aspiration, but that will take a few years, and what CapEx we're doing is in tune or in line with that.
Sure. Sir, my second question was, I wanted an update on the blast furnace 2 million ton, which is under the promoter entity. Any update over here? I just wanted to tie this thing up because once this furnace comes, we had the optionality to use more NPIs. I don't know the timelines. To my knowledge, it was August 2025. Are we on schedule and how will it impact the cost curve for Jindal Stainless going forward?
Ritesh, you know, it's still very early to answer these questions. There has been a certain little bit of a delay in our blast furnace operation. Being a private entity, I would like to take this maybe offline with you.
Sure. Just one question, last question on CapEx priorities. We had deferred RVPL and HRAP. What is the status over there? Anything incremental on Maharashtra expansion, what we had spoken about in the last call?
HRAP is on track. Like we said, by FY 2027, maybe H2 of FY 2027, our HRAP line should be commissioning. The Maharashtra project, like we said, land acquisition is on- track, and things are progressing smoothly there as well.
Thank you. I'll join back to qeueu for more questions. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ritesh.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vikas Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, this is coming in task to the Maharashtra project. Since you're already acquiring land, have you something in mind that in the first place, what kind of capacity is it you are going to put up, and what could be the potential CapEx for this?
In Maharashtra, whatever we have announced that the capacity will come in phases , in the module of 1 million, 1 million ton, this is what we have already stated. This information is there. Up to 4 million tons is what we have announced. We still intend to build it that way. Of course, five years is also a long time. If we see demand-supply situation changing, maybe then we can accordingly amend our plans and handle the things accordingly. Right now, all the things are open. It has to be tied up.
Basically, Mr. Khulbe is saying our Maharashtra plans as we were announced are still remaining intact. At a large level, there's going to be a 4 million ton project that we're targeting. Again, depending on market conditions, depending on global uncertainty or opportunities, we can either expedite it also or, if required, delay it also. Looking at all things positive, we would like to stick to our timelines.
That's what I understand. I just wanted to know this Phase-1 of 1 million ton, have you finalized any initial CapEx for the Phase-1 ?
No. No CapEx has been finalized, but we are targeting FY 2029-2030.
Noted.
As soon as our plans are ready, because we would like to take all our shareholders through it, we will come with a proper announcement and interaction.
Noted. Sir, this quarter, JUSL numbers EBITDA suddenly jumped sharply, which also was one of the reasons for the poor performance? Is there anything, what has happened actually because volumes didn't seem to be growing at the same pace?
JUSL, I mean, I believe all of us know that this is, first of all, it is 100% subsidiary to JUSL . JUSL works on a forward model. Because we have already announced our volume growth of 9%- 10% with the guidance we have given, and because company is performing, in line with that, JUSL performance is also reflecting similar.
I was comparing on the sequential basis. It went from INR 172 crores- INR 192 crores, but the volume from sequential basis is actually slightly down. If you could just elaborate what has actually contributed to that jump?
Yeah, in that, also through JUSL, some materials we also sell beyond tolling . Some changes in that impacted. Broadly, whatever the numbers you are seeing, we believe that the similar kind of performance can be maintained.
Understood, sir. Sir, lastly, on our Indonesian venture, if you could give us an update on the NPI as well as the other 1 million ton facility which we're putting up. Some update on those.
On that shop, I will say that it is in line with whatever we have announced. We had given that in FY 2026 and FY 2027, so we believe this is progressing well. As far as NPI is concerned, there we are producing. We are ramping up and jumped up to a certain state. Yes, nickel fluctuations are there, and because of that, as far as EBITDA is concerned, we see it in the range of 500 to 1,500, but fluctuating because things are a bit floating on that side of the market, whether it is nickel or, I mean, so many things are happening on that front. I will repeat that business for us is also a raw material security, and we see it that way also to that business.
Noted, sir. That's all from myself, and thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, please press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Parthiv Jhonsa from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Before we dive into the questions, I just wanted to get a quick breakup on the 200, 300, and 400 series for the Q1.
Yeah, sure, Parthiv. For this quarter, I did it out in the sequence of 200, 300, and 400. There was 36%, 46%, and 18%.
Okay, thank you, Shreya My first question is pertaining to the potential so-called anti-dumping duty. Any timeline you can give us pertaining to the anti-dumping duty? What can we expect? What not to expect on this particular topic?
I can give you the latest updates. DGTR allocated the officials, two officials to the case who are evaluating and have raised certain clarifications from the industry. The industry is collating all the responses and clarifying them. Generally, the standard duration for completion is approximately one year. Considering the increase in adoption of trade protection measures worldwide, industry is hopeful of the earliest initiation followed by recommendation. To summarize, they have allocated officials to start the process. The question-answer kind of clarifications are on, and we're quite hopeful within the next couple of months, investigation should start.
All right. The next question pertains to the current status and also, especially from the U.S., considering multiple global headwinds, especially from U.S. and EU geographies. We really appreciate that you have kept your lead guidance unchanged. I believe the change in export definitely has come back on the realization. Is the understanding right? If so, what can we fetch from this, that what can be the differential in export and domestic? What kind of impact can it have?
Like we've been saying for the last couple of years, actually, our focus is primarily domestic and EBITDA maximization. Export has never been a compulsion of ours. Export, we are continuing to supply our long-term customers that we have built over many decades. Those are the only ones that, you know, we would like to continue to support. Our focus is EBITDA maximization. Currently, domestic market is where we are seeing maximum opportunity, maximum demand also coming in. That is going to be our primary focus. Like I said, export is not a compulsion. If we see some good opportunity, then only we would like to export. Otherwise, we will continue to service our domestic market.
Of course, if I may just raise one more, just wanted to get your guidance on the nickel and for the coming quarters and also on EBITDA pattern , considering you have said really well in Q1. Also, your JUSL target is expected to remain around the same level going forward. If you can just give some drive, would you tend to change your EBITDA pattern guidance slightly higher going forward, or you'll still keep it in fact about INR 19,000-INR 21,000 level?
At the moment, we will stick to INR 19,000-INR 21,000. If we see certain things changing, then we'll come with a revised guidance as we always do. We would like to stick to that. What was your first part of the question?
Your outlook on nickel, sir? How do you perceive the prices going forward ?
It's very difficult to, you know, really predict nickel, but we expect it to remain at the current level. It's been hovering between, let's say, INR 14,000-INR 16,000, and our expectation is that it should remain at this level.
All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity.
I would also mention, we never take a position on nickel. We always work on natural hedging, and that is how we will continue.
Sure. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sagar Sahu from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to get your sense on what has been happening with imports from China in the last few months, and if implementation of BIS norms has had any impact. Thank you.
This is true that the government, the BIS, and also the Ministry of Steel have come out with some clarifications on the QCO requirements where the ingredient product also should be BIS compliant. Also, the BIS has been made mandatory on certain downstream products as well. All this definitely has put some restriction on the inferior quality products getting into the factory. With that, some amount of reduction in the imports can be seen. We believe that this also means that the quality product requirement within the country should go up, and that should help the industry as well. At the same time, we would like to watch it for some time because in the past, we have seen sometimes the government, you know, sometimes changing their position. We are hopeful that this time they should not be because already we have seen the kind of discussion or repel decision made to the government, but they are not budging because this is something linked to the quality. That is why they are keeping to this ground.
It's a very welcome move, and I think it will support the entire country for the long term to come. There have been so many examples in the recent past where people have used substandard Chinese materials, and infrastructure projects are failing. Other things are getting, you know, destroyed. This is a very welcome move to only allow quality products in India. It's a very good opportunity for everyone to take benefit of this.
Thank you so much for that. My second question is around domestic demand and your strategy around co-branding, etc. You mentioned that the family in pipe and tubes has been successful and has been extended. Is there any plan to do something similar in any of the other segments as well?
Like I mentioned, we just started for kitchenware and for sinks. Every time, actually, you will see more and more addition also. We would like to support our MSMEs. We would like to support our domestic players in this regard. We are definitely taking this forward.
Thank you so much. That's all from me.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, please press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity again. Sir, I think you indicated CapEx of INR 2,800 crores. Is that correct?
INR 2,700 crores.
How should we split for 2026 and 2027? I presume it's for two years together.
This is for FY 2026 of INR 2,700 crore. Whatever is the spillover CapEx, in case it is going to be there in 2026-27, sorry. Otherwise, for 2027, the CapEx amount is roughly around to the tune of INR 1,000 crore, INR 1,000 crores - INR 1,200 crore.
Okay. I think in the last call, we had indicated a number of INR 1,800 crore + maintenance CapEx. How should one understand this bump from INR 1,800 crore- INR 2,700 crore?
No, it was always, even in the last call, if you go by the transcript, it was always INR 2,700 crores. Sorry, that's why.
INR 1,700 crore + INR 1,000 crore.
Yeah, which includes last year's spillover as well, yeah.
INR 1700 crores + INR 500 crores of maintenance + INR 500 crores of spillover, which is total INR 2,700 crores.
Sure. That's helpful. A second is, in Indonesia, we were looking to dispose. I think we had got something around $20 million, and there was balance also with those pending, and we were awaiting the proceeds. Any indication over here on how much of money has already come in, how much incrementally can come in, and the timeline?
No. Equipment, you have already stated that is what the number is, $20 million. After that, what remains is the land. Land, not yet anything made, but we are confident looking at the market prices over there that no touch to finally pursue the land. No head comes to the books of the company.
We are not in any desperation here. You know, when we get a good value, then only we will sell the land.
Do we have any plans to merge the acquired downstream assets? I presume there were accumulated losses over here. Any plans on this front for tax efficiencies?
That is something, I mean, it is in the process of evaluation. Once we make any decisions, we will let you know.
You're right, we are looking at it very closely, and we would like to take this forward.
Sure, this is helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Patanjali Srinivasan from Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. A very good set of numbers. I have a few doubts. Our mix as I see broadly remained the same over the last couple of quarters. The current quarter realization was much better, and the profitability also in terms of cost reduction is visible. Can you give me a bridge of where this improvement is coming from?
Oh, no. Please repeat the question. I really forgot it fully.
Okay. No, for the current quarter, realization has improved. Our mix is broadly the same compared to the previous quarter. I don't know how this increase of around INR 4,000- INR 5,000 has happened. That is one thing. Secondly, on our cost front, there's been a decent decrease in costs also from the previous two or three quarters. Is there anything that's contributing to this? Can you give me a bridge of where these cost benefits are coming from?
Yeah, more than that, I think Mr. Jindal in one of the replies to one of the questions, he mentioned it that we have been, we are able to amplify product mix. We are focusing on, we are able to inject more into older and more value-added like polishing products as well. Then our special product. All this is helping, you know, to increase this realization. We mentioned Q4 of last year was a total aberration. That's why now Q1 is back to our normal quarter business.
Sure, sir. Understood. Sir, what is your volume guidance for this year? I think last year was a relatively weaker year for the industry .
We are not changing, as we mentioned, 9%- 10% volume growth this year, and we are quite confident of delivering that.
Okay. Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pallav Agarwal from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. The first question is on whether we are seeing, how are we seeing the trends of nickel scrap prices? Is there some softening over there, or are they broadly stable?
It is very difficult to take a call on nickel and what the nickel prices are going to remain or not. Like I said, we don't really take a position on it. We do natural hedging, and that is the way we're going to go forward.
Sure, sir. In the case of aluminum, a couple of quarters back, we did see an increase in scrap prices because probably China was importing more scrap. Is there something similar happening in nickel, or is it totally different?
No. Aluminum and nickel do not go hand in hand. We cannot relate them totally. Nickel is a different kind of ballgame compared to other raw materials in the market.
Sure, sir. The other reason, I think, the purchase of stock in sale is probably lower compared to last year. Is this trend expected to continue?
Sorry, purchase of, I missed that. Purchase of what?
The purchase of stock in traders, sir.
Purchase of stock in trade, okay.
That seems to be, you know, lower than.
Yes. Pallav
Yes, is this trend expected to continue for lower external purchases?
Yeah, broadly it will be in this range, what it is in this quarter.
Sure. Okay. Lastly, you guys are going to 9%- 10% volume growth. What sort of utilization level would you be at at the end of FY 2026?
It would be around 80%- 85% capacity utilization.
The nickel, the Indonesian unit should come in. That would add to the capacity. Is that understanding correct?
Yes, that would happen next year.
Okay. Maybe then FY 2027 also volume growth could be constrained by capacity, or we can probably move, you know, operate more than 100%?
We'll come various closer to the time period, but we expect 9%-1 0% growth should happen also.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashish Kejriwal from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks. Good evening, everyone. Sir, quickly, you have mentioned a few points which can bridge the EBITDA from fourth quarter to first quarter, which could be if you are users of low-cost inventory or some change in inventory, product mix improvement, realization improvement, and cost decline. Is it possible to even, not pinpoint, but at least broadly, how much? I'm trying to quantify because when we are getting the EBITDA bridge, how much is contributing what? When we are saying product mix improvement, can it be 30% or 40% of the change in EBITDA which we are seeing, or is it only 10% of that?
When we are giving these statements of product mix improvement or this, if we can quantify a bit, even in percentage terms or anything which is visible for the company, I think that will help us to get a good sense of the numbers. Is it possible to quantify now?
Difficult to quantify. What we can try to do is maybe calculate this for you and share it offline. If I think a factor of all these things that you mentioned, yes, I believe that's what you're asking me, which one has contributed more or less. We will try to share with you offline. We have not.
Sure. Because of either, you know, even if we give a broad breakup, broad buckets, like, you know, whether it's because of realization improvement or cost improvement or inventory improvement, it will help us understand in a better way and give some more confidence that going forward also, if macro- changes favorably, we can do more.
The main contributing factor is more value-added products. Our CR capacity has picked up. We're serving more higher variants. Like if I give you an example, in auto also now we moved to the higher variants in auto sales. All those factors help us in improving our margins.
Is it possible to quantify something like when we are saying that CR capacity improvement? In terms of overall volume, what could be the contribution of CR capacity last quarter, this quarter, or last year?
If that is, we can share with you offline.
Okay. That's great. Secondly, is it possible to quantify how much inventory we have at the end of the quarter vs last quarter? Finished product inventory.
Product inventory you would like in volume?
Yeah, volume. Volume as well as in value terms if you have. It would be great if you can share both.
Yeah, sure. Ashish, we will share this as well.
Okay. That's great. Thirdly, I'm sure you know, you don't like to divulge about Chromeni profitability, but you know if you can give a sense of whether Chromeni is making EBITDA positive now at 55%, 60% inflation, or still it is EBITDA negative?
No, no. It's a value-added core growth product, so it is definitely EBITDA positive.
Okay. From when has it become EBITDA positive, this quarter only, or has it been EBITDA positive for the fourth quarter also?
Take the last couple of months, it has been exactly. I don't have the number from the top of my head, but from Q1 of this year, it has become positive.
Is it possible to share the number? Broad number will also do. Because we share JUSL numbers.
No, there isn't. I mean, we will take this offline, Ashish, with you and with.
Okay. Sure.
These are again certain trade sensitive things that we would like to share.
Understood. Understood. Lastly, if I look at the number this quarter as a base, is it safe to assume that at least on the macro- side, we are not seeing deterioration as we witnessed in the first quarter?
We are sticking to our guidance, Ashish, 19 to 21 with this volume growth. We are definitely confident of achieving that. I think there is a lot of uncertainty, again, globally and everything. We did well. This much, we are absolutely confident. If anything changes positive or negatively, as always, I will definitely come back with a fresh guidance.
Sure. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you, Ashish.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Alok Deora from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Just linking to the previous question only, how is the demand scenario now? I mean, we have maintained the volume growth, but considering the uncertainty, could there be any slippage there because the first quarter has been pretty muted? We need to catch up quite a lot, especially in the second half. First on that.
We are extremely bullish on the domestic growth and domestic demand. The major more uncertainty is to do with exports, actually. Absolutely on our domestic numbers and our growth that we have foreseen, there we don't see any kind of aberration of this coming in.
On the export side, in terms of proportion, it's better than what we did in the last quarter. How do we see the shares stepping up? Could there be a case where this goes down again, which could impact the realization and the profitability, or may we expect it to be in the similar range?
Our focus as an organization is EBITDA maximization. If by anything, it dips down, you don't have to e xport. It is not a compulsion for us. We can, like many years, even during COVID time and everything, we proved that we could give 100% volume also required into the domestic markets. We are not really concerned with that at the moment.
Sure. Yeah, that is all from my side . Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parthiv Jhonsa from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
I just wanted to get a clarification. You said that INR 2,700 crores this year in CapEx and thereafter about INR 1,200 crores-INR 1,500 crores. Am I correct?
2027 numbers, next year.
Next year, Parthiv, it will be somewhere roughly between INR 1,000 crore- INR 1,200 crore.
Okay. Considering the Maharashtra CapEx and all, the major CapEx would start rolling in from 2028, 2029 onwards, am I correct? Even prior to that, there was a CapEx.
We are still too early to say for Maharashtra. Currently, we are talking about our current standing operations.
Okay, sir. Sir, just in continuation of my previous question on the nickel, because I believe that, you know, realization is somewhere correlated to the nickel prices. I'm not mistaken. Just wanted to get your guidance on the Q2, the blended realization. What are you expecting for stainless?
Again, like I said, it's difficult to comment on nickel per se. That's why we give our EBITDA per ton realization at 19,000- 21,000. I'm saying that is all that in terms of I can give that guidance. I'm confident of achieving it.
What about how we perceive your realizations for the next quarter? How are we sitting out on this?
Parthiv, basically, the prices of stainless steel are driven by the underlying prices of the raw material. It's difficult to comment on the realization because, as you know, it's more a pass-through. Whatever is a reflection of the nickel and the ferrochrome price movement is there on the stainless steel prices. It totally majorly depends on that as well as the product mix during the quarter.
Sure, I understand that. I believe a couple of your global peers have taken two or three price hikes in the last couple of weeks, actually. I just wanted to get your idea on that because I believe a couple of them have taken almost $60- $70 of a price hike. That's the reason for the question. Are you expecting a similar kind of a hike in the domestic market as well?
So far, we have not changed our prices. Yes, we have not changed any of our prices.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rakesh Roy from Boring AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. My first question is regarding the export market. As you stated, it is currently tough. In the last call, you have mentioned we will grow near by India 20% year-over-year growth, sir. This will stay or come down, sir?
Rakesh, if you are aware that how uncertain the export market is, at that point, it was a different situation of what it is. Today is a different situation of what it is. Tomorrow, with Mr. Trump in this seat, it could be a different situation. It's difficult to predict or give you any kind of guidance on export. That's why we are extremely confident on delivering our number despite any changes in export. Domestic is our focus. Export is only going to be to the tune of wherever we can get certain good margins, then only we will export. Otherwise, domestic is very focused currently.
Okay. Next question regarding the Rathi, sir. Can you share the volume number for Rathi for this quarter?
For this quarter, it's operating at around 80% capacity utilization. 80%-85% is what we have achieved. The ramp-up is quite satisfactory. It's just more when more of rebar sales are going to increase in the portfolio, then we'll see a better return going forward.
Right, sir. Right, sir. The last question, do you see, sir, for most of the companies have sort of impacted on the export market? Do you see any pricing pressure on the Western market due to, sir, this sort of handling of export?
No, we have not seen any impact of that. We should not see any impact of that.
Right, sir. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Jindal for closing comments.
Thank you. I would like to thank everyone for attending this call. Amid persistent global volatility, we continue to reinforce our market leadership through a strong customer focus, consistent innovation, and operational excellence. With our focus on value-added products tailored on specific applications and strengthened market relationships, we are well positioned to sustain momentum across markets. I hope that we were able to answer all your questions. Should you need any further clarification or would like to know more about the company, as always, please feel free to contact our Investor Relations team. We would like to see all of you physically at some point or the other this year. Thank you once again and speak to all of you soon.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Motilal Oswal and Jindal Stainless , that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect.