Ladies and gentlemen, you have been connected to Jindal Stainless Limited conference call. Please stay connected. The call will begin shortly. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Jindal Stainless Limited Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call hosted by Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers Limited. As a reminder, all participants' 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 this 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 over the conference call to Mr. Parthiv from Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Pari. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Anand Rathi Group, I thank the management team of Jindal Stainless for this opportunity to host their Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call. We have the following members of the management with us today. We have Mr. Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director, Mr. Tarun Khulbe, Chief Executive Officer and Whole-Time Director, Mr. Kunjal Mehta, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Kapil Arora, Associate Vice President, Finance, Mr. Angad Khurana, Head, Investor Relations, along with Mr. Abhishek Tambe, who is also a part of IR team. I now hand over the call to Mr. Angad Khurana to take the conference call forward, followed by which we will open the floor for question- and- answer session. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Parthiv. Good day, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the company's Q1 FY 2027 earnings call. I hope you all had a chance to review the results and the accompanying presentation uploaded on the exchanges and on our website earlier. Our discussion on the call will follow that presentation. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some of the statements made today may be forward-looking in nature and are covered by the disclaimer on slide two of the earnings presentation. Joining me on the call today is our senior leadership team, who will take you through the key business developments and the performance for this quarter. After the remarks, we will open the floor for questions. With that, let me hand it over to our MD, Mr. Abhyuday Jindal, to take you through the highlights. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Angad. A very good evening to everybody. I would like to welcome you all to the Q1 FY 2027 earnings call. I would also take the pleasure to introduce our Group CFO, Mr. Kunjal Mehta, who has joined us last quarter. I'm sure you would be meeting him physically over the next few months and quarters. I will begin by outlining the key business highlights for the quarter ending June 2027 and the progress we continue to make across our priority sectors. Following that, Mr. Khulbe will take you through our operational and financial performance.
Our sales volume in Q1 FY 2027 remained resilient year-on-year, despite a challenging operating environment marked by industrial gas supply constraints and logistics uncertainties due to the Middle East crisis in the initial weeks of the quarter. In the domestic market, JSL delivered a resilient performance, supported by steady demand across key end-use sectors such as automotive, railways, metros and white goods. Building on the strategic brand transformation initiated last year, we continue to strengthen JSL's consumer-facing presence while reinforcing our market leadership across the stainless steel value chain. During the quarter, we launched a nationwide print and television campaign featuring our brand ambassador, Ranveer Singh, significantly enhancing brand visibility across key markets. We further amplified our engagement through our association with Sunrisers Hyderabad through co-branded digital content, on-ground stadium branding, social media collaborations and customized retail activations.
In addition, we expanded our presence on marquee sporting platforms through strategic partnerships with JioHotstar and Star Sports as the official Super Sixes partner for the India versus Afghanistan series, enabling large-scale audience reach and brand recall. Together, these initiatives will help strengthen top-of-mind recall, support channel partners through co-branded outreach, and enhance long-term brand equity as consumption-led applications of stainless steel scales up across India. Stainless steel demand in the passenger coach segment continues to be supported by the ongoing transition from ferritic to austenitic stainless steel in Vande Bharat train sets, further driving higher demand for value-added stainless steel grades. A key development during the quarter was ICF Chennai's specification for the K-RIDE project in Karnataka, which mandates the use of high-strength austenitic stainless steel for both coach shells and underframes, further expanding stainless steel applications in railway coach manufacturing.
The ornamental pipe and tube segment is expected to benefit from improving market sentiments in the coming months, supported by enhanced channel engagement, focused market initiatives, and increasing downstream visibility through digital partner programs. On the export front, global trade sentiments remain dynamic and regulatory changes evolving, trade policies and geopolitical developments across several regions. Despite these headwinds, JSL demonstrated strong execution capabilities, delivering robust volumes on a quarter-on-quarter basis, while maintaining a focus on expanding into markets such as Japan, South Korea, European Union and Americas. Quality standards are fundamental to ensuring public safety, product reliability, and the long-term strength of India's manufacturing ecosystem. Continued clarity and consistency in the quality control framework will be important in maintaining a level playing field and supporting quality-focused stainless steel players across the value chain.
We remain optimistic that the regulatory framework will continue to evolve in a manner that balances the interests of consumers, manufacturers, and the broader economy. Volatility across the globe continues to shape energy markets and global supply chains. Unavailability of industrial gases and logistical challenges negatively impacted industrial activity last quarter. While the situation has improved, we continue to proactively track the developments on these fronts. On the topic of sustainability, we continue to make steady progress on decarbonization roadmap during the quarter. Our Hisar facility achieved a 12% year-on-year reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity. Upgrading to energy-efficient ancillaries and commissioning advanced waste heat recovery systems enabled this feat. These efforts reflect our continued commitment to building a cleaner, more sustainable and energy-efficient business while remaining firmly aligned to our long-term net zero ambitions.
With this, I would like to hand over to Mr. Khulbe to discuss our operational and financial performance. Thank you.
Thank you, Abhyuday. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the call. I would like to begin by providing a detailed overview of our operational and financial performance. JSL reported a resilient consolidated financial performance in the first quarter of FY 2027. Revenue, EBITDA and PAT all grew year-on-year 10.5%, 1.4% and 7.7% respectively, despite a challenging operational environment where there were multiple complexities like industrial gas unavailability and logistics uncertainties. These two factors, particularly the gas crisis that impacted production balance in the first few weeks of the quarter, impacting our finished goods sales volume, which were down by 7.3% year-on-year. Amid severe gas shortage during the first few weeks of April 2026, JSL's focus remained on value-added product mix and thinner product segments during the quarter, supporting the company's profitability.
Our subsidiaries also saw production disruptions during the quarter, but despite the challenges, they supported the group's overall EBITDA. As a result, we are pleased to report a stronger balance sheet. At the end of the quarter, our consolidated net debt had further reduced to INR 2,950 crore, with a net debt to EBITDA ratio at 0.53x, comfortably below 1x, and a net debt to equity ratio of 0.14x, reflecting our prudent fiscal management. All our announced CapEx plan remains on track and adhering to stipulated timelines. Downstream expansion projects in Jajpur, Hisar and Kharagpur are progressing well. We also continue to stabilize production and certifications of our recently commissioned 1.2 million tons per annum stainless steel melt shop in Indonesia.
With our large projects progressing well, we remain fully committed to deliver on our sales volume target of 3.5 million tons per annum by FY 2029. To mitigate risk, the company is taking active steps in diversifiscal yearing its energy mix, such as introducing piped natural gas to our Jajpur plant. Similar plans are on track for our Hisar and Ghaziabad facilities as well. The company is also looking at further expanding its green hydrogen capacity at Jajpur with the previously announced 600 Nm³ per hour project with Greenzo Energy expected to be commissioned in this quarter. We remain positive on the India SS story. Even in an uncertain macro environment, sales grew in automotive, appliances and white goods, railways, and metro segments. We continue to see strong long-term demand momentum in upcoming sectors like nuclear, semiconductor, ethanol, desalination plants, LNG terminals, robotics, EV, and green energy.
With our ethos rooted in quality, customer service and cost leadership, JSL remains poised to be the leading domestic stainless steel company for years to come. On that note, I conclude my remarks and invite the moderator to begin the question-and-answer session. Thank you.
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 touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Amit Dixit from Goldman Sachs . Please proceed.
Yeah. Hi, good evening, everyone, and thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations for delivering robust numbers despite a very challenging macro environment. A couple of questions from my side. One is on the sales volume. While we saw it decline in this quarter because of obvious reasons. How confident we are of delivering 8%-10% growth in FY 2027 on sales volume? The other question is that we also saw an impressive surge in exports. Was it something opportunistic or do we see it continuing going ahead, that exports would remain around 11% of our sales volume?
No. Thank you, Amit. Always for your question. As of now, because we had given our guidance for H1, we would still like to stick to the number that we had began the year with, we're quite confident that we should be able to achieve. If any change is there, in H2, I would be coming up with fresh numbers. From your export query, as per absolute volume, export has stayed consistent quarter-on-quarter. It is only because of this lower base of sales percentage export is looking slightly higher. We would like to maintain this volume of export, because as you know, EBITDA maximization is always going to be our strategy, and export does help us in maintaining that.
Okay. That's wonderful. My second question is that about this 1.2 MTPA project in Indonesia, in which Mr. Khulbe alluded to in his remarks. Just want to understand, when will the contribution from that project start, in terms of additional sales volume? Also if you can highlight the performance of Rathi Steel in this quarter.
Indonesia, our steel melt shop, now it has started ramping up, this is what I will say. Hereafter onwards, gradually the sales will start coming up from there because it was under some local approvals and certifications which were required for the shop to do the business that was appropriate. It was going through. Now I think we are reaching to a stage from where the volumes we will start selling. Far as Rathi is concerned, there the quarter one was impacted again by the fuel as well, and that is why the capacity utilization was lower. Otherwise, from the operations point of view, we were already hitting Rathi capacity utilization at around 80%.
Okay. Great, sir. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you, Amit.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Alok from Motilal Oswal. Please proceed.
Hello, everyone. Good evening. Just had couple of questions. First is on the sharp increase in the power and fuel cost, which is mainly the gas price increase. How is the cost trending now in the second quarter? Would we see a very similar trend of first quarter continuing? Where could we see the EBITDA pattern moving from the current levels of 1 Q? That would be the first question.
Okay. See, the gas cost, in our case, it was more of propane and LPG because that is where the restrictions were imposed by the government, and we were compelled to buy from the open market, whomever was having the stock. The prices went even to the 3x before the war started. Two things have happened. One, we reduce our dependency on propane and LPG, because we started using pipe natural gas in our Orissa plant. That process we started. The prices have also toned down than what the peak we saw. To answer your question that whether it impacts EBITDA per ton, basically, these kind of cost increase, we try to pass on to the customer in both ways, either when they go up or when they come down. Practically, that is how we normally do the business.
Got it. We had guided for around INR 18,000-INR 20,000 of EBITDA per ton during the first half. Does that number stand revised now slightly higher in higher end of the range or?
Alok, we would still be sticking to that. We would still be sticking to the guidance that we started with. If any change required, the end of next quarter, I will come back with fresh numbers.
Sure. Just last question. Any color on the volume growth we could see we are targeting for this year based on the various issues related to production and geopolitical situation, what kind of volume growth we are seeing?
Definitely, there was a dip like we shared already because of these uncertainties and gas shortage in Q1. We are trying to make up those shortfall and the volumes. Again, by Q2, I will come back with exactly what we feel the year-end would look like.
Sure. Thank you, sir. That's all from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumangal from Kotak Securities. Please proceed.
Good evening. Thanks for the chance. Just continuing on the previous one, is it possible to share what was the volume impact because of the gas shortages? Was there any cost inflation that could not be passed? I believe given that there will be some bit of lag in the passthrough. Had this issue not been there, how the quarter would have shaped up just based on our estimate?
No. Definitely if you ask if the situation had not been calm, then we would have delivered on our volume guidance and volume growth as we had discussed. That is the major impact that we saw. Yes, it is definitely a passthrough mechanism with a certain amount of lag. With this substantial gas increase which India saw, and we did not see our neighboring countries or competitors impacting that much to the level that we got, we were not able to pass on maybe 100% of the gas price increase.
Okay. Both margins and volume would have been better.
Volume definitely would have been better. That much I can tell you. Margin is a factor of multiple-
Multiple things.
Multiple things.
Say from 2Q onwards, are we going back to normal or it's going to be a gradual recovery?
In terms of?
In terms of volumes. Yeah.
No, it will always be a gradual recovery. There is no magic wand that we have that suddenly you can create that. It will be a gradual recovery over the next few quarters.
Got it. I have one question with respect to Europe. Generally just want to understand, how is the CBAM implementation evolving and how is it shaping for us as a geography?
We have kept ourselves absolutely ready. We have got all the verifiers that are internationally accredited already with us. What we are waiting for is still European Union to appoint their verifiers. We as a company, like you know, we've already spoken about how we've invested in renewable energy, green hydrogen. We are anyway a scrap-dependent player. We are keeping ourselves absolutely robust and ready every time whenever we've got from DJSI, Sustainalytics or S&P-approved agencies. Everywhere our scores are coming on the higher side and top of the industry numbers. Directly to say what European Union, we are still waiting for them to appoint the verifiers. We will maintain, because now European Union has also reduced the quota and we are quite confident that we will entirely meet that quota requirements ourselves.
Got it. Out of the 10% volume mix, how much would be Europe in exports?
Almost 40%. I don't know how it is. Okay, Europe and U.S. combined is around 60%. Yes, you can take it fluctuate between, if I say Europe, 30%-40%.
Got it.
Which is why we've already developed other markets.
Understood. All right. I'll join back the queue. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pinakin from HSBC. Please proceed.
Yeah. Thank you very much. My question is essentially that, in the medium term, when do you expect to start new CapEx programs, given that your balance sheet has improved materially and cash flow generation remains strong?
Already, Pinakin, we over last few years have been regularly investing in our CapEx, and as of now, the main focus is to increase our downstream finishing cold rolling capacities. By next year, you will see an increase from 2 million ton to at least 2.67 million ton increase in our downstream cold rolling capacities.
Sri-
Actually, our this year CapEx plan is also what we have provided. The guidelines is around 27-
INR 2,800 crore.
Around INR 2,800 crore, which is on course. All this is basically to create this downstream-
Downstream, more value-added products. Cold rolling is what the market demands, and that's where we are investing.
Got it. When do you expect to have more clarity on the Maharashtra investment?
Maharashtra investment actually, unfortunately, we can say that we are still working on the land. In India, land acquisition, particularly at the scale at which we are trying or we have to, looking at the kind of plants we have to set up, takes a little bit of time. Maybe give us another one or two quarters, and then we'll come out with our detailed plan on the Maharashtra.
Things are progressing well. It is definitely taking more shape every quarter. I think we still need another quarter or two till we are absolutely clear-cut on our plan. Like I said even last time, I don't want to mention something and then come back and revise it again and again.
Once absolute clarity and confidence is there, then I would first myself approach all of you to commit and give that clarity on Maharashtra.
Got it. That is very helpful. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Satyadeep Jain from Ambit Capital. Please proceed.
Hi. Thank you. Just on the volume guidance, I know you update the guidance at the end of 2Q, maybe can you share what the volume growth looking like in the last two months, maybe June and now July also? Is it possible to share directly so that it's easier for us to gauge where the volume growth is?
It's too early to share these numbers. If you give us another quarter, Satyadeep, then definitely I'll come back.
Okay. On the export, you mentioned you're developing other markets. South Korea and all is what we saw. Is it?
Yes. Japan, South Korea, Brazil is a big area.
Directly in terms of profitability.
Sorry?
In terms of profitability, are they similar?
No, absolutely. We are only targeting these markets if we are seeing substantial margin improvement and margin increase in those areas. Two things, as our philosophy always mention, domestic market is our focus and priority, and second is EBITDA maximization. In these geographies, we will only go and we will sell limited products. We cannot compete with the local mill selling vanilla grades of stainless steel. We will only sell those grades or those products where we're getting a good margin profile. Which is why we're targeting countries like South Korea, Japan, Brazil, which has the ability to pay us good margins.
Do you see potential for I know export mix had been stagnant for past few quarters. You also have the CBAM in Europe. Is it possible that, given these new markets, the export percentage increases for you in the next couple of years?
Export percentage, again, we don't see a major increase because domestic will be our priority. That's why the first or maximum allocation will be given to domestic market, and then only we will look at export. These geographies will take a little larger time to increase the volumes. Entry in Japan has been very good. Korea, we have a good presence. To further increase volumes, I think it's over a few quarters that we can target. This only if we are not able to maximize supply into domestic market.
Okay. The HRAP, is it on time for commissioning towards the end of the year? The SMS also that you commissioned. Given what you're seeing right now, do you expect the SMS slab from there to come to India? Which means that you maybe replace it with your own EAF in a way for h ow do you look at the-
That everyone has to understand, that is never the case to replace our own melting per se. It is again, wherever we're getting the lowest production cost and cheapest cost, we will try to maximize that. We will continue to melt in India also and increase our melting in India also, and source slabs from our asset in Indonesia. HRAP and all our other CRAP downstream projects are absolutely on track, and every few months they are coming on stream.
Okay. Thank you so much.
I mean, one more point, let me tell you that we always have the flexibility to bring even Hot-Rolled Coil from Indonesia in place of our slab or getting them converted depending upon the need. That flexibility remains with us. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please proceed.
Yes. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. First, a few questions. First, any update on anti-dumping duty, QCO? How are we looking at it?
Dialogue with the government is on, and it's constantly happening. Anti-dumping, we had a meeting a couple of weeks back with DGTR, DG, and it's definitely moving in the positive direction. They are appointing verifiers now, and I hope next few months I'll have more clarity to provide also. Public hearing is scheduled for-
9th September
9th September also for that. Ritesh, what was your second question? Anti-dumping was one, and QCO? QCO, I think, again, it's something that we are in dialogue with the government. We expect that this extension that they've given till March should not be further extended. We have gone and explained to them that how important QCO is for good quality material to come in the country. We do not want our products, infrastructure to be built on Chinese substandard products. There is some level of realization. I think it became a larger topic because QCO was not suspended only on stainless steel, but a plethora of goods that were coming into the country. I believe now government is understanding and realizing. I feel on QCO, until March 27, we will not see any reversal. After that, is what we're trying, that it should not be further extended.
Sure. My second question is on CBAM. Would it be possible for you to quantifiscal year what is our exact carbon intensity for both the plants separately, and is there a specified benchmark number that we are aware of set by European Union?
I think I will ask Angad to take these two questions offline with you. I don't have the immediate figures in front of me, but there is a lot of work done on this, and I'll ask Angad to update you separately on this.
Sure. Just a related question. What is our scrap feed right now, say, for last year, full year and Q1 FY 2027?
At Hisar, I believe it is around almost 85%-90% at Hisar, and at Jajpur it is 70%, 75%.
This is for Q1 or for last-
This is-
In general.
In general, I'm saying Q1 should also have been the same. I don't have immediate Q1 numbers, but generally that is what we target, and a bit scrap maximization is always our target. Secondly, just again from the Yeah, please.
Sorry. Go on, please.
I was just going to say from the export and European Union front, just for everyone's clarity, it is not CBAM that is going to impact our numbers in any way. It is more that this quota that has come, that is why European numbers will look lesser than what it was earlier.
Sure. The scrap that we are using right now, what category does it fall under? Is it pre-consumer or post-consumer scrap?
You have to explain it to us also what this means, Ritesh. Even I'm not aware of this.
Okay. Yeah. I'll give a call. There's a new amendment which has come up, which doesn't allow pre-consumer scrap, I'll call you, sir, after the call. Sir, I'll just move to the next question. Specifically for RKEF, if you could provide some detailing around how the contribution was. The reason I ask this is to what we understand is the Indonesian government has changed its benchmark on nickel ore. It would have had impacted the profitability over here. I think last quarter we did give some range on what the profitability could look like. Does that guidance actually change, or was it very different, and what does it mean going forward?
Well, Ritesh, of course, RKEF business always, we all know that nickel being very volatile, this business is volatile. As we always say that this business mainly gives us security of the raw material availability. In fact, you all must have heard that even when Mr. Modi visited Indonesia now, they were signing an MoU for the Salem plant on the similar line what we have already invested. In fact, a couple of other international players like ORCA are also going over there to invest. These are very strategic investments and requirements, nickel being there. However, coming to the profitability, as we had indicated that last two quarters, even last quarter has been positive on this business, and the EBITDA has been positive from this business.
Lastly, you indicated basically ongoing projects at Jajpur, Hisar, and Kharagpur. Would it be possible for you to provide some color around capacity and timelines over here?
I think every quarter, if I tell you, there are at different stages every quarter over the next, let's say, one year, some new equipment in each of these facilities is coming up, starting with, I think, Jajpur first, then Kharagpur, then Hisar.
Then 2.64 million tons in Jharsuguda.
Then all this, like already Mr. Jindal stated before, that with all these investments, eventually we are targeting our cold roll capacities to take to 2.64 million tons.
2.67 million tons.
2.67 million tons by FY 2028.
Sure. I have more questions. I'll join back. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashish Kejriwal from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please proceed.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on maintaining profitability this environment also. Sir, my question is on scrap purchases. Is it possible to share how much percentage of scrap we use, do we purchase from Europe, and are we seeing any bottleneck going ahead in that?
Ashish, this is the maximum effort that we did over last few years is on our supply chain. If I can tell you, practically maybe less than 2% or 3% comes from Europe, which is not available in, let's say, in this part of the world. Our scrap strategy is domestic and Southeast Asia, and almost 90%-95% of our scrap comes from this market. Certain quantities come from Europe and U.S. as well, but very limited.
Okay, cool. Secondly, in terms of how blast furnace, which was about to come at the promoter level, any color which you can give, whether that has started or it's starting.
Ashish, as you know, this is a JSL Limited call. Anything on the private company side, I would be happy to take it off separately. You can always get in touch with me, and I'll be happy to answer your question.
Sure. Lastly, in terms of your products, because you are saying that every quarter we are going to commission one of the other plants. Is it possible to share, like for example, HRAP plant, which was 1.1 million ton, at least when that is going to start? Because that was in the first phase of the plan which we expected first half of FY 2027.
That should around Q3 of this year, sometime it should get ready. Then obviously it will take its time to reach its rated capacity. Sometime towards the end of Q3, it should be ready.
Okay. Lastly, sir, I hope that demand was not an issue in first quarter. It was mainly because of the gas shortage.
Absolutely not. Absolutely. Demand was never a concern or never an issue. Absolutely, yeah.
In case if, because demand is not an issue and supply we have also normalized in terms of availability of gas and logistics bottlenecks have been there. Is it safe to say that now at least whatever we can produce, we will be able to sell and that could be more 10%+ growth going ahead? I know that you are not going to give fully a guidance right now, but at least trend-wise.
For the most part, I'm in agreement. Whatever we produce, we will sell. To give you this volume guidance or growth guidance, I would like one more quarter for that, Ashish. Absolutely that much I can commit that what we produce will get sold.
At what capacity utilization we are producing now?
At the end of Q1, because of these disruptions and shortages, we were around 69%, 70%. It will definitely go up in this quarter.
Okay, cool. All the best. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parthiv Jhonsa, sir, from Anand Rathi. Please proceed.
Yeah, hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations for a good set of numbers in a difficult time. My first question is on the grade. Is it possible for you to quantify across each grade, 200 series, 300 series and 400 series ?
Sure, Parthiv, I'll take that one. I'm sharing the mix in the order of 200 series, 300 series and 400 series. In Q1 2027, it was 35%, 47% and 18%.
Okay. My next question is actually pertaining to the 300. Considering you have sold 47%, which was last seen in Q2 of last year, which was at about 49%. It means that because 316 series and a couple of other grades are a bit of a value added, you are easily able to pass on the hike. Not just the hike, but even take up the lost EBITDA in some other grades during difficult times. Is that understanding correct?
I think this variation in 1% or 2% should not be seen in that light of things.
Okay.
A lot depends when we decide upon the mix. Like we already stated that in quarter one we were quite focused and selective, which segment, which grade and which material to sell, focusing on our bottom line. In that equation, this percentage number has evolved.
Okay. No, the reason is because I think 300 series has the max nickel content, if I'm not mistaken, right, at the end of the day. That would be one of the reason why you are able to pass on higher prices to the consumer. Is that understanding correct?
That's fair enough. Okay.
Okay. My second question is pertaining to the power and fuel. As a percentage of the top line, it was about 10% or 10.5 % in quarter one. I know you have answered before, just wanted to get a broad understanding how we should model it over next two to three quarters. Now that the availability is there
I would still say it has not gone down to below previous war level.
Okay.
From its peak of in Q1, it has come down by at least 40%-50%.
Yes.
It is fluctuating again, because as we all know, because of certain news flashes or certain actions taken by certain countries abroad, it does create that impact. It is down from the high levels of Q1.
Okay. That's actually quite helpful, sir. Sir, I have a quick one. Last question is basically just wanted to quickly check, what is the inventory on books as on date? The closing stock. If you can just give a tonnage or something.
Okay, we'll get back to you. I don't have it.
Yeah. No issues, sir. I'll get in touch with the team. Don't worry, sir.
Sure.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritwik Sheth from One Up Fin . Please proceed.
Hi. Good evening, sir. Sir, I think a lot of participants have-
Hi, Ritwik. Can you be a little louder? It's very soft.
Hi, is this better?
Much better.
Yeah. Sir, a lot of participants have asked you in one way or another. I will try in another way. Sir, has the production come back to pre-war levels as of today?
Yes, it has. It has absolutely. Because like we mentioned earlier, we were heavily dependent on LPG propane, and we have gone for PNG in Jajpur, and the pressure and availability of these gases has also improved. We are definitely back to our pre-war levels.
Great. Sir, with this alternate fuels, now we have multiple fuels at our disposal to try. We will be choosing the best mix of.
Oh, absolutely. That goes without saying. Absolutely, we will be choosing the lowest cost mix in that.
Right. In the long term, does it benefit us in terms of costing for us?
I won't be able to answer that because, again, depending on so many factors, but it improves our flexibility, it reduces our dependence on imported gases as we were. In the future, if there is any kind of disruption in the supply chain, then we will not be impacted as we were in Q1. That much I can commit to you. On cost front, it's again a factor of lot of items and areas.
Right. Got it. Sir, my last question is on, you mentioned that September 9th is the public hearing for ADD.
For anti-dumping.
Yeah. Sir, what are the points which will be taken up, and which are the parties which will be present at this public hearing? Can you give us some color on this?
They normally call all the stakeholders, and the DGTR discusses with them before they make up their final decision on their recommendation. This is a part of the process.
I think they call everybody, from producers, consumers, importers, exporters, because they want everybody's opinion and points to be taken, and then they move ahead from there. Exact list, they don't even share with us.
Okay. The decision would be on that particular day, or it will be reserved?
No. That is just, it is a process that is followed. Public hearing has to happen. They appoint public verifiers who will be traveling to these countries where anti-dumping investigation has to happen, then they come with their findings after that.
Okay. That could take a couple of quarters after that as well.
Some part they have already done.
Already quite a bit of investigation has been done. That is exactly what we are working towards and pushing towards for faster decision and resolution.
Okay. Great, sir. All the best, and thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tushar from Prabhudas Lilladher Private Limited. Please proceed.
Hi, sir. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. Congratulations on a very good set of numbers. Indonesia, you said, sir, it was under some local approval certification. Just want to know what utilization it is working as of now. By FY 2027 end, you were guiding that it will reach 70%-80%. Is it on track?
Yes. That is what, looking at the past performance of our partners who manages over there, we have seen that normally in the first year of operation, they are able to ramp up to 70%-80% of capacity utilization. That's what we are hopeful for this plant as well.
As of now, it is running at 40%-50% or even lesser?
They are ramping up. This is what I can say.
Okay. On a longer term, how much SS capacities are being planned in Indonesia? Any rough idea you have which will help us?
No, nothing further as of now is planned in Indonesia.
Not by us, by peers.
As you know, SAIL has gone and done a similar deal with a government entity, and I would like to mention that it's a very welcome move.
It reaffirms what as a company we envisaged. We openly spoke about that supply chains will get impacted. Indonesia keeps talking about banning nickel ore export, NPI export, which is why these kind of investments are required. It also proves to other players in India of how some player can go and secure certain requirements for rarest materials, important raw materials that is not there in the country. It really is a welcome move of what government has done. I think more and more of these types of investments are required, which are not there in the country. Even just to, again, inform that even our competitor, POSCO, has gone and done absolute same thing what we did four or five years ago in Indonesia.
Mm-hmm. Right. Sir, just want to know on the demand outlook in region like West Europe, MENA is anyways under war, and Southeast Asia. It will be good if you just brief it.
Again, like I said, export is always going to remain a part of our strategy, but domestic is priority. Yes, as you said, because of certain markets like Europe because of the quota system, Middle East because of the war, there have been certain impacts, but already we preempted that as a company, and we went and developed new markets. South America, Brazil, Colombia, then we're developing. Already South Korea we were present. Now we're very proud to say that Japan, which is one of the toughest countries on quality to enter, we have made a lot of breakthroughs there as well. We are mitigating our export strategy by adding these new countries.
Right. Sir, just lastly on Rathi and Chromeni , how is their performance?
Chromeni has been performing extremely well. We've already reached a capacity utilization of around 80%-85%, and I think we'll continue to increase volume from there. Rathi also, we've gone through a lot of learnings in Rathi. It was a new entry for us. As of today, we are at a utilization of around 70% in Rathi. There we're trying to optimize and improve our product mix every quarter-on-quarter.
In our quarter one, I'll say Chromeni was one of the major saviors for us because that was the only plant which was totally on pipe natural gas when the disruption happened. That really helped us in whatever numbers today we are able to present to you. A major contribution comes from Chromeni.
Okay. Rathi?
Rathi is something like, let me recapture the whole thing for the benefit of everyone that when we had taken over the acquired Rathi, immediately after that we had acquired Chromeni, and at that time we said that they being in the similar business first, we would like to focus on Chromeni, which was a larger investment and the volume growth what we could see. Chromeni is stable. Rathi, we have already announced that we are investing into the cold rolling mills over there and balancing BA lines over there. The next year in FY 2027, they'll be operational. FY 2028, these facilities will be operational. Right now it is a bit of positive, but doing very small business of polishing and all that.
Okay. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please proceed.
Hi, sir. Two quick questions. Basically, we see PT GMI, it has moved from a JV to a wholly owned subsidiary. I presume given we have the control, so it will be consolidated. Just trying to understand what was the underlying thought process.
Actually, Ritesh, what happened that when we were into the project stage, at that time we developed the understanding that we should have a bit control because we all were sitting over here broadly. With that understanding, we were having the control over the company. Now, one, it is in operation, so obviously it is easier to be operated by our partners, and that is why now they are having the control over it.
Sir, my understanding was we have the control of the asset. The board control, who has the board control over here?
This was Kapil, would you like to explain?
We have taken the board control and hence this company was categorized as our subsidiary starting July 2025. In our recent announcement, what we have announced is that now this company would be associate effective from July 1st, 2026, because we have given up that right of being able to appoint majority of the board there. Why this is basically that during the construction phase, we wanted to have more influence and say into the whole construction thing so that everything comes online in the timely manner as we had envisaged for our larger business plan.
Now, since it is into operation where the partners, they are, I would say, well-equipped to run it efficiently. We have decided to take back our right and hence effective July 1st, 2026, this company would be our associate.
Okay. How should we read it from a consolidation standpoint? Will it be line by line consolidated and then basically once it's subtracted from minority or the other way around?
No. Going forward, we'll be recording the share of profit or loss as it is in the associate in our books of account. It would not be the line by line consolidation now.
Okay. Incrementally, would we be giving out financials separately, at least operational assets once we have this slab thing actually, once it starts, it gets commercialized?
It is not required, Ritesh, because contractually our right still remains as it is that we can get everything from there into India to support our planning and our business plan. There, at that front, there's no change at all.
Right. If I put it the other way around, when we have given a certain guidance, at that point in time, were we assuming that this would be consolidated? Now, given this moves down, would we look to revisit our EBITDA per ton guidance?
No. In our guidance earlier also, basis whatever volume increase we were looking at. We have factored in, like from wherever we will have our material to be running to our machines here. That we have already taken care of earlier, and still it remains the same. Changing this subsidiary to associate does not bring any change in mind if the availability of the slabs from there.
So no-
No business plan change, no change in guidance.
from a reporting standpoint also, nothing changes, but it moves down to the associate level, right?
Yes.
Okay, fair. My second question, sir, you indicated in your starting remarks that we are going ahead doing more on hydrogen. I think the first plant we had at Hisar was a couple of years back. Can you help us understand the total-
Yes. Hisar has-
Sorry.
Yeah, I'll just tell you, Hisar has 90 Nm³ installed already. Another 200 Nm³ will be coming up, I think, over the next two quarters. Jajpur has 600 Nm³, which should get commissioned in this month itself, August. Jajpur further, we will take from 600 Nm³ , add another 600 next year sometime to take that to 1,200 Nm³ .
How much is the total CapEx which has gone over here, and how should we understand the payback on the CapEx?
I'm not-
CapEx was around INR 35 odd crore, and when we approve a project, so typically we go by a philosophy of having at least an IRR of 15%.
IRR of?
15%.
Minimum 15%. One five.
Okay, fine.
Another thing I can proudly say is that the stainless steel that has gone in this is 100% Jindal Stainless material, both in Hisar and in Jajpur.
Sure. This is helpful. Thank you so much.
Now we're a full force in green hydrogen also.
Sure. This is helpful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for their closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you all. In closing, I'm pleased to share that we achieved a resilient performance despite the challenges of a dynamic external environment. Our sharp focus on value-added products and a relentless customer focus drove our results this quarter. Despite global uncertainties, we remain committed in supporting the Indian growth story. Our agile business model continues to differentiate us and helps us deliver robust results in this volatile environment also. I hope that we've been able to answer all your questions. Should you need any further clarification or would like to know more about the company, please feel free to contact our investor relations team. Thank you all once again, and hope to see you soon physically next time. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you. On behalf of Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.