Ladies and gentlemen, the conference will begin shortly. Please stay connected. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JSW Cement earnings conference call for the quarter and half year ended 30 September 2026. 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal from PhillipCapital. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Agarwal.
Thank you, [Ridhu]. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we welcome you to the Q2 and H1 FY 2027 call of JSW Cement Limited. On the call from JSW Cement we have with us Mr. Nilesh Narwekar, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Narinder Singh Kahlon, Director of Finance and Commercial and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Hitendra Jariwala, Chief Marketing Officer, and Mr. Kunal Mukherjee, Head of Investor Relations. I would like to mention on behalf of JSW Cement Limited and its management that certain statements that we've made or discussed on this conference call may be forward-looking statements based on current management expectations, and also something that relate to future expected business development by JSW Cement's management. Such statements are subject to a number of risk. The actual developments and results could differ materially from any management projections made on this call.
JSW Cement Limited and the management of the company assumes no obligation to publicly update or alter these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new business development information or future events or otherwise. Also, participants can download a copy of JSW Cement's Q2 FY 2027 results presentation from the company website or stock exchanges. I will now hand over the floor to the management of JSW Cement for their opening remarks, which will be followed by interactive Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Vaibhav. Good morning to all, and we welcome you to the Q2 FY 2027 earnings call of JSW Cement. We have uploaded the results and investor presentation last night. I hope you've been able to review these. With this, I will hand over the call to Mr. Nilesh Narwekar for his opening remarks.
Thank you, Kunal, and good morning to all. Quarter two FY 2027 has seen a challenging external environment marked by geopolitical uncertainties arising from the ongoing West Asia crisis and weaker monsoon, which has impacted the broader operating environment. However, the underlying fundamentals of the Indian economy remain resilient, supported by healthy GDP growth, sustained government capital expenditure and infrastructure activity continuing to support cement demand. We remain constructive on the demand outlook for the balance of the year, particularly as infrastructure execution and construction activity gather pace. We have seen robust cement demand during the quarter, and this has supported price increases across our markets in September and October. With fuel and other input costs remaining elevated, we expect these price increases to sustain and support the company's margins. I would also like to highlight our continued momentum in the North region.
Utilization at this plant has increased to 75% during the quarter. We are also continuing our dealer network expansion while focusing on product quality, service levels, and cost reduction initiatives. Happy to announce that at Nagaur, we have achieved EBITDA breakeven in quarter two. The additional 1 million MTPA grinding capacity commission in October further strengthened our ability to serve this region, and our costs will continue to reduce over the coming quarters. As I had highlighted in our previous calls, we have received several project approvals on the demand side, which has reflected in the current quarter's numbers for GGBS volumes and has grown by 7% Y-o-Y. The business continues to witness encouraging momentum driven by growing demand from infrastructure and the RMC sector. Moving to the key operational highlights for quarter two FY 2027. Firstly, on volumes.
Our total volume increased very strongly by 26% Y-o-Y to 3.93 million tons, which is among the highest in the industry. Taking this product-wise, cement volume sold was 2.29 million metric tons, increased by almost 40% Y-o-Y. We saw good momentum in both channel and the B2B segment. Giving a comparative, if I was to exclude the North operations, cement volumes grew by around 13% Y-o-Y. GGBS volumes grew by 7% Y-o-Y , as I had already mentioned. I also wanted to touch on realizations, as shown in our presentation. Cement realizations for quarter two FY 2027 was INR 4,781 per ton, an increase of 3% Y-o-Y. , but a softening of 3% quarter-on-quarter.
We saw declining prices across regions in the early part of the quarter, but as I mentioned in my opening remarks, cement prices have increased across zones in September to the latter half and of course, October. GGBS realizations for quarter two FY 2027 was INR 3,749 a ton. We would consider this a normal variation due to mix, and we continue to maintain our strategy of stable pricing. Within cement, trade mix remained stable at 52%. Our clinker to cement factor increased to 58% with the ramp-up of North operations, especially as we currently are selling a high quantity of OPC to maximize our kiln usage. Lead distance increased by 9 km in the quarter to 294 km. Lastly, I would also like to briefly touch on the capacity expansion program.
As committed, during quarter two, we commissioned the waste heat recovery system and the alternative fuel rehandling co-processing system at the Nagaur integrated unit. Early this month, we also commissioned the additional 1 MTPA grinding capacity at Nagaur and the overland belt conveyor for transporting limestone from the crusher to our plant. These initiatives are expected to substantially reduce our costs in quarter three and quarter four. In addition to the Nagaur WHRS unit, we added 36 MW of wind capacity in quarter two at Nandyal in Vijayanagar, and together this has increased our green power share to 41% in quarter two. Let me now hand over to Narinder to take you through the key financial highlights.
Yeah. Good morning. I will summarize the performance of Q2. Consolidated revenue was INR 1,912 crores. That is an increase of 33% year-on-year and 0.8% quarter-on-quarter, despite this being a monsoon quarter. Consolidated operating EBITDA was INR 278 crores. That is an improvement of 4% year-on-year. We saw improvement in realization in both cement and GGBS on year-on-year. However, both fuel and packing cost also increased on YoY basis. Consolidated operating EBITDA per ton was INR 708 for the quarter. As has already been mentioned, the company achieved EBITDA breakeven in North in this quarter with a slightly positive EBITDA contribution. Excluding the North region on a like-for-like basis, revenue growth of 14% YoY in Q1 and Q2, while operating EBITDA increased by 3% Yoy to INR 275 crores, which equates to INR 821 per ton.
On a consolidated basis, total EBITDA including other income was INR 295 crores. PBT was INR 101 crore during the quarter, including positive contribution of nearly INR 20 crores from Fujairah. PAT for the quarter was about INR 77 crores. In terms of the trend in the main cost elements during the quarter, raw material and power and fuel decreased by 2% quarter-on-quarter, with slightly higher fuel cost on QoQ basis offset by product mix changes. Blended fuel costs increased slightly from INR 1.80 per Mcal in the first quarter to INR 1.84 per Mcal in this quarter. As all of you are aware, pet coke prices are at very high levels and this will create more cost pressure in the coming quarters, but we are actively working towards increasing our share of domestic fuel and optimize our costs.
Logistic cost was stable on Q-on-Q basis, with impact of higher lead distance offset by savings from the railway busy season surcharge waiver and reallocation of volumes between Vijayanagar and Dolvi plants. Employee and other expenses per ton was stable on Q-on-Q basis. In terms of balance sheet, net debt was INR 4,287 crores at the end of September. Net debt to EBITDA stood at 3.2x . Average cost of debt for the quarter was stable quarter-on-quarter at 7.67%. The company incurred CapEx of INR 483 crores during the quarter and INR 820 crores during the first half of the year. This is basis the cash outflow, though the CapEx number will be slightly higher. We will be happy to address your questions now. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your 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 comes from the line of Prateek Kumar with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, sir. I have a question on your cement realization, which has fallen 3% Q-on-Q since highest versus peers, especially background of your lead distance also increasing. Why is this divergence? Have you sold more aggressively in volumes versus competition driving your pricing and decline?
Yeah, Prateek. Prateek, see, the thing is, it's good to compare with the industry numbers on the decline, but our geographic spread compared to others, our geographic footprint compared to the others, quite different, and actually, that's what's playing out. We've not taken any aggressive price cuts, if that's what you were alluding to, because of which the volume increase has happened. That's not what has led to it. In terms of price, we maintain ourselves as what we were in quarter one as well, and it's primarily the geographic spread which has led to the kind of numbers that we're looking at.
Sure. Does that flow through to your EBITDA also? Are you changing your mix, which impacts your realization? Does that neutralizes on cost and as a result, the EBITDA pertinent impact is not there?
Yeah.
It flows through EBITDA.
It flows through all the way, right, to EBITDA, and then what we reported is fundamentally factoring that in.
Sure. The other question is on leverage. There is an increase in leverage Q-on-Q and interest cost Q-on-Q, while your CapEx seems, on a run rate basis, not higher. So what are the key reasons that is attributable to change?
No. CapEx continues in North, and some land acquisition also continues for the projects which we had shared with you earlier in the previous calls. We have been utilizing the IPO proceeds. That reflects in the net debt situation. And there has been a marginal additional drawdown of debt, but that number is quite small. It is more of the utilization of the cash proceeds of IPO. And coming to finance cost, we all know that there has been a reset in the repo and MCLRs have been going up. So all this, of course, this number is very marginal, but we will see more impact of this going forward. However, though I make this statement, we don't see a huge impact on our average debt cost because of the way we have financed or the debt mix itself. And we do have FX loss.
Not every foreign debt is hedged by us as a policy. We go as per our forex policy. You all know that there has been a sharp appreciation in the dollar. So that has reflected in our interest cost.
Sure. I have more questions, but let me get back to the queue.
Thank you, Prateek.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Sanjeev Kumar Singh with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. In the previous question, you mentioned that there has been some regional mix change in this quarter. Even if ex-North basis, my sense is that the volume has grown by 11% year-on-year. Does it mean that you have sold higher volume in the East market where pricing was under pressure?
Mr. Singh, please go ahead.
Did you hear me?
Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been disconnected. Please be on hold while we get them reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been reconnected. Please go ahead.
My question was-
Yes, Sanjeev.
My question was that in answer to the previous question, you mentioned that there had been some regional mix change which led to a sharper fall in realization. Ex North, this volume seems to be around 11% up year-on-year. Does it mean that you have sold higher volume in the east region, where we believe that the prices were under pressure? Can you give some sense on your regional volume growth in the south and east markets in this quarter?
No, definitely in the east, our volumes have gone up substantially. We will just share the number.
Yeah. For cement, the volume numbers in the East, the growth has been around 20% YoY. Across the South and the West, South has been around 13%. Because of that, the mix is fundamentally changing. I think you are right, Sanjeev. That is what is fundamentally causing it.
Okay. My second question is on North India operations. With the kind of cost initiatives like WHR commissioning, AFR, we have seen it this quarter, how do you expect the variable cost or cost of production to move in the second half for this plant?
Yeah. So our own reading is we are expecting our cost to come down by anywhere in the range of INR 550-INR 600 a ton with all this. Despite the increase in the fuel cost, we expect to be broadly in line with what the industry numbers are. With the commencement of OLBC, which is a significant cost saving, with the commencement of WHR and AFR, which will come into full effect in this, as our volumes start to ramp up and our clinker utilization starts to go up, we expect these numbers to start to get corrected.
Okay. My last question will be on the fuel consumption cost. You mentioned in your opening remarks that there has been increase in fuel prices. With current fuel prices, how do we expect variable cost to move in 3Q and 4Q FY 2027?
Yeah. As was mentioned by our Director of Finance, INR 1.84 per Mcal is moving up to INR 2.10 per Mcal, which translates to, based on our clinker factor, approximately INR 90 a ton increase in cement cost.
Yes
Which we believe because of our increase in green energy, because we are jumping up from 41% to a higher number upwards of 50%, and the price increase that has come through in the second half of September and continues in October, we believe this should offset. The impact primarily on margin, which is where I think you are taking this argument, would probably be held, and we will be able to maintain that.
Okay, sir. Thanks a lot. I will come back in the queue .
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes on the line of Siddharth Mehrotra, Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. A small question on our CapEx numbers. I was under the impression that we did not have sufficient land in Dolvi for an immediate expansion. The number given for CapEx here, roughly INR 500 crore-INR 550 crore, is that including the land?
I will give you a small brief. Earlier, our plan was to put up a unit across the creek only next to the PNP jetty. Now, at our existing location, JSW Steel has cleared up some land, which we are in a position to use now. Answering your question, it will only be the lease rental or the lease premium for this additional piece of land that we will be receiving from JSW Steel. This is where we will be putting up a 2 million ton additional grinding unit.
Okay. Only expansions post 6.5 MTPA will perhaps require that land again, right?
Yes. We continue to buy that piece of land. But yeah, right now it will be this piece of land which I just mentioned.
Understood, sir. Secondly, sir, on our GGBS volumes. They have sort of disappointed us with respect to growth compared to, say, the cement growth, which we just highlighted in other regions. What would be perhaps a sustainable number to sort of take for GGBS volume growth? Would it be closer to 10%, maybe higher, lower? How should we think about it?
Yeah. See, as we had guided last time, high single digits is the forecast that we had given for the year, and we continue to hold ourselves. If you just go back quarter one, we were, I think, 2.3%. This quarter is 7%. With the momentum that exists, we expect to meet what we had committed in quarter one, which is high single digits. Hoping to keep that.
Got it, sir. Okay, sir. Just one last question. We expect the cost to have sort of fully reflect in their highest from this quarter. Do we expect further pressure on margins in the remaining half of the year?
I think on fuel.
It is only the fuel.
Yeah.
It is only the fuel, which of course today we have enough fuel till January, December, and early January. Let us see how things behave after the midterm elections, U.S. results are out, et cetera.
The positive part, honestly, out here is one, of course, is the fuel cost, which is going up. The positive side, which I mentioned a little earlier, was our power cost is something which will come down with a higher percentage of green energy moving up from 40% to 50%, [55%]. Of course, the third aspect is the price increase, which we have seen. We have seen a marked increase in the month of October. With the kind of cost pressures that the industry is facing, we believe the price table that the industry is targeting will hold on.
Got it, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you. Press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Harsh Mittal with Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Good morning, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question, you have alluded to that cement prices have increased in later half of September and early October. Can you quantify the amount of price increase, both in trade and non-trade in your operating regions?
Yeah, sure. Let me start with the non-trade. In the South, non-trade, as we speak for October, we are seeing an INR 15-INR 20 per bag increase. In the East, we are seeing an INR 25-INR 30 a bag increase, and INR 10 in West, and around INR 20 per bag in the North. This for non-trade. On trade, we are seeing an INR 10-INR 15 a bag increase only in the East. The other regions, the prices, we are yet to see the reflection of that play out. Our view is, I think the prices should hold firm, primarily because of cost pressures that the entire industry is facing.
Got it. Sir, my second question is on the demand scenario. We have been hearing a lot on the drought situations and our core operating regions are also in primarily Maharashtra and somewhat of South. These regions are mostly impacted due to the drought. Given that we are today at the month end, how has the month of October trending in terms of demand? If you can throw some light on that.
It has been fairly positive. In fact, across our GGBS and cement all across. For us, Maharashtra is primarily around Mumbai and the Mumbai urban agglomerate because our cement unit in Dolvi is hardly around 110 km. That hasn't been impacted. The infra growth that we are seeing is significant. That kind of supports it. Otherwise, in all the zones or the regions that we operate, in the markets that we operate, our growth has been fairly positive.
Understood. As a last question, what would be the RMC revenues for this quarter and your expectation for full year FY 2027? Thank you.
Yeah. For quarter two, it was around INR 170 crores, was the RMC revenues.
What is the expectation for the full year, sir, FY 2027?
No, we would refrain from going down that path because they are still being set up and there are a number of things that are being sorted out.
Understood. Okay.
Going forward, we will probably see if we can provide that.
Okay, sir. Thank you. These were my questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. Press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Gaurav Nagori with Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just two questions related to GGBS segment. First one is that, can you put some color on how the cost pressure in the GGBS cost per ton compared to the gray cement? Second, have you taken price hikes in GGBS in this quarter?
Yeah. I think you understand the product GGBS. There has been no major cost pressure other than marginal increase in whatever the power cost increase or the fuel increase that we need for drying of the GGBS. That's been marginal. That's not been significant. Coming to the second part, which is in terms of price hikes. No price hikes have been taken. We maintain our stance of continuing the price point so we guys can drive more penetration of GGBS across all the applications of concrete.
Understood. Just to understand it better. Even the slag procurement price for you is similar to, let's say, the last year?
Yes, absolutely.
Understood. Thanks for the answer.
Yeah.
The previous speaker did make a reference to RMC revenue. I just want to highlight here is that because we are just setting up the unit, our margins are very minimal. Just keep that in mind. It is very minimal because we have not yet ramped up the volumes enough to cover the fixed costs.
Thank you. Press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Navin Sahadeo with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity. My question was on the GGBS realization. So if I am not wrong, in the past, what we understand is that whenever OPC prices are under pressure, the GGBS realization also tends to come under pressure because of, I think the product mix at the RMC levels, which the RMC maker has to match. Some sort of a link around that. But in the current scenario, wherein cost is rising and because of which the industry is attempting price hike, directionally, do you see scope to see some pricing improvement in GGBS? Or, as you mentioned, that the priority is still towards volume and not really prices?
Navin, that's a great question. In fact, we evaluate that on a regular basis. We keep evaluating concrete mix designs for the different geographies, keep assessing the fly ash mixes versus GGBS mixes versus pure OPC mixes. But our current stance is to drive volume, drive penetration of GGBS in the RMC by maintaining the GGBS price. If the arbitrage becomes fairly significant, we may probably revisit it, but if that's the case, then we'll definitely get back. For now, it's about maintaining the GGBS price so that we can drive penetration of GGBS across the concrete applications.
Understood. The previous participant did touch upon the question about drought situation. In Maharashtra, I understand our sales are largely concentrated around Mumbai and maybe around Pune at max. But in Karnataka, where again the situation of water, or also in Andhra, I think there is press release of government trying to impose some restrictions. Do you see any red flags there or it doesn't really matter for our catchment areas?
For now-
Hello? I think. Hello?
Speakers, please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible? I'm not able to hear anybody.
Mr. Sahadeo, I can hear you. Speakers, please go ahead. Ladies and gentlemen, the speaker line has been disconnected. Please be on hold while we quickly get them reconnected. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been reconnected. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Navin. I'm sorry. I think the line dropped at our end. Apologies for that. If you could just tell me, what is it you could hear and where is it that it dropped?
No
because I will end up repeating the whole statement.
I could just complete my question. I do not know if you got it. Your entire response missed. My question basically was around drought situation, not in Maharashtra, but in Andhra and Karnataka markets. Are we of the view that it is a potential red flag or it does not really matter in our catchment areas?
Okay, sure. Thanks, Navin. Navin, before I answer that, I will just take your previous one where you mentioned about opportunity for price increase in GGBS to drive realization since the OPC prices are going up. Trust me, we keep evaluating this regularly. What our current thrust is to drive the GGBS penetration in the concrete mix design. Currently, it is around 35%-40% thereabout. Our endeavors will take it to 50%, which is approved as per the BIS norms, and probably move it beyond because there are certain applications it can go significantly beyond. Those trials are underway. The conversations are underway. Technical conversations are underway. That is the direction that we are headed. If the opportunity definitely arises, if the arbitrage is significant, then over time we will definitely evaluate that as an option to increase the realization.
Coming to your specific question that you asked now around drought situation. In our catchment area, we are not seeing that play out for now. The geography that we sell and we are having a fairly healthy run in terms of volumes for the month of October.
Thank you. Just one more question, if I may. This was around the net debt position and the CapEx plan in general. Of course, the company has ambitious, aggressive growth plans, and I totally appreciate it more so coming from the group because in general, I have a view that JSW Group itself is being known to be very aggressive in terms of capacity expansions be it even high leverage. In cement specific thing, since the current net debt EBITDA is around 3.3x, what is the comfort level for which as to continue pursuing this aggressive expansions or take a pause in terms of the leverage? Or you think leverage is just an interim number and will still pursue very aggressively with our expansion plans?
No, Navin. Yes, the plan is always to stay aggressive, but at the same time, we have a mandate to keep the net debt to EBITDA below 3. We will continue to be around 3 for maybe a year or so more, and definitely it is going to be below 3 in the coming years.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you. Press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Couple of things. First, in terms of the, just to get, again, the guidance on the CapEx absolute number for this year, 2027/ 2028. Last time you said INR 2,300 crore and INR 2,000 crore. So that number remains intact? Hello?
Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been disconnected. Please be on hold while we quickly get them reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been reconnected. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Sir, just to recheck in terms of the CapEx number that we have last time said INR 2,300 crore and INR 2,000 crore for 2027/ 2028. So that number remains intact?
Yes.
Okay. To reach a 43.5 MTPA, the total CapEx from here on, is it INR 7,500 crore that we need to still spend?
Yeah, correct.
Okay. Further, in terms of just to get a timeline. So two expansions that we announced yesterday with the results where the timeline is there, just to get a further in terms of the 2.5 million ton Nagaur, when we are looking at in terms of the start that plant and the 2 MTPA Vijayanagar. When is this is supposed to Sorry, 2 MTPA Dolvi because in presentation it is 4 MTPA. 2 MTPA yesterday we have mentioned in the timeline. So the balance, when it will come and the Fujairah 1.7, when it will start?
So I will answer each of them. Nagaur 2.5 should be ready in Q4 2028. Fujairah Q1.
FY 2028.
2028.
Q1 FY 2028?
Correct. It should be around May and June next year.
Okay.
Dhrol, the work starts and should be completed within 20, 21 months from January 2027. That is again FY 2028, probably the second quarter or the end of third quarter, early third quarter.
2029.
Sorry, 2029, not 2028. Sorry, 2029.
Yeah. Dhrol is for 2 MTPA, but we in the presentation have a 4 MTPA.
I agree. Initially because of the land, because we did not want to wait. JSW Steel's blast furnace is ready in calendar 2028 sometimes. We want to be ready for that slag, hence this urgency to go ahead with the 2 million ton. Parallelly, we are still working on the land, as I mentioned earlier in the call, we are working on the land piece on the PNP jetty. As and when that happens, we take a decision on the balance 2 million. However, Vijayanagar we are starting again because Vijayanagar steel plant is ramping up from 18 million to 24 million, and we want to be ready to catch that slag. That work starts December this year, and it will be one and a half years to commissioning.
Okay, got it. In terms of the cement volume for this year, how one can look at GGBS you have mentioned for this year on the cement front, how we can look at and at the same time, Nagaur now it is a 75% utilization is there. So in the second half, can we see the similar or will it further improve the utilization?
No, we continue to maintain it will be a high teens growth over last year.
Okay. Got it. For Nagaur, how one can look at in terms of the second half utilization?
No, Nagaur should definitely improve from here. If you can see, we did about five- one minute. About 580,000 in this quarter, including sale of clinker. So this number has to improve from here. We are consistently working on now that we have another 1 million grinding operational. Hello.
Good.
Hello.
Yeah. Go ahead.
Right now, as we have about 3.5 million grinding operational, the number will be definitely going up from here, as against 580,000 that we did in Q2.
Okay. Lastly, incentives or anything, have we finalized with the auditors for this Nagaur, the INR 650 crore incentive that we were having for 10 years?
We are awaiting the-
Okay.
So we are awaiting the entitlement certificate from RIPS Rajasthan body. So that should be coming in any time. We are working on. We are awaiting the date of the next meeting there. So whenever that happens, probably we were expecting this month end. Hope. It's not happening. So maybe sometimes next month. So once we have the entitlement certificate, we will be recognizing this revenue.
Thank you. Mr. Shah, please return the queue for more questions. A final reminder to the participants, press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Amit Murarka with Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, all. Thanks for the opportunity. So on North, I can see that there was just a INR 3 crore EBITDA loss in the quarter. And you had earlier mentioned of breakeven by end September. So could you just guide some more now on North EBITDA bridge from here to, let's say, going into Q4, which is generally the high quarter for the sector?
No, it's not a loss. I think I mentioned it's a INR 3 crore profit for the quarter. It's not an EBITDA loss.
Oh, is it? Okay.
Yeah.
Sure. But generally, how will this EBITDA scale up now?
No, it should be hitting about, probably INR 650 to INR 700 in Q4. That has majorly to do with the underutilization of the clinker line as of today. Because as you can figure out, we just have 3.5 million grinding, and the clinker is 3.3 million. About 2.2 million, 2.3 million is sufficient to give us this cement volumes that we are looking at. So once that ramp up happens, probably when we have the another 2.5 million grinding ready, is when we will be hitting a much higher number, maybe close to the industry numbers. But in Q4, we see around INR 700.
INR 700 for North? Okay. From WHRS and OLBC, is there any cost reduction number that you would like to guide for the North plant, let's say?
It is part of that INR 700.
As I had mentioned earlier, there was a INR 550-INR 600 per ton reduction on the clinker cost because of OLBC, AFR, and WHRS. That has been factored. It is a part of the entire EBITDA number that has been discussed.
Also in the previous quarter, I think you had mentioned you spent INR 33 crore in marketing in North. Any more marketing spend planned in North as you scale up?
No, not as of now. We may look at that number sometimes in Q4 end, but not as of now. We do not have any plans.
In Q3, there was no high spend as in normal marketing only in Q3. Q2, sorry.
No.
Yeah. It was normal. Usually a good season, so nobody. There's nothing which is extraordinary.
Sure. Just a last question, if I may. Could you also give a split of trade, non-trade in North that you're doing?
Yeah. We're currently at around 53% of trade. We expect these numbers to start to go up. We're targeting close to 60% by end of the year.
Okay. Sure. Got it. That's all from me. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rajesh Ravi with HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes, Rajesh. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning to the team, and congrats on healthy ramp up at the North operation and turning EBITDA positive.
Thank you.
My first question, just on the cement and clinker, you said 581,000 in North operations, which would imply that it would be around north of 100,000 clinker sales from the North operation. Would that be fair given that 75% is-
Yes. Correct.
in place. Okay.
Yeah, you are right.
Understood. This GGBS capacity, which was planned 4 million ton, and CapEx number earlier was pegged at INR 1,600 crore. This 2 million ton, INR 550 odd crore, which you have mentioned. Is the remaining INR 1,000 crore still remain on book for the remaining 2 million ton because of the expensive land additions or preparation which would be required?
No, that number will be much less.
Okay. The second phase would come immediately soon after, or we should factor in a lag of a year or two?
No, there will be a slight lag. Because once we have this 2 million, that one that we are setting up, we will wait for utilization levels to hit about 65%-70% before we start the work on the next 2 million.
Okay. On the GGBS, one more question. This year you are targeting high single-digit growth, but for next year onward, is it fair to assume that 15% CAGR can resume? Is that a possibility?
No, it should not. Because once we start getting, probably we will see a small slowdown in FY 2028, but then the number starts going up once we have additional slots coming, both at Dolvi and Vijayanagar.
Understood. So for FY 2028, we will be factoring in high single-digit growth. Is that a
Yes.
Understood. Lastly, if you look at your balance sheet, the trade pay will stand for, on a concerned level, at around 80 days, which is more than the industry average of 30-40 days. There is a large amount of acceptances. Can you please elaborate on it?
No, as you understand, today we are in this growth phase. Somewhere something suffers, right?
Okay.
Yeah. Our vendors are not unhappy with us. These numbers will be coming down very shortly. At the same time, keep in mind, I have to be mindful of the debt number also. I do not want my debt to go up beyond a certain number.
Okay.
At the same time, I want to do my CapEx spends. There is a lag when I spend and when I start generating cash from the investment. Once this starts, like Rajasthan, once it starts throwing up cash, enough cash probably in Q4 end or sometimes Q1 next year. You will see a substantial drop in the payables.
Understood. Lastly, this CapEx number, we are shortfall in terms of the run rate for full year, INR 2,300 crore. You are still confident that we would be able to complete the whole INR 2,300 crore by end of FY 2027, INR 800 crore in H1?
No. As I mentioned, the number that we read earlier, INR 400 crore something and INR 800 crore something, that is the cash outflow we are talking of. We will have some acceptances, et cetera. Definitely we will be closing the CapEx number, the actual spend, close to about INR 2,200 crore-INR 2,300 crore. Not that we have slipped on that number.
Just to clarify, the cash flow statement, which is INR 800 crore reading for H1, would that still go to INR 2,300 crore or that would be including acceptances and all that?
No, definitely there will be some outstandings. Whatever spends are done in the February or March month, probably may get paid in either March end or April. So though we may end up doing the CapEx, the payments may get deferred to April.
Understood. Great. That is all from my end. Thank you. Will come back in queue.
Yeah.
Thank you. The last question comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Sir, two things. First, this INR 100 crore this quarter employee cost, so this kind of a run rate to continue?
Yes.
Okay. Second, sir, in the CC ratio, because obviously the North plant, it has recently from 1.82 to 1.72 this quarter. How one can look at in terms of the CC ratio going forward?
No. Clinker ratio will continue to be around this number only. We have ramped up. Today we are selling OPC. This OPC number will start coming down in North. My clinker factor should be ideally lower than this number.
Okay. The total clinker sale for this quarter is around 0.15, 0.16 million tons?
Correct. 150,000 tons, 160,000 tons, of which about 120,000 tons, 130,000 tons is from Nagaur and the balance is from Shiva. In Q3, we don't see any sales from Shiva . That's how it is.
Okay.
We are intending to run the kiln at full in Nagaur, and if we have to do that, we have to necessarily sell clinker.
Yeah, sure.
At least till December 2027.
Yeah, okay. Thank you and all the best, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Navin Sahadeo, ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the follow-up. My just one question. This cost per Mcal, which you have shared of INR 1.8 going to INR 1.84, based on your fuel mix and at the current spot rate, both of the various fuels that we use, pet coke or imported coal and even domestic coal wherein the premiums have shot up. This cost per Mcal has gone up to how much at current spot rate? I know it will not hit in Q3 entirely, but just to understand the upper end of this fuel cost. Thanks.
It's a blend. Pet coke is rating now INR 3.08 today. If somebody has to buy spot.
Okay.
INR 3.08 to even INR 3.17.
Right.
Imported coal today, US NAPP is about close to INR 3. Domestic is much slower. We work on lignite also to some numbers in North. Lignite, sorry, in North. Our intent is to keep the cost down. As I mentioned, we have enough stock till December and January. That will be at INR 2-
INR 0.10 .
INR 2.10 for us in Q3, the fuel cost. Q4, it all depends where we will be.
One important thing here, just to add to what Narinder said. It is also the proportion of alternate fuel mix and other cheaper coals that we end up putting in the mix. It is a weighted average of that. With the systems now fully geared up across all the plants and our operability at a high level, we should be able to maintain the numbers that we are talking about.
Yeah, great. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Thank you. Last question comes from the line of Prateek Kumar with Jefferies. Please go ahead. Mr. Kumar, please go ahead.
Yeah. Hello. Yeah. My question is on cement prices. You mentioned about the non-trade prices have risen up to INR 30 per bag, but trade prices have only risen in [INR 15] in East market. In other markets, have there been any reversals or the attempts have not been made? As you said, cost has been through the roof.
Please. Not sure about the reversals or attempts, but yeah, we are not seeing the reflection of the price in the market as we stand. We are neither price takers. However, with the cost pressure that we were alluding to earlier and the general increase in demand, we expect the entire price table to start to— at least at the pricing part to move towards the supply side. As it has happened in non-trade, trade will start to reflect shortly and all of you will understand this. Non-trade sets in, then automatically trade numbers will start to look up more healthy.
INR 30 price hike in non-trade in East, is it material difference in your trade non-trade price in the East?
No. Sorry, repeat the question again, please.
You talked about INR 25- INR 30 per bag hike in east in non-trade.
Yes.
What would be the gap in pricing in east, in the trade and non-trade?
Gap in-
Trade and non-trade pricing in east particularly.
One second. See, because there is also a commensurate price increase in trade of INR 15 the bag. That is also taking. So it is a combined effect of that that we are seeing. Our trade ratio in the East is at 70%. So I guess that is going to flow out into trade. If you want the exact differential, I think you can get in touch with our Investor Relations and we will convert to you the exact number, please.
Sure. Thank you. This was my only question.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. We have reached the end of question and answer session. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaibhav Agarwal for closing comments.
Yeah. Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital India Private Limited, we would like to thank the management of JSW Cement for the call, and many thanks to the participants for joining the call. Thank you very much, sir. We may now conclude the call. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of PhillipCapital, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your line.