Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Steel Authority of India Q3 FY25 earnings conference call, hosted by Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. As a reminder, all participants' lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask a question after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ashish Kejriwal from Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Sejal. Good morning, everyone. So, on behalf of Nuvama Institutional Equities, we welcome you again on Steel Q3 FY25 post-result con call. We are delighted to have Executive Director of Finance, Mr. Praveen Nigam, along with his team. Now, I will request Mr. Nigam for his opening remark, and then we can open the floor for Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Kejriwal. Good morning, everyone. I welcome all our investors and analysts who are joining this result con call for the financial result of sales for the period Q3 and 9M financial year 2025. Before I present the highlights of the result, I would like to briefly apprise the House about the global as well as the domestic economic scenario in which we have operating of late, as these impact the result significantly. After the presentation on the economic scenario and the result, we shall take up your queries in the Q&A session. Now, as for the world economic scenario is concerned, the current global economic landscape is characterized by moderate growth, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a global GDP increase of 3.3% for both 2025 and 2026.
This growth is, however, uneven across the region, influenced by factors such as trade, policies, inflation rate, and geopolitical tensions. The projection for emerging and developing economies stands at similar levels as of 2025 and 2026, that is, at 4.2% to 4.3%. On the other hand, the advanced economy sees a marginal improvement in the projection for the two years, that is, 2025 and 2026, at 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively, compared to the estimate for 2023 at 1.7%. Announcement of 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. has raised concern among global producers about the potential retaliatory measures and impact on the global trade pattern. The imposition of tariffs by the U.S. has also led to increased volatility in the global market. While U.S. steelmaker stocks have surged in anticipation of gaining a competitive advantage, global producers are experiencing decline.
Additionally, concern about raising inflation and protectionist policies has emerged, with varying impacts depending upon countries and industries involved. As for the global steel industry's concern, global steel industry is navigating a complex landscape influenced by economic trends, trade policies, and technological advancements. The global economic scenario in 2025 presents both challenges and opportunities for the steel industry. While certain regions may benefit from protective trade measures, the overall impact is complex, with potential for increased costs, market volatility, and shifts in global trade dynamics. The World Steel Association forecasts a 0.9% decline in global steel demand for 2024, reaching 1,751 million tons. A modest recovery is anticipated in 2025, with the demand expected to increase by 1.2% to 1,772 MT. Meanwhile, the steel industry is increasingly focusing on sustainability and technological advancement.
There is a growing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions through innovative production methods and the adoption of renewable energy sources. The integration of artificial intelligence and automation is enhancing manufacturing processes, improving efficiency, and reducing costs. In the Indian economy has also been impacted by global cues, with the advanced estimate for the GDP growth for financial year 2025 being estimated at 6.4%, down from 8.2% achieved during financial year 2024. The Reserve Bank of India has reduced its repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, marking the first rate cut in nearly five years. This decision aims to stimulate economic growth amid easing inflation, which is approaching the RBI's target of 4%. The RBI anticipates a growth rate of 6.7% in the fiscal year 2025-26, slightly higher than the 6.4% estimated for the current fiscal year.
India is, however, facing much better than its counterpart, bolstered by the strengthening of the policy framework and increasing demand. The World Bank notes that India's service exports have remained robust, and the current account deficit is narrowing, indicating a strong external economic position. The Indian economy has countered the forces of inflation better than the other economies, thereby maintaining relative stability in the domestic market. Despite the projection for GDP growth rate in the near future coming down in the range of 6.5%-6.7%, India continues to maintain its position as one of the fastest-growing among the major economies. Now, let me talk about the Indian steel industry. The Indian steel industry is experiencing significant growth driven by robust domestic demand and strategic investment.
Despite all challenges, including the softening of steel prices, the Indian steel industry has consistently been growing in terms of production as well as consumption. During financial year 2025, that is, till January 2025, crude steel production has grown by 4.5% over CPLY. At the same time, finished steel consumption has grown by 10.8% during the period over CPLY. As for the World Steel Association, India has emerged as the strongest driver of demand for steel since 2021, projected to grow at more than 8% during 2024 and 2025. Indian steel demand will continue to charge ahead driven by continued growth in all steel using sectors, and especially by continued strong growth in infrastructure investment. The top line and the bottom line for Indian producers have been impacted as the prices declined consistently.
We are hopeful that the prices have bottomed out, and considering that we are now in the fourth quarter, which is traditionally the strongest for the steel industry, the industry is hopeful for better results in the coming quarter, with the prices of imported coal also remaining in check. The Platts index for hard coking coal of Australian origin stands at $188 per ton. The industry can also have a sigh of relief on the cost front. The Indian steel industry is poised to continue growth, supported by strong domestic demand and strategic investment. However, addressing challenges such as import competition and environmental sustainability will be crucial for maintaining this positive trajectory. As for your company performance is concerned in the nine-month period, coming to the performance of the company, the performance of the company during this nine-month period stands as below.
The crude steel production at 14.1 MT stood at a similar level as compared to CPLY when it was 14.2 MT. At the same time, saleable steel sales volume was at 12.54 MT, also in the similar range of the CPLY, which was 12.46 MT. The performance by the CMO, that is, the central marketing organization in the domestic market, has been higher by 1.8% over CPLY, while the sales by the plant have also grown by 25.8% during the period over CPLY. The export, however, has come down by 73.7% over CPLY, while the NSR is declining by more than 6.5%. The turnover fell by 5.5% over CPLY and stands at INR 72,595 crore. On the profitability front, the company registered an EBITDA of INR 7,983 crore, profit before tax of INR 1,445 crore, and PAT of INR 970 crore.
With the concern of rising borrowing, we are happy to share that the borrowing during the quarter has been reduced by INR 1,700 crore. Borrowing at the end of Q3 of financial year 25 issued at INR 33,907 crore, as compared to INR 35,596 crore in Q2 of financial year 25. The borrowing as of date stands at INR 32,600 crore, as against INR 30,593 crore, which was at 31st March 2024. As for the sustenance and operational efficiency is concerned, in the area of operational efficiency, the company has been making steady progress for reducing coal co-consumption, increasing the usage of CDI, bringing down the specific energy consumption, and improving the blast furnace productivity. SAIL is undertaking various drives towards decarbonization in three phases, with the first phase having brought down the specific CO2 emission by almost 20%.
The company is now gearing up to bring it down further by 12% to 2.19 tons per ton of crude steel by 2030-31. SAIL plants and units have entered into a number of MoUs with the renowned suppliers, technology providers, etc., towards decarbonization drive. Continuing with the drive towards improving the product mix, the proportion of semis in the saleable steel production is at less than 14%. By engaging conversion services in and around the plant or demand sector, the percentage share of semis in sales has been even lower at 8%. Steps are being taken in this case for further reduction in the proportion of semis in the product mix under the next phase of expansion.
Going forward, the boost from the various measures announced by the Government of India in the recent union budget, like 1.5 lakh crore outlay in the infrastructure, extension of Jal Jeevan Mission up to 2028, incentivization of power sector reform, creation of 1 lakh crore urban challenge fund, creation of maritime development fund of 25,000 crore, etc., augurs well for steel demand in the country. We are hopeful of realization and consequent margin will improve for the company in the quarter to come as the overall outlook is positive for sustained growth in the domestic consumption. With these words, I hand it back to Mr. Kejriwal for opening of the Q&A session. I am sure you all have lots of queries on our performance. Thank you, Mr. Kejriwal. Over to 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 Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi sir. Thanks for the opportunity. So my first question is, what should we make of the government's thinking of potential safeguard duties, import duties? We have heard a lot about it, but nothing has happened as yet. So how are you looking at it? That's the first question. The second question is on the cascading royalty. I think the Supreme Court had given a deadline of 7th of January. It got pushed out to 7th of February.
Is there a specific update over there? That's the second question. And the third question is, if you could give your thoughts on Karnataka proposed taxes, on which way it can actually go forward, or can the center curb or put a cap on the extent of levies that the state government can potentially propose? So those are the three questions. Thank you.
As for safeguard duties concern, as you are aware, that we have given all our input to the ministry, whatever was required, and there was a demand of 25% of the safeguard duties. The issue is still pending with the Finance Ministry. We are also waiting for the outcome of the decision of the Finance Ministry. As of now, there is no such communication from us, from our ministry to us, which we can share.
The only thing we can share is that we have given all the input which are required, and now we are waiting for the decision of the ministry. As far as royalties concern, that is based on the Supreme Court decision. We have our mines at three locations: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. In Jharkhand, they have already levied a cess of INR 100 per ton on the mineral. Odisha and Chhattisgarh have not yet come out with any such proposition. We are waiting. The moment something comes from the government, we will be in a position to update you. As for Karnataka is concerned, we do not have any operation in Karnataka or any mines in Karnataka, so that is not going to have any impact as far as sale is concerned.
Sure. That's helpful. And sir, just a bookkeeping question.
Sir, how did the flats and the long prices move from Q2 to Q3, and if you could highlight with the current spot prices also, that would be quite useful. Thank you.
Yeah. As for the long is concerned from Q2 to Q3, Q2 it was around INR 52,000, which has increased in Q3. As for the long is concerned, INR 53,400. You can say roughly INR 1,300 has increased as far as long is concerned from quarter two to quarter three. Flat has also was INR 49,000, which has come down to INR 46,800. You can say roughly INR 2,000 per ton the prices have gone down. Overall, if you see that both flat and long, so in Q2 it was around INR 50,500, which has come down to INR 49,700, or you can say roughly 800. So there has been some decline because of the stress in the flat market.
As far as the future is concerned, yes, we have a positive indication for the market. We are expecting that the prices will increase in the coming months. Exact price we cannot declare right now because it is still in the consideration, but yes, there are positive sentiments in the market for both, particularly for the flat.
Sure. Thank you so much. I'll join back with you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Dixit from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations for good performance in a very challenging quarter. Sir, three questions, if I may, from my side. The first one is on the sales volume growth, which we saw at 60-odd% ROI in this quarter.
Now, this quarter, I understand, was a period of very tepid consumption, at least in December, and none of your peers have shown this kind of growth. So just wanted to understand the specific area where we saw the demand in this particular quarter.
You are talking in terms of volume?
Volume, yes, sir. Volume, sales volume.
Okay. Carry on. What is your next question?
The next question is essentially, if I look at your plant-wise efforts, so Rourkela has turned around very well in this quarter, and Bhilai, if I exclude the rail price revision adjustment in last quarter, has also turned around. So just wanted to understand the drivers for that. The third one is on coal cost. If you could just let us know the coal cost that was there last quarter and what you see it going in this quarter.
These are the three questions from my side.
Okay. So I will start with your last question first. That is the coal cost. The coal cost, if you say that I will talk about the blend cost. The blend cost in last quarter was around 20,600, which has come down to 90,200. So you can say overall there has been reduction as the coal cost is concerned. That is mainly because of the reduction in the coal prices as far as the imported coal is concerned. What was the second question? Sorry, Bhilai. Yeah. As for the performance is concerned, as you talked about Bhilai and Rourkela also, there has been consistent improvement as far as the techno-economic parameters are concerned.
Apart from that, we have got, as you know, that referring to the input prices, and input prices basically has led, other than the techno-economic parameters, for improvement in the performance. And your first question was regarding sales volume growth.
Yes. I think. So just a minute.
So last year in Q3, our total sales was 3.81 million ton, which has increased to 4.43 million ton in this particular quarter. So there has been an increase in the volume. That is why our performance has improved. And if you compare with the Q2 also, then also there has been a growth because in Q2 it was 4.10 million ton, and in Q3 of financial 2024-2025, it is 4.143. We have also said in our opening remark that the total improvement was around 16.3% as far as the volume is concerned.
No, sir. Wanted to understand the drivers behind that because we have not seen this kind of growth in your peer company in this quarter. Which area, which sector did you see the demand traction?
Just a minute. Just a hold on. Mainly the increase in the consumer sector, that is infrastructure, where the increase has happened. In fact, if you see that in the last quarter, the sales was on the lower side, which actually is now the bookings has increased, substantial increase. And the main is this consumer sector.
Okay. And just a shoot of my question on coal. How is the coal cost expected to move in this quarter, Q4?
Coal cost in Q4 is expected to come down further because the imported coal price has further come down. Expected is that the imported coal will come down to around 18,700, roughly 19,000, you can say.
So there will be further relief as far as the coal prices are concerned.
So you mentioned 19,200 as coal cost in this quarter, and you were saying that
19,200 was the blended cost. Now, if we say specific to imported coal, so imported coal price in Q3 was 20,000, which we are expecting will come down by another 1,000 in Q4.
Okay. So on blended basis, we can expect another 1,000 rupees or?
Yeah, roughly 1,000. Yes, roughly 1,000.
Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumangal from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the chance. First question is on the prices. So you mentioned average was around 49,700 in 3Q. So can you share January what was the average price or blended price for us?
Average blended price in January is hovering in the range of 48,000, you can say 48,500, 48,400 to 48,500, 48,400, you can say.
Okay. So blended, okay. So it is around INR 1,200 down versus 3Q average, right?
Yes.
Understood. Understood. So next question is on the CapEx. So we were evaluating. So first, can you share what is the 9-month CapEx full-year guidance for this year and FY 26?
Yeah. 9-month CapEx is around INR 3,900 crore. As for the expansion is concerned, as we have told in the last phone call that stage one approval for the IISCO steel plant was given by the board. The process is on for firming up of this order. Bokaro and Durgapur, stage one approval has also been given by the board.
So now for three, that is IISCO Steel Plant, Bokaro and Durgapur, we are in the process of working out the cost. When the cost is finalized, we will go for the stage two approval.
Understood. And sir, in the absence or while we are working on this, what could be the CapEx for FY 26? Because this we believe will be more from FY 27 onwards, right?
Yes. It will be in the range of ₹7,500 crore roughly, you can say, because the expansion CapEx will also start happening in FY 26.
Okay. And so these three plants put together, what is the capacity we are looking to add?
The total capacity, just a minute. So it will be roughly 7.5 million ton, all the three these plants together.
Okay. And sir, can you give us some rough gross CapEx this 7-8 million ton expansion will take?
Could it be around INR 50,000-60,000 crore?
It will be in the range of around INR 55,000-56,000 crore.
Okay. Okay. And spread across how many years?
This plan is for 2031, as we said in the previous phone call also, that our expansion, which is going to come across saleable, it will be happening by 2031.
Okay. Okay. But sir, that we believe was for 15 million ton, right? I mean, this is only 7 and a half.
15 million ton. 15 million ton. We are going for the phase-wise expansion. In this phase, three plants have already got stage one approval. We are in the process of getting the stage one approval of the rest two plant also. And the total expansion, what we are expecting by 2031, is 15 million ton.
So you can say this also will come that the production of the facility will become operational and ramped up by 2031.
Understood. That's very clear. Sir, one question on the overall net debt.
Overall?
So net debt, so we were guiding for around INR 5,000-6,000 crore of reduction this year. I think we started the year with INR 30,000 crore net debt. So can we kind of share the latest thoughts on debt reduction by, say, fourth quarter end?
As I told in my opening remark also, that as of now, the total debt is around INR 32,600 crore, which is slightly higher than what it was in 31st March 2024. It was around INR 30,500 crore. In last phone call, we said the same thing that we are planning to reduce our debt and bring down to the level of 31st March 2024.
As you have said, that in Q2, our total debt was around 35,000, which has already come down to 32,600 level. And we are expecting that by the end of this particular financial year, our debt will be in the similar range as it was in 31st March 2024.
Understood. Understood. And lastly, sir, any guidance on the volume front for this year and next year?
For next year, we are still in the process of finalizing our business plan. We cannot exactly comment. But this time, it is around 18,500 million, 18.5 million ton as far as crude steel. Crude steel. Yeah. 18.5 million ton crude steel.
Understood. Okay. Thank you so much. All the best, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohit Bhansali from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity.
I want to know what is the current inventory and what is the value of that inventory?
Yes. Just a minute. Yeah. So total inventory of finished and semi-finished goods is 2.98 million ton, and the value of this is around INR 13,000 crore.
Okay, sir. Sir, second question mera aap se regarding expansion aur CapEx ka hai. Since you are going for a very huge CapEx, I just want to understand what is the debt peak that SAIL wants to maintain because already the debt is increasing without expansion since last two years. Your debt was around 13,000 at the end of March 2022, as I see in the presentation. Now it has gone up to around 32-33 thousand. So without any major significant expansion, your debt is going up. So when you go for this CapEx further, you will take the debt from the bank.
That is what I suppose. So do you have any picture about what is the peak level of debt SAIL is thinking about?
First of all, let me answer that you queried that the debt has increased. You see, the debt increase was because of the increase in the abnormal increase in the imported coal prices, which has cooled off substantially. So going forward, you can see there has been consistent reduction as far as the debt is concerned without any expansion, which was in the range of 35,000 in the month of September, has already come down to 32,600. And as we told that it will further come down by the end of this financial year, and we will be maintaining a level of at least that level of 31st March 2024, if not less.
As for the expansion is concerned, we are expecting that the peak debt would be in the range of our projection is that it should remain 1:1. But at the peak, sometime it might go up to 1.2, but not beyond that, whatever the projection we have made.
Okay, sir. So with expansion, don't you think that first of all, you should control your cost, like your employee cost, your operational cost? Even your net sales realization is not good as compared to private players. So don't you think that first you should improve overall your own performance? Because right now, your capacity is around 20 million crude steel that you are not able to produce because the market is not that favorable.
So don't you think first of all, you should improve all your parameters, and then you should go and generate some cash, good cash, and then you should go for the expansion, sir?
As you see, one of the investors has asked a query about what was the reason for our better performance as compared to our peer. In the previous question, we said that we are in the process of improving our technical parameters. There has been substantial improvement, so that result will come as far as the cost is concerned. The cost will further come down and will give benefit to us. Now, it's a continuous process. It's not that first we have to do this and then we go for the expansion.
We are continuously focusing on improving our performance as far as the cost is concerned, improving our product mix, which will ultimately give benefit as far as the cash realization is concerned. We are expecting that going forward, the NSR will also strengthen because we are expecting that there will be some relief from the government as far as the safeguard duty is concerned, and the coal prices, which are continuously coming down and maintaining a level of $188-$190 per ton. So this all will give in generation of additional cash. So we will be in a position to maintain a debt-equity ratio of 1:1 on the overall basis. And I think debt-equity ratio of 1:1 with the expansion of 15 million tons is quite a good proposition.
Okay, sir. Got it. Got it. So third question is around for your rail prices.
So are we going to get revised rail prices next year? What is the current rail price you are getting from the railways?
You see, price declaration probably would not be very good at this forum. We will give you offline. We have got the rail price for 2022-23 from the Chief Adviser Cost. As of 2023-24, we have given all the information to the Chief Adviser Cost. As you are aware, that for rail price, the railway has given this responsibility to Chief Adviser Cost. It is a Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance. They give the fair value of the particular product. For 2023-24, we are in the process of finalizing the price. It has not yet come. And we are expecting that soon it will come and will give benefit to us.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants, please limit your question to two per participant. If you have a follow-up question, I will request you to rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Pallav Agarwal from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. So first question.
Sorry to interrupt, sir. I will request you to please use your handset.
Yeah. I am using the handset. Am I audible now?
Yes. I will request to speak a little louder.
Sure. So first question was on the coking coal. So with imported coking coal prices coming down, is there an indexation for domestic coal as well, or domestic coal prices stay the same despite imported coking coal prices coming down?
Actually, these domestic coal prices have import parity with capping, both upper and lower capping. So there is a parity with the imported coal. So naturally, when there is a parity, there will be some reduction in the domestic coal price also.
Okay. But may not be in the same proportion as the fallen?
Not in the same because there is upper capping and lower capping involved. So there may not be the same proportion, but yes, reduction will be there.
Okay. And what would be the proportion? Is it 85%-15% mix between domestic and imported?
Yes. Domestic, yes. We are using a blend of, you can say, almost 85% of the imported coal and 15% of the domestic coal, as a whole.
Okay. And do we still purchase any coke externally, or most of it is captive coke?
No. No. No. It is captive.
We are producing. We are not procuring. There could be one-off cases when we might have procured, but otherwise, no. As a policy, we are not procuring.
Sure, sir. Okay. And I just missed the CapEx number that you mentioned for nine months, FY25 and the FY25 guidance. If you could just
I said that it was INR 3,900 crore in this particular financial year till December.
Okay. And FY25?
And next year? Yeah. And next year, that is FY26, expected is INR 7,500 crore.
Right. Yeah. Thank you. That's it.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pratim Roy from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Sir, thank you for the opportunity. I have just one single question that you mentioned that the 15 million capacity will come into play. And what will be the timeline for that? You mentioned FY31.
And if you give me the detailed breakup of 15 million ton, and secondly, how much cost will be incurred on that basis? And if debt goes up, then how much sorry, if the CapEx will go up, then how much will be funded to internal cash, and how much will be the debt portion on that? Thank you, sir.
Yeah. As we said, that our total expansion is we scale by 2031 is 15 million ton. Out of which, around 7 million ton has already been got the first phase expansion in Bokaro, Rourkela, IISCO, Bhilai, and Durgapur. And for this Rourkela and this Bhilai Steel Plant, we are still in the process of getting this first phase approval.
We cannot exactly tell the quantity of quantum which is going to come in these two plants, but roughly it will be in the range of Rourkela, it will be around 3.5 million ton additional, and rest will be in Bhilai, Durgapur. Okay. In the second phase.
Okay, sir. And what will be the CapEx for entering this 15 million ton expansion?
Roughly, if you say thumb rule figure, that it will be in the range of 110,000-120,000 crore for 15 million ton. Okay.
And it will be funded to internal?
Funding is concerned, we are maintaining 1:1. That is debt-equity ratio should be 1:1.
Okay, sir. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tushar Chaudhari from Prabhudas Lilladher. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, sir. Thanks for the question.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, we had in earlier con calls, once we had discussed in one Q1 FY25 that we had few long-term agreements for coking coal with few of the coking coal miners. I just wanted to know, are they over, and when will we get the benefit of lower coking coal over the period? Can the imported coal cost go down to INR 16,000-INR 17,000 per ton in the next few quarters?
Yes. As we said in the previous con call also, the long-term contract, what we are having, is a continuous process. And it will keep happening. It will keep moving in the same similar fashion. So there is no issue as far as the contract is concerned for the coal miners is concerned.
So now with the lower prices, also we will be doing long-term agreements with them, right?
Actually, you see, we have a long-term contract, but the prices are determined by the Platts and Argus index, average of Platts and Argus index. The discounts are given based on that on the monthly basis. So there is no issue as far as the prices concerned. The moment this index comes down, the prices will come down automatically.
And secondly, sir, in this result, do we have any one-off item in other expenses? Because if I do it on per ton basis, it is quite low.
No, no. Can you repeat your question?
Is there any one-off item in lower other expenses? Basically, other expenses is lower vis-à-vis prior quarters on per ton basis. Per ton basis is around INR 16,000.
Oh, no. No, no, no. There is no specific higher than the other expenses which we can mention here. It's a general improvement, you can say, in all the head.
Okay. Great. Great. Thanks a lot. Best of luck, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vikash Singh from PhillipCapital. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. And thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just wanted to understand one thing. Out of all our plants, Durgapur has the largest semis component. So what are the basically any downstream projects which we are taking to bring down this semis content? If you could give us some insight into it.
Yes. We have a plan to bring down this TMT mill there, one million-ton TMT mill. And also on Bokaro basis, 0.4 million-ton TMT mill. So the plan is to utilize the semis as much as possible internally.
So by when these TMT mills are supposed to come?
The process is on. I think how many is going to roll over? The stage where the coal has already been received. We are in the process of, as I told, the forming of the cost, and after that, it will take how much time will it take? Around 36 months. Around 36 months, so you can say roughly it will take another three to four years,
so till then, this semis component will continue as it is, right?
No, as we said in our opening remark, that we are in the process of tying up with the conversion agent as our semis in the sales have come down substantially, so we are continuing in that process. We'll further increase our conversion agreement with the various parties. The efforts are already on to reduce this semis portion after the saleable steel is concerned.
Understood.
Sir, just a couple of calls back, you have given us some insight into our low-grade iron ore as well as pellet plant capacity to utilize this low-grade further. So any further update on the same? What is happening in Jharkhand, whether we got the approval, and how our pellet plants are, when our pellet plants are coming up so that we can utilize Goa ore which is not utilized as of now?
As far as the Goa iron ore is concerned, that is subgrade iron ore fines which is lying there. For conversion of that into pelletization, we are yet to get this first stage approval of the board. We are in the process of forming of the board note, and it will be put to the board. And once the approval is given, we'll go ahead. But the plan is there to convert it to pellet.
Mr. Vikash, does that answer your question?
Mostly. Sir, any near-term plan to sell iron ore as well? Because we still have a permission in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
We have a permission in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, where we are selling also. In Jharkhand, we are yet to get that local approval from the state government. If we get the approval from the state government, which we are pursuing with the government, we will sell also. There is no such thing that we cannot sell. But till the time we get the approval, we have to use it domestically, internally only.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Raashi Chopra from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just some quick questions. What is the current NSR for flats and long separately?
Current NSR, you mean to say Q3?
No. Current.
Can you give us the blended for January for ₹48,400?
Okay. For January, the NSR in the long was ₹51,500, and this flat was ₹45,800. And blended was ₹48,400.
Got it. FY25, what is the CapEx target? As in, what is the remaining for the fourth quarter?
FY25, our total CapEx target was ₹5,700. Out of which, ₹3,900 we have already incurred by December. So remaining, you can say ₹1,800 in the next three months, that is January through March.
Got it. And then, what is the total you've given us the crude steel target for the year, but sales volume-wise, how much have you done in January, and what is the target for the full year?
Up to January, we have achieved a sales target of 1.57 million tons. And our total target, how much it is? 17.5. 17.5. 17. Around 17.5. 17.5 million. For the whole year.
Got it. And just last question from me. You gave the total inventory for semi-finished and finished are 2.98. What is the finished good amount in there?
Finished good is 1.79 million tons.
And this was 1.93 as of September, right?
Yes. It was 1.93 as of September. Yes. You're right. Perfect.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Yeah. Thank you very much. My closing comments are the forecast of the Indian economy by various agencies have been quite encouraging. And the support by the government is strengthening the belief that the economy will continue to do well. Its real demand also continues to prosper, and we are hopeful that the price will maintain the momentum that has been gained post-monsoon.
Apart from the improvement in the operational performance, the company also remained committed towards sustainable performance, including emphasis on the decarbonization, improving capacity utilization, value addition, and achieving cost competitiveness. I thank all the investors for their reposing faith in us, and I am hopeful that the same will continue in the future as well. Thank you.
On behalf of Nuvama Wealth Management Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.