Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the AAK audiocast for teleconference Q4 2021. Today, I'm pleased to present CEO Johan Westman. For the first part of this call, all participants will be in a listen-only mode, and afterwards, there will be a question-and-answer session. Johan, please begin the meeting.
Thank you so much. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the AAK quarter four 2021 earnings call. With me today, I have our CFO, Thomas Bergendahl, and together with me, we will run this presentation, and as always, happy to take any questions at the end. Agenda for today on page two is first highlights of the quarter, some discussions on key events, highlights for the year, as well as financial updates and a few concluding remarks from myself. With that, let's head into first a short summary of quarter four, page 3. We closed the year on a good note, one could say, finished strong with volume growth, as well as increasing our earnings per kilo or EBIT per kilo.
Our operating profit per kilo is up 3% year on year, and that resulted in total in an operating profit which is up 9% year on year. If we look at that in fixed currency rates, that would even be up 13% year on year. All in all, a good trend that continues into the quarter, and that in spite of still a quite dynamic business environment, one could argue, with COVID a bit on and off in terms of restrictions, inflation as well as challenges in global transportation, but the organization has really continued to deliver, to manage, and with that, we are able to deliver strong numbers on the back of that.
If we move to the next page, just very short, we were present at the Food Ingredients Europe trade fair, where we are happy to share that we were awarded for AkoBisc GO!, which is a nomination and an award in the food tech innovation category, and we were also nominated in other categories. Very glad to see that, and shows that we continue to push forward and to be very relevant for our customers. We've also had our Capital Markets Day in November, and this one we had face-to-face, COVID allowing that. Very nice to see investors and colleagues in the industry being represented and having a good conversation, presenting AAK, and so forth.
If we then turn to next page, on page 5 , that is, we also reiterated at the Capital Markets Day our ambition or our financial target, which is to increase our earnings, our EBIT, by 10% year on year. Now, those of you who follow us know that we have a track record to do that, and now we reinforce that going forward. That is something that takes a lot of strategic ambition, direction, as well as hard work. The way we see this, and call it the ingredient list to perform going forward, is resting on four pillars or four ingredients, which is really continued market growth for plant-based oils and fats, where we focus, and for us to take a good portion of that.
Topping that up with a continued focus on optimizing not only our operations, but also the segments that we choose to deliver in certain industries. We also see that we continue going forward to do structural growth in terms of continued greenfield investments, as well as M&A or joint ventures. Last but not least, a maintained strong focus where we stand strong on co-developing together with our customers, focusing on high value-added solutions and a strong sustainability offering to our customers and together with our partners in the supply chain. If we combine this, we are confident that we can also continue to drive strong performance going forward. If we then move on to page six, looking at the year as a whole, we deliver an all-time high result in terms of higher volumes, 5% year on year.
Adjusted operating profit, which is based on an adjusted operating profit per kilo being up 5%, leading to a total operating profit adjusted at +11% year on year, or the same number in fixed currency rates +18% year on year. All in all, a strong result with a strong finish to the 2021 year in a very dynamic and challenging environment, one could argue. This also led to us continuing to deliver a strong earnings per share, and based on that, the board of directors has proposed a dividend of SEK 2.5, up from SEK 2.30 last year. In addition to this, we've also performed very nicely in terms of having an organization that is dedicated to our progress on sustainability.
We have set high bars in terms of targets for how we will impact our supply chains going forward, and I'm also very glad to summarize 2021 from that perspective, where we have made strong progress against our targets on, for example, verified deforestation-free supply chain, as well as traceability, as well as our microfinancing women program, Kolo Nafaso in West Africa. Many examples of very strong performance from AAK. On that note on sustainability on page 7, we today also announced in a press release that we are investing, in this case, in our own operations. We announced that we will invest SEK 500 million in two biomass boilers in our plant in Aarhus, Denmark. This is expected to lead to a CO2 reduction or reduction of emissions by 90% for the Aarhus plant alone.
This also represent a 16% reduction of total AAK CO2 emissions when calculating in accordance with the Science Based Targets scope 1 definitions. On top of that, we're also saving money. We are reducing the cost for energy by 100 million SEK per annum. All in all, a very good example of a real sustainable investment, improving our earnings as well as reducing the CO2 emissions, making our operations better and reducing that negative footprint in CO2. To build on that a bit and connecting it to the way we source, this now creates a very nice supply chain for shea. We buy shea kernels from West Africa.
It starts with a woman traditionally going out in the bush to a wild grown tree, picking up fruits, shea fruits, cooking them, drying them, taking the kernels, selling the kernels to us and others. We collect them. In this case, we transport them to Denmark, where we crush the shea kernels in order to get value-added oils and fats, shea oils and fats, used in chocolate and confectionery solutions, used in personal care, skincare solutions, as well as technical applications. The leftover is a shea meal. With this, we will now take that shea meal, and we will burn it for power to operate the plant, closing the loop in a circular way. Not only that, the ashes that will then be left over can also be used as fertilizer.
Really an investment to improve a supply chain where we have acted and are continuously moving the ball forward in terms of improving sustainability. West Africa, where we source, is also where we have our Kolo Nafaso program, which today includes 350,000 women in West Africa, where we improve the livelihood by allowing microfinancing, helping with bank accounts and so forth. Very proud of the achievements that we have done in our organization, both in our sourcing and now in the way we continue to improve our operations internally. With that, moving to page 8. Food Ingredients, the business area Food Ingredients. We continue to report organic growth. Our volumes are up 5% year on year, leading to, with an operating profit per kilo up 1%, leading to operating profit being up 6% year on year.
Really a good driver here as well. In the quarter specifically, we see a continued or good rebound in food service, where compared to last year, we have had higher sales into restaurant chains, hotel chains and so forth. Not only that, of course, school kitchens and other call it customer segments where COVID then has had an impact. We have also seen a strengthened profitability. Even though volumes were not higher, we saw a good profitability increase in bakery. All in all, seeing you know, a good development also in Food Ingredients. With that, moving into page nine and Chocolate & Confectionery Fats, the business area. Strong positive trend that we have seen in the earlier quarters also continued in the fourth quarter.
Volume is up 12%, and that leads us to an operating profit, which is up 12% as well year on year. Very strong improvement. Looking at that in fixed currency, it is up 20%. In this case, we are growing faster than the market, especially in terms of earnings. This is based on a strong demand, basically in all regions. With regards to product solutions, it's really filling fats and semi-specialty solutions that remains really strong across the globe. This in all becomes a record all-time high result for also our Chocolate & Confectionery Fats business area. Last but not least, Technical Products & Feed on page 10. Another stellar quarter from this organization, with operating profits being up 46% year on year, even with a slight reduction in volumes.
The main driver on a year on year perspective is really a higher demand for natural ingredients within technical products and solutions, as well as a better margin in our feeds business. All in all, continuing a positive trend and also in this case, increasing the EBIT per kilo quite significantly up now to SEK 1.01 per kilo. All in all, a strong finish, basically in all business areas ending there with Technical Products & Feed. With those comments on our business areas and the financials, I hand it over to more details to Tomas, our CFO.
Thank you, Johan. Good afternoon, everyone. We're now on page 11. As you can see, the uncertainty and volatility in the raw material markets has continued during Q4, with prices continuing the trend higher. The price increases that we've experienced during the past 18 to 24 months are at historical high levels. As Johan has mentioned before, and as you can see from our results in Q4, we are managing the situation well with an EBIT per kilo development that is positive. However, the increasing raw material prices impacts our working capital, and therefore also our cash flow. Moving to slide 12.
As you can see from the picture here, the operating cash flows, we defined them based on EBITDA adjusted for changes in working capital, improved somewhat in Q4 compared to previous quarters. However, working capital was still negatively impacting our cash flow, driven by increased raw material prices. With the current raw material prices and the levels and increases that we've seen, we expect the negative impact on cash flow to continue in at least the first half of 2022. We usually have a lag of six to nine months. If we look at CapEx, it amounted to SEK 251 million in the quarter, totaling for the year SEK 621 million.
With the guidance range that we provided before of SEK 600 million-SEK 700 million for 2021. The guidance we give on the expectation on our spend on CapEx for next year or this year, 2022, we expect to end up just north of SEK 1 billion for the year. Moving on to slide 13. Looking at our Return on Capital Employed, which has now for the third quarter shown a stable high level at 15.6% in the quarter, and it's up from the low point that we experienced mid-2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Moving on to page 14, where we show our Net Debt/EBITDA levels, and it remains at a low level at 1.25 in Q4. This provides AAK with ample room to grow, both organically through investments, CapEx, and through acquisition as well. Back to you, Johan.
Thank you, Tomas. With that, we are at the last page in this presentation, concluding remarks on page 15. I think we can all agree that the world around us is still dynamic. There are for sure some short to mid-term uncertainty, but at the same time, we see that underlying trends like sustainability, health, nutrition, indulgence, it's still there. We have been able to operate and manage a situation which is very similar in the last year, meaning that it's been a dynamic environment with quite a few factors impacting our business. Still, we have an organization that really continues to deliver and push on hard going forward.
With that, we don't see any reason to change our view on the strong underlying trends, and we remain focused on really producing high value-added oils and fats, plant-based oils and fats, and we're fully committed to making better happen going forward, living our purpose. With that, I think it's time to end this call and open up for questions.
Thank you. If you do wish to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. If you wish to withdraw your question, you may do so by pressing zero two to cancel. Our first question comes from the line of Heidi Vesterinen from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. I have a question first on Special Nutrition. I think you talked about negative mix in Q4. Could you explain what that was? Was this a one-off Q4 event, or do you expect this to continue into 2022? On a related note, I think last call, we had talked about how Special Nutrition margins were challenged because you have annual contracts with respect to pricing, but raw material costs have increased. As we go into 2022, as you get into new contracts, should we expect Special Nutrition growth margins to improve year on year? Those are my questions. Thank you.
Well, thank you. I mean, you're highlighting, and basically this report also highlights what we had talked about before. Within the result of Food Ingredients, you, we have, as you know, also from the capital markets, that we have many eggs in the baskets, and some are moving stronger, some are moving less strong within Special Nutrition. We see continued strong position for AAK, good volumes, but at the same time, for some of our solutions and with the price situation in China, for China, the margin in the mix of the basket was in this quarter somewhat on the low side, which impacted that. That, I mean, that's the situation. Part of that coming from, call it raw materials and ability to price or not going forward, as you mentioned.
Part of that just based on, you know, competitive landscape. Still a good business, still a good position, but in terms of year on year margins, somewhat lower margin mix in our basket.
Are you able to comment on the outlook for 2022, please? Can you talk about the competitive landscape? Is there more competition in Special Nutrition fats and oils? Are they local players or global ones?
Yeah, not really. This is more linked to that in China in the volumes moving to China is a slightly different competitive landscape than in the rest of the world, which we have mentioned before. Not a lot of competitors, not you know, a big difference, but a slightly different way of operating in China and selling in China. That's it.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
The next question comes from the line of Oskar Lindström from DNB Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. Two questions from my side. The first one here is on the raw material price increases, which are also prompting sales price increases on your side. Is that in any way sort of impacting end demand for some of your products? We've heard about consumer goods producers and retailers increasing shelf prices now in early 2022, you know, in a response to cost inflation. I mean, do you foresee any impact on demand or the demand mix in your case? That's my first question.
Thank you, Oskar. We haven't seen that yet, no. In a large part of our total product mix, one could argue that it's quite resilient. Of course, if things go bananas, there are certain categories that you could expect, you know, pricing power, for example, within, you know, confectionery. So far we have seen, you know, good demand and I think there is a fair share of capabilities for the retailers to increase prices and still get volume through. It's inflation generally, right? We don't see a specific big demand shift because of inflation.
All right. Just to add there, Oskar, as well, that our products that go into CCF, for example, they make up, depending upon where you are in the world and what's allowed, 5%-10% of the product. If you look at our slide on slide 11, the cocoa butter remains fairly stable price-wise. We're not even if the price goes up on our products, it makes up, as I said, 5%-10% of the finished product based on regulations, right?
Right. Okay. I'd like to come back to this question of mix change in Special Nutrition in China. You mentioned a little bit here that there were, you know, slightly different competitive environment and a slightly, you know, different pricing environment. Could you maybe say a little bit more about what's happening in China in Special Nutrition in terms of the mix between domestic and foreign customers to you and what's happening with, you know, your sales and price mix, basically, and what we could expect going into 2022 here?
Yeah. It's basically the same trend that we have articulated for some time. We see Chinese players growing and multinationals having reduced volumes, call it, in terms of our customer base, meaning that there is a shift from production and sales of infant formula blends, shifting in more and more to Chinese players. They are growing. This is a shift which is not in Q4. This has been ongoing for quite some time. With that, we are also moving, and we have done a good job in being very relevant. We have a good market share. We're relevant with many of these players. Within that, there is also a slightly different setup of competitors to us when we compete and expectations on price in this portfolio.
Whether, you know, inflation is there or not, you're always standing shoulder to shoulder to a competitor in every region that you operate. In this case, we just know that mix that we see today is slightly lower priced than the mix that we have had in the past. This is not a quarter shift. This is something that we have seen over time and what we have explained a few times before. That's what it is. I mean, slightly lower prices on certain product categories.
You know, earlier there was some talk about changes in legislation regarding, you know, what kind of claims could be made regarding ingredients, et cetera, from producers of infant formula. What's happening with that, and how do you see that impacting you?
Well, there hasn't been a lot of change. There is rather an existing legislation where in many countries in Europe and elsewhere in the world, you cannot make claims which you can in China. Nothing has happened there. If that were to change, you might see an increased demand for high value-added ingredients also being higher in Europe, U.S., and other regions. That's an opportunity if that were to change, right? That's what it is. I think this quarter also shows together with a few others this year, the mix that we have, which is the total mix, and we stand on very many legs also in Food Ingredients. Despite this, we're able to show a year-on-year increase of our earnings in Food Ingredients.
Okay. Thank you. Those were all my questions.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Alex Jones from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Johan. Firstly, on the chocolate margin this quarter, it's very strong sequentially. I guess last year, the fourth quarter was also quite strong. Could you talk about the drivers of that and whether that's sort of a new normal margin we should expect seasonally around the Christmas period each year, or whether there are any sort of one-off factors in that? That would be the first question.
Well, thank you and hi. Yes, well, strong. I think the main driver here is really the continuous strong demand in the market and our position in being able to capture that because, you know, year on year, we're not increasing our margin, but it is a good margin, I agree, which is very much helped from getting good leverage on high volumes and being efficient in our own operations. The seasonality here is rather around, you know, total demand, which is stronger in Q3, Q4, typically building up for our customers to produce and deliver for Christmas and Easter and so forth. The seasonality is there, and we have been able to capture good volumes, and with that, get good leverage on our assets.
Great. Thank you. Second question on the biomass boiler that you talk about. Could you just confirm in terms of the CapEx frame whether that's on top of the CapEx guidance that you gave at the Capital Markets Day and the SEK 100 million energy price savings, would that be at sort of normalized energy prices, or does this fact you refer to up to 100 mean that you're baking in sort of some element of the higher energy prices we're seeing currently?
Yes. Thank you. Good question. Call it the CapEx as such, call it baked in, but if anything, pushing it slightly north, right? Guidance is north of SEK 1 billion going forward, where part of this will come this year and part of this will come next year. In terms of savings, we have of course and we articulated that in the meeting today with our board of directors, of course we then done a bit of simulation around energy prices and so forth, and no one knows what the future will bring. We do stand by this one. I think it's a very good investment combining CO2 reductions with savings. We have taken into account currently high prices, but we also don't know what they will be going forward.
We simulated a bit up and down what would happen, and this is in relation to average prices that we've seen for the last couple of years.
Thank you. That's very clear. Final question, if I may.
Could be higher, could be lower compared to actual prices in the future years, right? I mean, that's a given, but we don't know.
Yeah. Thank you. Final question is on plant-based. You talk about continued good growth, and I think at the Capital Markets Day, you showed us volumes had been up nearly 50%, year to date. Given that some of the pure-play plant-based companies have talked about slightly slower growth, could you confirm for us whether your growth has also slowed, even if it remains at a very good level, or what you're seeing in that space generally? Thank you very much.
Yeah. We are very relevant in that market. What you see as an average in plant-based meat solutions or meat alternatives, I should say, and dairy alternatives is also relevant for us, right? We continue to grow this quarter, slightly lower than earlier quarter just to what you just confirmed there. That's what it is. We're very relevant and, as I've said many times long term, we do believe in this, but I'm not surprised that there is a bit of a two steps forward, one step back in terms of adoption and penetration in the market. Still for us, it's a small portion, as you know, of our total volumes and earnings.
Excellent. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from the line of Peter Jansen from ING Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you. Hi, Johan and Thomas. Impressive results. Very good to see. My question is a bit of a follow-up from the former participants around the CapEx. If we take the volume, total volume this year, it's around all-time high. Will you see the CapEx as more debottlenecking so you can actually increase your volume further on the group level? That's my first question. Coming back to your page 5 with the average EBIT, strong EBIT improvement year on year, the market growth is there. Optimization is about what I'm asking. High value added will probably continue. Do you in some sort of way need structural growth to continue the average 10%? That's my second question.
My final question on the TPF, quite impressive. Is that also a new level or will it more fluctuate in the future? Thanks.
Thank you. Hi, Peter, thank you for your questions. If I understood correctly, your first question was not on the announced CapEx, it was on CapEx in general.
That's right. Yes.
Okay. Fair enough. For sure, it includes debottlenecking. Certainly. That's whenever we can do that is just great, right? You know, our going forward CapEx will be like the historic CapEx. There will be a mix of sustainability and productivity investments like the one we announced today. There will be, you know, maintenance CapEx as, you know, ground plates, and there will be debottlenecking as well as greenfield operations going forward. We don't think that we can, which is part of the, you know, maybe last question on or second question structure.
If you include that, I do see that we will, going forward, have greenfield, new, as well as, bolt-on acquisitions for, regions, countries, and/or capacity, as well as acquisitions regarding, adjacent, ingredients and/or, new technology, right? I mentioned before, and on the Capital Markets Day, I think we do need a combination of these four pillars or ingredients if we speak our own language, over time. In order to repeat a very bold target, an exponential one of 10% year on year EBIT growth, I do think that we need over time to see both market growth optimization, structure growth, and a continued drive on EBIT per kilo by focusing on high value-added solutions. Now in a specific year, it could be all organic, another year it could be more of structural.
Over time, I do think we need to include all these ingredients to be able to deliver.
Mm-hmm.
It was the opportunity to do them all, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have growth. Then last question on TPF. I mean, you see a very strong performance over the recent time period, which we are of course happy for and good drive in the organization. What I think really will maintain there as a strong trend is the opportunities around different industries, companies leaving fossil-based input material one way or the other. I think that drive will continue. Now, we have also seen very strong operations internally. We have had some help of good crushing margins for the small piece that is around rapeseed crushing. Will this be the new level, or will it fluctuate a bit?
I do think it will be fluctuating a bit, but on a good level. I cannot comment any more than that. We see there are a few underlying trends that are, you know, support a good trend. This was, for sure, a stellar quarter.
That's for sure. Great.
In the quarter, the crushing margin quarter-over-quarter is about the same. The improvement lies with our natural ingredients business in Q4 2021, which is a very positive sign.
As well as good margins in the feed business.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you, Tomas.
Okay, great.
Is that okay?
Great. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Thanks a lot. Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Kenneth Toll Johansson from Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Being last in line, most of my questions have been answered. One thing is that the announced investment that you are doing to cut costs and also carbon dioxide emissions, do you see similar opportunities at other locations you have around the globe?
Of course, we are always trying to. I mean, this is part of optimizing our footprint from a sustainability point of view as well as from a cost point of view. This is one good example. We're certainly looking for other opportunities, you know, similar to this. In this case, it's specific to burning the shea meal. The shea meal we only have in this plant. This particular one is for this plant. Our strive to find similar opportunities and to do a double or triple play by cutting costs, improving our productivity as well as reducing our CO2 footprint is certainly something that we drive for in our strategic agenda, where sustainability is an important pillar.
You have made this.
We do demand of every CapEx that we're doing when we are making that in our business case approval process, we are looking at the CO2 impact from each investment.
You also had good volume growth in the Chocolate & Confectionery Fats business. You say that you had good market demand and success there. Could you elaborate a little bit on what you are doing? Because you must take market shares a little bit with those high volume increases or?
Yeah, we are a very strong player in the Chocolate and Confectionery Fats market. We've been recognized over time for being a very knowledgeable partner. Our co-development process, we're very close to the global players, chocolate manufacturers. With that position, it gives us opportunities. Of course, you know, we talked a bit in these calls over time about dynamics, pricing dynamics, and so forth. When it comes to the competence and our ability to drive products and solutions for our customers, we have a strong position, and we do a good job, and I think that helps. In some cases, we win a spot order, in other cases, we win an order based on a co-developed solution.
In other cases, it is, call it, just the market growth with that specific customer.
Fuji Oil integrated forward a couple of years ago, buying a chocolate manufacturing operations. Has that affected your opportunities to take market share, as you believe?
I will not comment on our competitors specifically, but what they bought is a company producing. You know, they are one step forward in the supply chain, producing chocolate compounds and so forth, like a few other players. Those players are our customers in general. In our industry, we do sell to competition, and we buy from competition depending on ingredients. In the total scheme of things, it hasn't impacted our ability. I mean, you see that on the numbers, right? In a specific case, it can certainly have had an impact where they control the opportunity to sell their own ingredients. In the total scheme of things, we have been able to be very relevant with the total global demand in chocolate.
Mm-hmm. Okay, great. Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Kari Rinta from Handelsbanken. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you very much. I would like to continue discussing chocolate and confectionery fats and TPF, and maybe if I look at the graph showing the EBIT per kilo for chocolate and confectionery fats. I see that both the fourth quarter of 2021 and fourth quarter 2020 spiked up quite nicely, while the prior years were more sort of flattish. If I were to say that it's mostly about COVID and lockdowns and restrictions, and going forward, it will be more difficult to reach those levels, what would be the counterargument to that? Or is there any sort of sense to my this statement?
I think, I mean, it's a relevant question. As I mentioned before, I think there's been such a long time now with COVID. What is the COVID impact? How much have we really changed our daily life? I mean, we have changed our lives in terms of traveling less and spending more time in front of Teams and virtual meetings and so forth. At the same time, the population of the world, we continue to eat, we continue to spend time with our families and friends, even if it's in closer, and we continue to indulge ourselves. We focus on exercising and nutrition, but we also indulge ourselves and allow ourselves some premium products. It's very difficult to say what is actually a COVID impact or not.
What we could see was that it was a negative impact in the beginning there, with a wet blanket over the whole industry, probably a bit of destocking and so forth, and then we saw a positive trend all the way from Q3 2020 and forward. I think it's hard to say that Q4 last year and Q4 this year should be a very significant COVID impact. I don't have the answers. What it seems like more is that, we as consumers have found our way to buy through different channels, whether that is a click to buy or now being able to go to the grocery store and feel safe again after vaccinations and so forth.
I think it's very difficult to draw a simple conclusion saying this is a COVID impact, it will reverse, or is it actually a systematic impact of the underlying trends that are there. We'll see. Time will tell. What we do see is a strong demand for these products in the market.
All right. Thanks. About your M&A strategy, you have done bolt-on acquisitions, and you have talked about larger acquisitions. You have pretty low net debt to EBITDA, and since raw material prices are weighing on your cash flow, is that a constraint at the moment since you don't really generate that much cash flow, so you maybe are a little bit more reluctant to engage in larger acquisitions until raw material prices come down and your cash flows improve?
No, definitely not. I mean, if you look at our Net Debt/EBITDA, we're still very low. You could argue that the raw material price inflation, yes, it has an impact, right? It's eating our operating cash flow. That will level out as soon as prices level out. If they even start to come down, then you'll see a very positive help from cash flow. Even with these high levels, we are still at a level with a very low Net Debt/EBITDA. No, that's not an issue for us. I mean, we follow that and we know what happens, and we don't necessarily like that it's building cash, but it's very natural in the way we operate.
We continue to focus on finding good targets and moving things forward and whenever possible, we will make M&A happen.
Perfect. Finally, just out of curiosity, this shea meal that you will use as a fuel, the new biomass boilers, what do you currently do with that?
We try to do the best we can, and we sell it off. There are uptakes in players in Europe, for example, that can today buy it and use it for energy or other solutions. In this case, we will use it for ourselves and reduce our need of other energy sources.
All right. Perfect. Thank you.
Thank you.
Just as a final reminder, if you do wish to ask a question, please press zero-one on your telephone keypad. We have another question from the line of Alex Sloane from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, all. Just two questions from me. Just the first one on Chocolate & Confectionery Fats. Johan, you mentioned in 2020, you know, there was possibly some destocking at the height of the COVID impact, and maybe some of that has reversed. As you think about the, you know, inventory levels of your products at your customers, how do you see those, you know, versus history today? That's the first one. Then just the second one, just going back to the first question on Special Nutrition and the dynamics that you outlined in Q4, is it fair to assume those continue in 2022? Thanks.
Thank you. On the first one there, with the we don't have complete visibility at our customer inventory levels. We have discussed this a lot in general, of course, and we follow as close as we can and with the information we have. We haven't seen any major shifts in terms of kind of destocking and stocking over the recent. You know, we saw that certainly in the beginning of COVID. If I talk in recent history, we don't see that. We see more the dynamics in terms of end consumer demands moving its way forward. I cannot guarantee whether one or two customers has built more because of disturbance risk or less because of high, you know, cost levels. Let's see.
I cannot say it's either this or that at the moment. If anything, it seems call it more normalized levels if anything, but without the full visibility. In terms of the dynamic in the Special Nutrition, the dynamic I speak about and we comment is the dynamics that we've seen over some time. With that, it's not a Q4 specific. We've seen the shift over time. With that, I also you know think it will continue, right? We are competing in China. We and we are very relevant, but it becomes a year-on-year shift as we slide into that. Once that stabilizes, then you'll we continue from that level.
In a year-over-year perspective, it should be, you know, fading away and creating a new platform to grow from. As a dynamic, you know, the competitive situation and the competitors we have, I think they will be the same in 2022 as they were in 2021.
Makes sense. Thank you.
Thank you.
As there are no further questions, I will hand it back to the speakers.
Thank you so much. As always, thank you, listeners for your questions and comments. With that, I thank you everyone for listening in, and we conclude 2021 for AAK on a strong note. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
This concludes our conference call. Thank you all for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.