Jindal SAW Ltd

NSE:JINDALSAW

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Jindal Saw Limited Q3 and FY '25 Earnings Conference Call hosted by PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded.

I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vikash Singh from PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Singh.

Good morning, everyone. Today, we have with us on the company side: Mr. Neeraj Kumar, Group CEO and Whole-Time Director; Mr. Vinay Gupta, President and Head Treasury; Mr. Narendra Mantri, President, Head Commercial and CFO; and Mr. Rajeev Goyal, Vice President, Group Corporate Finance and Treasury.

Without taking any much time, I would hand it over to Mr. Neeraj Kumar for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.

Good morning to all our friends. We had our Board meeting on Friday. And now we are here with the results, and this is an opportunity for us to discuss the results, clarify a few points, get some insight about the future how we see it and how it's likely to pan out for us.

So first, very briefly just going through the numbers. For this quarter ended 31st December '24, we had a top line of INR 4,521 crores as opposed to INR 4,790 crores for the last quarter, which is a trailing quarter and INR 4,785 crores for the corresponding quarter last year.

Now staying here you would see, and I would request all our friends, investors, stakeholders to note, there is a dip in the top line. I will come back to that, and that's why I'm just highlighting it for all of you.

But if you look at the EBITDA, the EBITDA is INR 882 crores, which is very close to the EBITDA of the same quarter last year and higher than the trailing quarter EBITDA, which was INR 875 crores. So INR 882 crores as compared to INR 875 crores trailing quarters, INR 889 crores in the corresponding quarter last year.

Likewise, if you look at the PBT, there is nothing much to say INR 626 crores versus INR 625 crores, INR 623 crores. PAT incidentally, it's exactly the same for this quarter and the last quarter, which is a trailing quarter and a higher than the corresponding quarter last year.

So let's just stay here for a while. If you even look at the 9 months top line INR 13,728 crores versus INR 13,227 crores. EBITDA, INR 2,599 crores versus INR 2,254 crores. Likewise, PBT, INR 1,853 crores versus INR 1,478 crores and PAT INR 1,400 crores versus INR 1,085 crores. Now if we look at -- let's just stay with the consolidated results for a while.

If we see this result and if we analyze it carefully, top line for the quarter has shown a little bit of a dip. Profitability margin has improved. Last year, 9 months to this year 9 months, top line is appearing flattish to a mild growth. EBITDA, again, mild growth. But on PBT, there is a significant growth, with a 25% growth on the PBT. PAT against similar 29% growth.

Now what does this indicate? This indicates that as organization for the last few quarters we have seen that the top line is kind of plateauing a bit. INR 4,521 crores for this quarter is not a matter of concern because sometimes a few shipments, which are large shipments just crossed the 31st December boundary line, it gets booked into the next quarter. And therefore, that would catch up. So this -- I would request the stakeholders not to read too much into this INR 4,521 crores versus INR 4,790 crores. That's a logistic shipping kind of an aberration because of the year-end and some delay in the shipment.

But if you look at the overall, one thing is becoming very clear, if you look at the trend for the last maybe 6 quarters or 8 quarters, top line is plateauing. Profitability is improving. The reason for profitability to improve is, a, our product mix, as we have been always saying in the sales portfolio, is shifting towards higher-margin business, seamless, premium connection, stainless steel, double chamber DI pipes, they are contributing more.

And therefore, the profitability or the margin is increasing. The obvious question that comes to our mind is this improved margin sustainable? Now again, if you look at our last 6 to 8 quarters, we are in the high teens. So basically, the EBITDA margin with the current product mix and the kind of value-added products that we are entering should definitely remain within a narrow band of 17.5% to 20%. The reason why I'm saying 17.5% to 20% with emphasis that for this quarter, we had an EBITDA margin of 19.5%.

But this 17.5% to 20% is a guideline that I'm giving you for the next few quarters or maybe a few quarters in the next year going as well because there is something else that we need to factor in as we go through our discussion. So for now, a turnover of INR 4,500 crores to INR 5,000 crores per quarter with an EBITDA margin of 17.5% to 20% is -- appears to be a likely scenario that we should continue, which is borne by the results of the last few quarters, if you analyze them.

Having said that, let's immediately now jump into the capital position. If you look at our debt position, the long-term debt has gone below INR 930 crores, while our net worth is close to INR 10,000 crores with annual EBITDA in the region of INR 3,000 crores. So that's a very interesting combination. So now look at all these data points that I have said, top line plateauing, margin improving, EBITDA yearly more than INR 3,000 crores, long-term debt, less than INR 1,000 crores.

For the moment, I'm not bringing in working capital in between. But what does all these indicate? These factors indicate towards that whatever is the capacity that we have within our system, we are operating well. We are operating efficiently. And now we are kind of coming into the 75% plus capacity utilization category, and that's why you are seeing this plateauing. Therefore, immediately now, what should an agile, diligent management look at and indeed, we are looking at it.

I'm happy to tell you that few CapEx projects that we had announced some time back is nearing completion, and we should see the results in the coming quarters, in the next 6 months for sure. One is we have installed a new coke oven battery, which has been installed, commissioned. That's going to improve the cost of coke, is going to improve the supply of coke and also it is going to add to the captive power that we are generating, having an overall impact on further reduction in cost of production and efficiency.

So this is one chunky CapEx that was on the annual. It was being implemented for the last few quarters, maybe 1.5 years, has now been commissioned. Likewise, the seamless unit, which has been contributing because of the premium connection and other things and because of the market, the demand that is there, we are almost doubling the capacity. The plant is nearing completion and that doubling of capacity should see the day of light in terms of it should get commissioned over the next 3 to 5 months.

So that coming in would definitely give a one on the top line side, which is the Nashik, the other on the efficiency side, which is the coke oven battery. But beyond that, looking at our very healthy robust capital structure, a few projects are on the drawing board. And at this point of time, I should be able to indicate that to you, I'm sure in the next quarter, I would have some more details, which are about. But we are looking at some projects, we are examining some projects which are currently on the drawing board, both in India as well as abroad.

Abroad, I can reveal at this point of time, it would be in the MENA region. So the Middle East region, we are looking at some investments, some new projects. And in India also, we are looking at some new projects. So that would propel the next -- so this plateauing will then move to the next higher orbit once these are announced and once these are taken care of. And we are confident that with the kind of networks, the kind of reserves and surplus that we have and the kind of banking relationship that we have, it should be implemented in time and it should be something which should be easy for us to look at. One thing also it's important as we see, we have seen some fluctuation in the ForEx market.

At present, our export is in the range of 25% to 27%, 28%, which gives us enough foreign exchange inflow to hedge for our raw material supplies. As you know, when it comes to CapEx, even if we have to import, it's a separate thing, it's a funded. But in an operational scenario, we always look at a natural hedge between the revenue as well as what we pay for the raw material, et cetera. Largely, all our foreign exchange outgo is only on raw material to whatever limited extent it is.

So we have enough and that can also be seen. Look at the financial charges. Last year's 9 months financial charges were INR 586 crores. This year for the same period, it is INR 443 crores. So that kind of gives you an indication on how well we are managing the financial expenses. One of the contributors has been the natural hedge that we are using because all of you would have seen on our balance sheet, we don't have any foreign currency borrowing, which is long term. And therefore, long term, we don't have to worry too much about the rupee-dollar movement. And therefore, we have to just manage this trade finance and the ForEx exposure resulting out of the trade, which is the top line versus the payment that we make towards ForEx.

So we are doing that well, and the proof is in front of you, where the financial charges have shown a significant reduction during this 9-month period as opposed to the last year 9-month period. Now we are also looking at further bringing our debt down before 31st March. We have the liquidity. We are approaching the banks to permit us to bring down our long-term debt even further before 31st March. Also, we have seen the trend, and we are hopeful that this year, it will continue.

Towards the year-end, because most of our clients are government, central, state or even we supply to EPC, they have government as their client. Last quarter sees a lot of release of budgetary funds because of the year-end. And that we believe will have a positive impact on our receivables. And consequently, our working capital utilization should also go down when we come to the year-end, further improving our financial charges. This is our hope. This is our expectation.

So next quarter, we believe the trend would continue. We should show further improvement. On the top line, I have already given you an indication that it would be, say, above INR 4,500 crores, but definitely below INR 4,700 crores or INR 4,800 crores. That trend will continue till our new cycle of revenues kick in from, say, now immediately the Nashik expansion and then a few other projects that we are looking at.

But last quarter result, because of the improved receivable collection, improved margins, you should at least on a percentage basis -- not on the aggregate basis, not on the top line basis, should show a further improvement is what is expected. I have -- okay, the order book position, if you see, is also showing a kind of a plateauing. Now these are all interlinked. The order book is plateauing, the top line is plateauing. Don't again look at a little reduction for this quarter because those are aberrations. Already now, we have won some big orders, which were in the pipeline, but the order came in January.

So again, the order book is up. We would maintain at the same level because this is -- we have seen a good level of maintaining the order book because it matches with our implementation capability because having an order book higher than this, then, a, exposes us to the raw material price risk or pushes us in meeting our contractual delivery requirements with our client. So therefore, this kind of an order book is, we believe, good for our present capability.

The mix of order book again reflects the revenue pattern. Currently, our order book is about 22% is foreign currency export. Look at this versus September '24, it has improved. There, the export order book had dipped to about 12%. I had indicated that there are a few order book -- there are a few export orders in the pipeline, which is indicated that now we are at 22%. Last quarter, we expect this to improve further because as I said, we have received some large orders. These export orders are largely from the MENA region.

MENA region, we see that now at least with the Israel-Hamas and all that kind of cooling down a bit going into cease fire. There's a lot of activity. There's a lot of stability.

And the issues that we were facing with the shipment -- passing the ships, passing through that region is also kind of coming down. So we are encouraged by the geopolitical situation in the Middle East region. And we expect that, that should continue with the change in government in U.S. and the way the U.S. government looks at this region. We are hopeful that this stability should continue, and that's good for us as a business. One comment, however, I have to -- I must make on the domestic infrastructure development scenario.

There appears to be a slowing down of the center government's spend on the infrastructure, the emphasis on the infrastructure. There appears to be a shift where all these infrastructure projects, which were earlier kind of led by the central government, supported by the state government. Now we are seeing that many of the state governments have begun to exert themselves, and they are coming up of their own projects. And therefore, we see a little bit of a slowing down in the central government schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission, et cetera. But then the state PWD, the State Irrigation Department has shown a lot of promise in many of the states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan.

So many of those states are -- so because of this shift, there seems to be a little lull in the central government schemes of infrastructure. But we are very hopeful that this being the first year of this present central government, we expect some significant impetus in this budget, which is just around the corner. And that should bring some good news to the infrastructure projects, which is kind of centrally sponsored and the states anyway would continue to do their good job.

So that is something that we must look at as a business environment, but we are very carefully watching what happens in the budget this year. That should also set the trend because this is a government which is now likely to be stable for 5 years. It would determine our next 3- to 5-year trajectory. So if we are looking at a 3- to 5-year trajectory, our strong CapEx position, very strong operational capability demonstrated over many quarters, a few projects on the drawing board.

So in the next 2 to 3 years, we should see our company's performance at a different -- at a higher level, which will be the next level because of these and the continuing demand, healthy demand that we are seeing both in the export market as well as in the Indian domestic market. Also, we have seen the U.S. government has announced huge focus on oil and gas drilling and all that. Now that would rub on the oil and gas business in the MENA region because they would not want to fall back because the way the U.S. government has announced whatever they have announced, it appears that very clearly, they want to take the global lead position.

Now that -- I'm not sure if the players in the Middle East would want to happen because if that happens, then whatever leverage that the Middle East collectively, the OEC countries have would get weakened. So on a global basis, our assessment is that, that would rub on and increase the oil and gas activity in this part of the world. Also, we are seeing an interesting phenomenon. In India, in the past, the major focus was on the drilling on the West Coast, which is the Bombay [indiscernible].

Now we are seeing that besides developing the West Coast and optimizing the West Coast, there is a lot of emphasis on the East Coast as well. The KG basin, the Bay of Bengal is also seeing some deep well drilling because there are large reserves, which has been seen and that also has a few very important and large private sector players, who are active in that region. So we also expect that there could be a large demand coming from the East Coast, multiple players.

So all in all, we are hopeful that over the next 2 to 3 years, with the kind of impetus that we should get in the budget for this year, we should be okay or we should be in a sweet spot, ready to go for growth and take this organization to a next level of performance. With these comments, let me just very quickly touch on the consolidated position. The consolidated position kind of replicates what we have spoken about the company. Still, if you look at the consolidated versus stand-alone, the stand-alone results are more than 95% of the consolidated results.

But still, this 5% has become positive for the last few quarters and will remain positive. That's the important part that whatever, even if they are contributing less than 5% into the whole results, they will continue to do good business. They will continue to do all our subsidiaries, which are consolidated subsidiaries, are doing well. They all have a good order book. Now we expect with this kind of an impetus on the oil and gas, the U.S. subsidiaries also should improve and should do well. So with those initial comments, let me stop and take a few questions. So over to you. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Shweta Dikshit from Systematix.

My first question would be, as you talk about the expansion plans, particularly one in the MENA region, could you highlight which segment are you -- would that be focused on, whether we're looking at the oil and gas end user market or the water transportation segment? That's my first question. And second was -- yes, sir, continue, please.

At this point of time, in the MENA region, what we have on the drawing board, which is being examined very carefully is how to address both the oil and gas as well as water sector.

All right. So sir, can we expect a clearer picture on this next quarter or any more details that you could provide on this as of now?

Hopefully. Yes. Hopefully. See, if not the next quarter per se because unless we have -- see, at this point of time, it is on the drawing board, various proposals are being examined. It requires a lot of groundwork in terms of the new geographical region, the regulatory framework and all that. So one thing is for sure that over the next 6 months, you would definitely see some announcements. So how much of that we can make in the next quarter, we will have to see.

So what I assure you is, if not the last quarter of this year, the first quarter of next year would definitely have some of these projects that are on the drawing board, both on the domestic as well as international front, would reach a stage where we can give you the broad contours, which will address oil and gas and water sector comprehensively. Also, we are working on how to improve the value add within the group. So there are some CapEx which is -- which is being planned, keeping that in mind so that the value add within the group also improves, which adds to the stability of the financial robust status of the company.

Sir, anything -- any thoughts on taking up any project on the backward integration side?

As I mentioned to you, the moment you talk about value addition within the organization, by simple logic, it means it would be an integration either backward or forward, allow me the time to get this settled and then I'll come up with all the details. But yes, integration is also something that we are looking at very closely.

Okay. Sir, last question, it's just a basic clarity. I missed that point when you were talking about ForEx market fluctuations and how your exports contribute around 28%. And could you just explain that to me again because I got dropped out of the call. You were explaining about the natural hedge that exists.

Okay. 28% of exports means roughly if you look at INR 4,500 crores as a top line, then around INR 1,200 crores to INR 1,500 crores is what we earn in our foreign exchange, which is largely dollar-denominated or in currencies which are pegged to dollar. So this is available to us where if the rupee depreciates, we tend to benefit. If you -- if we look at now our raw material spend in the quarter, which is the large trade foreign currency outflow is less than this INR 1,500 crores what we earn.

So we have a natural hedge available that our earning in foreign exchange is more than per quarter what we spend on buying raw materials. Since we do not have any foreign currency loan -- term loan on our books, which is by design, we don't have any long-term foreign currency commitments. This helps us manage the ForEx fluctuation in a reasonable manner or in an efficient manner. Because largely over a period of time, we have seen that the rupee is showing a depreciating trend.

Sometimes there are some corrections, some spikes, but it balances out where rupee continues to depreciate over a quarter or a 6-month or whatever. Now with the kind of government that has come up in U.S. where U.S. first, making U.S. strong, making the manufacturing hub and all that, probably this trend of rupee depreciation vis-a-vis dollar or to put it the other way around, we expect the strengthening of dollar unless there is a major disruption which is unlikely. You would have heard some BRICS saying we'll have own currency. Europe was trying to exert euro to become a major currency.

In between, we had heard China, Russia will get together. But those were more of a rhetoric, and we don't expect either BRICS or for that matter, euro or for that matter, the China-Russia block can dominate the international currency reserve market anytime in the near future because the U.S. government seems to be very focused on that, that they want to remain the international currency market leader. So that should -- that puts us into a reasonable spot where we need to be comfortable and not worry too much about the foreign exchange fluctuation.

Next question comes from the line of Deepak Lalwani with Unifi Capital.

Sir, I wanted to clarify on 2 numbers. So you mentioned that some amount of the order book has been deferred in January. So if you can indicate the quantum of that and also the revenues which got slipped into Q4, the shipments which got delayed, if you can indicate these 2 amounts, sir.?

Again, if I give you any of those numbers, I would be speculating because we are talking about the quarters, but we have won a few large export orders and a few large shipments have gone beyond 31st December. I'm sure when we meet next quarter, I would be able to give you those details.

Okay. Understood. And sir, the order book mix, so barring the 20% export mix, if you can give us a sense on how the various avenues of order inflows are panning out? Firstly, what is the mix of state and central funded projects, firstly, that? And how the various avenues are playing out for us, the central, the state exports and the oil and gas?

Okay. If you are looking at exports, as I told you, currently, our exports is around 27%. Now within the domestic sector, if you look at my revenue pie, the major contributor would be water sector, which will be -- if you just take the domestic market as a whole, about more than 50% would come from the water sector, which is served by the DI market and the helical pipes, less than 40% or around 30%, 40% would be oil and gas. And the rest would be the industrial sector, which is being serviced by the seamless and stainless division.

Okay. Sir, within the 50% water, how much of the projects are coming from central-funded schemes and how much are from -- led by the state governments?

That what I would request is send a mail. I don't have that figure in front of me of how much center and how much state because, again, there is an overlap. There are a lot of projects where center and state they put their funds combined in terms of -- in some of them, center puts more, state puts less. In some, it's the other way around. But still, if you wish to have that breakup, please send a mail and our team will respond to you with the breakup of center versus state.

Okay. Got it. And sir, the big projects that you're planning to announce in the next 6 months, if you can indicate an amount like the CapEx required for this project and the funding that will be required. What I wanted to get a sense is on the debt levels, will it balloon back to the onetime debt equity ratio, which we were earlier working with? So how should we look at the funding for this project and the quantum of this?

See, one of the reasons that all these projects are being examined very carefully that we remain committed that we would not let the debt equity ratio become very aggressive. We are also conscious of our rating, and we would definitely do everything to make sure that we continue to enjoy the high rating.

What exactly is the debt level would only come once the projects are kind of -- the contours of the projects are finalized. But for now, you can take comfort that on a INR 10,000 crores -- close to INR 10,000 crores net worth, the debt equity will not go, which is not sustainable to maintain our rating or not something that we cannot manage.

We have put in a lot of effort to get the debt under control. And definitely, that would be one of the considerations on how much debt we can take and how to kind of time them -- put them on a time scale so that we have corresponding increase in the revenue, EBITDA and contribution. So that exercise is being done, which will balance it. As we have managed in the past, we will continue to manage the capital structure very carefully forward, as we plan for our next phase of growth.

Okay. Right. And sir, on the order inflow front, you mentioned that the state projects are doing fine. The central, there is some lull. So we got an order inflow of about 3.6 lakh tonnes in this quarter. So should we assume a similar number going forward as well, that 3.5 lakh tonnes per quarter should be the run rate?

No, we expect this to go up. Wait for the budgetary announcement, which is on this Friday. We expect that the infrastructure momentum or push must get us filled by this government because -- please recall there is an important factor. This government has 4 years life still left. So I'm sure they would want to announce those infrastructure projects, provide the necessary funding so that before they end this term, they are able to get the benefit of all the infrastructure projects that they want to complete during this period. So we expect this budget to be in that direction, give a lot of impetus to do.

Understood. And sir, lastly, see, we have a lot of -- we have a bunch of products, but I wanted to touch upon the DI segment. So if you can indicate what is the utilization level at the DI plant. Also, the order book status, we used to maintain a full -- we had a full order book for that plant. So how is that shaping up? And given the slowdown -- yes, and given the slowdown, have you seen any moderation in pricing of the new tenders? Yes, those are my questions.

No. Okay. On DI, now the Haresamudram plant is contributing well. So both Samaghogha and Haresamudram plant is contributing well. Both are operating at a capacity utilization of more than 80% or so. The order book remains healthy. We have a visibility for the next few quarters in DI. And that is one part because of the state government, a lot of initiatives. We are seeing some strong demand in the DI segment.

Okay. And any moderation in pricing, sir, that you witnessed for the new tenders?

Pricing moderation, we don't see any large-scale reduction unless there is a corresponding dip in the raw material prices. Because at this point of time, if you see the way the demand supply is being balanced, we are still in the sellers' market. We do not have a glut. We don't have a capacity which is excess than otherwise, we would not have had a few quarters of order book. So we don't expect the margins to get squeezed unless there is a very sudden spike in the raw material prices, which is kind of an aberration.

Next question comes from the line of Priyanshu Chauhan with Investec.

Sir, just a few questions. First of all, I want to understand the quantum of the -- of our stainless steel volume and Ductile iron volume. And secondly, I want to know about the forward-looking approach on the steel prices and coal prices. So can you please elaborate that?

You were not audible. First, you wanted to -- you talked about stainless steel?

Yes.

The stainless steel, we are currently doing approximately 5,000, but that's a fast improving graph. So last quarter, we did about 5,000 tonnes, which is very quickly and fastly improving graph. We should see a year-end close to 15,000. And next year, we should go more towards 2025. That's what the indication is for the stainless segment. Second question was coal. The coal prices are now stable. It is around $200, and it should remain stable there.

And can you please elaborate on Ductile iron pipes also?

So your voice is not very clear. Would you please...

Yes. So can you please elaborate on Ductile iron pipe also, the numbers?

No -- Ductile iron pipes, you want to know the quantity or what do you want to know?

Yes, I want to know about the quantity.

The quantity that we did in the last quarter?

Yes. Yes.

We did about 175,000 tonnes of Ductile iron in the last quarter, which is a combination of both Haresamudram and Samaghogha plant.

And in the coming quarter?

Coming quarter, I can't make a forward-looking statement. But there's nothing to indicate that this trend should not continue or should not improve a little bit.

Next question comes from the line of Riya Mehta with Aequitas Investments.

My first question is in regards to capacity -- new capacity coming up of...

Madam, I'm not able to hear you. You will have to either speak a little louder and slower. [Foreign Language].

Yes. Am I audible?

[Foreign Language].

Yes. So my first question is in regards to the new capacity coming up. So Jai Balaji is one player and Welspun is also coming up with new capacity. So with a little slowdown in domestic area, where do you think new growth will come so that the industry will be able to suffice the capacity they have?

One you said Welspun in DI and the other one was?

Jai Balaji.

Okay. Welspun coming in DI, we welcome them because that at least adds a little bit of a maturity. We have another good player. But the way the demand is going up, that would be more than what the capacity would come up. So the status quo of supply-demand balance will not get imbalanced.

Balaji, coming in DI, that's a little distinct future. We don't know how much capacity because Balaji is not one of the serious -- very, very serious quality players the way we see ourselves or we expect Welspun and a few others to come in like Tata and then all.

Got it. And in seamless, you said that you have doubled the capacity. What kind of contribution does this plant currently give, if you could help in terms of volumes?

See currently seamless is doing 60,000 -- approximately 60,000 per quarter. Now [indiscernible] capacity comes up, this 60,000 should definitely go to 80,000, 80,000 plus, 90,000 and then it will drive higher because it would take some time to stabilize. So the 60,000, we expect first to rise up to 80,000, 90,000 and then go further up.

Got it. Apart from seamless, is there any other brownfield CapEx that you are eyeing for?

No. At present, there is nothing which is announced, nothing that is getting implemented. As I already said, there are a few projects which are on the drawing board, which are getting examined, which we will definitely have details for you next -- our call next quarter or if we are not ready by then, then the quarter after that.

Right. You also mentioned that export, you're seeing large orders coming. So which region are these orders coming from? And is it oil and gas or water?

MENA -- largely, it's MENA region.

Largely, it's MENA region. How is the project at NEOM happening? And we've read in news -- a couple of news that there are some stalled projects in NEOM. Are we facing similar things?

NEOM, Phase 1, the large contract we have completed. We are expecting the new order to come in.

Okay. There is no slowdown in CapEx there, right?

There is no slowdown in?

CapEx in the NEOM ordering?

No, no. NEOM -- please understand in Saudi Arabia, NEOM is one of the pet projects. It's a new capital city being built by the Crown Prince, and he is absolutely on top of it.

Got it. So the tenders for the new orders have already been placed and we have applied for it, right?

Yes, we are in discussion.

[Operator Instructions] Next question comes from the line of [ Gargi ] from Value Investments.

Yes. So firstly, I wanted to thank you for giving one of the best opening remarks that I have ever heard in so many years of hearing con call. So really thank you for that. That has answered a lot of the questions. So my first question is that, sir, in this quarter, have we seen any benefit of lower coking coal prices? And do you expect the same benefit to continue considering that the coking coal prices are expected to remain range bound of $200 that you have mentioned?

Okay. Coking coal is largely used in our blast furnace, which goes into the DI pipe making. Now once our new vertical loading coking coal plant has been commissioned, we definitely expect that there would be a reduction in cost of production, plus there would also be a benefit of more power generation because of the waste heat recovery. The combined impact of that is going to be -- to reduce the cost of production in DI because this captive power plant also supplies power to Samaghogha where our major DI capacity is placed.

So it would kind of shield us from the market-driven prices of coking coal. It would be at a much lower level. Once you add the benefit of the power that we generate from the waste to heat -- the waste heat energy recovery system that we have put, it would be a further reduction in the cost of production. Another improvement that we have made in the blast furnace is to put the PCI, pulverized coal injection, which has further reduced our cost of production.

So with all of these, we should be very well placed when it comes to the DI cost of production to address the market very effectively and consolidate and maintain our leadership position.

So sir, so as I understand that there are 3 benefits that are expected to reduce the cost of production for the DI part. So one is the coke oven battery. Second is the PCI that you have mentioned and third is the WHRS. So including all these 3, is it fair to assume that this would reduce the cost of production to INR 3 to INR 5 per kg after a quarter or so?

Let me just say this way, it would give us a sizable reduction, but putting a number to it, will not be possible because that is competitor sensitive. I don't want the competitor to know that, okay, how much extra margin that I have, which -- not that how much money I would make, but giving this kind of a benchmark gives the competition a sense of how to price their product, if they want to compete. And therefore, please don't ask me to put a number to it.

Understood, sir. Sir, second question is on the part of the U.S. subsidiary. So if you could briefly explain what exactly we are doing in the U.S. subsidiary? And what are the key drivers for the growth and margins there? And a little bit on the export opportunity Hunting as well?

The U.S. subsidiary of Jindal Saw is largely a coating facility, which takes pipe as free supply, coats it and gives it back to the client. Now these pipes are largely used in oil and gas sectors. So with the improved environment of more drilling, that means more pipeline, more transmission means for pipelines. It should give a fillip to our coating unit that we have in U.S., which is a subsidiary of Jindal Saw.

Sir, in U.S., actually, most of the local players are -- most of the local players in the markets that we operate are having the coating facility. So what is the advantage that we are having over peers for having a coating facility separately in the U.S.?

All the players do not have all the coating facility, plus being located in Baytown, which is just 25 miles from Houston, we have a huge locational advantage.

Understood. And you see it on the export opportunity of Hunting?

Of course, that opportunity is there. See, wherever premium connection -- now we have become a very large supplier of premium connection products in India. And definitely, with their name and our name where most of us are individually prequalified, we would be addressing the export market very soon. Because when you address the export market, you -- at least three things come to our benefit.

Individually, we are prequalified, very well known, very well established. They are prequalified, very well known, very well established. Together in the joint venture, we have now established a very good presence in India with a good track record, now 8, 9 months in operation. So this should help us make an entry into the international market very soon.

Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we have reached the end of question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Vikash Singh for closing comments.

I would like to thank Jindal Saw management on behalf of PhillipCapital for giving us the opportunity to host them. Now I hand over to Mr. Mantri for his closing remarks. Over to you, sir.

Mantri has just stepped out so let me do the closing formality as well. Thank you to all our stakeholders. Thank you to all our investors and people who are interested in listening to us. You would have seen, as I continue to say, we are here to stay, and we are here to stay with the long term. So people who have a medium- to long-term vision, they are the ones who benefit the most when they align with us.

And especially if you like infrastructure, if you like oil and gas and if you like stability, robust business, then we definitely stand in line and pretty much in the front line forefront. We will continue to do good business, as I have already mentioned to you that we are conscious that we are plateauing on our current capacity. We have managed our capital structure very, very well because as I have been saying, this is necessary to prepare ourselves for next round of growth.

And now things are being planned where very soon we should have all the necessary elements put together to propel the company into the next round of growth and the next trajectory that we want to move. So with these, I wish you all very happy, I would say, January end. Enjoy your budget session. We expect a lot.

And some of the people who may be interested in going to the Kumbh, I wish you all the best, the news that I'm getting from Kumbh, and this is I'm addressing primarily to the people who are in western part of India. But now the crowds seem to be easing out, the temperatures now getting more moderate, so you can plan if you have any indication. So go and have a happy dip in the Kumbh. With that, thank you very much.

On behalf of Jindal Saw Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.