AlzChem Group AG

XETRA:ACT

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Operator]

Good morning on behalf of Montega. Welcome to the earnings call of the AlzChem Group AG regarding the Q1 figures of 2023. The CEO, Andreas Niedermaier and the CSO, Dr. Georg Weichselbaumer, will give you a presentation on the results in a moment. Afterwards, there will be enough time for our Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]

We are looking forward to the results, and I handover to Mr. Niedermaier.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. Thank you for the handover, and good morning. Together, we thank you for joining us today, and welcome to our quarter 1 analyst call and the presentation of our how we can say, a successful start into the year. So at the end of the presentation, we will be available for questions. And so let's skip the disclaimer and go directly to the Page 5. So I will turn the slides here. Hopefully, the machine is taking my actions, yes.

So everything we promised was implemented positively here. We started the first quarter with a significant jump in sales. And once again, our specialties were the main growth drivers. Following the very good sales, we were also able to lift EBITDA significantly above the prior year. Also, we still have to work on the margin. Nevertheless, thanks to further optimization measures and a very good business performance. We were also able to generate a positive operating and also a very positive free cash flow here.

So our freshly commissioning Creapure plant is running very well, apart from a few tearing problems, it is already producing at full capacity, and the plant is running at such high utilization rate that we will continue to push ahead with a further incremental expansion this year, and we will probably be able to report more on this in quarter 4.

So and good things come to those who wait. Our climate report for CO2 reduction has taken shape to such an extent that we will be submitting it to the say on climate vote at next week's Annual General Meeting here. So today, we can already give you a short teaser about that. And therefore, I turn the page to the next slide. It's Page 6.

So with slogan with optimized energy and material cycles to sustainable production, this is how we describe our climate roadmap here. Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges and therefore, also a major factor influencing our business activities. Everyone in society must therefore contribute to shaping a sustainable future in which the available resources are used in the best possible way.

As a globally active specialty chemicals company, we have always been aware of our special responsibility for the environment. Our company has been around since 1908, already more than 115 years, and we believe this is only possible through sustainable action integrated into our DNA. So we understand sustainable management as an elementary premise to maintain and further developing our economic, our social and our ecological performance. Because only in harmony with the environment and through responsible, sustainable action is economic success achievable for us in the long term.

So the targets, you see that on the next page here, we have set ourselves are really challenging, but will achievable. So what do we want to achieve until 2030, EUR 30 million CapEx for sustainable topics, resulting in EUR 6 million annual financial savings and therefore, in total, high-level projects. Or approximately 90,000 tonnes of CO2 savings per year, that is approximately 75% less CO2 emission than as of today. And this is not enough. We believe that almost 100% savings are possible and that would be approximately 110,000 tons of CO2 than in the year of 2033.

Facing the future, our path to climate neutrality, how we measure and feel this can be derived from the scope model. So -- and on the next page, here you can see our Scope 1 projects plotted on the green timeline, compared to the Federal Government target with the red line. This means we can be 10 to 12 years faster than the Federal Government is currently telling us to be. And by 2030, specific projects have already been defined that will lead to a 75% reduction in CO2, as I already talked about that. Between 2030 and 2033, we used a chart to interpolate the graph and assume that if we continue our efforts at the same rate as up to 2030 net-zero consumption is really possible in 2033.

And now, of course, it's interesting to know that these projects are -- that would probably go beyond the scope of today, but only so much about it. We work with the following principles or with the following 4 principles. We want to close our production cycles more efficiently. So what we are talking about here is that we use our own CO2 emission for our products. Second, we reduced the amount of energy required. Here, we have some processes. We produce hydrogen, and we try to use that in the processes. So the third point, we make more intensive use of the waste heat generated in our production process and the fourth, we try to avoid any form of waste of resources.

So you are welcome to find out more about this on our website at the Annual General Meeting or in personal meetings. So but let me show you some more information about the dimension by itself.

So this is plotted on the Page 9 here. So with the climate roadmap, we have developed a powerful set of instruments that will have a powerful record in the end. The packages of measures described are expected to lead to a CO2 reduction of around 90,000 tonnes. And that is more than 75% we have already heard. By way of comparison, a beach tree has to grow for a full 80 years to absorb 1 single ton of CO2. So if we implement our climate plan consistently, we will have already offset the remaining 25% of our emissions by 2033. And thus, achieved the target climate neutrality. We can make this bold statement because we already know very precisely our remaining emissions in 2030. Here we will be using the latest technologies, particularly in our plants. We are already working on initial ideas and solutions, for example, replacing the steam drying process we currently use with a modern induction process promises considerable savings potentials.

But it's also clear that the chemical company like ours is unlikely to be able to completely avoid its CO2 emissions given the current state of knowledge. We will, therefore, reduce the unavoidable residual emissions to net-zero by taking appropriate compensatory measures. The most important statement can be seen in the graph. Together, with all the countermeasures and Scope 4 reductions, we will have already crossed the zero line in 2030. And taking into account only 2 end-products, namely Creamino and EMINEX, we will have a clearly positive CO2 footprint. In other words, we can save more CO2 than is released in all production processes. And that, from our point of view, is a serious statement.

So much for the first introduction to our climate roadmap. Let's now get into the figure mining in more detail on the next page. And there, we are talking about Page 10, and you should already see that. So we were able to significantly increase sales compared to the first quarter of 2022. Overall sales amounted to around EUR 150 million, an increase of around EUR 21 million or 16% compared to the same period of the previous year. And the main drivers of this development were the products from the Specialty Chemicals segment, which contributed EUR 20.5 million to the increase in sales. Looking at the group as a whole, the increase in sales was mainly generated by 21% price increases, which overall had to and we were able to compensate for around 6% volume decline.

EBITDA increased by EUR 1.8 million to EUR 18.9 million, and this corresponds to an increase of 11% compared with the same period of the previous year. So however, the EBITDA margin fell from 13.2% in the previous year to 12.6% in quarter 1. Despite the significant sales increases, it was not possible to fully compensate for the cost increases on the raw material side, in personnel costs and in other expenses, especially in the Basics & Intermediates segment. Therefore, we are trying to focus more and more on our higher margin and, therefore, the specialty product areas.

The earnings per share follow the result of the period and are unchanged at EUR 0.76 million. And here are our influences from the balance sheet in the previous year, which we can analyze later on if you want.

So, so much for the big picture and the overview. Let us see some more market developments that Georg Weichselbaumer will present to us on the next few pages. And therefore, I turn to Page 13, beginning with Basics & Intermediates here.

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

Thank you, Andreas. Yes, the Basics & Intermediates segment continues to feel the effects of high raw material and energy costs. Also sales and EBITDA in the segment matched the previous year's level. This was only possible by trading volumes for price increases. The picture across the segment was mixed. The agricultural product area with the main product, PERLKA, is struggling most with the high prices.

Farmers simply refuse to bite nitrogen fertilizer in the face of high prices. They wait for price reductions or switch to lower-cost import fertilizers. The production of nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as PERLKA consumes a large amount of electricity and therefore, requires us to set prices accordingly.

Business to the pharmaceutical industry for the building block, dicyandiamide stayed at previous year's level, prices were increased at the extent of volumes. Here, too, production is very electricity intensive and other raw materials remain at elevated price levels. We have no choice but to raise prices to an economically sustainable level. Some customers have turned to competing products from China and have reduced orders from us in return.

However, other product areas in the segment were able to compensate for the decline in sales. For example, the NITRALZ product area and metallurgical products recorded a slight increase in sales. EBITDA met the previous year's level with stable sales. Efficiency measures at the related production facilities mitigated the additional cost incurred here as a result of reduced production at other facilities.

Earnings in this segment continued to react immediately to developments on the electricity market. Fluctuations in the electricity price can be seen here very quickly and directly in the segment's margin development. So much for Basics & Intermediates segment. Let us now move on to the Specialty Chemicals segment.

The Specialty Chemicals segment remained our sales and earnings driver in the first quarter of 2023. With an increase in sales of approximately EUR 20.5 million, our record was once again achieved in this segment. It is pleasing to note that the increase in sales resulted not only from price increases but also from volume growth. Thus, around 8% of the sales growth was attributable to increased volumes, while around 21% came from the necessary price increases. Almost all product areas in the segment contributed to the sales growth. As expected, the largest share came from the dietary supplements business with Creapure, agriculture with Dormex, multipurpose plant products in customer manufacturing and with Creamino in animal nutrition. However, the largest volume increases were generated by the expansion of the Creapure capacity, which following commissioning in the final quarter of the previous year is now on design capacity.

As customer demand continues to significantly exceed capacity, an additional expansion has already been initiated, which should supply further additional volumes in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Sales figures for Creamino are also up compared to the previous year, although not yet at the expected level. Only the Bioselect product area was unable to match the previous year's sales. Here, the still a very high inventory level of customers from the buildup during the Corona pandemic can be felt. However, market expectations indicate rising demand in the second half of the fiscal year.

In absolute terms, the segment's EBITDA increased by EUR 1.8 million to EUR 16 million. But in relative terms, the margin decreased from 21.9% to 18.7%. Despite the enormous price increases, not all cost increases could be passed on to the market. Raw material prices are declining only slowly, and some have so far not declined at all. It will therefore be all more important in the current fiscal year to successfully pass on the resulting additional costs to our customers.

Let us now move on to our third segment, Other & Holdings. In a few words, the Other & Holdings segment performed very well in the first quarter compared with the same quarter in 2022. In principle, the increase in sales was price-driven. Earnings were supported by a reversal of a provision. Let us now took a look -- take a look at the balance sheet and back to Andreas.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Georg. Then we will go to the balance sheet and this is to Page 18. I think you see that already on the screen. So the increase in our total assets by EUR 12.5 million to EUR 435 million. resulted mainly from an increase in trade receivables as a result of significantly higher sales contribution. Furthermore, there were no extensions to payment terms or bad debt losses on the customer side.

Compared to the previous year, further active measures enabled us to reduce inventories back to EUR 120 million as promised already last year. So our equity also increased by EUR 5.3 million to EUR 151 million as a function of the good results, and this also led to an increase in the equity ratio of 34.7%. In the first quarter, EUR 30 million in noncurrent liabilities were raised. The short-term line was therefore reduced by this amount but the original volume of short-term commitments was also maintained.

So we have thus reestablished a reliable and sustainable financing structure. So that's it for the balance sheet. Let us now have some words about the cash flow, and we will see that on Page 19 here. In the first quarter, we generated a positive cash flow from operating activities of around EUR 10 million, and this represents an improvement of around EUR 16 million compared to the previous year. And this is due to the effect of the successful reduction of inventories and a very good operating performance. So in investing activities, our CapEx, we started the year somewhat more cautiously, which also supported the free cash flow. So much for the cash flow.

Now a few words about the ongoing targets, which I brought with me on Page 20 here. So this year, we are focusing mainly on 3 target areas: a, improvement; b, growth and c, sustainability. So start with improvement, our top priority this year remains to pass on all raw material price increases to our customers. Conversely, if raw material price were to fall significantly, this could also mean that we would give some of this back to our customers.

So we have decided to further increase flexibility in production. To this end, we will run one of our furnaces along the electricity price curve. This means that when electricity is cheap, we increase output and when electricity is expensive we reduce output or even shut down the carbide [indiscernible]. So the third point is our zero waste strategy. This could also be classified as a sustainability goal. But for us, it has always been an important economic issue. And we are in the middle of implementing all the improvement measures and are well on our way here from our point. So talking about growth, in the target area of growth, we are primarily focusing on filling the remaining spare capacities in Creapure, Creamino, NITRALZ and SiliconNitride activities. We are already well on the way there, which we will then also see in the forecast on the next page.

In addition to filling capacities, the focus is on establishing EMINEX as a methane avoidance product. With EMINEX, it would be possible to save about 5 million tons of CO2 as we have already seen today per year. But so far, the final political will to support the implementation is missing, but we are working, I tell you every day on that issue.

And as always, growth is also about plant expansion. We are planning the next steps for our multipurpose business, and the first expansion stage is already under construction here.

So sustainability. In the sustainability target group, we are persistently pursuing the goal of zero accidents and zero waste. Another key point here is the implementation of our climate roadmap. And last but not least, we are working on the EU Taxonomy Regulation and CSRD, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Device. Our directive so that we will be able to meet all requirements by 2024 at the latest. Here too, we are in full implementation mode, and we have already reported a great deal on the climate roadmap today. So -- but right at the top of the list is, of course, our revenue and EBITDA target, which we will look at on the next page.

So this is Page 21. You should see that already on the screen. And from today's perspective, we continue to expect up to EUR 590 million in sales and around EUR 70 million in EBITDA, the planned sales growth will remain organic. And the fundamental growth drivers are volume effect as I already described earlier, in the target list via Creapure, Creamino, et cetera, specialty chemicals will remain the growth engine. So for almost all products in the segment, we also expect stable price developments due to the necessary cost pass-through at the level of the previous year.

So in the Basics & Intermediates segment, we mainly expect price increases, fluctuating with the raw material prices. Volume declines in agriculture will be offset by higher average prices and demand for the metallurgical products is likely to decline slightly with the economy and the pricing formulas will allow cost changes to be passed on. But please remember in both directions. So it could be at the end of the day that we will see a little lower sales here. But from the profitability, we will stay to our EUR 70 million.

So on the earnings side, we expect high raw material prices more or less similar to 2022 average but with slight relief trends in the second half of the year. And so that's it from my side with the information for the first quarter. I think it was very positive. We have shown positive sales, positive EBITDA, positive free cash flow, a positive development of net working capital. So from our point of view, it's -- it has been a really positive so there is only one point to say the second quarter could be a little lower than the first quarter. So the first signs show lower sales but at the end of the year, we stick to our EUR 519 million target.

So at this point, we would like to thank you for your appreciated attention and are now at your disposal for possible questions.

[Operator]

Thank you very much, Mr. Niedermaier and Dr. Weichselbaumer for the detailed presentation. We will now move over to the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] And we already received the first question. Please go ahead, Mr. Markus Mayer.

[Markus Mayer, analyst]

Sorry, I had a problem with my phone. Congratulation on this very strong result. I have a question regarding Q2, we already flagged that this might be somewhat weaker. It has to do with the demand you currently see and here also another question how does the order book currently look like? How far can you see how volatile is it? And also, has it improved or worsened. And also on the demand development over the first quarter, can you also shed some light how this has developed? Was it equal over the quarter? Or has it improved or worsened over the quarter. That would be my questions.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

So I will try to get the answer to you for the first step and the second step, Georg can advise me. So the first quarter was, I'd tell you, the best quarter ever. for us in the last months. What's the best month ever. So we had in the single months turnover of about, I think, EUR 55 million to EUR 56 million. This was the best month ever. So from this point of view, it could be that some turnover or revenue went from the April to the March turnover because the April turnover will come somewhat lower. So -- but the overall forecast is still healthy. So we see the EUR 590 million is achievable from today's point of view, the forecast and outlook shows that quite stable but the next month from this point of view because we had quite a good first quarter could be and could come somewhat lower. So Georg, additional to add?

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

Yes. For April -- we have known already when we made the forecast that sales will be a little lower, that actually realized but the forecast also shows that, that was a single month and then May and subsequent ones will be at the levels which we have predicted originally.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

And the growth is stable from our point of view because our growth edging actually Creapure works quite well, and the plant is operating on a quite high level. And from this point of view, we see additional quantities.

[Markus Mayer, analyst]

And this demand trend you have just elaborated, are there a difference between you said Creapure is ongoingly strong. are the difference on the other specialties or basic material -- basic products. So in the past also this demand from steel industry is strong out of the elaboration side but the feeling that here we saw somewhat more weakness over the first quarter. And in specialties also I would be interested how Creamino has also been developing.

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

I mean, as we reported in the statement already, in particular, products like PERLKA, DCDA are fairly weak products because they're energy-intensive. And our target is here to set prices so that we can make margins. We will not sell below our cost. We will look at our cost situation and we have started already measures to reduce the cost at those plants. And the target is at least to stay at the same level in sales, however, with higher prices and lower volumes.

Going forward, you also alluded at Creamino. Creamino is progressing. We're getting new customers throughout the world, but our ambitions are fairly high and there's still some room to go.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

So what is always disturbing across is an additional bird flu here and there, and that's really a challenge from our point of view. But the growth in -- to summarize that in specialty chemicals is quite stable and healthy.

[Operator]

Andreas, we received another question by the person that has dialed-in with the phone ended by 553. Please go ahead and tell us your name. [Operator Instructions] Well, we -- as it's right now not working, we kindly ask you to try it later on or place your question in check, and we will move forward with the questions of Mr. Oliver Schwarz.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Please unmute your micro because you seem to be muted.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Should it -- it should work now, is it?

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes, very clear.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay. Just a quick one on the sales of fertilizers basically. I saw that the volume dropped by almost a quarter, obviously more than offset by the price increase. However, as you went through the different customer groups, it seemed to me that mostly fertilizers were affected by the, let's say, by the drop in volumes. Would that be a correct assessment?

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

And in that regard, I'd like to press you a bit on the reasons. Obviously, fertilizers in general, peaked regarding prices in 2022 for the reasons we are all aware of. However, prices came down quite substantially towards the advent of the new season in the Northern Hemisphere. Your, let's say, prices I guess that were raised last year dropped only to the extent you were able to pass on electricity -- increased electricity costs on to customers. However, it seems like especially in fertilizers, you are not yet there where you want to be in regards to margin creation because the swing production here mostly affects fertilizers. Is that only attributable to the, let's say to the absolute price level that you have to offer to your customers? Or are there other reasons that could explain the significant drop in volumes here.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Now that's only a price issue. So we lost competitiveness with energy-intensive products, to be honest, so we are already on the double or triple price level with energy actually. But in the future, this will come down from our point of view to a competitive situation, and then we will gain market share back. So -- but actually, you talked about lower prices for fertilizer in Europe, yes, there are lower prices but not lower costs. So if you look at the producers in Europe, they have all problems, and they are all struggling with the cost situation. So the lower prices of fertilizer in Europe come only from distribution from Russia, Eastern -- or Eastern Europe or the far East or near East and this is only due to very cheap imports that the prices go down. So -- because the energy level is quite high.

So -- and not at least for electricity prices already for gas prices as well. So if you're talking about the producers here in Europe, their struggle quite high with the high cost situation.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Yes. I agree on that, that the prices are still at elevated levels, but looking, for example, at nitrogen fertilizers, I would argue that the current prices are still a far cry from the, let's say, peak prices we saw in, let's say, summer 2022, when natural gas prices spiked as we were heading towards the winter and everybody scrambled to get enough gas in the reservoirs filled up. And so there was a lot of natural gas price -- no, natural gas buying that drove the prices up at least temporarily. And this, let's say, spike is now behind the industry. And hence, nitrogen prices have come down arguably, as you said, also due to, let's say, increased imports from elsewhere, but also due to, let's say, manufacturing costs in Europe having come down somewhat, obviously, not to the extent we had before the Russian invasion in Ukraine, but still prices are down from peak levels of 2022.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes, from peak levels, yes. But to be honest, the electricity price, actually, if you look at the spot price, it's triple as high than before the crisis. And with the gas prices more or less the same. So if you look at the gas prices, we see approximately triple that gas prices before the crisis. And if you look at the competitors outside of Europe, they work on -- still on the low level in prices. And that's the big problem for the fertilizer business. There is -- yes, the spikes are beyond us and no doubt about that, but we have still a triple of the raw material prices.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Right? I think we can both easily agree on that one. So basically, if we can agree on that high prices for natural gas are likely structural as Russia isn't easily coming back as a European supplier, no matter what the -- how the war in Ukraine, let's say, continues. Would you -- from your point of view, with the newfound price levels at -- which we are currently seeing. How realistic is it that the demand for your product is coming back in the short or midterm.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

So from my point of view, it will not come back within the short term. But in the midterm, we have a big advantage, I'd tell you, because if electricity becomes more and more green, electricity price will go down. And with our flexibility, we will receive quite low electricity prices in the future and will be in a competitive situation. So not today, not tomorrow. But if you look at the development of the electricity market and the targets, here in Germany, at least in 5 to 7 years, we will have more and more green energy available. And if we take that green energy and that cheap green energy to produce fertilizer and we have -- we don't have to invest anything because we can use that cheap electricity base in advance or immediately.

And from this point of view, we will come back not this year, but in the years to come.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

I fully agree with your assessment that the supply of green energy is advantageous in regards to, let's say, the mix and also on the price levels of electricity. However, as we are on the advent of and not only more supply but also more demand, for example, from electromobility and other sources. Talking not 2030 or 2035, but let's say, closer to 2023. The current discussions and regarding to capping industrial, the industrial electricity price in Germany to a level of -- I mean, there are different papers out there highlighting price points from EUR 0.04 to EUR 0.11 per kilowatt hour how much, let's say, competitiveness would that reinstate in your business?

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. So if you come back to the old level, which was between EUR 0.03 and EUR 0.04, it will install the old competitiveness. If you are talking about EUR 0.11 then we can move away, and we shouldn't talk about that. But to be honest, I'm only half interested in industrial prices because we try to develop our company into a specialty company. So we have proven that we can work on our prior profitability with lower fertilizer business. In the past, that haven't been or was not possible. But actually, we are at this stage that our Specialty Chemicals grow and therefore, we can afford that we work on lower fertilizer business, and that's how we want to develop the company so long.

So we want to concentrate not on the Basic and Intermediates I tell you, we only drive that business to have the raw materials available for the Specialties. And the main focus goes to the Specialties, and that's the main area we want to develop, and we want to set our strategy.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Understandably, and I fully agree with your strategy there. Can you remind me, especially given the capacity expansions you did in the Specialty Chemicals part of the business, how much in regard of it's -- I guess it's your pick either in regard to value or volume of the Basics & Intermediates business is currently passed on to the Specialty Chemicals business as, let's say, semi-finished product raw materials and so on and so forth.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

So we could do that elaboration, but I think that goes beyond to today's point of view, from my point of view because I don't have the details available. So if you are really interested, we can elaborate on that. But in the past, time figure, 2/3 of the raw materials stayed within the Basics & Intermediates and 1/3 went to the Specialties. And actually, it could be half -- by half, but I -- please don't, make me down.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Okay. Just last one in regard to EMINEX and market penetration here. It seems like the is still not, let's say, on the trajectory that you were hoping for with, let's say, agricultural production still exempt from the, let's say, less lenient regulation that is currently discussed for industrial production. So how realistic do you think it is that you can supply the product to significantly drive down CO2 production in the agricultural and, let's say, biogas production, let's say, in the short and midterm? Or is that something that is let's say, shelf for, let's say, a more long-term perspective.

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

Oliver, I assume you're talking about the EMINEX?

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Yes.

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

With EMINEX, we are making progress. And we do that in various ways. We have been accused of not having third-party information available. We also lagged on -- so a large volume experiments like in the usual stables, that is -- that data is currently generated, we are working within Germany and outside of Germany actually to generate that information and only with that third-party information and large volume information, we'll be able to get, for example, in climate calculators to get carbon credits. So we are on the way with that.

In addition, we have started activities outside of Europe because there seems to be quite some opportunity in the U.S. We are working in New Zealand. We're working in Australia to get EMINEX there started also, and we are progressing. It is correct that with the [indiscernible] discussion were being held back also. But as I said, we are making progress, and we are not -- we are far away from shelfing, it quite the opposite. We are buying more resources in order to get it as quickly to market as possible.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Very well. And a very quick last one. I heard you say in the Q4 call, I think it was that there was less competition from Asian producers that basically have the advantage of lower raw material costs, whether it be, let's say, electricity or other raw materials. Due to the fact that the logistics are kind of scoffed and hence, there is a less production or less product available from Asian sources that could, let's say, have an adverse impact on your business, which is basically based on the European production. However, as, let's say, as these clocks and the logistic change seem to peter off and also transportation costs, overseas transportation cost between Asia and Europe and North America have dropped quite materially, is there, let's say, more pressure from Asian product coming to the European and North American market.

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

Yes. I can confirm that, that is the case. Transportation is back to normal, almost the cost are still not back to where they used to be. But transportation routes are well established, and we see increased competition from China. But to various degrees, I mean, for example, in the U.S., they don't want to buy China anymore, they are -- we're doing very well with DCDA, in particular, we have alluded to that already. And that is the main product where we face competition from China that they are back. And it's almost like we're going to the regular cycles that prices go up and down, and we're used to dealing with that.

[Oliver Schwarz, analyst]

Congratulations on your favorable start into the year 2023. And yes, upwards and onwards, I'd say.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. Thank you.

[Operator]

We will try it again with the person who have dial in with the phone number ended by 553 [Operator Instructions]

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

[indiscernible].

[Operator]

Yes, we are -- yes, it's working. We can hear you.

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

Sorry for the technical problems that I had, obviously, with my phone. First of all, what about the production capacity of the Creapure. You mentioned that you want to extend it again in the fourth quarter. And what extent is there the plan of Creapure.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

So at the first step, I think it's [indiscernible].

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

Yes, yes.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Okay. No problem about that. So then this is clear for the first step. So we reported that we doubled last year, more or less the capacity. And on this new situation, we add approximately 10%, 15% -- probably 20%, but not double of capacity. So it's an incremental increase. So we installed an additional dryer and additional equipment in the production so that we can increase that incremental, yes.

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

Okay. So the CapEx will be negligible. What about the total CapEx of the year? What are you planning for 2023?

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

We plan usually with approximately EUR 30 million and it could be a little lower because we have been cautious in the start of the first quarter because we have -- or we had no view about the business environment. But we are back on the normal line from this point of view for your calculation, you should take into consideration approximately EUR 30 million. And this would be a good figure for the next years to come as well. But as we have already presented this year or today that with the climate roadmap, there could be an addition for the next year to come between or approximately EUR 5 million. So we are talking about EUR 30 million to EUR 35 million for the next year.

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

Okay. Excellent. And another question would be on your current electricity status or forward status or the hedge status, how would you describe that.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

We are talking every day about electricity, I tell you. And we look at the price every day. But I tell you, when the markets come down, it's better not to purchase in advance. So from this point of view, we view the market and we look at the market quite closely and we try to purchase for the next quarter or for the next months to come. Yes, but we don't purchase electricity for the next year.

[Peter-Thilo Hasler, analyst]

Yes. Excellent. That's what I thought. And another question would be on the Specialty Chemicals segment. I was surprised about the strong price increase that you achieved here. On the other hand, given the diversity of your clients in that segment, how price sensitive would you assess them anyway?

[Georg Weichselbaumer, executive]

Every customer is price sensitive. No. But I mean, for example, when we look at creatine and Creapure, we have quite some selling power with our brands because, I mean, how would you compare if you were us to eat something which comes from China compared to with something which comes from a German plant. And there, you really see the difference. So we have spent quite some time, effort and money to develop that brand and it's not paying off.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. Just one point. And I think we try to be fair with our customer and customer base. We had a quite fairly discussion last year, and this -- and that was the reason for the more or less flat EBITDA for the last year. And this year, we have seen in the average higher raw material prices, and we discussed that with our customer base. And from this point of view, they went with us.

[Operator]

It seems that there are no further questions. Thank you very much for your questions, and thank you to Mr. Niedermaier and Dr. Weichselbaumer for your presentation and your time answering all those questions. I'll hand over for some final remarks to Mr. Niedermaier.

[Andreas Niedermaier, executive]

Yes. So that's up to me, thank you -- to say thank you very much for your questions. We can now offer you, as always, the opportunity to visit us again virtually or in person at the conferences, as shown above here in the next page. So there, we can meet again. And we are pleased to invite you at least to the Annual General Meeting next week on the 11 -- May 11. So I think it's not too late. You can take the chance to get in today. I think -- and yes, we invite you to all the other events here. Otherwise, we will be -- or we will present the half year results on August 3. So for all of us, we wish a speedy peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict. Stay safe and stay sound and stay in our good graces, and goodbye then. Thank you.