CropEnergies AG
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CropEnergies AG
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Thank you, Francy, for the introduction. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for your interest in joining our Q1 conference call for CropEnergies first quarter '23, '24. You will find on our home page, the Investor Relations presentation, which I will go through, and that you'll also find the press release for the Q1 and the quarterly report.
So what is on the agenda? I start on Page 2 of the presentation. We will touch as we do usually, the news on the market and political environment, and we will go into the financials of the first quarter 2023, '24 financial year. And to close this section, we will have a Q&A session to answer your questions and Heike Baumbach, Head of IR and myself, we're happy to take your questions after this presentation.
Before we go into the details, as an introduction on March 17, we have already announced to the financial markets via MRI released that we await a significant reduction in Q1 results. And yes, when we see later on the results in the presentations, it turned out as announced, you will see in the financial section that there is a significant decrease in turnover production and financial KPIs compared to prior year's first quarter. But as an introduction, I would also like to frame this in a broader frame because it's also a question of framing.
When we look later on into the financial figures, you will see yesterday as compared to prior year Q1, there's a significant reduction but if we take a broader view and also look into the prior years before the excellent year we had last year, we can confirm the outlook, and we still see a profitable financial year to come. This will be touched when we talk about the outlook for the full financial year. And I will also give you, before we go to the Q&A session, an update on our strategic projects. And there you will see that all our strategic agenda is fully online and is in line with our expectations.
So let's get started with the presentation. I start on Page #4. So this is about politics. What is new? And indeed, there's not too much significant news when it comes to the political scene in Europe. So this is fully in line what we have already communicated to you in May when we discuss the full year results of financial year '22, '23. So in a nutshell that covers the first 3 bullet points, European Green Deal. And linked to that RED-III will increase the ambition level for CO2 savings and the intake of renewable energy. So in a nutshell, this is very positive for the biofuel industry in Europe because we will need more renewable energies to fulfill the ambitious targets and to fight climate change.
I would just touch on the fourth point, which is the CO2 standards for cars and vans, but that's also not new to you. I just reiterate that I believe that the ban of the -- or the quality ban of the internal combustion engine is in political error. It's a violation of the concept of technology openness and neutrality. And just to reiterate -- the internal combustion engine is not the problem to fight climate change. It's the fossil fuel that it burns, and the combination of biofuels and synthetic fuels really given very good opportunity to go along with this existing technology and to have a significant contribution to fight climate change.
And I'm fully convinced we will need all technologies to bring down CO2 emissions and we just cannot afford to leave one of the options apart and this is also important in the context of -- you have seen that in Germany when it comes to the discussions of the heating law, the high [indiscernible]. We have seen strong opposition for many people because if people tend to be or feel overrule when it comes to technology choices or when they feel overstress when it comes to financial burdens, we quickly lose the support for climate protection measures, and this is by no means in the objective for climate protection and this just gives a political instability.
Let me continue, please, on Page #5, where you can see an update on the RED, Renewable Energy Directive, so it is called RED-III. It's not too much new. It is also what -- it's the same what we have already communicated in May. So there is a provisional agreement between council and parliament on 30th of March. As I've said, the overall ambition levels are increased when it comes to the overall energy consumption, the target for renewable energies is raised to 42.5%, could be an additional 2.5% up for the transport sector, it's important when putting the RED-III then into a national law, they will have or continue to have a choice between to use this in a way of a reduction of the greenhouse gas intensity target for this then shall be at least 14.5%, or they can go via a direct share of renewable energy and then this has to be 29% by 2030.
So this is in line what we have already said. And in a nutshell, that means that ambition level has increased, what is positive. Also positive, there is on news, but it's not new to you. We have already communicated there's no new on the crop cap. And what is expected that the plenary vote, the final vote scheduled for September. And then the member states have 18 months put the RED-III -- the new RED-III international law.
Let's continue on Page #6, when it comes to news on the market development. We can start on the right-hand side on the graph. Here, you can see the ethanol sales you see that the consumption is going to rise continuously over the last year. So in 2021, we had 9.1 million cubic meters of ethanol and this is to increase to 10 million in 2023 and continues to grow to 10.3 in 2024 expected. Interesting to see that production is far lower here. You can see on the left-hand side, production in EU-27 in U.K. is expected to amount to 7.5 million cubic meters, so a reduction to prior year. And the delta, so there are 2 things that we can see on that. One is that ethanol is a very good product and needed for the different markets, be it fuel industry or portable. So it's a good product, but European production is below consumption levels and the delta is covered by imports.
This is somehow disappointing because we have seen Q2 the European policies over the last years, there has been quite some uncertainty on the politics. And so the European industry has not too much invested into new capacities and the result is now that production is far lower than consumption, and the delta is to be imported. When it comes to the E10, it means [indiscernible] with 10% ethanol. It is still continues to be the #1 petrol grade in many European countries. So currently, 17 EU member states, plus Norway and the U.K. have rolled out E10. So this is a clear success story. Positive is that this success story continues. So we see strong sales growth, particularly in France, Sweden and the U.K. E10 in Germany is still lagging behind, but there's also a window of opportunity to see here higher market shares. I will touch on this point when it comes to the strategy section later on.
Positively to note that E10 sales have been started or introduced in Ireland, Austria and Norway in April this year. And also Poland plans to introduce E10 at the beginning of '24. So that you can see from that slide, the overall trend in demand for ethanol is good and is a success story.
On Page #7, let's have a look on the imports and the prices. On the right-hand side, you can see the effect that I have just described that the imports have been taken up significantly. And as I said, Europe needs imports to cover the rising demand. And -- but this is also particularly linked to a criticism to politics over the last years with their instability in the political frameworks. They have not produced a framework that is in favor of additional investments. When it comes to the prices, as always, ethanol prices are volatile. And if you look to the right-hand side to the bottom graph, you can see the volatility. And you can also see that there is no clear seasonal pattern.
Average prices in Q1 have been EUR 841 market prices compared to EUR 1,157 prior quarter. There has been a drop in prices in the course of the first quarter due to high import pressure as just explained. And all in all, we see a normalization of price levels on the commodity market. So if you look into the price charts of all commodities, be it brand, be it coal, be it gas, be it grain, you can see that the prices have come down closely to pre-war levels. And it's only the CO2 certificates which remain quite high. And this can also be seen as an indicator to the urge for having more positive measures to fight climate change. So CO2 certificates are at present, the only commodity or one of the commodities who is not following a downward trend.
Let me please continue on Page #8. Here, you can find an overview on the feedstock markets. That means on the grain market. On the right-hand side, you will find the graph, the current financial year '23, '24 is in green. So it's lower than the prior year which is in blue and right now are in line with the financial year '21, '22 approximately. So grain prices in Q1, they came down market prices at EUR 247 per tonne compared to prices of EUR 293 in prior year's quarter. So as I said, grain prices are declining gradually after reaching their peak in May '22 and we can see a strong increase imports from Ukraine. So also, I mean, it's always a discussion what is about the grain corridor and the grain exports via ship, but there's also a strong export from Ukraine via the -- on the street, on the land way.
So EU grain harvest is expected to come out at 265 million tonnes below last year but still exceeding consumption of 255. So EU will continue to be a net exporter for grain. And on a worldwide scale, the ICC expects a slight decline in global grain harvest with 2.259 million tonnes. So the outlook for '23, '24, the EU grain harvest is expected to rise again, and the global grain harvest is expected to reach the level of '21, '22 again. So also here, we see some kind of normalization of prices.
On Page #9, I would like to talk about the energy market. So the energy prices are the third important driver to the profitability of CropEnergies. And also what you can see here on the right-hand graph is the same trend that the overall, the gas prices have shown a sharp drop compared to last year's figures, also reaching a more normalized situation that the price drivers are here, the good supply in Europe with the global LNG supply and demand, the storage levels have increased and the weather conditions. And so overall, also here, we see a normalization of gas prices.
Let me then please come after this introduction on politics on markets to the Q1 figures. You will find the overview on Page #11. And as I've already indicated in the introduction, so the signs are negative. So we see a decrease in ethanol production to 221,000 cubic meters after 281,000 cubic meters in prior year's quarter. This is linked to scheduled maintenance, which we had in 2 of our sites. Revenues came down by 19% to EUR 321 million. So this is both linked to volumes and prices, and as a consequence and we see later on the details, operating profit and EBITDA, net income also showed a decline in focus here on operating profit. We turned out with an operating profit of EUR 14.1 million. For this first quarter of financial year 2023, '24, after a very strong extraordinary result of EUR 87 million in prior year's quarter. Positively to note that our financial asset situation is still very comfortable having a value of close to EUR 300 million by the end of the first quarter.
Let's go more into detail. If we look on the next slide in the operating profit, let me maybe start with a summary. If you look on the right-hand side to the bottom chart, you can see that Q1 this financial year was pretty in line with Q4 last year. But clearly, to say compared to the -- especially to the very strong first half we had in the prior financial year. This is a clear decline. But as I said in the introduction, if we will take the whole year, we will touch on that in the outlook section. This is pretty in line with 3 years before that excellent record year.
Production is down. That's the right-hand upper chart, as I said, 221,000 cubic meters produced. So this is a decrease compared to prior year's quarters and linked to scheduled maintenance, which we had in 2 of our plants. Revenues, just explained, cost of materials came down due to lower volumes. But here also, we had higher prices. So together of those 2 effects, cost of materials went down by 8%, reaching EUR 254 million. And this also then leads to a decrease in the cost spread to EUR 56 million. The further operating expense and income came out at close to EUR 31 million. And if we go here more into detail, which you see in the quarterly report, you can see that personnel expenses went up. This is linked to an increase in FTA.
Other expenses are pretty in line with the prior year, and we see a decrease in other income. And here is an effect of the prior year that we had a positive derivative income in the other expenses. So the value that you see here for other income is rather than the normalized value compared to significant one-off item last year. Depreciation came out at EUR 11 million. And then all in all, we came out with an operating profit of EUR 14 million, which is pretty in line with Q4 last year, as I just stated, but a clear significant reduction compared to prior year's figure.
Let me please continue on Page #13. This is the net earnings creation that [Audio Gap] full P&L after operating profit. You can see that the interest -- the financial result is an increase to EUR 1.3 million. This is linked to the positive interest that we get on our net financial assets positions and the earnings per share finally came out at EUR 0.13 and that follows the earnings development.
Before I come to the outlook, let's have a look on the cash flow. So cash flow of the first quarter was close to EUR 21 million. We see a negative impact for a change in net working capital of EUR 32 million, leading to a net cash from operating activities to minus EUR 11 million. And in this EUR 32 million negative effect or up take an increase in working capital, here is also an effect of the negative market values that we have, for example, for the wheat futures. As you know, this is future. So we have cash at brokers, which we have to cash in the bank brokers account, and this is not booked into cash, but in other financial assets or this increases the working capital.
Investments in property, plant and equipment has increased. Here, you can see the first investments in our new renewable ethyl acetate and site. I will come to this later in the strategy second. And all in all, we came out at the net financial assets position of close to EUR 300 million, which is a strong value and is the background for our strategic development and to be invested into the projects to come.
I would like to go over to Page #15, and we confirm as of today the outlook that we have given for '23, '24 in our annual report. So we confirm as of today, we await revenues to range between EUR 1.27 million and EUR 1.37 million, that means a midpoint of close to EUR 1.3 million. The EBITDA to range between EUR 140 million to EUR 119 million and the operating profit between EUR 95 million and EUR 145 million. That means this is a midpoint of EUR 120 million. This is clearly below prior year, but pretty in line with the 3 years before. And just as a reminder, in 3 years before our excellent record year before.
Operating profit in '21, '22 was EUR 127 million, '22, '23, EUR 108 million, we had 2019, '20, it was EUR 104 million. So we assume to have another strong year compared to the 3 years we had in the period before this record year. What are the assumptions underlying in this outlook. So all in all, we assume a gradual decrease in volatility on the sales raw material and energy markets. We believe that there is a strong and positive demand for ethanol to be continued in Europe. So we make this clear to the introduction of E10 in other European countries. As I stated, this is, for example, Ireland, Austria and Norway, which started with E10 in April, Poland to come at the beginning of 2024, and this will be met also by continued high import volumes.
Last but not least, before Heike and myself will go over to the Q&A section, I would like to give you an update on our strategy, which you can find on Page 16, so the strategy is unchanged. The positive to note that all our CropEnergies teams are fully dedicated to the strategy and all the project teams work with very high commitment and successfully on the different projects. I will guide you through the 5 bullet points, which is our strategy, and will give you updates where significant progress has been made on some of the projects. I will start because our claim is, as you know, we deliver green carbons. I can also only reiterate that a lot of people talk about the carbonization, but this is not the -- for me, that's not the right idea.
We have to talk about defossilization because we need carbons for every energy carrier is a component of carbons and carbon hydrates as the base chemicals. And if we do not wish them to be fossil one, there is no [ 1225 ] solutions. So biomass is a very interesting technology pathway to fulfill a climate changes and to provide green carbon for energy and chemistry and other industries.
So the first bullet point is for sure, we will continue to strengthen our core business of mobility with sustainable and climate-friendly fuels. What is new here, so one is we continuously look into also second-generation ethanol and have interesting projects here. When we were discussing or when I was discussing the 25 market share of E10 in Germany, I said that there is a strategic window of opportunity in Germany to increase the market share, and this is linked to the fact that [indiscernible], that means the tenth for [ Adobe Safend ] heightened the quality of [indiscernible], that means that somehow a fuel quality directive in Germany this is under review. And here is the situation that Germany is the last country in Europe who still offers or obliges petrol stations to often an E5 protection grade, 95 octane. And the SPD working group mobility has already claimed this year to that this should be abolished. And also the idea thesis is, it's better to go for E10 to save money and so do something for the economy. So there's a strong political support also for E10.
And we work together with associations to bring into this load into the [indiscernible] that the E5 protection grade is abolished because this is no longer needed. This was obliged to be in place on a European legislation level by until 2013. So we have 10 years since it has been abolished on the European level, and it's now really time in Germany to abolish this E5 protection grade.
Also new in this field is that we have informed you that together with Stuttgart Airport, we have an E20 test for their fleet. And the results of this test will be published in October. Also interesting to note we plan to have in Mannheim, Germany, the first petrol station offering E20 that means an ethanol plant for with 20% ethanol. So we hope to close this project and to launch this in -- also in October. And so this is what is new on the first point when it comes to our core business of mobility with E5, E10, E20 and second generation fuels.
The second bullet point is do we want to build up? We are already in the process of building up a new business area based on ethanol derivatives alternative to fossil raw material. This is the field of bio-based chemicals. And here, we have already announced 2 projects. One is a [ cilastatin ]. So this is very successfully ongoing. We have informed you that the investment value is approximately EUR 120 million to EUR 130 million for this project to produce 50,000 tonnes of [indiscernible]. So it's -- the project is ongoing very well. So we have signed all significant contracts, we are now in the process of handing in the permits and to order the first long lead items and groundbreaking is to be expected by at the beginning of '24 and then starting production in '25.
The second project is also progressing very well. This is our 50% stake that we have in cycles. This team plans to have an ethanol agilent plant and we have just launched this Monday press release that they have chosen Axens as a technology provider. So the idea here is here to have a plant in the Netherlands chemical park on producing 100,000 tonnes of ethylene. Investment value can be up to EUR 130 million. And now with the technology of accidents being chosen, we can start with the basic engineering this year and then have the final business model and the final calculations for this project and assuming a positive investment decision of CropEnergies production could start in 2026.
Biogenic CO2, that's the third strategic X, which is very interesting in the field of, be it both for direct consumption, for example, in drinks CO2 is a very interesting product. So this is ongoing. There's no significant news. The fourth bullet point is on protein. So we believe that plant-based proteins is a very interesting market in Europe, be it because we -- in Europe as a whole has a protein deficit. So we are here very intensive in working on a project, and I'm confident that in due course, we can communicate on that. So there's good progress in the proteins field.
And the fifth pillar of our strategy is somehow more to the future. It's a new business area that we are planning for green electricity and green hydrogen. This is also ongoing, but there's also no significant news. This having said, CropEnergies is well positioned for the future, and we are very much looking to putting all those projects to life.
So I close the presentation at this point of time. And now Heike and myself are happy to take your questions.
[Operator Instructions] We have our first question today from Hartmut Moers from MATELAN.
Yes. Well, I would start with your production, if I may. I mean, this obviously has been lower compared to the previous periods due to the maintenance that you already announced. Given that you don't have a maintenance in each quarter, can we now expect production levels to come back to more normalized levels, say, 280,000 or above? Or was part of that low volume also driven by the current market situation?
Yes, let's go one by one, and I had some follow-up questions later.
Yes. As I said, we had maintenance in the first quarter. And one of the maintenance is still lagging into June, yes. So also in Q2, we will see the effect of this scheduled maintenance. That means for the full year, then in the course of the year, production will ramp up. But for the total year, we also assume that there will be a decline in production.
Okay. Yes. Coming back to the last part of the question. It's still related to maintenance. So -- but the market environment has no impact on this and apart from the maintenance, you would do a full production on all sites, particular -- referring a bit -- I know you're not giving specific information on your sites. But as you know, Wilton, for example, has a special relevance for us. So you might give as much information as you can regarding the situation in Wilton.
There's no particular point to one or the other plant. It is just 2 our regular maintenance. So they -- typically, we have maintenance schedules of, say, it's 30 months or plus. And now 2 of them are in maintenance at the beginning of this year, so Q1 and somehow Q2 above. Besides this, we see really a very good demand for ethanol. So there is no point in limiting production or whatsoever. So we fulfill our contracts and the only issue is scheduled marketing -- marketing maintenance in the first month of this financial year.
Great. That's reassuring. And I also know that this is a call on Q1, and you usually do not talk too much about the coming quarter, still, I mean, it has been clear that Q1 compared to last year's Q1 came in lower. But given that you have repeated your guidance, it should be fair for us to assume that Q2 results should increase compared to the Q1 results. Otherwise, I would guess it would be hard to reach your guidance just from the second half of the year. Is that a fair assumption? Or do you see it that way that you're planning? Or do you think differently?
You're right, not typically, we don't give quarterly forecast, yes. And given the volatility and also the overall uncertainty with the Ukraine war, a lot can happen, yes. So -- but as a trend, if you compare our Q1 results and our full year guidance, it's clear during the course of the year, and in particular, in the second half, we assume an improvement of our financial figures, but we do not give quarterly outlook.
Okay. And one point should be the improved reduction, though, as you just said, not coming back to the usual level. But still production should increase from the level in Q1, as I understood. And are we also seeing some improvement with regard to your hedging situation Q2 compared to Q1. As I understand it, I mean, you should have made a positive result on your ethanol hedges and a negative effect on your you wheat hedges. Is that situation changing to the better or the worst in the coming quarter?
No, you're fully right. So we have -- also given the uncertainty and the high grain prices we have seen after the Russian aggression against Ukraine, we also have -- that's what I said, what you have seen in the working capital section that we have negative market values for the wheat futures. And they are consumed within the first 6 months.
So gradually, the hedging situation will improve because now have come down and we -- the future that we now take into our books, they are far below the prices which we have seen last year. But we first have to consume, let's say, also the expensive hedges of last year which is in the course of the first months of this year.
[Operator Instructions] Our next question is from Thomas Schießle.
This is to Thomas Schießle from Frankfurt. Question on big figure. So revenue had been down 19%, production at being down 21% for the first quarter and prices had been down for ethanol minus 20% -- more than 20%. How did you manage to make such a big amount of revenues? So question especially on the product mix you generated in the first quarter. And what are your expectations concerning the product mix in the coming quarters, please?
There are not too many changes. If not that the corporate very successfully. So especially our gluten sales have benefited from high prices. So typically, the product mix or the revenue mix between ethanol and co-product is 80-20. And in the first quarter, it was 70-30. So we benefited from a good situation on the core product side.
Will this mix relation hold on for the coming quarters, so 30% to 70%?
Difficult to say. I would say the long-term trend is 80-20. This is when prices is normalized, typically, we have this -- because we have seen this 80-20 on average over the last years. So I would assume this will also go back to 80-20, but it's difficult to say what will be the time frame because there's also somehow pressure on the coproduct pricing linked to the decrease in the grain prices. I think we will -- so far in Q1, we benefited -- it will hold on for some time. But in a longer-term perspective, I think we will see again 80-20 ratio.
Sticking to a gluten perspective, is there a change -- structural change of demand coming from deriving from the change in pork production in the EU, especially in Germany. So decrease for production is expected.
Yes. Gluten particularly goes to Aqua feed, it's a very good product for Aqua feed, and -- but you are right, we see an overall -- there are 2 trends that we see on the nutrition side. One is a lot of what is called bio was when people are under -- due to inflation and decreased purchasing power. So gluten -- sorry, not gluten, so bio products have been decreased. And we also -- they are fully right, we see a decrease in meat consumption. It's a global trend, yes. And given a decrease in meat consumption, also the coal products can get under price pressure, but this can also then -- can easily change.
So but for the time being, you are right, there's pressure on the meat consumption and linked to that also to the pricing, but It's -- never again, it's very volatile and the situation is not fully clear how to continue.
Okay. Other question from my side would be on financial results. You improved your financial results quite dramatically. This is fine. So shall we take the Q1 financial results as a proxy for the coming quarters or shall we take higher numbers because you will increase the financial assets space.
I mean, given the positive analysis for the full year financial guidance. So the net cash position is positively supported, yes. And it will depend on the interest situation, but there's also the interests are high. And if I look into the banking forecast, so interest will continue to rise. So this will continue positively.
The second point, which is more difficult to predict, that's the ALGO British Pound ratio because given that our daughter company, [ Enzos ] is financed in euro, the euro GBP exchange rate also has an impact on unrealized interest expense or income, and this is difficult to fluctuate. But for the financial asset side, this is to be continued.
You don't disclose the net financial obligations for Wilton, don't you?
No. This is intercompany financing. What we disclosed is the net financial acquisition of the group, and you find also the -- in the balance sheet, the financial receivables. But we do not disclose it group by group or group company by company.
Yes. Third question is on your strategy concerning the fossilization Generation 2 projects. Could you please be more specific on your projects, give some more light on that, please?
Which one? Which one, sorry?
The Generation 2.
The second generation.
Yes. Advanced biofuels, so to speak.
I cannot disclose more for the moment because we are still -- it's still ongoing. But as a trend you can see -- I've seen in the political section, I've touched the point that the crop cap is unchanged in Europe. That means on a European level, the first-generation biofuels can contribute up to 7% energetic value to meeting their climate goals. So this is a freeze. And that means this is positive because it secures the existing business market, not only of CropEnergies, but of the entire European biofuels industry, but this is positive, but it also shows that the growth fields for biofuels is in the second generation. You've seen in the market section that the ethanol demand is still increasing.
And this increase in demand, it can be met by imports but I'm not such a friend of import because I like -- because I'm fully feel European. And I think we should strengthen our European industry and having European solutions for European demand and not leaving to new dependencies to, let's say, China or other countries. So it is good if we have a thorough European thinking. So I'm fully, fully in favor of that. And if we then wish to have more biofuels in Europe, this is then in the field of second generation.
Second generation means that there's all kind of waste and residues. So it could be strong, but it also could be industrial waste, which still contain carbon hydrates and those carbon hydrates for out of residue or waste streams, they can be fermented into ethanol. And I believe this is a very strategic wise and also political wise, a very interesting field. And as I said, there's -- we have a project in that, and we are close to finalization. And as soon as we have more details to publish, we will do so.
What is your feeling concerning increase of capacities for Advanced Biofuels? What is your feeling? Does the industry increase its capacities on behalf of meeting the expected demand or are they still reluctant?
I can only speak for CropEnergies and not for competitors. We will increase our capacity, yes. And for 2G, we look into projects, and we are very positive that we can -- that we will find the sound projects. We have seen projects in Europe on [indiscernible]. There are some projects ongoing on this Clariant technology, you can find on the Clariant homepage. And -- but there are different -- technical pathways for second generation. And yes, I do believe for CropEnergies that we will have projects and I assume also for others because it's an interesting field, but I don't have information of competitors' view on that.
And all in all, I believe this -- we will see this trend. There will be capacity additions in the field of second generation because this -- it's also the clear political vision they are up like blending mandates in -- under RED-III. So this will come, little bit take time, but it will come.
Okay. Coming to the next new business area, bio-based chemicals, your project in sites is the total investment of maximum of EUR 130 million, really, yes, fixed. So is there a cap on the investment amount? Or is there still some surprises to foresee if it comes to the volume.
In life, you can never exclude surprises, I know, but we have a very to budgeting process and negotiation process and the contracts are signed. And so far, there is no indication of an increase. But for sure, for the -- you can never exclude everything, but as of today and given the very strict budgeting process that we have, I'm confident that we will stick to the EUR 130 million.
Okay, still on sites. The energy is produced today at coal-fired powerhouse, will this be changed within the new investment? Or will you change it even quicker and get your energy from other sources than coal-fired?
Yes. I mean we have a channel. We have a clear path and we call it, say, [indiscernible], where we want to come to climate neutrality production, we have started in our BioWanze plant, yes. And there we have -- we are in the process of realizing the second biomass boiler. So BioWanze will be the first plant to be climate neutral production and the others will follow, but do not yet have a fully dedicated year-by-year planning when this will come, but we will go into all of our plans and to change to climate-neutral production over time.
But the other plants are in their planning are not so advanced like BioWanze. We started with BioWanze, but the others will come.
Our next question is from Axel Herlinghaus from DZ Bank.
I have just one on the export price pressure. So could you give us an indication how you perceive the current export pressure, especially from Brazil right now? And what do you expect how the Brazilian arbitrage window for exports to EU will develop in the forthcoming months?
Yes. Thank you for that question. It's a very good question. If I look into the global ethanol prices. There have been in the past situations where the European prices have been clearly above the Houston price U.S. or Santos price Brazil or Philippines price. And typically, if the European prices is far above the other international prices, then we get import pressure because then it gets interesting for the exporters to import into Europe.
When I look into current prices, they are pretty close, yes. And at each time where the prices were pretty close, the arbitrage for imports or exports into Europe is closed, then typically, the European prices went up again. So this is -- if history would duplicate this could be seen as a positive indicator to rising European prices, what we believe in, but it's very difficult because in this -- the volatile markets, everything can happen also ethanol prices can show other reactions.
But if I just take the comparison of European prices and international prices, one, yes, the arbitrage is closed. And second, this could be a starting point for higher European prices.
There are no further questions at this time, and I hand back to Dr. Stephan Meeder for closing comments.
Okay. Thank you to all and for your interest in joining our conference call and your questions. On the last page of the presentation, you can find our financial calendar. So next possibility to meet is our general assembly and looking very much forward to being in contact with you. Thank you very much, and I wish you a nice day. Thank you very much. Goodbye.