Jindal Stainless Limited (NSE: JSL) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 07, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Shreya Sharma — Head Investor Relations
Abhuday Jindal — Managing Director
Tarun Kumar Khulbe — Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Alok Deora — Analyst
Amit Dixit — Analyst
Ritesh Shah — Analyst
Vikas Singh — Analyst
Parthiv Jhonsa — Analyst
Sagar Sahu — Analyst
Pathanjali Srinivasan — Analyst
Pallav Agarwal — Analyst
Ashish Kejriwal — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to The Jindal Stainless Q1 FY26 earnings conference call hosted by Motilal Oswal. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone port. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Alok Dewra from Motilal Oswal. Thank you and over to you sir.
Alok Deora — Analyst
Thank you and welcome everyone to the morning’s conference call for Jindal Stainless. I would first like to thank the management for giving us the opportunity to host the call. So from the management team we have with us today, Mr. Abhija Jindal, Managing Director, Mr. Tarun Kulbe, CEO, CFO and Whole Time Director and Ms. Shreya Sharma, Head of Investor Relations. To start with I will hand over the call to Shreya and post the introduction by Mr. Jindal. We can take up the Q and A. Over to you Shreya.
Shreya Sharma — Head Investor Relations
Thank you Anuk. Good evening everyone and a Warm welcome on Q1FY26 earnings call. We have shared our Q1FY26 earnings presentation with the topic stages which is also available on the company’s website and today’s call discussion will be on the same line. Please note some of the information on this call may be forward looking in nature and is covered by the disclaimer on Slide 2 of the Earnings presentation. Now I would like to hand it over to our Managing Director Mr. Abede Jinder. Over to you sir.
Abhuday Jindal — Managing Director
Thank you Shreya and a very good evening to everyone and welcome to our earnings call. I will first take. I will first discuss the key business highlights for the quarter ending June 2025 following which Mr. Kulbe will take you through our operational and financial performance. Building on the positive momentum from last quarter, our sales volume in Q1 FY26 grew by 8% year on year and remained steady quarter on quarter mainly supported by sustained domestic demand focusing on specific segments. Auto sector deliveries increase on account of special grade materials with segments such as lift, elevators, railways, white goods also delivering a healthy performance in the quarter.
Our special product division continued to support this momentum contributing across key applications. Overall, domestically we are witnessing increased adoption of chainder steel in large scale infrastructure projects such as Metrorail, airports, railways among others signaling a growing shift towards long term sustainable material used in public infrastructure. The global trade environment as we All Know is extremely dynamic driven by tariff disruptions and ongoing realignment of global trade flows. Amid challenging global trade conditions, we are strategically prioritizing the domestic market which offers compelling opportunities to maintain our growth momentum. Our flexible market strategy supports our commitment towards volume growth.
I am happy to share that owing to the success of our co branding initiative in the pipe and tube sector which supported our growth in this segment, the Jindal Saathi campaign is now extended to kitchenware and sink categories. This initiative reinforces our commitment to quality and will lead to enhanced business opportunities. In the context of trade measures, the Indian Stainless Steel Development association has submitted an application to DGTR on behalf of the stainless steel industry seeking action on certain cold rolled stainless steel flat products from China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Considering the increasing adoption of trade protection measures worldwide, we trust appropriate measures will be adopted to curb the injury to domestic industry.
On the sustainability front, we continue to make strong progress towards decarbonization. In FY25 we achieved a 14% reduction in scope 1 and 2 of GHG emissions through our ongoing initiatives reaffirming our commitment to sustainability and safety. We received the LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of certification under the globally recognized LEED Green Building Rating System. In addition, we are fully compliant with CBAM’s quarterly reporting requirements and remain strongly committed to reducing our CO2 emissions as the framework evolves. We remain agile and dedicated to staying ahead of compliance obligations, ensuring we continue to serve the European market with confidence, transparency and a strong focus on sustainability.
With this I would like to hand over to Mr. Kulbe to discuss our operational and financial performance.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe — Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director
Thank you Abhijar. Good day everyone. Welcome to the call. I would like to begin by providing a detailed overview of our operational and financial performance. Our delivery stood at 6.26,252 metrics metric ton in Q1 an increase of 8% year on year basis but remained flat Q1Q. Our Q1 EBITDA increase 8% YoY and 23% QoQ to rupees 1,300 310 crore while our card stood at 715 crore an increase of 11% YoY and 21% on QoQ basis. During the quarter we benefited from an enhanced product mix with increased volumes of value added products and special grades. Our digitization initiatives including Stainless Smart and QR Code Loyalty program for Pipe and Tube leading to seamless customer experience is driving deeper customer engagement.
Other initiatives such as Seamless Academy and Fabricator Training program is building robust ecosystem to support its industry usage across industries on the balance sheet side, there is an improvement in our net debt position with a reduction in net debt to rupees 3869 crore as on June 30, 2025. Underscoring our ongoing emphasis on maintaining a healthy balance sheet, this prudent approach positions us well to navigate the prevailing global macroeconomic headwinds. This is also being reflected in our leverage ratio. We remain comfortably placed with a net to debt ebitda ratio of 0.81 well below 1 and net debt to liquidity of 0.22.
On the subsidiary front, Romani continues to ramp up in line with our expectations with capacity utilization reaching approximately 60 65% for Q1 FY26. Our other subsidiaries have also delivered a successful have also delivered a satisfactory performance in terms of EBITDA contribution at group level. Meanwhile, our SMS project in Indonesia is producing well and remain on track within the defined timeline. Looking ahead, we remain confident in the continued growth of domestic installed demand driven by strong economic activity and infrastructure led consumption reflecting a broader shift toward long term sustainable material use in public infrastructure. This brings my remarks to a close.
I would now like to hand it over to the moderator to begin the question and answer session.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the Touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Amit Dixit from Goldman Sach. Please go ahead.
Amit Dixit
Good evening everyone and thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations for good performance in the retrieving quarter. A couple of questions from my side sir. The first one is essentially on if you could highlight the performance particularly of Rakhi and the on progress of ongoing CAPEX at Jajpur plant with respect to downstream capacities and the logistics infrastructure that we mentioned earlier that would be very helpful.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So Rathi, now we are almost running at 80 85% of capacity utilization. While definitely our original plan was to produce more of rebar from there and sell it but so far we have not been able to do so. Majority of our production, almost 70% of the production is the wire rod so. But our endeavor is to get more. And more into rebar and that is. What as a company we are continuously. Making efforts
Abhuday Jindal
and generally during the monsoon period. Anyway, as we all know construction infrastructure projects do take a slowdown so same way Rati for rebar side we saw the slowdown which we expect next coming quarters to pick up now
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
and also. In some private places we can see that some people showing interest even in the stainless reentry bar for the building purpose as well and on Capex front like so far as the spending is concerned we had given a guidance of around 2,700 crores capex for this 526 so out of which in Q1 we have already done 665 broadly all the capex are in line with the timeline what has been given earlier. So basically our downstream as you were asking in FY27 is what we had given the numbers so broadly they are so far they are, they’re on track.
Abhuday Jindal
As of now they’re all on track.
Amit Dixit
Wonderful. I mean Matt brought that. The second one is very interesting point you have made in press release that you are supplying difference particularly the stainless steel required for NTGM’s now considering that in India difference is catching a lot more traction particularly with respect to marine platforms or even aerospace or missiles. So do you see this particular segment as something very promising for us? If you could just.
Abhuday Jindal
It is still in terms of low in volume if I can say but very high in value and extremely prestigious also and always we have been a company to support our country we have to be atmanirbad we should not be depending on special grades from outside India so we do see it as becoming an important division of ours
Amit Dixit
I know. You can’t dive into a lot of details with respect to the film but if you could Are we carrying some R D here? Are we developing some new grades? And broadly what all platforms we are looking to take into in the future.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So it’s a mix of all Amit it’s also currently substituting certain grades that are being imported and as always our R and D team is working on new variants better performance grades in lot of applications. I mean we are catering to all three army also aviation also Navy as well and even aerospace ISRO and VSSC and hal. So now we are present but again like I’m saying the volume is still relatively small.
Amit Dixit
Okay, great, thanks and all the best.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ritesha from Investep. Please go ahead.
Ritesh Shah
Hi sir, thanks for the opportunity. First congratulations for good set of numbers. So just trying to appreciate quarterly improvement in EBITDA per ton. Like one can think of few variables one is chromini, second is probably product mix which could probably also include CR to HR Ratio which might have included because of chromani. Third could be potentially inventory gains or probably we didn’t have losses. Probably what we had in Q4 into Q1 that could have reversed. Fourth could be 200, 300, 400 change in mix. So can you help us understand basically broadly these four variables and any other variables which would have contributed to improvement and spreads on a sequential basis who.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Have answered the question extremely well? Ritesh and these are the main factors. So Q4 was abnormally low. Q4 of last year was abnormally low because of these factors, you know, like you have mentioned. And in Q1 there has been a healthy increase of our CR capacity due to Komini which definitely impacts there’s been increase in special grade sales into auto lift elevator white good sector. So that is why we are seeing improvement. And then for that reason only our. Guidance, even after Q4 we maintained 19 to 21.
Abhuday Jindal
Yes, after Q4 of last year we did not give our guidance and we maintained it because Q4 was an aberration quarter totally. So now we’re quite confident of delivering these numbers.
Ritesh Shah
Sir, would it be possible for you to indicate some numbers on CR to HR volumetric mix chromini contribution at the EBITDA level. And third is basically probably what was inventory loss if there was any inventory gain in this particular quarter.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So in terms of chromini, definitely. I think now we are at 65% capacity utilization and every month we should see that increase in H2. We intend to take it to around 80, 85% 80, 85 by H2 of this year. And like from EBITDA perspective, you know, we give always a blended. Number. So we’re sticking to that between 19 to 21,000 we still like to stick to that.
Ritesh Shah
So CR2HR where we are where the aspiration is to be.
Abhuday Jindal
So like if we compare from Q4 to Q1 in CR almost 12% increase we have already done and as we said that Once this in ash 2, once the chromini further ramps up, this number should go to 15 to 20% over Q4. I’m talking CR to CR increase.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
And if you ask aspirationally our target is to take our total CR capacity to at least 75% of our melting capacity. That is an aspiration, but that will take few years. And what capex we’re doing is in tune or in line with that.
Ritesh Shah
Sure sir, my second question was wanted an update on the blast furnace 2,000,010 which is under the promoter entity. Any any update over here. And it just wanted to tie this thing up because once this furnace comes we had the optionality to use more npi. So I don’t know the timelines. To my knowledge it was August 25th. So are we on schedule and how it will impact the cost curve for Jindal changes going forward.
Abhuday Jindal
So Ritesh, you know they’re still very early to answer these questions. There has been a certain little bit of a delay in our last one is operation. But being a private entity I would like to take this maybe offline with you.
Ritesh Shah
Sure. And if just one question, last question. On CAPEX priorities we had deferred RUVL and hrap. So what is the status over there and anything incremental on Maharashtra expansion. What we had spoken about in the last call.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So HRAP is on track like we said by FY27. Maybe H2 of FY27 or HRAT line should be commissioning and Maharashtra project like we said, you know, land acquisition is on track and things are progressing smoothly there as well.
Ritesh Shah
Thank you. I’ll join back the queue for more questions. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vikas Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Vikas Singh
Good afternoon sir. And thank you for the opportunity. Sir, coming back to the Maharashtra project since you are already acquiring them. So have you something in mind that in first is what kind of capacity which you are going to put up and what could be the potential CAPEX for that.
Abhuday Jindal
In Maharashtra? Whatever. We have announced that the capacity will. Come in phases in the module of 1 million, 1 million tonnes. This is what we have already stated and this information is There up to. 4 million tonnes is what we have announced. And yeah, we still intend to build it that way. But of course five years is also a long time. If we see demand supply situation changing maybe that we can accordingly amend our plans and handle the things accordingly. So because right now all these things are open yet to be, you know, tied up.
Vikas Singh
So basically like Mr. Kulve is saying, our Maharashtra plan that we’ve announced are still remaining intact. And
Abhuday Jindal
at a large level it’s going to be a 4 million ton project that we’re envisaging. But again depending on market conditions, depending on global, let’s say uncertainty or opportunities, we can either expedite it also or if required delay it also. But looking at all things positive, we would like to stick to our timelines.
Vikas Singh
So that’s what I understand. Just wanted to know the phase one. Of 1 million tons, have we finalized any initial CAPEX for the phase one?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
No, no. CAPEX has Been finalized but we are targeting FY 2930 as soon as our plans are ready because we would like to take all our shareholders through it. So we will come with a proper announcement and interaction.
Vikas Singh
Notice it this quarter J USL numbers EBITDA suddenly jumped sharply which also was one of the reason for the good performance. So anything what has happened actually because volumes didn’t seem to be growing at the same pace.
Abhuday Jindal
So gusl I mean I believe all of us know that it is first of all it is 100% subsidiary to GSL. GSL works on job work model and because we have already announced our volume growth of 9 to 10% which is the guidance what we have given and because company is performing then in line with that the USL performance is also reflecting the similar.
Vikas Singh
So I was comparing on the sequential basis it went from 172 to 192 crore but the volumes on sequential basis is actually slightly down. So if you could just elaborate what has actually contributed to that jump.
Abhuday Jindal
Yeah. So actually in that also through J USL some materials we also sell beyond tolling. So some changes in that impact. But broadly whatever the numbers you are. Seeing, we believe that the similar kind of performance can be maintained.
Vikas Singh
Understood, sir. Lastly, on our Indonesian venture, if you could give us update on the NIP as well as the other 1 million ton facility which was putting up. So some update on those.
Abhuday Jindal
So on my shop I will say that it is in line to whatever we have announced. We had given that in FY26. So we believe this is progressing well. So far as NPI is concerned there we are producing, we are ramping up and ramped up to a certain state. But yes, nickel fluctuations are there and because of that so far as EBITDA is concerned we see it in the range of 500 to but fluctuating because things are a bit fluidic on that side of the market. Whether it is nickel ore, whether it is. I mean so many things are happening on that front.
But again I will repeat that that business for us is also raw material security and we see it that way also to that business.
Vikas Singh
That’s all for myself and thank you.
operator
Thank you, thank you. A reminder to the participants, please press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Parthiv Johnsla from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity sir. So before we dive into the question, just wanted to get a quick breakup on the 200, 300 and 400 series if you. For the Q1.
Shreya Sharma
Yeah, sure. So for this Quarter I did it out in the sequence of 200, 300 and 400. It was 36%, 46% and 18%.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Okay, thank you. Thanks Shia. So my first question is pertaining to the potential so called anti dumping duty. Any timeline what you can give us pertaining to the anti dumping duty. What can we expect what not to expect on this particular topic.
Abhuday Jindal
So I can give you the latest update. DGTR has allocated the official two officials to the case who are evaluating and have raised certain clarification from the industry. And the industry is collating all the responses and clarifying them and generally the standard duration for completion is approximately one year. But considering the increase in adoption of trade protection measures worldwide, industry is hopeful of the earliest initiation followed by recommendation. So just to summarize, they have started, they have allocated officials to start the process. The question answer kind of classifications are on and we’re quite hopeful within next couple of months investigation should start.
Parthiv Jhonsa
All right, so the next question pertains to, you know, the current tariff scenario, you know, especially from the U.S. you know, considering multiple global headwinds, especially from U.S. and EU side of geographies though you have kept, we really appreciate that you have kept your guidance unchanged. But I believe the change in export definitely has come back on the realization, the understanding and if so what can we expect from this that what can be the differential in export and domestic and what kind of impact it can have.
Abhuday Jindal
So like we’ve been saying for last couple of years, actually our focus is primarily domestic and EBITDA maximization. So export has never been a compulsion of ours. Export we are continuing to supply our long term customers that we have built over many decades. Those are the only ones that we would like to continue to support. Our focus is EBITDA maximization. Currently domestic market is where we are seeing maximum opportunity, maximum demand also coming in and that is going to be our primary focus. And like I said, export is not a compulsion. So if we see some good opportunity then only we would like to export.
Otherwise we will continue to service our domestic market.
Parthiv Jhonsa
And so if I may just squeeze in one more, just wanted to get your guidance on the nickel and for the coming quarters and also EBITDA pattern considering you have said really well in Q1 and also your gate is expected to remain around the same level going forward. You can just give some guidance. Would you tend to change the EBITDA per ton guidance slightly higher going forward or you still keep it intact about 19,000 to 21,000 level at this moment.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
We will stick to 19 to 21,000. And definitely if we see certain things changing and we’ll come with a revised guidance as we always do. So we would like to stick to that. What was your first part of the. Question
Parthiv Jhonsa
Your outlook on nickel, sir, how do you foresee the prices going forward?
Abhuday Jindal
It’s very difficult to really predict nickel, but we expect it to remain at the current level. It’s been hovering between let’s say 14,000 to 16,000. And our expectation is that it should remain at this level.
Parthiv Jhonsa
All right, thank you so much. Thank you for the opportunity.
Abhuday Jindal
Like I would also mention, we never take a position on nickel. We always work on natural hedging and that is how we will continue.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Sure. Thank you so much.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sagar Sahu from Jeffries. Please go ahead.
Sagar Sahu
Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to get your sense on what has been happening with imports. From China in the last few months. And if implementation of BIS norms has had any impact. Thank you.
Abhuday Jindal
So this is a, this is true that government, the BIS and also the, the Ministry of Speed, they have come out with the, some clarifications on the, on the QCU requirements where the ingredient product also should be BIS compliant. And also the BIS has been made mandatory on certain downstream products as well. So all this definitely has put some restriction on the interior quality products getting into the country. And with that some amount of reduction in the imports we can see and we believe that this also means that the quality product requirement within the country should go up and that should help industry as well.
But at the same time we would like to watch it for some time because in the past we have seen sometimes government also, you know, sometimes changing their position. But we are hopeful that this time they should not be because already we have seen the kind of discussion representation made to the government. But they are not budging because this is something linked to the quality and that is why they are keeping to the ground.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
It’s a very welcome move and I think it will support the entire country for long term to come. You know, there have been so many examples in the recent past where people have used substandard Chinese materials and infrastructure projects are failing. Other things are getting, you know, so this is a very welcome move to only allow quality products in India and it’s a very good opportunity for everyone to take benefit of this.
Sagar Sahu
Thank you so much for that. My second question is around domestic demand and your strategy around co branding etc. So you mentioned that the strategy in pipes and tubes has been successful and has been extended. Is there any plan to do something similar in any of the other segments as well?
Abhuday Jindal
Like I mentioned we just started for kitchen, kitchenware and for sinks and every time actually you will see more and more addition also because again we would like to support our msmes we would like to support our domestic players in this regard so we are definitely taking this forward.
Sagar Sahu
Thank you so much. That’s all from me.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to the participants please press star N1 to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investech. Please go ahead.
Ritesh Shah
Hi sir, thanks for the opportunity again sir, I think you indicated capex of 2800crores, is that correct? 2700 and how should we split for 26 and 27? I presume it’s for two years together.
Shreya Sharma
So Ritesh for 26 FY26 it’s 2700 and whatever is the spillover capex in case it is going to be there in 2627 sorry otherwise for 27 the capex amount is roughly around to the 2 not thousand thousand to 1200 cr.
Ritesh Shah
Okay, I think in the last call we had indicated a number of 1800 crores plus maintenance capex so how should one understand this bump from 1800 to 2700 crores?
Shreya Sharma
No, it was always even in the last call if you go by the transcript event it was always 2700 crores for. Yeah, which includes the last year’s spillover as well.
Ritesh Shah
So that’s helpful.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
1700 plus 500 of maintenance plus 500 of spillover which is total 2700.
Ritesh Shah
Sure, that’s that’s helpful. Second is Indonesia. We were looking to dispose assets. I think we had got something around $20 million and there was balance also which was pending and we were awaiting the proceeds. Any indication over here on how much of money has already come in, how much incrementally can come in and timelines?
Abhuday Jindal
No. So equipment you have already stated that is what the number is 20 million. After that what remains is the land. Not yet any deal made but we are confident looking at the. Looking at the market prices over there that no such. Finally we sell the land. No hit comes to the books of.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
The company and we are not in any desperation, you know so when we get a good value then only we will sell the land.
Ritesh Shah
Sure. And do we have any plans to merge the acquired downstream assets? Because I presume there were accumulated losses over here. Any. Any plans on this front for tax efficiencies?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
That is something I mean it is in the process of evaluation and once you make any decision, we will let you know.
Abhuday Jindal
But you’re right, we are looking at it very closely and we would like to take this forward.
Ritesh Shah
Sure, this is helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Patanjali Srinivasan from Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Pathanjali Srinivasan
Thank you for the opportunity. Very good set of numbers. I have few doubts. So our mix has actually broadly remained the same over the last couple of quarters. But current quarter realization was much better and profitability also in terms of cost reduction is visible. Can you give me a bridge of where this improvement is coming from? Hello.
Abhuday Jindal
Please repeat the question.
Pathanjali Srinivasan
Okay. No. So the current quarter realization has improved. Our mix is broadly same compared to the previous quarter. I don’t know how this increase of around 4,5000 rupees has happened. Like that is one thing. And secondly on our cost front there’s been like a decent decrease in cost also like from the previous 2, 3/4. So is there anything that’s contributing to this? Can you like give me a bridge of where this cost benefits are coming from?
Unidentified Speaker
So more than that, I think Mr. Jindal and in one of the reply to one of the questions he mentioned it that we have been, we are able to enrich our product mix. We are focusing or not focusing. We are able to get more into cold road and more value added like polishing polished products as well. So and then our special product. So all this is helping, you know, to increase this realization.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
And we mentioned Q4 of last year was a total aberration. So that’s why now Q1 is back to our normal course of business.
Pathanjali Srinivasan
Sure, sir, understood. What would be our volume guidance for this year? Because I think last year was a relatively weaker year for the investment.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Like we mentioned 9 to 10% volume growth this year and we are quite confident of delivering that.
Pathanjali Srinivasan
Okay. Okay, thank you.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Palav Agarwal from Antech Stockbroking. Please go ahead.
Pallav Agarwal
Yeah, good evening sir. This is the first question is on, you know, whether are we seeing how we see the trends of nickel scrap prices? Is there some softening over there or the broadly stable.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
It is very difficult to take a call on nickel and what the nickel prices are going to remain or not. So like I said, we don’t really take a position on it. We do natural hedging and that is the way we’re going to go forward.
Pallav Agarwal
Sure, sir, but what in the case of aluminum, in a couple of quarters back we did see an increase in scrap prices because probably China was importing more scrap. So is there something similar happening in nickel or. It’s totally different.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
No, Aluminum and nickel do not go hand in hand. You cannot relate them totally. Nickel is a different kind of ball game compared to other raw material in the market.
Pallav Agarwal
Sure, sir. The other thing I think the purchase of stock in trade, I think is probably low compared to the last year. So is this trend expected to continue.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Of purchase of identity? I missed that. Purchase of what?
Pallav Agarwal
The purchase of stock in trade.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Of stock in trade. Okay.
Pallav Agarwal
So that seems to be. Yes, I’m asking this trend expected to continue, you know, for lower external purchases.
Shreya Sharma
Yeah, broadly it will be in this range what it is in this quarter. Yeah.
Pallav Agarwal
Sure. Okay. And lastly, so you know, so we’ve guided for a 9, 10% volume growth. So what sort of utilization level would be at the end of FY26?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Around 80, 85% capacity utilization.
Pallav Agarwal
And then going at the nickel, the Indonesian unit should come out. So that would add to the capacity. Is that understanding correct?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Yes, but that will happen next year.
Pallav Agarwal
Okay, so maybe then FY27 also volume growth could be constrained by capacity or we can probably move operated more than 100%.
Abhuday Jindal
We come, we’ll come when we are closer to the time period, but we expect 9 to 10% growth should happen also.
Pallav Agarwal
Sure, sir. Thank you.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashish Kjriwal from Nuama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Ashish Kejriwal
Yeah, hi, thanks. Good evening everyone. So quickly you have mentioned few points which can bridge the EBITDA from fourth quarter to first quarter, which could be your uses of low cost inventory or some change in inventory, product mix improvement, relation improvement and cost decline. So is it possible to even know, not pinpoint, but at least you know broadly how much I’m trying to quantify. Because when we are getting a EBITDA bridge, how much is contributing what? Because when we are seeing product mix improvement, can it be, you know, 30, 40% of the change in EBITDA which we have seen or is it only 10% of that? So you know, when we are giving these statements of product mix improvement or this, if we can quantify a bit, even in a percentage terms or anything which is feasible for the company, I think that will help us to get a good sense of the numbers.
So is it possible to quantify now.
Abhuday Jindal
Or difficult to quantify? What we can try to do is maybe calculate this for you and share it offline. But it’s I think a factor of all these things that you mentioned. Yes, I believe that’s what you’re asking which one has contributed more or less? Yeah, so that we try to share with you offline we are not sure.
Ashish Kejriwal
Because you know, even if we give a broad breaker, broad buckets like you know, whether it’s because of relation improvement or cost improvement or inventory improvement then it will help us understanding in a better way and give some more confidence. But going forward also if macro changes favorably we can do more
Abhuday Jindal
main contributing. Factor is more value added products. So our TR capacity has picked up. We are serving more higher variants like if I give you example in auto also now we move to the higher variants in auto sales. So all those factors help us in improving our margins.
Ashish Kejriwal
But is it possible to quantify something like when we are saying that CR capacity improvement. So in terms of overall volume, what could be the contribution of CR capacity last quarter or this quarter or last year? Then it’s okay, that, that’s great. Secondly, is it possible to quantify, you know, how much inventory we have at the end of the quarter versus last quarter finished product inventory.
Abhuday Jindal
Product inventory you would like in volume?
Ashish Kejriwal
Yeah, volume. Volume as well as in value terms if you have. It will be great if you can share both.
Abhuday Jindal
Yeah, sure Ashish, we will share this as well.
Ashish Kejriwal
Okay, that’s great. And thirdly, I’m sure you know you don’t like to divulge about chromly profitability but you know, if you can give a sense of whether chromly is making EBITDA positive now at 55, 60% utilization or still it is EBITDA negative?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Absolutely. It’s a value added cold or product so it is definitely EBITDA positive.
Ashish Kejriwal
Okay, so from when it has become EBITDA positive this quarter only or it has been EBITDA positive for fourth quarter.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Also last couple of few months it has been. Exactly. Again I don’t have the number from the top of my head but from Q1 of this year it has become positive.
Ashish Kejriwal
So is it possible to share the number? Broad number will also do because we share J USL numbers.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
No, I mean we will take this offline Ashish with you.
Ashish Kejriwal
Okay, sure. Understood, Understood. So lastly if I look at the number this quarter as a base then is it safe to assume that at least macro side we are not seeing deterioration as what we have witnessed in first quarter?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
We are sticking to our guidance. ASHI 19 to 21 with this volume growth we are definitely confident of Achieving that I think there is a lot of uncertainty again globally and everything. Which is why this much you’re absolutely confident if anything changes, positive, negatively. As always, I will definitely come back with a fresh guidance.
Ashish Kejriwal
Sure. Thank you. And all the best.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Thank you Ashish.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Alok Beora from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Alok Deora
Yes sir. So sir, just linking to the previous question only. So how’s the demand scenario now? I mean we have maintained the volume growth but considering the uncertainty could there be any slippage there? Because first quarter has been pretty muted. So we need to catch up quite a lot in the. Especially in the second half. So first on that.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So Alok, we are extremely bullish on the domestic growth and domestic demand and major more uncertainties to do with exports and. But absolutely on our domestic numbers and our growth that we are foreseeing there we don’t see any kind of aberration or dip coming in.
Alok Deora
Sure. And on the export side I mean it’s you know in terms of proportion it’s better than what we did in the last quarter. So how do we see the shares shaping up? Could there be a case where this again goes down and which could impact the. You know, the realization and the profitability or we may expect it to be in the similar range.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Our focus as an organization is EBITDA maximization. And if by anything it dips our thing and we don’t have to export is not a compulsion for us. We can like many years even during COVID time and everything we proved that we could give 100% volume also required into the domestic market. You know. So we are not really concerned with that at the moment.
Alok Deora
Sure. Yeah. That’s all from my side. Thank you sir.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of path. John sir, from Anand Rati. Please go ahead.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Just wanted to get a clarification. You said 2,700 crores this year in capex and thereafter about 1215 crores. Am I correct? In 27.
Shreya Sharma
So next year it will be somewhere roughly between 1000 to 1200K.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Okay. Okay. So considering the Maharashtra Capex and all. So the major Capex would start rolling in from 28:29 onwards. Am I correct? Even prior to that.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Still too early to say for Maharashtra. We currently we are talking about our current standing operations.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Okay sir. And so just in continuation with my previous question on the nickel because I believe that you know realization is somewhere correlated to the nickel prices. If I’m not mistaken. Just wanted to get your guidance on the Q2 blended realization, what we’re expecting for stimulus.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Again like I said it’s difficult to comment on nickel per se. That’s why we give our EBITDA per ton realization 19 to 21. You know, I mean that is all that in terms of I can give that guidance that we are confident of achieving.
Parthiv Jhonsa
What about how do you perceive your realizations for the next quarter? You know, how are we sitting as on this?
Shreya Sharma
Basically the prices of stainless steel is driven by the underlining prices of the raw material. So it’s difficult to comment on the realization because as you know it’s more a pass through basically. So whatever is a reflection of the nickel and the ferrochrome price movement is there on the same machine sizes. So it totally majorly depends on that as well as the product mix during the quarter.
Parthiv Jhonsa
I understand that but I believe a couple of your global peers have taken two or three price hikes in last couple of weeks actually. So just wanted to get your idea on that because I believe a couple of them have taken almost what 60 to 70 odd dollars of a price hike. That’s the reason the question are we expecting similar kind of a hike in domestic market as well?
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
So so far we have not changed our pricing.
Parthiv Jhonsa
Yes.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rakesh Roy from Boring Ms. Amc. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, hi sir, my first question regarding the export market, as you said. In. Last con call you have mentioned we will grow nearby near 20% yearly growth sir. So this will sustain or do come down sir.
Abhuday Jindal
Rakesh, if you can, if you are aware that how uncertain the export market is at that point it was a different situation of what it is and today is a different situation of what it is and tomorrow with Mr. Trump in this seat it could be a different situation. So it’s going to be difficult to predict or give you any kind of guidance on export. That’s why we are extremely confident on delivering our numbers despite any changes in export. Domestic is our focus. Export is only going to be to the tune of wherever we can get certain good margins.
Then only we will export otherwise domestic.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, next question regarding the rati. Sir, can you share the volume number for rati for this quarter?
Shreya Sharma
So Rati for this quarter it operated at around 80% capacity utilization. 80, 85% is what we have achieved and so the ramp up is quite satisfactory. It’s just more when the more of a reval sales are going to increase in the portfolio then we’ll see a better return.
Unidentified Participant
And Last question. Do you see most of the company. Has impacted on the export market? Do you see any of pricing pressure. On domestic market due to this hampering of exports?
Abhuday Jindal
No, we have not seen any impact of that and we should not see any impact of that.
operator
Thank you ladies and gentlemen. As there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Jindal for closing comments.
Abhuday Jindal
Thank you. And I would. I would like to thank everyone for attending this call. Amid persistent global volatility, we continue to reinforce our market leadership through a strong customer focus, consistent innovation and operational excellence. With our focus on value added products tailored on specific applications and strengthened market relationships, we are well positioned to sustain momentum across markets. I hope that we were able to answer all your questions should you need any further clarification or would like to know more about the company. As always, please feel free to contact our investor relations team and would like to see all of you physically at some point or the other this year.
Thank you once again and speak to. All of you soon.
Tarun Kumar Khulbe
Thank you. Thank you everyone.
Shreya Sharma
Thank you.
operator
Thank you ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Motilal, Oswal Financial Services Limited and Jindal Stainless. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disclose. Connect your lines.