Rajratan
Rajratan
 To                                             To
 BSE Limited                                    National Stock Exchange of India Limited
 Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers                      ‘Exchange Plaza’, C-1, Block G,
 Dalal Street                                   Bandra Kurla Complex,
 Mumbai 400001                                  Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400 051
 Scrip Code – 517522                            Symbol - RAJRATAN
Subject – Transcript of the earnings conference call for the quarter and half year ended
30th September, 2022
Dear Sirs,
Thanking You,
Yours Faithfully
                    Hosted by
                 B&K Securities
                    Page 1 of 13
                                                                  Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                              October 21, 2022
Moderator       Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Rajratan Global Wires Q2
                FY’23 Earnings conference call hosted by Batlivala & Karani Securities India Pvt.
                Ltd.                            \
                As a reminder, all participant lines will be 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 ‘*’
                and then ‘0’ on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being
                recorded.
                I now hand the conference over to Mr. Shailesh Raja from Batlivala & Karani
                Securities India Pvt. Ltd. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Shailesh Raja   Yes, Thanks, Maheep. Good evening, all, and thank you for joining us for Rajratan
                Global Wires second quarter of FY’23 earnings conference call. During this call,
                from the Management side, we'll be hearing from Mr. Sunil Chordia, Chairman and
                Managing Director; and Mr. Yashovardhan, Director; Mr. Pranay Jain, CFO,
                Rajratan Thailand; and Mr. Hitesh Jain, CFO, Rajratan, India.
                I would now like to turn the call to Mr. Sunil sir, for the opening remarks followed
                by Q&A Sir, you may begin.
Sunil Chordia   Yes. Hi, good evening, friends. I am Sunil Chordia. Happy to join you for this
                conference call. This quarter was marked by lower demand of bead wire, mainly due
                to lower production of tyre companies in Thailand, who are majorly exporting their
                product tyres to Europe and America. Because of this, the profitability is pulled
                down. However, we have used this period to introduce improvements to our overall
                productivity through TPM projects and digitization of all our factories.
                I'm happy to share with you that we have now received our environmental impact
                assessment approval for the expansion in Thailand, which has paved the way for
                moving to 60,000 tons per annum capacity in November next month. We are in talks
                with new customers in Korea, Vietnam and Europe to cater to from this expanded
                capacity. Further, we have completed 50% of construction at Chennai, where we are
                setting up the greenfield facility for 60,000 tons per annum. We have already
                initiated market services for the entire European region in preparation for this
                upcoming Chennai capacity. Overall, we are confident to deliver 20% CAGR, of
                course, in volumes over the next three to five years. And all our efforts are aimed
                towards this to continue outperformance.
                I'm now happy to take your questions or if you want to just know the -- you must
                have gone through the financial performance of the company, so I think we can go
                directly to question answers, yes.
Moderator       Thank you. We have the first question from the line of Anay Mittal from Invest
                Research.
Anay Mittal     Sir, it is always nice to speak with you, sir. So thanks for giving this opportunity for
                the investors. My first question would be on the drop in the growth for this quarter,
                sir, right? Like while you have given an estimate of, I think 1,05,000, if I am not
                wrong for this year, FY’23. So are you confident of achieving that volumes for this
                year? That would be my, first question?
Sunil Chordia   No, let me tell you, the recession in Europe or inflation in USA is real. Our
                customers who are tyre companies are making tyres for exporting to those advanced
                countries, those two major markets. And the Thai tyre companies are running at
                around 50%, 60% capacity utilization, which has resulted in to substantially lower
                demand from our customers. And this year, we are not likely to grow in volume in
                Thailand. Of course, we are confident of, almost 10% volume growth or even 15%
                volume growth in India, compared to last year. So overall, I see a possibility of only
                7%, 8% volume growth in the business for current year. So I would like to revise the
                           Page 2 of 13
                                                                   Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                               October 21, 2022
                volume growth estimations for this year, which is due to all these reasons I have
                explained you.
Anay Mittal     Okay. And sir, I also recollect, when we had these conferences before as well, you
                said that your demand is driven by your customers asking for you to expand, isn't it?
Anay Mittal     So those situations are still intact in terms of what you hear from your customers in
                terms of utilizing your capacity for their production and stuff. So are you still in -- is
                the situation still intact?
Sunil Chordia   Yes. You know, longer term, yes. In one of the interactions, I had mentioned, I had
                told you that quarterly performance depends on the business and the volumes of tyre
                companies. –We at Rajratan have no control on the market situation. But yes, as per
                our discussion with all the customers, they continue to invest in India in creating
                more capacity. There are more capacities being created in Thailand, which we think
                will continue to consume more bead wire in coming years. That is why we had a
                detailed discussion in our Board meeting also today. With that long term view, we
                are continuing with our investment plan.
Anay Mittal     Okay. Which means that the capacity that you are creating now in Chennai, right,
                that's -- your demand forecast, isn't it? Either -- I think part of which will go for
                export as well, right, Europe and U.S., predominantly apart from domestic.
Anay Mittal So those things are still intact, and you are confident of...
Sunil Chordia   Yes, long term, intact. We are suddenly faced with the situation where customer
                demand, particularly in Q2 was very low. But I don't think this will continue for
                longer term. This is based on our discussion with customers. The customers who are
                Indian customers or Indian tyre companies who are exporting, you will see that their
                productions have also come down. So to that extent, the demand of bead wire has
                also come down. on those counters of Indian companies.
Anay Mittal     Okay. And finally, on the operating margins that, sir, we are seeing -- we saw a
                rather unexpected drop in the margins, right? Well, some of the factors that you
                spoke about could lead to that outcome. So, do you think that you have done -- not
                done something which has resulted in drop in -- substantial drop in margins?
Sunil Chordia   No. let me tell you, there is no major drop in the margins. The margins, EBITDA
                margins in previous quarters was unexpected, which probably there was no
                conference calls, but I had mentioned that that is not going to be a normal margin.
                You can always assume 18%, 19% as the normal margin. This quarter we have done
                about 17%, which is also because of lower volume. When the volumes are lower, the
                cost of production goes up. So there is a little bit -- 100 points drop in EBITDA
                margin for this year.
                Secondly, the major effect is of increase in energy cost. Of course, that phenomenon
                is global. So the natural gas prices have gone up.It has almost doubled in last one
                year, which has badly hit all manufacturing sectors, including ours. So these are the
                reasons for little drop in the margin, but as the volume picks up, the margin will be
                there, it'll come back.
Anay Mittal     Got it, sir. Sir, one final question. Your CapEx, ongoing CapEx at Chennai, are you
                seeing any price escalation due to inflation situation on the total budget that you had
                for the Chennai CapEx, or you are well within limits?
Sunil Chordia   No, no, we are well within limits and we don't expect any increase in the budget
                there. We should be able to do it within the stipulated budget.
Anay Mittal Great. And you said that it's already 50% complete, that's what you...
                            Page 3 of 13
                                                                          Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                      October 21, 2022
Sunil Chordia          The construction work, we have said the construction work is 50% complete. The
                       building shed is ready, 50%. Now, the machines will start coming in and we target to
                       start trials by end of this financial year.
Moderator We have the next question on the line of Anika Mittal from Invest Research.
Anika Mittal My question is already answered. Sir, my questions have already been answered.
Moderator              All right, thank you. We have the next question from the line of Saket Reddy from
                       Polasani Enterprises.
Saket Reddy            Yes, thank you. Good evening, sir. So first, I think you've gone through a production
                       shutdown this quarter. Is it in only Thailand or in India as well?
Sunil Chordia          Up till now it was only in Thailand. In India, we have not taken any major shutdown.
                       Of course, this month because of holiday...
Yashovardhan Chordia Yes, we took part of the manufacturing section shut down for almost 10 days.
Saket Reddy            10 days. Okay. And, I see you’ve added Michelin as your client. But here it says it's
                       only for their Indian plant. So you only been nominated for their Indian plant, or is
                       it...
Sunil Chordia          Yes, yes, it is for supplies to their manufacturing facility near Chennai for which we
                       now got bulk approval. Like, we are now -- we have got regular supply orders to
                       Michelin in Chennai plant from our Indian facility.
Sunil Chordia          No, this is starting in this current quarter. So we have got regular orders for supplies
                       to Michelin in the current quarter, that is Q3.
Saket Reddy            Okay. And the Thailand facility, I see you've been talking with European customers,
                       so how fruitful is it for you to export to Europe from Thailand? Isn't it better to do it
                       from India?
Sunil Chordia          No, it is -- we have done that detailed study and the cost of production, the cost of
                       conversion in both the places is not very different. Sometimes, the wire rod cost
                       makes an impact. It was quite low in India up until last quarter. Now, we see that
                       China prices have come down, of the steel. So, Thailand raw material price is little
                       lower than India today. We have seen the extreme volatility in steel prices in two
                       years. Prices, which had gone up to INR74,000 for our raw materials have now come
                       down to INR57,000, INR58,000 in India and little lower in Thailand today. So, we
                       are targeting European market to supply from both the locations. In longer term, we
                       think that Chennai will be available for supplies to Europe, but we have capacity in
                       Thailand also. So, we are discussing both the options and we are connecting with
                       customers with offers from both the locations.
Sanket Reddy           Okay. And last question, sir, I think, you mentioned in one of your conferences
                       earlier in the quarter that some of the companies have -- maybe your customers have
                       asked you to enter the tyre cord space. So any update on that?
Sunil Chordia          No, no. Nothing. We don't have any concrete plans to share with you for investment
                       in tyre cord. However, we continue to explore the possibility, talking to some
                       technology companies but there is nothing concrete I can share with you right now.
                                  Page 4 of 13
                                                                        Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                    October 21, 2022
Moderator We have the next question on the line of Sanjay Shah from KC Securities.
Sanjay Shah            Thanks for opportunity. My question was made broadly to understand the demand
                       scenario right now. As you mentioned about the tyre, which is -- in Thailand, it was
                       exported less. That is -- we appreciate that volatility in quarter-on-quarter. But
                       overall, how do you see for next two, three years? I'm coming to this question on two
                       grounds. One of the demand side from the user industry as well as the competitor.
                       How are the competitors building up right now? Is there any new capacity coming
                       in, in the world or even in India, and how we are facing that side?
Sunil Chordia Sanjay bhai, you are talking about the bead wire capacity or tyre capacity?
Sunil Chordia          Yes. So as of today, there is no new announcement of capacity in Thailand. And I
                       have not come across any announcement of additional capacity in India also. As far
                       as tyre capacities are concerned, we every day are seeing that -- only two days back,
                       we heard that Maxxis tyre wants to invest $100 million more in Indian business. And
                       similarly, all the tyre companies continue to invest. Of course, last quarter they have
                       faced a situation where they couldn’t sell their entire production, and more so the
                       export oriented companies, the companies who export their tyres to Europe and
                       America, they are really having a tough time. So we are with our customers and
                       facing the same situation.
Sanjay Shah            Right. So, that stands -- holds good even till today, and how long you see that
                       situation? Is there any green shoots coming in or still the situation is unknown?
Sunil Chordia          Indian tyre market, to our understanding, will continue. There is a robust demand in
                       automobiles. So ultimately demand will be there in tyres also. It is the companies
                       who were exporting more of their product, they got some problems. So their volumes
                       are reduced. And to that extent, bead wire demand has come down in India. In
                       Thailand, majority of the companies were exporting. So we felt this pressure more in
                       Thailand, which is reflected in our numbers also.
                       How long this will continue is a very wild guess. It is because of the problems in
                       Europe, all of us are aware, that Europe is not doing well. The European economy is
                       not doing well. There is geopolitical problem in Europe, how long it'll continue, how
                       long the energy crisis in Europe will continue, is anybody's guess.
Sanjay Shah            Yasho, so my question was to you, could -- is there any new clients we have added
                       to our portfolio this year or this quarter?
Yashovardhan Chordia   Yes, Sanjay ji, as explained majorly, our customers today were exporting the tyres to
                       Europe. So that has affected our demand. But I would like to mention that we were
                       still in a position where demand was always more than our capacity, and we are just
                       starting the new line. So there is still an untapped market in Thailand where our
                       approvals are done and where we have scope of increasing our volumes. So that is
                       one aspect of adding some volumes.
                       We have seen that after COVID, the Korean tyre companies were heavily dependent
                       on Chinese bead wire. And we see a very positive traction from them in terms of
                       finding an alternate source of bead wire supplies. So for the same target, we are
                       discussing with three Korean tyre companies, for our approval. And as we are
                       getting more accurate information about Europe and connecting with all tyre
                       companies in Europe, we definitely see that there should be some low hanging fruits
                       in the European tyre market, which we can tap in the next six months.
                       So overall, even if the demand is low, we still have many avenues to increase our
                       customer base. But yes, it cannot happen overnight. It would take six to eight months
                       to reach to a level we are supplying them considerable volumes.
                                  Page 5 of 13
                                                                          Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                      October 21, 2022
Sanjay Shah            I appreciate. Sounds very good for long term. Thank you. Thank you very much, and
                       good luck to you, and wish you a Happy Diwali, sir.
Sunil Chordia          Yes, thank you. So Sanjay ji, if I want to add to what he said, there is lot of work
                       Rajratan can do to further grow the business in spite of this current situation. Till last
                       quarter, we were facing the shortage. And we have suddenly seen the drop in
                       demand. And this is in last two years, we have been continuously growing quarter-
                       on-quarter, quarter-on-quarter. So this situation has come, but within the company,
                       we see lot of work to be done. So we are focusing on that.
Sanjay Shah            Very correct, sir. We also see exciting year ahead, sir, lot of opportunities. Yes, sir.
                       Yes. Thank you sir. Thanks. That’s really helpful.
Sunil Chordia          Thank you. But let me tell you, we can always talk long term. Answering the
                       quarterly performance is really difficult, and especially when it is because of the
                       external factor, geopolitical problem, energy crisis, huge recession in Europe. These
                       are situations where every business which was exposed to them, to those situations
                       got the hit.
Radha                  Hi sir, Hope you're doing good, and thank you very much for the opportunity. So,
                       my first question was, sir, you were mentioning about Europe U.S. slow down. So
                       with respect to that in Thailand, how much of our volumes are exported and out of
                       the total volumes, how much of that -- out the total export, how much of that would
                       be from, Europe and U.S.?
Sunil Chordia          I think, you need to further explain -- I have to make a clarification. Whatever export
                       to Europe and U.S., we are talking, it is the tyre company's export, not our export.
                       Our customers who buy bead wires from us, make tyre out of it in Thailand, and they
                       export tyre. So let me make that one clarification. And we won't be knowing what is
                       their volume and how much of bead wire they consume for exporting those tyres.
                       But majority of the big companies like Sumitomo is exporting tyres to US & Europe.
                       Yashovardhan, am I right?
Yashovardhan Chordia   Yes. So, just to give you a few broad numbers, like Sumitomo, our main customer in
                       Thailand exports about 55% of their tyres to the U.S. market. All the Chinese
                       companies that we were talking about since so many years have set up base in
                       Thailand, primarily was because they wanted to export tyres to the U.S. So broadly,
                       tyre production in Thailand is as big as India, but the size of the country is maybe
                       even smaller than one state. So the per capita production of tyres is much high and
                       70% to 80% tyres get exported to outside of Thailand. And majority of the export is
                       to Europe and U.S.
Radha                  Okay, sir, that's very helpful. Sir, my next question was, only speaking about the
                       India business, so in India business we have witnessed that the volumes are flat Q-
                       on-Q and because of the fall in steel prices, we have seen that realizations have
                       fallen. However, previously you had mentioned that we book raw materials on a
                       month-on-month basis, whereas we book sales on a quarterly basis. So given that the
                       steel prices are still falling, so how do we see the scenario? Like, why is, raw
                       material as a percentage of sales have gone up only in the India business?
Sunil Chordia          Yes, it is because we are carrying some inventory of the higher price. And, raw
                       material continues to fall. So if you recall, in every discussion I have said, in a
                       falling market, we don't get advantage immediately. The advantage comes in the
                       next quarter. So you will see this correction in the next quarter, provided the price
                       doesn't fall further from here.
Radha                  Oh, understood. Thank you, sir. And the third question is, sir, in the Thailand
                       business, so, because of the cancellation of rebates we were witnessing that Chinese
                       players were becoming less competitive in Thailand, but are you witnessing any
                                   Page 6 of 13
                                                                          Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                      October 21, 2022
                       increase in competition from these Chinese players in Thailand? And even if you are
                       seeing a competition, then how can the Chinese still supply to tyre companies in
                       Thailand at competitive rates despite them not having a manufacturing plant over
                       there?
Yashovardhan Chordia   So we all know that the domestic demand in China is quite bad. China is still under a
                       lot of restrictions due to COVID. And that is making many industries quite desperate
                       to sell products outside China. And I would say bead wire also is one of them. But in
                       that aspect also, we are quite competitive to fight with them. So even if the prices
                       have gone down, still we can match those prices and be competitive.
Sunil Chordia And there is a similar fall in raw material price also.
Yashovardhan Chordia Yes. So similarly, we are able to get raw materials from China at a much lower price.
Radha                  Understood, sir. But how can there be a question of competitive scenario with the
                       Chinese players because they are not manufacturing in Thailand. So their prices
                       should be higher -- I mean, we should be having much better advantage over them.
Yashovardhan Chordia   Yes, we have an advantage, but everybody can export to Thailand. So it's a matter of
                       market price. We also export to many countries, where others are producing bead
                       wires. So that's how it is.
Radha                  Okay, sir. And just one last question, given that the Thailand capacity expansion will
                       be available from 3Q onwards, so, how much volume can we expect from Thailand
                       in the next half or for the full year?
Yashovardhan Chordia   See, unfortunately, the existing capacity is underutilized right now. But yes, we are
                       on with the plan to start the new line as soon as possible. That will help us also to
                       slightly better the quality of the wire. But in terms of volume, I think, we would be
                       flat this year from Thailand.
Radha When you say flat, you mean a FY’23 over FY’22, is it?
Moderator We have the next question from the line of Vikas Rajpal from Reliance PMS.
Vikas Rajpal           Sir, thanks for taking my questions. So, the first question is on the client
                       concentration side. We have historically have had a higher a client concentration. So
                       has there been an improvement in that particular aspect or we still continue? I mean,
                       the top three or four clients still contribute about 40% of our revenues.
Sunil Chordia          No, that is the business. The tyre business is concentrated around 60%, 70% between
                       the first four companies in India. So -- and that concentration reflects in our supplies
                       of bead wire to them. There's nothing we can do about it. If you combine the
                       capacity of, MRF, Apollo, Ceat and JK and BKT, these five customers put together
                       produce more than 70% tyres in India, and that is how we supply bead wire to them.
                       And it's not going to change that soon.
Vikas Rajpal           And so on the exports front, so, I mean, my understanding is that you earlier
                       mentioned that you supply bead wire to companies and they export outside. So do
                       we directly export as well, bead wires?
Sunil Chordia          We do export bead wires. So Yashovardhan will talk about that because up till now,
                       majority of exports are from Thailand.
                                  Page 7 of 13
                                                                          Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                      October 21, 2022
Yashovardhan Chordia   Yes, we are exporting from Thailand almost 40%, 45% of our volumes. We export to
                       the Southeast Asian region. But with the drop in tyre export, we also feel that tyre
                       production in Europe and America will still continue. And our efforts to supply bead
                       wire to European tyre companies, might give us some good results. So we will be
                       able to export some more volumes to the European market.
Sunil Chordia          And we are seriously making efforts. We have appointed a marketing manager who
                       is based out of Europe. And this exercise, we have started only last month. And
                       probably, this is a preparation to gain some market share of a big European tyre
                       business -- tyre company. Our estimates are total European region bead wire
                       requirement is 2,50,000 tons. So even if we get 15% of that in next two, three years,
                       our 50% of Chennai capacity will be sold. So we are preparing for that long term
                       goal.
Vikas Rajpal           And sir, lastly, with the current capacities and the oncoming capacities, what will be
                       the total potential revenue in terms of value that we could generate in the next,
                       couple of years -- by FY’25 or FY’26?
Sunil Chordia          Yes, so, as we have told you, and in our presentation, we are creating three
                       capacities. The Pitampur India plant is already utilizing 80%, 85% capacity today,
                       which has gone up to 95%. Thailand will be ready next month with a 60,000 tons
                       capacity. Of course, there is a question mark on when it'll be utilized, but assuming
                       that everything will be up and running and fully utilized. And third capacity of
                       Chennai, 60,000 tons. So at current price level, we are looking at the revenue of
                       INR1,800 crore in next three to four years.
Vikas Rajpal           Okay. Okay, sir. Fair enough, sir. Thank you so much for taking my questions. All
                       the best.
Moderator We have the next question from the line of Prajay Gada.
Prajay Gada            Sir, actually my question was more on the black wire product. So I just wanted to
                       know that is there any supply issues for the black wire also, because we had
                       estimated that 5,000 tons is like currently that we are able to manufacture and we are
                       going to extend to 10,000 to 11,000 tons so is there be any delay on that also, or...?
Sunil Chordia          No, as, we have explained you earlier also, black wire is not our focused product, but
                       we are using some intermediate capacity for supplying to customers for different
                       applications. And this year, I think we will achieve the business plan of 10,000 tons
                       of black wire in India. So, not a major problem there.
Prajay Gada            Okay. And it's completely Indian – like, it's completely manufacturing India only
                       right?
Sunil Chordia          It 100% in India -- we don't make any black wire in Thailand, and we don't plan to
                       make anything in Chennai. It is only in the mother plant at Pitampur in India where
                       we have different capacities, furnaces. This plant has come up over last 25 years. So,
                       we want to continue to supply to those customers because it is not making loss, it is
                       contributing positively to the bottom line of the company.
Prajay Gada            Okay. Alright. And sir, my second question was with regards to the PLI scheme, so
                       I'm sorry if this question has already been asked, earlier, so I just want to know how
                       much PLI scheme that we have received and for how many years?
Sunil Chordia          No, we have not received any PLI benefit yet. We have got ourselves registered for
                       PLI benefit to be received in our Chennai project. So the extreme is that we will get
                       8% of our sales as reimbursement of PLI benefit from Government of India.
Prajay Gada            Okay. So like the 8% will be from this -- from the existing plant itself, or it'll be
                       from the Chennai plant?
                                   Page 8 of 13
                                                                        Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                    October 21, 2022
Sunil Chordia          Chennai capacity. Whenever we start production, and we have the choice of getting
                       it for five years. So, if we decide to get it from third year, we can do it from third
                       year to eighth year. We can do it from first year to fifth year. So it is a window of
                       five years within which we have to avail this benefit of 8% of revenue.
Prajay Gada            Okay. Okay. Sure. Got it. And one last thing, sir. Sir, is it possible to share
                       geographically what proportion that we export to European and what we export to
                       U.S.?
Sunil Chordia          We do very small exports of bead wire directly to U.S. and Europe. Yashovardhan,
                       can you give the volume?
Yashovardhan Chordia   So, we are exporting, say, approximately 300 tons, 400 tons a month to Europe, and
                       similar volumes to -- maybe little lesser volumes to U.S.
Moderator We have the next question from the line of Dhiral from Phillip Capital.
Dhiral                 Yes, good afternoon, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, what is your assumption in
                       terms of tyre production growth in the domestic market looking at the recovery auto
                       cycle as well as the tyre coming also incurring the CapEx?
Sunil Chordia          We continue to have a projection of 7% to 8% growth in tyre business in India, and
                       that is why we continue to make investment as committed by the Company for long
                       term. We are not changing the course of our -- we are not changing the path, we are
                       not changing any plans. And we strongly think that this is a very temporary
                       phenomenon. India will be a stronger country, India will be the low cost production
                       capacity, and we will be able to export to the world.
Dhiral So this 7% to 8%, you're talking about domestic tyre production growth?
Sunil Chordia Domestic, that is what I read in the projections given by tyre industry.
Dhiral And sir, what was the tyre production growth in FY’22?
Sunil Chordia          It was close to this. It was much more because the base year was low. It was the --
                       last year numbers were based on the previous number year, that is 2021, was the year
                       when we had pandemic. So those numbers may be misleading.
Dhiral                 Okay. Okay. And sir, have Indian tyre companies also faced issues in the export to
                       U.S. and Europe?
Sunil Chordia          Yes, they are again having pressure of demand from Europe and U.S. I have not
                       heard of tyre selling as a problem in India. That continues to be sold regularly.
Dhiral                 Have you seen any production issue in the domestic tyre companies from of the
                       exports’ slowdown?
Sunil Chordia          They have taken some shutdowns because -- and more the companies who are
                       exporting the tyres, they have taken shutdowns, definitely 8 days, 10 days, 6 days, in
                       last month and, in the month of August and September.
Moderator We have the next question with the line of Jinesh Gandhi from Motilal.
Jinesh Gandhi          A clarification on the margin side, so you indicated about 100 basis point has been
                       the impact of operating deleverage because of the shutdown at Thailand and lower
                       production in India. And so, would it be fair to say the balance fielded out basis point
                       is entirely reflection of higher cost inventory and commodity cost impact?
                                  Page 9 of 13
                                                                  Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                              October 21, 2022
Sunil Chordia   Definitely, yes. I think your analysis is quite correct. Yes. And one factor, higher
                energy cost, which you have missed.
Jinesh Gandhi Okay. And higher energy cost is in Thailand or in India as well?
Sunil Chordia Both. Both the places. The LNG prices have been continuously going up.
Sunil Chordia   Compared to previous quarter, the energy prices have gone up by 40%. – LNG
                prices.
Jinesh Gandhi   Right, right, right, right. Okay. Got it. And second question pertains to, the European
                market, which we are exploring for our incremental new capacities. So would it be
                fair to say that European -- exports to Europe would be, at A, higher realization, and
                B, at better margins even without PLI incentive?
Sunil Chordia   I would not like to comment on the higher margin and higher price. Of course,
                European customers are all big companies, and we have seen that the prices are quite
                stable. Once you get approval in Michelin and Bridgestone, they don't change the
                suppliers based on the pricing and discounts. So I will not say higher price, I'll say
                stable price, and a stable business.
Jinesh Gandhi   Okay. Okay. Or would it be similar pricing to what you supply them in India? I
                mean, given that the parent is same, those might be different?
Sunil Chordia   Mr. Jinesh, there are many more factors, like the logistic cost. We have seen logistic
                costs as high as $10,000 for a container, which has come down to $2,500 a container
                now for Europe. So the customer will always look at landed price delivered to him.
                And our margins and our profitability will also be affected partly by those costs.
Sunil Chordia   Our initial market survey tells us very clearly there is an opportunity because the
                wire rod price in Europe is higher than what it is in India. The cost of manufacturing
                and especially cost of energy is much, much, much higher in Europe. I have heard --
                I have met customers, I have met our competitors also in Europe, and they are
                paying $0.60 for one unit of power, which is 6 times the cost of energy we are
                paying in India.
Sunil Chordia   But, all this equations will change once geopolitical problem get over. And I don't
                think this will continue for a very, very long time. There has to be some solution to
                this problem.
Jinesh Gandhi   Right, Right. And lastly, given this, potential slow down in Europe and U.S., and
                potential impact, which your -- some of your competitors may see in Thailand or
                Southeast Asia, are we open to looking any acquisition opportunity which may come
                our way because of the current situation?
Sunil Chordia   There are opportunities, but we are very apprehensive. Making in Europe is
                something we would not like to commit. The only reason for having a presence in
                Europe is that giving comfort to our customers. But, I don't think it is going to be a
                manufacturing setup in Europe anytime soon.
                          Page 10 of 13
                                                                         Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                                     October 21, 2022
Sunil Chordia All those smaller companies have shutdown long backs.
Sunil Chordia          And again, I'm repeating, the smaller capacities are not viable and it is very difficult
                       for smaller companies to get approval. When they don't make profits, it is going to
                       be very, very difficult.
Moderator We have the next question from the line of Amit Kalyanpur, East India Securities.
Amit Kalyanpur         Yes, thanks for the opportunity. Sir, would like to know what will be the long term
                       debt position as at the end of FY’23 as well as at the end of FY’24?
Sunil Chordia          Yes, as told you in the past or maybe to other investors, we don't plan to borrow
                       heavily. So you see that the current debt level is close to INR190 crore, INR195
                       crore, which is because of our investment in Chennai, in a Greenfield project.
                       Otherwise, we will try to restrict it closer to this level only.
Moderator              We have the next question from the line of Ganesh Radhakrishnan, an individual
                       investor.
Ganesh Radhakrishnan   Thanks for the opportunity, sir. I have one question on the realization. The
                       realization per ton has dropped about 6% to 7% this quarter. You told about lower
                       demand and other costs have gone up, but the realization, is there a competitive
                       pressure? Do you see some dumping from China or other countries?
Sunil Chordia          No, the raw material -- main material cost has also gown down. And we had to pass
                       on the price decrease in the main raw material, which is wire rod. So I think in the
                       previous question sometime I've told you that steel prices have been very volatile,
                       but last six months, it has been coming down. So from the peak of INR74,000 for
                       wire rod, now we are paying close to INR58,000. So, out of which, we had to pass
                       on to our customer also. So that is the reason.
Ganesh Radhakrishnan   Okay. Okay. And in terms of competition, you said there is not much capa -- I mean
                       there is no new capacity coming up in India, nor in Thailand. How about China? Is
                       there something that's happening there and you see that there is going to be some
                       competitive pressure?
Sunil Chordia          No, China already has big capacities. There are companies who make big quantities,
                       but lately, last four, five years, they have not been very reliable suppliers. They have
                       been more of supplies who are inconsistent in their behavior. So we continue to see
                       opportunity for Rajratan. And secondly, the Chinese cost of production is also not
                       very low now. The labor rates have gone up, they have withdrawn the export rebates.
                       They were offering 13% of export rebates. So all those things have gone from the
                       calculation, which will continue giving opportunity to Rajratan in the global market.
                       Of course, sometimes, they dump, they sell suddenly at a lower price, but it is not
                       sustainable, to my understanding.
Ganesh Radhakrishnan   Okay. Okay. And next question, sir, you mentioned that reaching a 100,000 this year
                       would be a difficult target. So what are you looking at right now? We have done
                       about 45,000 so far in H1. What is your plan of...
Sunil Chordia          We are -- our revised target for this year volume would be 95,000, 96,000, which is
                       7%, 8% growth from last year in volumes.
Ganesh Radhakrishnan   Okay. And your -- you said about 20% volume growth for the foreseeable future,
                       that is intact.
Sunil Chordia          No, let me tell you, I had made this a statement two years back. And I continue to
                       stress on that. So, we have grown much faster in previous two years. This year, of
                                  Page 11 of 13
                                                                  Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                              October 21, 2022
                course, we are not growing at 20%, but, it'll come back to that. And that is why we
                are investing in the business.
                And one more thing for all other shareholders who are on the line, that Rajratan has
                seen, this is fourth time I'm seeing a pressure on demand and confusing situation.
                But Rajratan has always emerged as a winner out of all those situations. Post
                COVID, we did phenomenally -- we did very well. In 2008, it took longer time to
                revive businesses in Thailand, but we have done that successfully. So, let's keep, our
                fingers crossed and we see huge opportunities of working on different projects, and
                continue to grow the business.
Radha           Yes, sir, thank you again. So, just quickly two questions. So, you mentioned, your
                guidance about volume. Could you give us a little light on your guidance on the
                margins for the second half, as well as CapEx?
Sunil Chordia   Yes, CapEx, as I told you, we continue to work on our expansion plans in Thailand
                as well as India. So there is nothing new I can add to those plans. And on volumes, I
                have given -- it is difficult to talk about the bottom line and top line because that is
                dependent on the volatility of steel prices and various input costs.
Radha           And, if we speak on the interest -- from the interest perspective? I mean the interest
                rates?
Sunil Chordia   The interest rates have gone up. Definitely our finance cost has also gone up in this
                quarter, but it is purely because of the increase in the interest rates across the
                markets, everywhere.
Radha           Okay. And secondly, sir, our receivable days are getting better. So, what would be
                the reason for this?
Sunil Chordia   No, we will continue to work with customers to get the payment on time. We are
                having some bank products where we pay to our suppliers through those products, so
                there is less load on our balance sheet. So, our exposure to the working capital cycle
                is reducing.
Moderator       We have the next question from the line of the Divyam Gupta who's an individual
                investor.
Divyam Gupta    Yes, hi, good evening, sir. I appreciate the opportunity. And I just have one question.
                So are we thinking of conducting any buybacks in the near future or any other means
                of increasing long term shareholder value? I just want to get your views on this part.
Sunil Chordia   No, currently we are committed for expansion -- investment in expanding capacity in
                Thailand and then in Chennai. So I don't think we will have enough cash to buyback
                share, but investing in growth will definitely give better shareholder value, I think.
Moderator       That was the last question. I would now like to hand it over to Mr. Shailesh Raja for
                closing comments.
Shailesh Raja   Yes. Thank you all for attending this session. We specifically thank the Rajratan
                team for their time. Sunil sir, would you like to make any closing comments?
Sunil Chordia   Yes, so thank you, all the participants, for your time and your interest in Rajratan. Of
                course, this quarter performance is not in line with our plan, which is only because of
                the current situation of businesses across the globe. And I hope things get better from
                here. And Rajratan has a lot of resilience. We have gone through similar situations in
                          Page 12 of 13
                                                                Rajratan Global Wires Limited
                                                                            October 21, 2022
                the past and have emerged as a winner, and I hope we will continue to do that, and
                increase your investment values in coming years. Thank you very much.
Moderator       Thank you, sir. On behalf of Batlivala & Karani Securities, that concludes this
                conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
Page 13 of 13