Orient Caron & Chemicals held conference call on August 06, 2021 to discuss the performance for the quarter ended June'21. Mr. Akshat Goenka – Promoter & Jt. Managing Director and Mr. Anurag Jain – Chief Financial Officer of the company addressed the call.

Highlights of the Concall

• Revenue was down 19% compared to previous quarter impacted on account of demand disruption caused due to second wave of Covid-19 and lower demand in both local and global markets

• Margin impacted due to spike in raw material prices and price pass through generally happens with a lag of 3 to 6 months

• Manufacturing facilities continue to operate normally at both its plants

• The company faced delays in capex due to logistical challenges created by the onset of the second wave of covid. The company expects Phase-1 of 5,500 TPA insoluble sulphur line and 42,000 TPA sulphuric acid line in Dharuhera {Haryana) to be commissioned by Oct-21.

• The company has approved the revised dividend policy which states its intention of paying close to 50% of profit after tax out as dividends from traditionally at 20% subject to free cash flow available.

• The demand situation is also robust and it has picked up. There are some effects due to COVID in maybe in Russia and or Far East Asia but by and large demand is now robust. However, the business environment continues to be a bit uncertain due to the predicted third wave.

• The company has made investments in a new R&D lab and setup which will be commissioned in this year as well.

• The company is also constantly committed to investing in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) aspects strengthening its all the compliance, environment, integrity, talent management, ecosystem management in terms of vendors, customers and stakeholders

• The subsidiary business has also started performing well however, they operations are also impacted on account of the second wave of COVID-19.

• The company has started making inroads to the US market with market size of 35000 tonne. The company is currently doing about more than 2000 tonne.

• The company is facing issues of container availability and higher freight rates

• The company major raw material is sulphur and oil and they do not have direct correlation with crude oil prices.