In Conversation With, Manish Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director ,Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited
Manish Gupta
Chairman and Managing Director ,Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited
“Committed to Being a Key Ingredient Supplier to the World”
What is your outlook on the global starch and food processing industry? Can you explain the key growth drivers and opportunities for the next 3-5 years?
The global starch and food processing industry has seen tremendous growth in the past decade and we feel there is a lot of potential for India to be a global supplier of key food ingredients. The food processing industry has been historically driven by technological upgrades and we see an increasing level of cost-efficient and eco-friendly manufacturing techniques that will help it to be a more sustainable business in the years to come. GAEL is committed to being a key ingredient supplier to the world and will focus on a more diversified product portfolio along with increasing its current capacities.
Could you throw some colour on your Q2FY23 financial performance, and what is your earnings outlook for the next few quarters?
The previous quarter saw a marginal decrease in the revenues for the company due to a global halt in the demand for food products and increased volatility of edible oil prices. The increasing raw material and fuel prices made an extraordinary impact on the manufacturing costs which subsequently led to higher final product prices. However, the current quarter seems to have a much more stable demand and reduced input costs. The company will be commissioning its 5th state-of-the-art Starch Plant in December and hopes to cater to a more diversified market in Eastern India. The earnings outlook remains to be stable for the next few quarters.
What is your segment-wise and geography-wise revenue mix and how do you expect it to evolve over the coming 3 years? What segments do you expect to deliver high growth?
Overall during the quarter, domestic sales contributed 72 per cent and exports contributed 28 per cent as compared to 80 per cent of domestic and 20 per cent of export during the corresponding quarter. We anticipate stable growth in the export market of starch and its derivatives in the Middle-eastern, African and South-East Asian countries.
What are your ongoing as well as future capex plans? Tell us about the efforts being made to further diversify your product offerings.
Our ongoing capex projects comprise a 1200 TPD Greenfield Maize Processing Unit in Malda, West Bengal and Sitarganj, Uttarkhand. We also have 2 Sorbitol Facilities coming up in our existing units which will make GAEL the market leader of the product. The future capex plans include 3 ethanol plants along with adding specialised bio-chemicals to the product mix. We are constantly looking for newer products to diversify our offerings and continuous R&D is happening in this space.
What are your top 3 strategic priorities?
1) Develop efficient and integrated manufacturing facilities.
2) Diversify into new products.
3) Cater to a global consumer segment.