The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) is betting on a 10 to 15 percent improvement in productivity this year, driven by sustained global demand for stainless steel and low nickel prices.
“For 2025, we can expect probably 10 to 15 percent more,” said Dante Bravo, PNIA president during a press briefing in Quezon City on Tuesday.
The latest available data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) showed the value of nickel ore production and its downstream products reached P71.05 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
In terms of volume, ore exports declined by 12 percent to 25.7 million dry metric tons (dmt) in January to September from 29.23 million dmt a year earlier.
Mixed nickel cobalt sulfide output in the period fell by 8 percent to 53,875 dmt from 58,297 dmt, while scandium oxalate production plummeted by 30 percent to 8,751 dry kg from 12,545 dry kg.
The miners group is hoping that the nickel sector will not be affected by the recent decision of US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff against all imported steel and aluminum.
“Stainless steel consumption in China is used mostly for domestic (use), and some for exports. So, the main driver of that would be the growth rate in China,” said Martin Antonio Zamora, PNIA board director.
“And as far as we can see, the Chinese government has always been able to maintain a steady growth rate domestically, regardless of what’s going on in the rest of the world. So that’s the good thing about our business,” Zamora added.
Nickel ore output in the Philippines is mainly shipped to China, Indonesia and Japan.
Ore export ban
PNIA, however, is hounded by the possibility of an export ban on nickel ore by the Philippine government, saying this will be detrimental to both the government and stakeholders.
At the moment, the challenges in developing value-added processing of mineral ores in the country must first be resolved, the group said.
“We support the aspirations of the government for a more developed nickel industry, however, it is our position that an export ban is not a timely policy at the moment,” Bravo said.
“A proposal like the ore export ban is appealing. However, if implemented at this time, it overlooks the regulatory and business challenges that make value-added processing in the Philippines difficult to implement,” he added.
The government can first focus on creating the right environment to attract the right investments and enable VAP development, the group claimed.
A Senate bill seeks to encourage the construction of ore processing plants by banning exports of raw nickel ores.
“Without holistic government support, addressing inconsistent policies and regulatory burdens, forcing value-added processing will lead to mine closures and job losses. The government needs to create a more conducive business environment before pushing for policies that might disrupt the industry’s progress,” Bravo said.
Indonesia successfully implemented an ore export ban to push value-added processing as the country prepared a conducive investment climate, according to the nickel miners’ group.
Now, Indonesia enjoys several advantages that the Philippines lack, including policy implementation, infrastructure and strong government support that attracted a substantial number of investors, it added.
