The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) is lobbying for the Philippines to be included as a member of the International Study Group (INSG) to strengthen the country’s efforts in developing an industry roadmap that will add value to the local nickel industry as a key player in the global trade.
The group issued the statement after it attended the INSG meeting last month as an industry observer, alongside more than 60 government and leading industry representatives from member countries and international organizations.
Isidro Alcantara, PNIA chairman, said the Philippines will economically benefit from joining the group, given the sustained demand for nickel driven by the steel manufacturing industry and advancements in the e-vehicle sector particularly in Europe, Japan and China.
“As the leading nickel laterite ore supplier country in the world, our country’s significant contributions to the global nickel value chain is widely recognized. For our part, we need access to INSG’s wealth of knowledge and experience as input to our own roadmap to make it more responsive to global opportunities and become more effective in promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth for our country,” Alcantara said in a statement.
Dante Bravo, PNIA president, said while the industry remains optimistic for its future, “there are uncertainties and volatilities in the world nickel trade that we must not ignore.
We would be in a better position to leverage on opportunities and mitigate the effects of headwinds if we engage in these international discussions.”
INSG is an autonomous, intergovernmental organization composed of nickel producing, using and trading countries which aims to improve transparency in the global metals market and to provide a forum to discuss nickel related issues.
