Philippines pushes for nickel exports in latest development plan
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Loading... - Abalos Rosamie
- 14 Feb 2023
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To meet its economic goals by the end of the decade, the country, rich in nickel ore resources, wants to export more of the processed mineral to support global EV production. But the issue is a contentious one.
The Philippines is going to increase exports of processed nickel ore as part of the country’s plan to meets its economic and social goals by 2028, its trade and industry chief said on Monday.
Trade and industry secretary Alfredo Pascual told an audience at the launch event of the country’s latest five-year development plan that a move to prioritise exporting the processed mineral to overseas markets aligns the Philippines to potential opportunities arising from “reconfigured global value chains” driven by changing geopolitics, which he believes the country will need to tap on.
The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 maps out its medium-term socioeconomic development agenda. Its previous plan did not mention nickel production.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, developing markets like the Philippines and Indonesia have become alternative go-to sources for Western buyers keen on sourcing nickel, a major component of lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles (EVs). European nations used to buy the mineral largely from Russia.
In his address, Pascual further signalled that the Philippines is looking at eventually producing and exporting its own EV batteries. He said the plan included looking into processing nickel ore into “semi-finished and finished products”.
A week before, Pascual said the department was considering banning raw nickel ore exports as an option to push miners in the world’s second-biggest supplier of the metal to invest in processing instead of just shipping raw minerals. The strategy models that of top nickel producer Indonesia.
The Philippines produced 22.5 million dry metric tonnes (dmt) of nickel ore in January to September last year, valued at US$859 million, compared with 27.2 million dmt in the same period in 2021, according to latest data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. The PDP did not set specific targets for nickel processing and exports by the end of the decade.
In response to Eco-Business’s queries, a department spokesperson said it will focus next on driving investments into nickel processing activities that directly support global EV production, so that the country gets added value from its exports.
Similarly, Indonesia announced in April last year that it was going to move away from exporting raw ore, and focus instead on developing its downstream industries. Read More…
