Business World
PHILIPPINE production of nickel is expected to continue “modest growth” in the next few years as a negative policy environment and falling ore grade offsets the effect of mines restarting after a 2017 crackdown on environment law violations, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said in a Sept. 3 industry trend analysis e-mailed to journalists on Wednesday.
“We expect the Philippines to see modest growth in nickel mine production in 2019 due to restarting mines and gains from current operations,” Fitch Solutions said in its note, titled: “Philippine nickel mining outlook showing upside potential.”
At the same time, it clarified: “We maintain our subdued nickel mining growth outlook for the Philippines over the medium to long term, underpinned by the country’s stringent environmental regulations and policy uncertainty that will undermine investment into the Philippine’s thin nickel project pipeline.”
The Philippines — which is the world’s second biggest supplier, next to Indonesia, of the metal that is used to make stainless steel and which is estimated to account for a fifth of global mined nickel supply — saw “declining nickel mine production over the past few years,” with volume falling to 340,000 tons last year from 554,000 tons in 2015, Fitch Solutions noted, citing data from the United States United States Geological Survey.
Fitch Solutions particularly blamed the government’s environmental crackdown on mining operations in 2017.
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