The Philippines, the world’s second-biggest nickel supplier, may follow neighboring Indonesia by taxing exports of the metal, adding to supply uncertainties as the market adjusts to a wave of new demand from electric vehicles.
The Southeast Asian nation is considering fees on exports among measures to encourage investment in processing plants, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said in an interview in her office on Monday.
The tentative plan echoes a strategy pursued by Jakarta over the past decade that roiled the global nickel market as it reconfigured trade flows and spurred a wave of new refineries in Indonesia. It also provided a prime example of a resource-rich country pushing for more value from its minerals.
“We want to move out from being just part of the supply chain. We want to be part of the value chain,” Loyzaga said. Without processing of mineral ores, “we will just be a vendor country. And we don’t want to be a vendor country.”
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