THE government plans to spur the growth of the economy through a great leap in the way we utilize the country’s natural mineral resources: from exporting ores especially of nickel, copper and cobalt — minerals which our mountains have in abundance — to processing these locally so that these commodities will gain double in the export market.
Secretary Alfredo Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Monday said the government, in order to support the local electric vehicle (EV) industry, is looking to turn the Philippines into a mineral-processing instead of an ore-exporting country.
Secretary Pascual said he considers mineral processing crucial given the Philippines’ mineral resources. He cited the country’s deposits of green metals including nickel, copper and cobalt. If implemented seriously, this plan will signal a major policy shift that will affect the mining industry and all the downstream businesses such as land transport, logistics, shipping, etc.
‘There is nothing wrong in copying the Indonesian model if it will result in bigger revenues for the government, more income for our mining firms and most importantly, the addition of hundreds of jobs for Filipinos.’
“These minerals can be used for downstream industries such as EV battery manufacturing, hyperscaler data centers and renewable energy projects,” the trade chief said in a speech before the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines in Makati.
“The Philippines has over 9 million hectares of land with mineral potential, 92 percent of which have yet to be responsibly utilized. We also have over 450 million metric tons of nickel reserves,” Pascual said.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia are the biggest producers of nickel, which is used mostly in the production of stainless steel by China and European countries. Nickel has become more important as a component in the production of batteries for electric vehicles.
With the disruption in the supply chain caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, the nickel production of Indonesia, the Philippines and Canada has become indispensable.
“The Philippines can be a vital partner for these critical minerals not as an exporter of raw ores, which is what is happening now, but as a processor and producer of semi-finished and finished products,” he added.
Pascual said the government was looking at Indonesia as a model. Previously the world’s biggest exporter of nickel ore, Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed minerals in 2019 and introduced domestic processing requirements that required businesses to process or purify the raw materials inside the country before export, thus commanding higher prices.
The move was opposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming that it violates WTO rules. The European Union said the measure unduly and illegally restricts EU access to raw materials needed for stainless steel production and distorts world market prices of ores. The problem remains unresolved but it seems Indonesia is benefiting from its unflinching stand.
There is nothing wrong in copying the Indonesian model if it will result in bigger revenues for the government, more income for our mining firms and most importantly, the addition of hundreds of jobs for Filipinos.
