The Philippines Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) says the nation isn’t ready to compete with miners from Australia, Indonesia and Brazil and believes the government should reconsider its proposed export ban on the critical metal.

PNIA – the country’s largest group of nickel mining companies – said the Philippines must first create a competitive environment to attract investments in value-added processing (VAP) before implementing restrictive policies.

The proposal aims to encourage VAP by banning the export of raw nickel ores, but PNIA president Dante Bravo believes the difficulties in establishing and sustaining VAP facilities in the Philippines must first be addressed.

Fiscal regime reforms

PNIA said that such a policy, which is part of mining fiscal regime reforms, may not address the real challenges faced by the Philippines industry in developing VAP.

“We support the aspirations of the government for a more developed nickel industry, however it is our position that an export ban is not a timely policy at the moment,” Mr Bravo said.

“Implementing a ban on ore exports will further add to uncertainty for potential investors, along with ease of doing business, long permitting processes and harmonisation of national and local policies,” said.

Regulatory burdens

“Without holistic government support in addressing inconsistent policies and regulatory burdens, forcing VAP will lead to mine closures and job losses,” Mr Bravo said.

“The government needs to create a more conducive business environment before pushing for policies that might disrupt the industry’s progress.”

Mr Bravo used Indonesia as an example of how to properly implement an ore export ban.

However he also noted several Indonesian advantages that the Philippines lacks, including effective policy implementation, infrastructure and strong government support.

Committed to mining growth

“Besides these advantages, the ore ban was only implemented [in Indonesia] after the country had secured a substantial number of investors committed to its mining industry growth.”

“Indonesia has been able to attract foreign investments, build infrastructure and offer very attractive fiscal incentives that have allowed it to quickly scale up processing capacity, driven by strong government support.”

“From our experience, the Philippines lacks the same environment for investors.”

“It takes over 10 years just to approve mining permits, which could force investors to look for a more attractive regulatory environment in other countries where they can get an attractive return on investment.”

Resource mapping

Mr Bravo said the Philippines needs to conduct strategic in-depth mapping of resources to identify the quality and quantity of nickel, as not all ore is suitable for VAP.

He also believes the country needs to begin upskilling its mining engineers to prepare them for processing activities.

“Without addressing these key issues, imposing an ore export ban at this time would slow progress and risk industry failure.”

Nickel market

After recently hitting a four-year low, the nickel price is forecast to average around US$16,750 per tonne in 2025.

Mr Bravo sees price fluctuations due to oversupply from Indonesia and changing demand patterns, such as the growing preference for lower-nickel batteries, as likely to impact market stability.

According to GlobalData, the Philippines was the world’s second-largest producer of nickel in 2023.