A government policy on the country’s nickel industry will play a key role in convincing nickel processors and mining companies to invest in the Philippines.
This was the statement of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) after its meeting with various Japanese companies in the nickel industry, particularly in the processing of nickel ore for electric vehicles (EV) batteries.
DTI Assistant Secretary Glenn Penaranda said that its technical working group established to create recommendations on whether the government should ban or impose tax on the export of raw ore has begun its work last year.
The policy being created is meant to assure the downstream processing of raw ore into higher value-added, like EV batteries.
While there is no final decision on the policy move, Peneranda said that in all opportunities, Secretary Alfredo Pascual strongly promotes investments for exports of value-added minerals.
Peneranda said that the working group is looking at the Indonesian model for the nickel policy, adding that they will come up with recommendations “very soon.”
DTI special trade representative to Japan Dita Angara-Mathay said that some of the Japanese that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met was Sumimoto Metals, which has two HPAL nickel processing in the country.
DTI has been courting Sumitomo and other Japanese firms to invest in the country’s downstream nickel processing.
While none of the Japanese firms have committed yet, Angara-Mathay said that the firms are awaiting the government’s clear mining policy.
Currently, 90% of the country’s nickel exports go to China.
