Two Missouri-based firms are looking to tap local nickel companies for supply, as they consider investments to produce and manufacture batteries and other technology products in the Philippines.
Trade Sec. Ramon Lopez said ZAF Energy Systems and affiliate Battery Grade Materials, Inc (BGM) are eyeing a $400-$500 million (around Php 21 billion to Php 26 billion) investment in the country. Lopez met with high officials of both firms in Washington, DC last week.
ZAF-BGM is targeting nickel hydroxide processing plant and battery manufacturing projects that can meet the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and other applications for commercial and defense-related equipment.
Nickel hydroxide serves as an electrode material for battery technologies such as Nickel-Zinc Batteries for EVs and other applications.
Lopez said the Department of Trade and Industry has been targeting companies that can process our minerals instead of exporting them as raw ore, adding that the investment is qualified under the industrial value chain gaps of the proposed 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan.
Apart from having vast resources of green metals such as copper, cobalt, and nickel, Lopez said American companies stand to benefit from a partnership with the Philippines with the new incentives they can benefit from under Republic Act 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
