MANILA: The Philippines may consider banning exports of raw minerals to encourage domestic processing and boost the value of shipments, an environment official said, as the government looks to extract more from its mining sector after a crackdown.
Nickel prices rose more than 1% on the potential for supply disruption from the world’s top nickel ore exporter, but miners said following in the footsteps of Indonesia would not be viable without big government incentives.
Previous governments in the Philippines have supported calls to spur domestic processing of raw minerals but earlier efforts in Congress to enact appropriate laws have failed to take off.
“It is one of the things we are considering for any mine that we think should remain operating,” Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Maria Paz Luna said.
“In the long term that will help our economy because that will increase the value of the products,” she said, adding that any ban would have to be considered by the entire government.
Mining has come into sharp focus in the Philippines in recent months after Environment Minister Regina Lopez ordered the closure of more than half of the country’s mines to protect watersheds, prompting an industry backlash.
Her decision is now being reviewed by the government’s Mining Industry Coordinating Council amid concerns over its financial impact and criticism that due process was not followed.
The Philippines took over as the world’s top nickel ore exporter after Indonesia banned exports of unprocessed ore in 2014, aiming to spur development of higher value smelting industries.
However, Indonesia relaxed its mining export rules in January, allowing exports of raw ore under certain conditions, after facing a hefty budget deficit and missing its 2016 revenue target by $17.6 billion.
“It means that (Indonesia’s) experiment has failed,” Ronald Recidoro, lawyer from the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, told Reuters.
To encourage processing plants the government needed to provide incentives to investors and subsidize power and coal costs, he said.
The Southeast Asian nation has four mineral processing plants, two for gold and two for nickel.
