DMCI Mining ships 41% more nickel ore in H1

MANILA, Philippines — The mining unit of Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Corp. continued to see a jump in nickel ore shipments in the first half of the year as total shipments grew 41 percent during the period.

DMCI Mining said total nickel ore shipment reached 681,000 wet metric tons(WMT) in the first half of the year, higher than the 483,000 WMT in the same period last year.

Total nickel ore shipments reached 343,000 WMT in the second quarter of the year.

The company said all shipments came from Berong Nickel Corp. following the resumption of its mining operations by virtue of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) resolution lifting its suspension order last November 2018.

It added that its other nickel asset, Zambales Diversified Metals Corp. (ZDMC), has complied with the conditions set by the DENR for the lifting of its November 2018 suspension order.

“The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) reviewed the remedial actions taken by ZDMC last April 2019, and confirmed that all the specified conditions of DENR have been met,” said DMCI Mining president Cesar Simbulan, Jr.

“MGB has also recommended the lifting of the suspension. Hopefully, the DENR central office will reach a decision before the end of this year,” he added.

On a stand-alone basis, DMCI Mining recorded flat revenues of P985 million in the first half of 2019 as its shipment of mostly lower grade nickel fetched lower average selling price.

Average nickel grade during the period dropped eight percent from 1.73 percent to 1.60 percent. Consequently, average selling price fell 28 percent from $39 to $28.

In the first six months of the year, DMCI Mining saw its stand-alone net income decline 19 percent year-on-year from P316 million to P254 million.

Parent firm DMCI Holdings earlier reported a 22 percent drop in earnings in the first half of the year to P6.7 billion from P8.6 billion a year ago.

It attributed the decline to the weak contribution of a number of its business segments such as Semirara Mining and Power Corp., D.M. Consunji Inc. and DMCI Mining.