Philippine metal production up 32% in 2022

MANILA, Philippines — The value of the country’s metallic mineral production rose by nearly a third last year on the back of higher nickel prices and robust metal output, supported by government policies.

Latest data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) showed metal production increased by 31.73 percent to 238.05 billion last year from P180.71 billion in 2021.

The MGB said the mining industry was boosted by the long overdue passage of policies by the government, such as the lifting of the moratorium on accepting applications for mineral agreements under Department Administrative Order No. 201021 and the lifting of the ban on open pit mining for copper, gold, silver, and complex ores in the country under DAO No. 2021-40.

These policies have “given the much-needed boost to the industry and has communicated positive signals to interested new players to invest in the minerals sector,” it said.

The MGB said the upbeat performance was also achieved despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war.

“We saw the pandemic slow down global economic activities and the Russia-Ukraine war affecting key markets, particularly energy markets such as oil and gas. These unprecedented events have disrupted the supply and demand chain of major commodities,” the MGB said.

The nickel group took the lion’s share of the total production value with P117.58 billion or 49.39 percent.

Production volume of nickel direct shipping ore slipped 11 percent to 29.27 million dry metric tons (dmt) from 32.93 million dmt due to the production shortfall incurred by most nickel projects.

The decline in output was offset by the high nickel prices, which went up to $11.86 per pound from $8.35 per pound.

Gold took the second spot with P90.95 billion or 38.21 percent, with production rising by 15 percent to 29,007 kilograms from 25,332 kilograms.

“This strong performance can be attributed largely to the contribution of TVI Resources Development (Phils) Inc. located in Zamboanga del Sur and OGPI in Nueva Vizcaya,” MGB said.

The price of gold also inched up to $1,802.28 per troy ounce from $1,800.39 per troy ounce.

Copper was in third position, accounting for 10.78 percent.

Production volume rose 21 percent to 258,729 dmt while value jumped 48 percent to P25.67 billion.

Carmen Copper Corp. accounted for 136,759 dry metric tons or 52.86 percent of the total production. While OGPI and Philex Mining Corp. contributed 64,547 dry metric tons and 57,423 dry metric tons, respectively.

Copper prices dropped by five percent to $4 per pound.The country’s copper was shipped to China, Japan, and South Korea.

The collective values of silver, chromite, and iron ore accounted for 1.61 percent at P3.84 billion.

“The projects that made the big change were OceanaGold (Phils) Inc. (OGPI) for its copper, gold, and silver output, TVI Resource Development (Phils) Inc., Balabag Gold-Silver Project for its gold and silver, and Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp. with its MNCS, scandium oxalate and chromite plant output. In addition, a new entrant to nickel production was Vista Buena Mining Corp. located on Dinagat Island in July 2022. It is important to note that in CY 2021 TVI Resources and OGPI only started production in September and November, respectively,” MGB said.

In terms of prices, silver went down by 14.52 percent.

The recorded price of silver declined to $21.76 per troy ounce from $25.45 per troy ounce year-on-year.

MGB said the country’s mining industry is seen to benefit from “the anticipated recovery of the global economy and the continued strength in the demand, particularly for gold and nickel direct shipping ore.”

“The recent lifting of China’s ‘zero COVID policy,’ which slowed down the Philippines’ export of nickel last year due to stringent lockdowns in China, is a highly welcome development considering that China is the Philippines’ most significant market in terms of nickel and copper exports,” it said.

Last Dec. 9, China shifted from a COVID Zero policy to a full-on economic reopening.

“The push for a global transition to the electrification of vehicles (EV) will feed the demand for nickel, which is required for producing lithium-ion batteries,” the MGB said.