Metal production sustains growth, rises 10% in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s metallic production has continued its upward momentum, rising 10.4 percent to P122 billion last year amid better metal prices in the world market.

“The strong demand from China for its stainless steel production kept metal prices in better levels. China remains the largest market for metals, accounting for over 50 percent of the global consumption,” the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

“The implementation of the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) Law also increased the revenues collected from mining as excise tax rate for minerals and mineral products doubled to four percent,” the MGB said.

Direct shipping nickel ore and mixed nickel-cobalt sulfides took the top spot with P55.1 billion, or about 45 percent of the total value.

This as nickel price increased to $5.92 per pound from $4.68 per pound amid higher demand from stainless steel production coupled with falling inventories.

China remains the major market of the Philippines for nickel ores with about 92 percent of production exported to the neighboring country.

Gold production accounted for 37 percent of the total production value with aggregate earnings of P44.8 billion, down two percent, as output decreased to 20,765 kilograms.

Gold metal price accelerated to $1,265.48 per troy ounce from $1,252.43 per troy ounce year-on-year.

Revenues from copper production, which comprise 17 percent of total metal production value, went up seven percent to P20.68 billion despite an almost flat output at 282,391 DMT.

The growth was due to better copper price which improved from $2.72 to $2.95 per pound.

However, the production value of silver decreased nine percent to P791 million due to lower production.

The remaining one percent of total metallic production, or P1.28 billion, came from the combined value of iron ore and chromite.

The Philippine Gold Processing and Refining Corp. in Masbate was the country’s major gold producer last year, cornering 32 percent of the total.

Out of the 30 producing nickel mines in the country last year, the Claver nickel project of Taganito Mining Corp. topped the list with 5.7 million DMT output.

Data showed 10 nickel mines had zero production as some mines are under maintenance and care status or suspended operations due to environment-related issues.

Meanwhile, Carmen Copper Corp. in Cebu dominated the production of copper with 149,428 DMT or 53 percent of the aggregate.

To date, the country hosts 48 operating metallic mines consisting of 30 nickel, eight gold with silver as co-product, three copper with gold and silver as co-products, three chromite, and four iron mines.

These are in addition to the two nickel and two gold processing plants and numerous small-scale gold mining operations across the country.