March 22, 2019 | 12:04 am By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE MINING unit of DMCI
Holdings Corp. expects a “tough” year ahead as its inventory will soon run out,
while its Zambales plant has yet to secure the go signal to resume operations.
DMCI Mining Corp. said
in a statement Thursday that it expects to be shipping lower grade nickel for
the year with an average of 1.57%, compared to the average nickel grade of 1.7%
from its shipments in 2018.
“We will be shipping
mostly lower grade nickel which fetches a lower price in the market. Our
inventory is also nearly depleted,” DMCI Mining President Cesar F. Simbulan,
Jr. said in a statement.
The company shipped
643,000 wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore last year, 22% higher than its
shipments reaching 525,000 WMT in 2017. Average selling prices of nickel stood
at $36 during the period, 25% higher than its $29 price in 2017.
Mr. Simbulan said they
expect to ship about 800,000 WMT this year, although noting flattish demand
from the market. This will be sourced from its nickel assets in Berong Nickel
Corp. (BNC).
“Tingin namin hindi
masyadong gagalaw ’yung market. Even the clients that we’ve been asking,
the Chinese, on how they see nickel, it looks like it will stay as it is from
2018,” Mr. Simbulan told reporters in a recent briefing.
The executive added
that Indonesia has also opened up exports of nickel ore, bringing in more
supply to the market.
BNC was the only one
that passed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) mine
review in November last year.
Aside from BNC, DMCI
Mining’s nickel assets also include Zambales Diversified Metals Corp. (ZDMC).
The DENR has partially
granted ZDMC’s motion for reconsideration to resume operations by reducing its
closure order to an order suspending the operations, production, and shipment
of the company.
With this, ZMDC will
have to meet certain conditions, such as the continued rehabilitation and
reforestation of the mine site and the management of environmental structures
in the area, to secure the clearance to start operating again.
The company said it has
already submitted its action plan to meet the DENR’s conditions.
DMCI Mining saw its net
income jump 93% to P190 million in 2018, against the P99 million it posted in
the year before.
Parent DMCI Holdings’
consolidated net income went down by two percent to P14.5 billion last year,
amid a three percent uptick in revenues to P83 billion. The company attributed
the flattish results to its coal mining unit’s prolonged plant shutdowns,
offset by the better performance of its property and construction units.
Shares in DMCI Holdings
jumped 1.82% or 22 centavos to close at P12.34 each at the stock exchange on
Thursday.
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