Manila Standard Today
By Bloomberg, Norman P. Aquino | Sep. 19, 2014 at 11:15pm
The Philippines can build the electricity capacity needed to process minerals domestically if a ban on ore exports by 2021 is enforced, according to a lawmaker proposing the bill to congress.
The country, the world’s third-biggest producer of nickel in 2013 according to Morgan Stanley, can proceed with the plan without first establishing the infrastructure needed to build and operate local refineries, Congressman Ping Amante said.
“It’s a chicken-and-egg situation,” Amante said in an interview at his office in Manila on Sept. 17.
“Who in his right mind will build an expensive power plant if no one will use it? New metals facilities will create demand for more electricity generation,” he said.
Amante’s bill, aimed at getting more value from natural resources by promoting domestic processing, mirrors a similar move by Indonesia that went into effect this year and sent nickel prices to the highest since 2012.
The Philippines overtook its neighbor as the biggest supplier of the ore to China this year, accounting for 61 percent of shipments, according to customs data. Support for the bill is growing and more than 20 congressmen have expressed interest in being co- authors, Amante said.
The country must build power-generation capacity and infrastructure as well as other incentives before banning exports, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said Sept. 10 in comments echoed by Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno. source
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