by Reuters July 14, 2016
Manila/London – An
environmental crackdown on Philippine mines, which helped drive nickel prices
to eight-month highs, is likely to have only a muted impact on exports to China
in the short term because the biggest mines have met guidelines, experts said.
The Philippines is the
biggest exporter to top metals consumer China of nickel ore, used to make
stainless steel.
A smattering of smaller
mines are likely to be affected in coming months and new mines will probably
face tough going in the future, but the review of the mining sector is not
likely to result in a quick drop in shipments.
“The Chinese think the
Philippines will continue exporting ore to China and only some small mines will
be affected. They’re not worried about the situation at the moment,” said Peter
Peng, analyst at CRU consultancy in Beijing.
The biggest Philippine
producer, Nickel Asia Corp., which has already complied with international
mining standards, accounted for close to 40 percent of Philippine nickel ore
production last year, according to analyst David Wilson at Citi in London.
Three other major
miners also say they have approvals, while small scale miners only accounted
for about 11 percent of ore produced last year, he added.
“We therefore suspect
that the impact of environmental license suspension may be more limited than
initially feared, and believe the recent rally will run out of steam,” Wilson
said in a note.
Of the 40 operating
mines, 21 have obtained their ISO 14001 certification, Ronald Recidoro of the
Chamber of Mines of the Philippines told Reuters.
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