THE Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) is optimistic that the nickel sector’s resilient growth amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic will continue, especially after the lifting of the ban on new mineral agreements paving the way for new mining projects in the Philippines.
“Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s nickel industry remained resilient with a reported increase of 4 percent in production growth and 22 percent in export value citing a comparison of year-on-year data for 2019 and 2020 as posted in a recent report of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB),” PNIA President Atty. Dante Bravo said in a statement on Thursday.
The MGB reported that the industry’s total direct shipping ore production reached P38.86 billion in 2020, significantly higher than the P31.79 billion in 2019. The MGB data also showed that between January to December of 2020, the nickel industry produced 27.17 million dry metric tons (DMT) of nickel ore which is higher compared to previous year 2019’s total production of 26.21 million DMT.
“We are hopeful to maintain this growth momentum especially after the issuance of EO (Executive Order) 130 that lifted the ban on new mineral agreements as it will pave the way for new mining projects and entice more investments in the mining industry,” Bravo said.
In 2020, PNIA members jointly spent over P167 million on their social development and management programs, P49 million on Covid assistance, and P532 million on their environmental protection and enhancement programs, through which over 7 million trees have been planted to date.
“PNIA members are equally committed to ensuring sustainability in our communities through community and environmental preservation efforts. The projects we implement for the community and the environment are as equally important to PNIA members as their operations. These aren’t just projects, this is part of the core of our business goals,” Bravo stressed.
He also noted that the members of PNIA have already supplied approximately half of the 2020 Philippine nickel production and 31 percent of total production from January to March for the current year 2021.
Lastly, he mentioned the strengthened PNIA’s collective commitment to industry sustainability efforts as he announced that PNIA members will soon release their performance report on their alignment with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals before the year ends.