As low prices curb the country’s output for nickel, the Philippines, the world’s second largest nickel exporter, has projected a decline in its nickel ore exports this year, which could fall to 30 million wet metric tons (WMT) from as much as 36 million WMT in 2017.
Dante Bravo, president of the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA), said that this year’s shipments of nickel ore, which is used to make stainless steel, will be around 30 million to 35 million WMT “In the Philippines, the price for low-grade nickel ore is week so it might pull down the volume too,” Bravo told reporters on Tuesday.
As of Friday, the price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange dropped to an eight-week low of $13,830 per ton.
This, as the commodity was caught in a broad-based selloff of risky assets amid deepening trade tensions between the United States and China, a Reuters report showed.
Bravo also said that compared to early part of last year when the Philippines’ low-grade nickel ore was being sold at $15 to $16 per ton, the price now stood around $10 to $11 per ton.
Based on a data from Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the country’s nickel direct shipping ore stood at 23.4 million dry metric tons (DMT) in 2017, which is lower compared to 24.9 million DMT shipped in 2016.
If converted, the 2017 figure stood around 36 million WMT.
Because of high prices, the nickel ore shipped last year was valued higher at P23 billion, compared to the P22.4 billion recorded in the previous year.
90 percent of the country’s total output goes to China, while the rest are being shipped to Japan and Australia.
Indonesia has already surpassed the Philippines as the world’s top nickel ore supplier.