The Philippines is seen to benefit from the increasing demand for green metals—such as nickel, cobalt and copper—coming from the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and battery supply chains, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
In a media statement on Wednesday, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the country is heading towards a greener economy by maximizing the opportunities in the global market for the green metals.
This, as the Philippines strive to be at par with other countries in the production and processing of such metals, he added.
Amanda Eglinton, IHS Markit’s Associate Director of Pricing and Purchasing, said in a recent meeting with Rodolfo that the local industry can fill in potential gaps in supply for nickel and chromium minerals.
“So if there were to be disruptions to that supply, that would open up another big opportunity for the Philippines,” she said.
Eglinton shared her thoughts as world’s top chromium producer South Africa may be offering the said products at a higher cost due to expensive energy expenditures.
“Likewise, the scenario can also be applied to nickel ore production, as Indonesia banned the export of such minerals in 2020 to develop its domestic processing industry. In the absence of Indonesian nickel imports, China will increasingly depend on the Philippines to fill in the gap of its huge demand,” DTI added.
While 72 percent of the nickel production goes to stainless steel manufacturing, Eglinton said that EV batteries are among the fastest-growing sectors that use it for input.
The IHS Markit official even expects the “demand from the battery sector to dominate the growth in nickel consumption.”
She noted that Philippines and Indonesia are among the main producers of nickel globally over the last year, projecting bigger market share moving forward.
John Mothersole, IHS Markit Director of Research and Pricing, said that the Philippines is a “relatively small producer” of copper but it has an advantage due to its “strategic location coupled with the additional investments in smelting and refining capacity.”
Citing the International Copper Study Group, the DTI noted that local copper production was steady between 70,000 and 80,000 metric tons (MT) over the last two to three years. This is seen to increase up to 400,000 MT in the next 20 years.
“There is no doubt that copper is vital in energy transition because of the efficiency in transmitting energy,” Mothersole said.
He said that copper demand for energy transition will grow threefold across the world by 2035 due to EV and power distribution investments.
For its part, the Philippines launched the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ) in 2020 to bring in more investments to boost copper production.
According to LEIZ Core Master Plan, the industrial zone is proposed to cater to iron and steel-making plants and downstream iron and steel industries (328 hectares); copper wire-rod casting and copper enamel wire casting (363 ha); and downstream copper industries (363 ha).
With a design population of around 500,000, some 60,000 industrial jobs are expected to be generated.