few interesting nickel points to consider, page-3

The Philippines has no plans of revoking tough mining regulations imposed in the last year and which led to last week’s dismissal of Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday.

Authorities, however, seem willing to ease up on a crackdown unleashed by the ousted minister, with the new head of the environment office — Roy Cimatu — saying he believed it was possible to balance mining and natural resources protection, Reuters reports.

Regina also ordered more than half the Philippines’ mines to shut down, though no operations have been closed yet, as companies are in the midst of an appeal process that can only be settled by the President.

The importance of Indonesia and the Philippines to the nickel market cannot be understated. The two countries accounted for almost 30 per cent of global mine production in 2016, most of which was used to produce nickel pig iron — an alternative to refined nickel — in China and Indonesia. So any suggestion of changes in the supply from either of these countries has a huge impact on market sentiment and, ultimately, prices.