The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) said the potential supply disruption in Indonesia is strengthening the need for a global supply chain for the precious mineral.
PNIA President Dante R. Bravo said that Indonesia's annual decision on the price of nickel reinforces the point that nickel users cannot rely too much on just one country.
“The Philippines has been providing the region in all cycles, through the strengthening of the share, through the use of the quota, through the disruption of the epidemic. That consensus is not a risk,” said Mr. Bravo to the statement issued by the PNIA.
“It is fundamental that the Philippines is now serving the region as it builds a supply chain of solid, versatile precious minerals,” he added.
The organization expressed the need for continuous improvement in enabling efficiency, control predictability, and investment competitiveness, noting the need to move forward in upstream processing, which will require investment to increase the presence of the Philippines in high-value segments of the key mineral supply chain.
Mr. Bravo noted that the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have the geology, labor, capital, partnership, technology, and market to avoid the concentration of nickel supply in any one country.
He added that the PNIA continues to work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Mines and Natural Sciences, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Anti-Red Tape Authority, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Energy, the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Science and Technology to improve the Philippine permit system.
“We have ore. We have a growing interest in processing investors. What stands between the Philippines and the largest role in the global battery and stainless steel supply chain is the speed and predictability of our approval system,” said Mr. Bravo.
PNIA noted that broader cooperation within ASEAN and ongoing efforts to strengthen partnerships with countries such as Canada can help diversify markets, attract investment, and strengthen the role of ASEAN suppliers in the global energy transition.
“The Philippines-Canada FTA (free trade agreement), as well as the wider ASEAN-Canada agreement, will give global manufacturers and battery manufacturers a real option, based on rules to find an alternative, one based on the provision of ASEAN, which does not focus on any one country,” said Mr. Bravo.
“The timing of these discussions, along with the revision of the nickel supply policy across the region, is not a coincidence. It shows a broader shift towards finding a variety of important minerals, which is reliable,” he added.
The PNIA also called for closer regional cooperation among key mineral producers in ASEAN to strengthen supply chain resilience, promote responsible mining standards, and improve the competitiveness of the ASEAN group.
“The goal is not to replace one dominant supplier with another. The goal is to provide essential minerals to a market of limited energy exchange, many countries, where the Philippines, Indonesia, and our ASEAN neighbors play a permanent role,” said Mr. Bravo.
According to the US Geological Survey's 2025 Mineral Commodity Summary, the Philippines remains one of the world's leading producers of nickel, accounting for nearly 10% of global nickel production and holding the sixth largest nickel reserves in the world. – Marron Joshua F. Mendoza
