By Lilybeth G. Ison
MANILA, Sept. 16 (PNA) — An international mining and metals market expert said on Wednesday gold, silver, platinum, aluminum, copper, lead, nickle, tin and zinc prices will recover in 2019 in the world market.
“Zinc, tin, nickel, in particular, will recover very strongly in terms of market prices,” said Julia Ralph, principal consultant of CRU The Independent Authority-Hong Kong, in her presentation at the second day of the Mining Philippines 2015 held at Solaire Resort and Casino Hotel in Paranaque City.
Ralph said that “lead and copper global market prices will have a mild improvement.”
She noted that the recovery in metals prices will happen despite the “multiple threats” to the global mining industry because of factors such as: room to manage oversupply; more value being placed on cost and savings management; and optimism for new projects.
“Mining companies are facing multiple threats such as slower demand growth, flexible competitors, new low-cost production, and competition in managing project costs,” Ralph said.
“There is oversupply but for base metals this oversupply is limited; and there is still limited appetite to invest in high-risk new mines,” she added.
According to Ralph, the key is “limited sustainable and cyclical cost savings” or simply put, managing project costs.
Meanwhile, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) President Benjamin Philip Romualdez said that threats, such as the flexibility of certain competitors as well as the competition in managing project costs are something that the Philippine mining industry and the national government could work together on if the country would still want to be a “prime mining investment” destination.
“The Philippine government must help current and prospective mining projects and investors manage costs and be flexible amidst competition by ensuring there is stability and consistency in mining policies and regulations, especially in the fiscal regime,” he said.
Romualdez said developing the Philippines’ vast mineral resources also entails a “partnership between the government and the private mining companies and investors.”
“Our country has the potential to benefit hugely from the recovery of metals prices by 2019, but we have to stabilize our mining industry with consistent policies and regulations so investors can help us develop our mineral resources properly,” he said.
“We have been talking about inclusive growth goals and we believe the Philippine mining industry can contribute a lot towards attaining those goals; but we have to be practical about the dynamics of how global markets and the economy work, like we have to have certain sound fundamentals for the mining industry,” he added.
Romualdez said one of these fundamentals would be “to have a mining fiscal regime that would encourage foreign investors to gamble on large financial, environmental, and social costs needed to put up a sustainable minerals development project in the country.” (PNA)