THE mining subsidiary of listed DMCI Holdings Inc. is projecting a lower nickel ore production of 1.4 million wet metric tons (WMT) for this year from the 1.7 million WMT output achieved in 2023.
Despite the lower projection, DMCI Mining Corp. President Tulsi Das Reyes said they remained optimistic given demand from Indonesia.
“A lot of the battery-grade MHP (mixed hydroxide precipitate) is being all driven out to China, and Indonesia is holding a lot of its ore inside Indonesia,” he said.
The lower production outlook is also in line with the significant drop in the company’s output this year.
In the second quarter, DMCI Mining saw its nickel ore production plunge by 37 percent to 328,000 WMT from 523,000 WMT a year earlier.
For the first half, output dropped 30 percent to 782,000 WMT from 1.12 million WMT.
Reporting on its first-half consolidated results, parent DMCI Holdings earlier told the stock exchange that DMCI Mining “swung to a P43-million net loss from P250 million in income last year as a result of weak market prices, reduced shipments, and costs incurred at its Palawan mine.”
In 2021, the company posted a record nickel ore output of 1.9 million WMT.
In terms of nickel prices, Reyes noted that the previous quarters “have been terrible,” but noted that the past month had seen an uptick in prices.
The company’s lower grade ores — such as the 1.20-percent grade and 1.30-percent grade ores — “are now marketable,” so revenue has increased “maybe 10 percent, 20 percent, depending on the grade,” he added.
DMCI Mining plans to open two new mine sites this year, one in Zambales and another in Palawan.
The company said all required documentation for the Zambales site had been submitted and that it was awaiting final approval from relevant agencies.
Shares of parent DMCI Holdings fell by 1.19 percent to P11.62 each last Friday.
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