Mining groups buck export ban on raw ore

Mining industry groups are opposing a provision in a Senate bill that will impose an export ban on ore, arguing it will do more harm than good for the country's mineral sector.

- By JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) and the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) issued a joint statement expressing their support for Senate Bill (SB) 2826, but disclosed their apprehensions regarding a provision imposing an export ban on the country's ore production.

SB 2826 puts forward the implementation of the long-awaited rationalized mining fiscal regime in the country by proposing a tax scheme based on margins and windfall profits. However, the groups lamented the inclusion of a provision in the bill that would bar the export of raw ore.

"The proposed ban on the export of raw ores as also contained in SB 2826, however, is the last thing our country needs. Its intended purpose of compelling mining companies to build processing plants within five years before the enforcement of the export ban will not happen," the groups said.

"It will even most likely lead to considerable unintended consequences," they added.