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Philippine Nickel Miners, Chinese Battery Makers Explore Ties

Philippine Nickel Miners, Chinese Battery Makers Explore Ties

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine nickel miners and Chinese battery makers are exploring a potential collaboration ahead of Indonesia’s ban on ore exports by 2020.

The Philippine Nickel Industry Association and the power battery committee of China Industrial Association of Power Sources recently signed a pact for strategic cooperation, according to a statement from the Philippine group on Sunday.

The agreement paves the way for a possible collaboration on a nickel-industry roadmap for the Philippines as well as information sharing on policies, trading and investment for nickel ore that will impact the production of batteries for electric vehicles, the group said. Nickel is among metals set to see a surge in demand as EVs become more popular.

Nickel is used in a battery’s cathode, one of the pair of electrodes inside a cell that keep the current flowing. The global auto industry is forecast to consume more than half of high-quality nickel by 2030. Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter of nickel, has brought forward a ban on ore exports by about two years to keep more of that natural wealth at home.

To contact the reporter on this story: Clarissa Batino in Manila at cbatino@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen, Siraj Datoo

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.