The Philippines proposed to accede to the critical mineral agreement (CMA) between the US and Japan, leveraging its vast nickel deposits and the capacity to supply the two countries’ requirement for rare minerals.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the Philippines pushed its agenda during the trilateral meeting among the three countries held in mid-April 2024 in Washington D.C.
“We emphasized the fact that we are a major producer of critical minerals now that Indonesia has banned exports of nickel ores. We need to be part of that agreement and I told in our meeting that if it’s difficult to have one on one or bilateral CMA between the Philippines and the US, we have to somehow join their CMA,” he said.
China has a strong hold of the Philippine nickel export market, capturing almost 90 percent of Philippine nickel exports that powers its downstream industry of battery precursors and electric batteries.
Pascual said Japan signed a CMA with the US, but it does not produce nickel ores. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., through its local subsidiary Nickel Asia, mines one of the country’s nickel rich areas.
He said Japan showed willingness, and they are open to the proposal, but the US Department of Commerce still needs to take it up with the US government.
The Philippines is keen to accede the US-Japan CMA to be able to encourage American companies to invest mineral processing technologies and facilities in the Philippines.
“Without that, it will be difficult for us to attract American metal processors into the Philippines,” Pascual said.
The Philippines sees CMA as a supply assurance agreement and as an export agreement, he said.
The Philippine team to the bilateral meeting underlined the crucial role of minerals in the global energy transition and emphasizing the country’s abundant mineral resources. With roughly nine million hectares of mineral potential, the Philippines has significant deposits of copper, nickel, iron, chromite, cobalt, gold and rare earth elements.