Nickel leads fall in LME metals
PHILIPPINES - Nickel led falls for metals prices Wednesday, following the decision by parliament in the Philippines to reject the appointment of an environment minister who has been tough on miners in the country, the world’s largest producer of the metal. Nickel prices fell 2.5 per cent to a low of $9,260 a tonne, just above the 10-month low of $9,185 hit last month. Copper also fell 2.4 per cent in morning trading, while zinc was down 1.6 per cent. The Philippine parliament on Tuesday rejected the appointment of Regina Lopez as environment minister, which could mean she will have to give up her office. Ms Lopez is the third minister to be rejected this year under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte. Last year Ms Lopez ordered an audit of the country’s nickel mines. She had wanted to close or suspend mines producing around 8.7 per cent of world supply on environmental grounds. Analysts at Commerzbank said: While it is not yet clear whether Lopez’s orders will be reversed, the biggest concerns of market participants about prolonged supply outages in what last year was the world’s largest nickel mining producer country appear to have been allayed for the time being. Along with a relaxation this year of exports from Indonesia, this should “preclude any lasting rise in nickel prices,” they said. Prompted by powerful evidence of massive injury to communities and water supplies, and findings of rampant violations of environmental law, the Philippines has banned new open-pit gold, copper, nickel, and silver mines. The order to block any more open-pit metal mines in the Philippines comes a month after El Salvador became the world’s first country to ban all metal mining. “We have suffered long enough,” said Regina Lopez, the Philippine secretary of the environment, who announced the ban during a news conference here on April 27. “What are we doing? This goes against everything, everything that God wants. People are suffering so much. The Earth is suffering. It’s wrong. And it will stop.” (FTL)