Nickel mining firm retrenches workers
By Redempto Anda
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:19:00 10/01/2008
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – One of Palawan’s major nickel mining ventures, Berong Nickel Corp., confirmed Wednesday that it laid off 158 employees, mostly tribal people hired as ore breakers and mine laborers, because of the global drop in nickel ore demand.
A BNC official told the Inquirer that it was the first time that the company was forced to undertake a major job cut. Its shipping operations were also forced to slow down due to the seasonal rough sea conditions.
“The main reason is the downtrend in the international nickel prices. But aside from that, there is difficulty in shipping ore between October to February because of generally rough sea conditions,” said Lea Bonilla, head of BNC’s human resource unit.
Touted by the provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as an example of best practice in mining, BNC operates a large-scale concession in the municipality of Quezon, some 150 kilometers south of this city.
Bonilla said the company continued to employ over 400 workers, and claimed that the retrenchment was only “temporary.”
“We call it a temporary layoff,” she said, although she did not indicate when and whether the retrenched employees would be rehired.
A subsidiary of Atlas Consolidated Mining Corp., BNC raked in over P1.2 billion in profits last year out of its nickel ore exports mainly to Australia, with the mining giant BHP Billiton as its major buyer.
But the downtrend in the global prices of nickel has affected company operations, said Bonilla.
“Last year, the price (of nickel ore) stood at $54,000 per ton, now it’s down to $16,800 per ton and the trend continues,” she added.
Mining industry analysts predict that global demand for nickel prices will continue to decline in the wake of the US credit crisis and its direct impact on the slowdown of the economy of China, the main consumer of the world’s nickel ore production.
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