Philex Mining Corporation is setting its sights on nickel mining in several towns of Zambales as part of its expansion program and in preparation to the projected end of life of its Padcal mine here.

The Philippine government will step up support for the local mining industry via exploration activities starting next year to identify more areas where critical minerals such as nickel and chromium can be extracted, a senior official said on Tuesday.

But some steel industry observers think concerns might be overblown.

Buyside contacts expressed concerns about increased import costs after the yuan devalued sharply against the dollar.

Baosteel is looking to start up a hydrogen/natural-gas based DRI plant at its Zhanjiang facility in southern China.

The agreement comes against a complicated auto and green steel backdrop.

“Outages are going to be a blip on my radar because they’re planned. Eight planned outages are better than one unplanned [outage],” another distributor said.

ChemX rolls out maiden Jamieson Tank manganese resource