Philippines metallic mineral production value jumpstarted the year with a 14.11% gain from PhP25.34 billion in Q1 2020 to PhP28.91 billion in Q1 2021, a PhP3.58 billion hike.
The driving force for this impressive showing was attributed to the sustained bullish run of metal prices during the review period. The average price of the yellow metal was up by 14% or US$217, from US$1,584.87 per troy ounce to US$1,801.86 per troy ounce year-on-year (See Figure 1). Similarly, the white metal closed the first quarter with an average of US$26.29 per troy ounce from US$17.00 per troy ounce, a growth of 55% or US$9.29 year-on-year. In the same way, the three-month averages for copper and nickel also grew by 50% and 38%, respectively. Copper went up from US$5,651.25 to US$8,478.58 per tonne while nickel rose from US$12,739.72 to US$17,625.46 per tonne year-on-year (See Figure 2). It is important to note that despite the disruptions in mining operations brought about by the global pandemic, the mining sector still managed to pull a stellar performance because of the better metal prices which was way higher than their pre-pandemic levels. Looking at silver alone, which suffered a 12% or 731 kilograms deficit in production volume from 6,335 kilograms to 5,603 kilograms year-on-year, it inversely enjoyed a 33% or almost a PhP56 million increase in production value from PhP169.67 million to PhP225.55 million year-on-year.