Despite the resumption of many mining operations in the region, the Philippines is unlikely to fulfill China's nickel ore requirements, according to an S&P report. Philippine mined nickel production is expected to increase over the next five years, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence industry survey, as producers aim to satisfy Chinese nickel ore demand. However, S&P analysts said, “We believe that legislation will remain a major hurdle for restarts and new projects, therefore the Philippines will be unable to meet Chinese nickel ore demand over our forecast period.” Three nickel mines in the world that had been closed due to the coronavirus disease in 2019 were reopened in 2020 when the government turned to the mining industry to help offset the economic effects of the disease (Covid-19). These restarts and demand from current mining facilities, according to foreign analysts, are expected to raise Philippine mined nickel output from 340,000 tonnes in 2020 to 550,000 tonnes in 2025. “However, we believe that existing environmental restrictions on Philippine mining will limit the scope for further mine restarts or additional production from new mining projects in the medium term,” S&P analysts said. “This will prevent the Philippines from meeting China’s nickel ore requirements in Indonesia’s absence, driving Chinese primary output down from an estimated 715,000 tonnes in 2020 to 490,000 tonnes in 2025.” The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) previously reported that the country's nickel export value increased by P1 billion from January to September 2020, compared to P24 billion in the same timeframe last year. According to a survey from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the Philippine nickel industry produced 18.5 million dry metric tons (DMT) in 2020, down 14% from the previous year's 21.6 million DMT production. MGB stated that the lower output was primarily due to the increased community quarantine imposed by Covid-19 from March to May 2020, during which mineral product movement was restricted across the world. The increased performance in export value for the nickel industry, according to PNIA President Dante Bravo, was primarily motivated by demand increases in nickel prices. China's consistent demand boosted the world nickel price in 2020.

Fitch Solutions, a London-based think tank, has slashed its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this year, citing the return to tough lockdown measures in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, which is expected to dampen domestic investment in the short term. Fitch Solutions now expects the Philippines' actual gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 5.8% this year, down from the initial estimate of 7.6%, due to the government's capital spending push being derailed. “The surge in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines in March and lockdown measures imposed reflect the continued risks to the archipelago’s economic outlook,” the think tank said in a research note dated April 1. The government has reimposed curfew policies in Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces, affecting an unprecedented 24 million inhabitants, as it struggles to control the pandemic. Given the continuing increase in cases and the long-term effect on hospital capacity, Fitch Solutions expects the lockout steps to be extended beyond two weeks. “The likelihood of further outbreaks in other regions remains high and given the slow vaccination rollout in the country (less than 1 per cent of the population has been vaccinated as of end-March) we believe the Philippines’ recovery will continue to be hampered by the pandemic,” Fitch Solutions said. Regional outlook The think tank went on to say that its new estimate of 5.8% also had downside risks. It stated that its forecast for a moderate recovery this year was based on the assumption that domestic demand would steadily improve and the government's investment plans would be realized, resulting in a sharp increase in domestic activity. “However, the slow vaccine rollout and recurrent difficulties in containing outbreaks look set to stall the recovery further,” it noted. A survey of economists in the Asean-5 and India found that the Philippines' growth projection was 5.2 per cent, down from 5.9 per cent in the previous poll last December. Although Asian countries that carried out mass vaccination earlier, such as India, Indonesia, and Singapore, saw their near-term economic prospects boost, gradual inoculation tempered economists' growth aspirations for the Philippines, according to a poll released on Monday by the think tank Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER). Economists following the Philippines predicted that GDP will contract by 3.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter, up from 0.7 per cent a year before. GDP will rise 8.4% year over year in the second quarter, 5.6 per cent in the third quarter, and 4.5 per cent in the fourth quarter due to base effects from last year's low. Malaysia and Thailand, including the Philippines, have weaker growth forecasts for 2021. “Most economists see the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination as one of the most significant positive developments over the last three months and all three upward-trending countries have rolled out vaccinations relatively sooner. This may have improved economists’ outlooks. Delays in vaccination and the spread of COVID-19 variants are listed as factors that might damage the economies,” JCER said. Top concerns Faster dissemination of COVID-19 variants and delayed vaccination, or "corona shock," were described as top economic issues in the Philippines, but higher inflation was also identified as a major threat to the country's recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. According to analysts, headline inflation will average 4.5 per cent in the first quarter, 4.8 per cent in the second, 4.7 per cent in the third, and 4.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, averaging 4.5 per cent in 2021, way above the target range of 2-4 per cent. With a 6.1 per cent increase, Singapore is forecast to lead economic growth in the Asean-5 this year, led by Malaysia's 5.3 per cent and Philippines' 5.2 per cent. According to the JCER report, India will rise at a higher rate of 11.2 per cent in 2021. Economists predicted that the Philippines' average GDP growth will be 6% in 2022, up from 5.8% in December but still below the government's goal.

Fly ash is making its mark in the construction industry due to its eco-friendly features. It is possible for this building material to lessen air pollution in the long run? Coal is a natural dark brown or black sedimentary rock with graphite-like appearance. It is primarily used as fuel. It is composed of solid organic materials with some mineral components. It is formed from the accumulation of plant remains in sedimentary basin, and is altered to solid rock by heat and pressure during the basin’s development. The quality of coal varies according to the content of ash, impurities, and volatile matter which decreases as coal rank gets higher. Types of coal according to increasing rank (in terms of hardness, purity and heating value) are peat, lignite, subbituminous, bituminous and anthracite. Although coal is a major source of fuel and electricity through the years, in most environmental forums, coal is notorious for being responsible for a third of carbon monoxide emission worldwide from coal combustion. In other words, it is considered as the biggest contributor of global warming. [1] According to Department of Energy, the Philippines heavily relies on coal -- 44.5% of our power generation mix comes from coal. Worldwide, coal is an in-demand energy source and is often the cheapest fuel option. Coal demand in the Philippines is not only for power generation. In 2015, the cement industry used 15.22% of the country’s coal supply where 5% of the supply is used in the manufacturing of alcohol, sinter, rubber boots, paper, fertilizer production, chemical manufacturing, and smelting processes. [2] However useful and reliable as a fuel source and hydrocarbon source for industrial use, coal consumption needs to be monitored in order to prevent further air pollution. There are companies like GNPower who adopted green technologies in their coal power plant in Mariveles, Bataan. With the availability of clean coal technologies, the demand for coal remained steady despite environmental concerns of skeptics. But in general, the Philippines is largely a coal consuming country. [2] More on coal and green technologies, there are now clever innovations with coal that lessens its harmful impacts on the environment. One example is a solution made with one of coal’s byproducts called the “fly ash”. The irony is, one of the most harmful compounds on Earth also produces one of the largest green material resources in the construction industry.  The idea was explored in a study done by Mohammad Nadeem Akhtar and Nazia Tarannum. They published “Flyash as a Resource Material in Construction Industry: A Clean Approach to Environmental Management” on on 29 December 2018. They described how fly ash can lessen air pollution. In their study, Akhtar and Tarannum explained the properties of fly ash, its origin, its usefulness, and how utilizing it is a solution to waste management. “The maximum amount of electricity is produced by most of the thermal power plants by burning coal at their operating facilities. Due to this activity, various types of secondary materials are generated. Any material resulting from coal-combustion processes may be called as a coal-combustion product (CCP). Among different CCPs reported worldwide by coal-burning power plants, fly ash is the most common one. As per the characterization report, flyash is considered as a powdery material being collected by dust collectors installed in the thermal power plants with the use of coal as fuel. There are different problems related to fly ash like requirement of large area of land for disposal and toxicity caused by flyash which leach to groundwater. The study has established flyash as air and water pollution source. It is considered as waste that may act as a resource material in construction industry, thereby acting as a resource for waste and environment management. Till a decade back, flyash was treated as waste material worldwide, but now it is developed as an environment savior.” [4] Fly ash is a byproduct of burning coal. It is a siliceous and aluminous material which is on its own does not have the characteristics of cement. However, once we “combine it with moisture in a finely divided form”, it changes and becomes like cement. Thus, it can be used as a substitute for concrete. [3] Why is it eco-friendly? In the past when environmental practices were not yet standardized and monitored, fly ash was merely released to the air when coal is burned. This is indeed a harmful practice that contributed to air pollution. Imagine large amounts of heavy metals in the ash that is released in the atmosphere. Eventually, with the development of air quality monitoring and establishment of air pollution regulations, factories are now required to dispose fly ash properly and to use it for a second purpose. Fly ash is recycled by most construction professionals by adding lime and water. This becomes a cement substitute similar to Portland cement. The process of recycling fly ash helps reduce the carbon footprint in the utilization of coal. As a building material, fly ash has impressive workability and durability properties to concrete. It reduces its water demand by 10%. It also has spherical particles which acts as lubricants which improves paste flow. These are just some of the important features of fly ash which are useful in the production of blended cement. It is also considered an eco-friendly binder for construction. [3] Are there known disadvantages of using fly ash in the construction industry? Since fly ash comes from a toxic source, some critics have safety concerns about its use. Plus, leaching of toxic chemicals could contaminate the air and cause health problems to those nearby. However, there has been no major scientific discoveries or medical studies yet that proved of such adverse effects. Therefore, fly ash is still widely used in the cement industry to this day. According to Pinoy Builders website, “The bottomline is it’s important that more sustainable innovations such as fly ash concrete or rice husk ash cement substitutes are developed. As global warming continues to loom over us, the construction industry can play an important hand in combating the crisis.” [3]   References: [1] Retrieved from - https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/coal/ [2] https://www.doe.gov.ph/coal-overview?ckattempt=1 [3] (21 Jan. 2021). Pinoy Builders. “Fly Ash: An Eco-Friendly Solution to Lessen Air Pollution” Retrieved from: https://pinoybuilders.ph/fly-ash-an-eco-friendly-solution-to-lessen-air-pollution/?fbclid=IwAR35JcaahO3sd9FjvhwJwKnZHNWzgdyITRfI1Q6C52nQ3HqKLKIor0dURUk [4] https://www.intechopen.com/books/sustainable-construction-and-building-materials/flyash-as-a-resource-material-in-construction-industry-a-clean-approach-to-environment-management