JAKARTA — Nickel supply from Indonesia is set to surge next year as companies ramp up output of processed metal, according to the head of a local industry group, who said producers have made good progress building smelting capacity after ore shipments were banned.
DAVAO CITY — Government-owned Small Business Corporation (SBC), a merger of the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation and the Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises, is looking at cacao producers as possible partners for a planned venture capital in the industry.
MANILA, Philippines – Puregold Price Club Inc. of retail tycoon Lucio Co is stepping up its expansion in Mindanao as it turns more optimistic on business prospects under the present administration. Puregold vice president for operations Antonio de los Santos said the company intends to accelerate store expansion in President Duterte’s home region given the expected investment boom and improving peace and order situation there. “We plan to expand more our footprint in Mindanao. At present the areas where we are form only a small part of Mindanao,” De los Santos said in an interview during Puregold’s KAINdustriya Convention yesterday. Of Puregold’s 266 stores nationwide, only eight are in Mindanao. These are located in Tagum, Lanang, Digos, Bukidnon, Cagayan De Oro, Butuan and Cotabato. “We opened our second store in Cotabato, that’s in Maguindanao, last week. That’s our second in Cotabato so that means business is good in the area. We are the only big retailer in that area,” De los Santos said. “So we want more stores in Mindanao. But what we’re looking at is not the number but the areas. What we’re looking for are right locations,” he added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 De los Santos said potential areas for expansion in Mindanao are Iligan, Pagadian, Dipolog and Ozamis. He said these are the areas which the company sees “are ripe for a Puregold store” at present. According to De los Santos, the current administration’s commitment to improve the peace and order situation Read More …
(Conclusion) MANILA, Philippines – In fact, just last May, a watershed event in the energy world happened quite inauspiciously in Dubai when, at an open tender of DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) for 800 MW of solar capacity, the winning bid came in at $0.03/kwh. The bidding results were so close the next best bidders came in at $0.0369, $0.0396, $0.0444, and $0.0448. These results surpassed a previous 200 MW solar PV award of DEWA just 18 months earlier of $0.0565, and even that of their coal-fired plant bidding in Oct 2015 of $0.0451. Solar PV, with the right conditions, is already beating coal-fired power in some parts of the world. In other Middle East countries like Oman, solar energy is already used to pump up oil from their fields, replacing natural gas. A new energy paradigm is unfolding fast because consumers are responding to the needs of the planet and technology is riding huge cost and experience curves that are rapidly improving their economics. The Philippines has a golden opportunity to leapfrog into this new paradigm and build an energy infrastructure that’s future-ready. To do this it’s critical we craft a credible glide path that keeps power reliable, available, and affordable. How do we do this? Let’s first take stock of where we are. The EPIRA and the privatization of our power industry effectively ended the era of subsidized power in the Philippines. What this means is that our power costs look high relative to other countries that Read More …
BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – President Duterte has appointed former Butuan City representative Charito Booc Plaza as the new director general of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Plaza is one of the authors of the Special Economic Zones Law that created PEZA. She is also the principal author of Republic Act 7901 that created the Caraga Region. Plaza thanked President Duterte for giving her the opportunity to serve as PEZA chief. “I am fortunate to be one of the authors of the law that finally created PEZA, which included areas of Butuan City and Agusan del Norte as among those identified special economic zones. I proposed to the president in our talk last Sunday in Davao City to make eco zones as the umbrella program for economic development. We will build agricultural economic zones, industrial eco zones, tourism economic zones and defense industrial complex,” she said in a text message to The STAR. “The ecozones will be a big break for our Caraga region and Mindanao as the president will revive the BIMP-EAGA partnerships with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines as the East Asia growth areas. Our people, the poor, the indigenous peoples, the unemployed and the underemployed will be the final beneficiaries of this,” she added. When she was a lawmaker, Plaza also served as chair of the tourism committee and public information committee, and as vice chair of the national defense committee of the House of Representatives. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 After her term, Plaza Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. reported a net income of P5.07 billion in the first half of the year, up 28 percent from the same period in 2015. However, sales fell to P71.7 billion from P88.37 billion largely due to lower product prices, documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. Last year, Shell posted a net income of P3.6 billion, a marked turnaround from two consecutive years of losses (P8.5 billion in 2014 and P912 million in 2013) due to improvement in refining margins and lower inventory losses. Sales also declined to P168.8 billion. Aside from improving finances, Shell said its gearing ratio – a measure of a company’s financial leverage – has also improved to 32 percent as of the end of the first quarter. “With a recently completed rights issue in 2015, the company believes it has low gearing and a well capitalized balance sheet that positions it for growth opportunities,” Shell said. Last year, Shell raised P17.9 billion from a rights offering, effectively boosting its capital, which is necessary for its planned initial public offering. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 After almost 18 years, Shell is pursuing its long-delayed IPO, seeking to raise about P29.7 billion from the sale of of 330 million shares. The offering includes an over allotment of up to 30 million shares, which will be sold for a maximum P90 per share. Industry sources said Shell is hoping to do the IPO before its country Read More …
The Duterte administration has adopted a 10-point agenda to address the high poverty rate in the country. It also raised the budget deficit ceiling to three percent of GDP instead of two percent of GDP as it intends to ramp up infrastructure spending. External factors, political issues MANILA, Philippines – S&P Global Ratings said external factors as well as local and regional political issues pose downside risks to the strong economic performance of the Philippines. In its latest Asia Pacific Economic Snapshots, S&P said external factors include the continued economic slowdown in China as well as the volatile global market brought about by the impending interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve. “The main downside risks to the Philippine economy continue to come from external factors, such as a sharper-than-expected downturn in China or repeated bouts of market turbulence. Recently, tail risks from local and regional political issues have appeared as well,” S&P said. The economy grew seven percent in the second quarter from 6.8 percent in the first quarter. This brought the average GDP growth to 6.9 percent in the first half from 5.5 percent in the same period last year. “Economic and demographic fundamentals continue to drive a strong domestic demand story, as indicated by nearly seven percent growth in the first half of the year,” S&P said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Duterte administration has adopted a 10-point agenda to address the high poverty rate in the country. It also raised Read More …
The PSEi gained 95.88 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 7,671.72, while the broader All Shares index gained 21.58 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 4,563.55. MANILA, Philippines – The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) continued to firm up yesterday, ahead of the scheduled meeting today of the US Federal Reserve. The PSEi gained 95.88 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 7,671.72, while the broader All Shares index gained 21.58 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 4,563.55. Except for the industrial index all sub-indices gained led by the services and mining index. Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at Banco de Oro said all eyes are on the US Fed meting. Analysts said investors’ concerns on rate hike have ease as the latest US macroeconomic figures indicate a postponement of a September rate hike to possibly in December. A consolidation above the 7,500 level could lead to continued bounce following five weeks of decline. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Thus, the market may recover to 7,700 after today’s consolidation. The mining and oil index gained 256.39 points or 2.46 percent after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) cleared some mining companies after a technical audit. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. gained 4.77 percent to close at P114.20 per share after the DENR found its expansion project to be “technically sound,” and “complaint” with regulations. The company underwent an audit last July after the DENR sought to put an end to Read More …
Despite what they say about the Duterte administration, there is one thing the present government was able to do that the previous leaderships failed to do – fast track approval for important and critical infrastructure projects. Metro Pacific Investment Corp. subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) has just received the notice of award from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project. According to news reports, the contract for the project was awarded to MPTDC, the original proponent, as no comparative proposals were submitted to the DPWH during the Swiss challenge held last July. Being an unsolicited proposal by MPTDC submitted sometime April 2010, the law requires that a Swiss challenge be conducted wherein the government accepts comparative proposals from interested parties, after which the original proponent is given the right to match the best offer given. The connector road project started out as an unsolicited project by MPTDC in 2010. It was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board in 2013 under the public-private partnership (PPP) program. However, it suffered several delays because the government at the start said the proposal should undergo a Swiss challenge, and then it changed its mind and the DOTC proposed that the private proponent should instead enter into a joint venture with the state’s Philippine National Construction Corp. Sometime middle of 2014, the Department of Justice opined the JV is illegal, so government went back to the Swiss Read More …
Much of what is making the current political situation seemingly volatile can be described as self inflicted. We love scaring ourselves like children telling each other ghost stories and finding it difficult to sleep alone afterwards. I am sure most of us have heard one conspiracy story or another. Even some friends who should know better seem to believe there is more to it than mere product of the overworked imagination of some people who profit from it. There is a plot to kill the president, one story goes. And the PNP chief says it isn’t just the president whose life is in danger but his as well. But isn’t such danger inherent to the jobs they both agreed to take? Plots against presidents are par for the course. That’s why we have the PSG and the Secret Service among others. As for the plot against the PNP chief, isn’t he leading the war against drugs? Of course he should assume the drug lords will try to neutralize him. It is his job to neutralize them first. It doesn’t fit his image to sound like a cry baby. The Liberals are plotting to oust Duterte, another story goes. Well… the Liberals lost so badly in the last election there isn’t much of a Liberal Party left. Didn’t a throng of Liberals renounce party membership to join Duterte’s super majority in the House of Representatives? That makes Duterte impeachment proof. As for the conspiracy story the Liberals will try to unseat Read More …