MERALCO after implementing ₱4.15 KWH hike threatens Philippines to BLACKOUT other increase not approve – Govt ask to take over

 

Outrageous! Philippine Electricity rate now is the most expensive in Asia in the same level rate with Germany and Japan.

 

Western countries pushed for more Nuclear power plants, the Philippines is still in shock?

 

Is this not enough that the Government must take over the Electric companies for their continuous collusion conspiring the simultaneous shutdown to demand power hike?

 

In less than 3 years, the impoverish Philippines would be the most expensive power rate in the world if the government will not intervene the oligarchs conspiracy.

 

Philippines: Lawmaker pushes for government takeover of power utilities

 

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Ridon refers to successive power rate hikes initiated by Meralco

 

Manila: A lawmaker is pushing for a government takeover of power utility firms as he said that the country's constitution allows such a move when the people's interests are at stake.

 

"If Meralco and the power generators cannot deliver affordable power rates to the public, all power utilities should now be taken over by the state for its operations," Representative Terry Ridon of the youth sector party-list "Kabataan" said.

 

Ridon was referring to successive power rate hikes initiated by Meralco, the Philippines' century-old power utility megalith, since November. An unprecedented hike to ₱4.15 per kilowatt hour had been implemented by the power firm that month, which had consumers demanding an explanation.

 

The government met Meralco's rate hike with a court order preventing its implementation.

 

Meralco had responded to the public's outrage by warning that Metro Manila and areas it provides service to risks experiencing long power outages if the rate hike would not be implemented.

 

Kabataan's Ridon described the power firm's response as "fearmongering," Ridon said if Meralco continues to hold the public hostage with threats of power shortages, the government can exercise the option to declare a "national emergency" and take over of all power utilities, from generation to transmission and distribution.

 

"Meralco should thus be circumspect in delivering public statements which seem to blackmail the public to simply accept the reality of very high power rates," it said.

 

Years of poor government decisions had left Filipinos at the mercy of distribution firms like Meralco and the multitude of power generating firms that supply electricity.

 

"The public now knows that power generation utilities have the greatest effect on power rates. Clearly, these utilities are businesses imbued with great public interest," Ridon said.

 

Ridon said that he is also contemplating on filing a bill revoking Meralco's legislative franchise, for its failure to provide the public the least cost of electricity.

 

He is the minority member of the House committees on legislative franchises and energy.

 

The prospect of blackouts struck fear not only to the common consumers but also to businesses that stand to lose much from lost productivity and idle equipment.

 

On the part of the presidential palace, it said the government is determined to find ways to mitigate the impact of rising electricity bills once the high court's temporary restraining order on Meralco's rate adjustment is lifted.

 

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said the government must find ways to ease the burden of the power rate hike to consumers.

 

As it stands, Meralco consumers are already paying for electricity that as much as in highly developed countries like Japan and Germany.

 

Meralco had earlier announced the rate increase was to be imposed in three tranches, as a result of the scheduled shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas plant in Palawan.

 

Due to the shutdown, Meralco bought more expensive electricity from the private power providers to cover for the deficit needed in its jurisdiction.

 

Once known as the Manila Electric Railways Corporation when it operated the capital's tram system during the early 1900s all the way to the 1940s, Meralco had since evolved into a virtual electricity distribution monopoly, delivering power to Metro Manila as well as the provinces in its periphery.

 

It consistently figures as among the country's top five corporations.

 

The last time that government took over power firms was when Martial Law was implemented by then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973. – Gulf News

 

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Indonesia Stops exporting Nickel to China for Security threat; Philippines will export to support war armament of China?

Mine protest: An activist of National Solidarity of Mine Workers (SPARTAN) sits among mock graves of miners during a protest against the government's plan to ban raw mineral exports that will take effect this month, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. The protesters said that the ban will lead to the layoff of thousands of mine workers. (AP/Dita Alangkara)

Nickel is among the most important element together with titanium use by china for their warfare armament developments.

 

While Indonesia would use nickel for their recently won 2 Frigates contract with the Philippine Defense Department, Nickel export ban to china is a big thing for them to delay china's plan to take over Southeast Asian countries.

 

Taguig based Philippine nickel trader celebrates for the Indonesia's export ban as for them its business, a business that could make china more powerful to bully the Philippines.

 

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Philippines Sees Nickel Boon on Indonesia's Ban: Southeast Asia

The ban on mineral-ore exports from Indonesia, the world's biggest nickel producer, is poised to benefit neighboring miners in the Philippines, who are predicting an increase in sales.

 

The ban is positive as demand and prices for Philippine supplies will increase, according to Emmanuel Samson, chief financial officer at Nickel Asia (NIKL) Corp. The Taguig City-based company accounts for about a third of Philippine output, Samson said in a telephone interview.

 

While the Indonesian ban is intended to help increase the value of commodity shipments from Southeast's Asia's largest economy, the curbs may hand an advantage to rival producers such as Nickel Asia. As buyers in China, the top user, have stocked up on ore ahead of the curbs, it may take as long as six months for that extra inventory to be used, according to Samson. Producers in China also need to adjust to the lower grade of ore that comes from the Philippines, he said.

 

"If they do that, it would be very easy for us to ramp up production," said Samson. "We think the increase is not going to be until such time that the inventory level will come down," he said, referring to prices.

 

Refined-nickel futures jumped 3.3 percent on the London Metal Exchange on Jan. 10 to close at $13,860 a ton ahead of the ban. The price may average $15,500 this year, according to an ABN Amro Bank NV report on Jan. 3 that cited the curbs in Indonesia and improved demand for the metal on the global economic recovery. Last year's average was $15,081.

 

Shares Rally

 

Nickel Asia shares rallied 5.1 percent last week, valuing the company at 40.5 billion pesos ($905 million). Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's biggest nickel producer, owns 26 percent of the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Net profit was 1.1 billion pesos in the third quarter of 2013, 14 percent higher than a year earlier.

 

Indonesia and the Philippines were the two largest mined-nickel producers in 2012, accounting for a combined 38 percent of the supply of the metal used in stainless steel, data from the International Nickel Study Group show. The Philippine ore grade is between 1 percent and 1.8 percent, lower than Indonesia's, said Samson. Only about 10 percent of the company's total production has 1.8 percent grade, he said.

 

Nickel Asia shipped about half of its 14 million wet metric tons output to China in 2013, said Samson. Output may rise 15 percent this year, helped by full-year production from a second processing plant. The estimate for 2014 doesn't yet factor in the impact of the Indonesia ban, he said.

 

Buy Call

 

The company has reserves of more than 355 million wet metric tons at a grade of 1.28 percent, said Ramon Adviento, an analyst at Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities. Nickel Asia's pay factor -- the amount of metal content paid by buyers and which is correlated to metal recovery -- is 15 percent, while Indonesian companies get as much as 25 percent, he said.

 

"Should the Indonesian ban take effect, Philippine producers would look to renegotiate the pay factor," said Adviento, who has a buy rating on the stock. "If successfully taken to Indonesia's level, the increase would potentially affect around 40 percent of production."

 

Citigroup Inc. is among those saying that Philippine producers may struggle to step into the breach left by Indonesian rivals, citing the difference in ore grades, according to a report on Nov. 18. Using Philippine ore at 1.5 percent metal instead of Indonesian ore of 1.8 percent would mean producers in China would have to process 30 percent more material to make the same amount of nickel pig iron, Citigroup said. That could raise costs as much as $4,000 a ton, it said.

 

Increase Investment

 

Indonesia's curbs are meant to promote processing, increase investment and spur output of higher-value products. Nickel ore production may drop to 9 million tons this year, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry forecast Dec. 27. That compares with 47 million tons in the first 11 months of last year.

 

The ban won't affect PT Vale Indonesia (INCO) as the country's largest producer processes all its ore into nickel-in-matte, which has 78 percent purity, according to President Director Nico Kanter. The Jakarta-based company sold 58,621 tons in the first nine months of 2013, up from 50,611 tons a year earlier, according to a statement on its website.

 

"I don't see the Philippines will benefit from the ban," Kanter said in a Jan. 9 telephone interview. "Indonesian nickel has higher grades than the Philippines'. They cannot substitute supplies from Indonesia."

 

China Mainland Stockpiles

 

Chinese stockpiles of ore are large enough to sustain the output of nickel pig iron through until at least the final quarter of this year, RBC Capital Markets said in a report on Dec. 19, citing an estimate from researcher Wood Mackenzie. Nickel pig iron is a lower-grade substitute for refined metal.

 

The refined-nickel market is in surplus, with stockpiles held in LME-registered warehouses near a record. Global supply will outstrip demand by 30,400 tons in 2014 after a surplus of 75,600 tons last year, according to Citigroup. LME-tracked reserves stood at 261,906 tons on Jan. 10, about 81 percent higher than a year earlier, bourse data show.

 

Indonesian officials confirmed the buildup of ores in the world's second-largest economy last week, while pledging to implement the ban.

 

"I just returned from China and I saw with my own eyes there're 3 million tons of bauxite and 20 million tons of nickel ore there," Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat told reporters in Jakarta on Jan. 8. "That's what we want to stop." - Bloomberg

 

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