Finnish firm opens office in Taguig

MANILA, Philippines – Outotec, a firm engaged in minerals and metals processing technology, is spending close to a $1 million for the set-up of its office in Taguig City and a service center in Cebu as it sees opportunities in the development of the country’s mineral resources.

Rudi Rautenbach, country manager for the Philippines of Outotec said in a briefing yesterday the firm has already invested roughly $500,000 for its Taguig office which officially opened yesterday.

The opening of the office in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, is in line with the company’s plan to expand operations in Asia Pacific.

Following the official opening of its office in Taguig, Rautenbach said the firm is also looking at putting up a service center in Cebu, a location close to the sites of its clients Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. and Carmen Copper Corp.

“We expect to have invested close to a $1 million in the Philippines by the time we finish that (service center),” Rautenbach said.

Outotec, which has been providing services to mining firms in the Philippines since the 1960s through its offices overseas, only started plans to set-up an office in the Philippines last year following the company’s decision to have a separate entity to manage the South East Asia Pacific market.

With the Philippines ranked as the fifth most mineralized country in the world, the company which is engaged in providing technologies and solutions to the mineral and metals processing market, sees many opportunities here.

This, even as mining firms are on a wait-and-see attitude with no new mining fiscal regime in place.

The Mining Industry Coordinating Council’s proposed scheme which requires firms to remit to the government either 10 percent of the gross revenues or 55 percent of adjusted net mining revenues plus a percentage of the excess profit, whichever is higher, still needs to be approved by the Congress and signed into law.

“We are not anticipating a change in focus in our business here. We are very much focused on maximizing the opportunities,” Outotec president for Asia Pacific Stuart Sneyd said.

Aside from providing services for mining and metals development, the firm also sees opportunities in the energy and water industries in the Philippines.

“We are looking at biomass and renewable energy. There is possibility for us in the Philippines in that area,” Sneyd said.

The company, he said, is also interested in services it could offer to the water industry here.

Headquartered in Finland, Outotec provides services to more than 80 countries and employs 5,000 individuals globally