BIZ BUZZ: Small appliance makers plead for gov’t help

There are only a handful of local manufacturers of small appliances such as rice cookers left, but it is possible that they will also head for the exit soon.

This as they are facing “unfair competition” from imported – aka smuggled – products that are being openly sold in popular online platforms at a fraction of market prices.

It should come as no surprise that these appliances including multicookers and kettles are so much cheaper online.

READ: DTI seizes P7.8M worth of uncertified appliances in Valenzuela

That’s because they have not been slapped any import duties nor where these subjected to government audits and the lengthy registration process to ensure product safety.

The local group of local manufacturers are thus calling on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to exert extra effort to rid the market of these products that do not bear the Philippine product standard safety mark and are not certified.

This is not only to protect the public against purchasing items whose safety and quality are not guaranteed but also the local industry that employs a combined 300,000 people and the government, since it badly needs revenues from import duties.

Industry sources told Biz Buzz that the DTI does try to enforce rules and make quick checks in the malls, but they “fail miserably to catch online and other illegal sellers of appliances in other less legitimate consumer markets.”

“Worse, these past years have seen unregistered companies bring in substandard appliances and posting them brazenly online at prices a mere fraction of local cost,” they said.

So next time you come across a cheap appliance online, think twice. It may be cheap now but may cost so much more in the long run. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Next Didipio mine?

OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (OGPI), the local unit of Toronto-listed OceanaGold Corp. (OGC), may soon be shopping around for another mine site in the Philippines.

However, the mining firm will prioritize its Didipio gold-copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya province before exploring other investment opportunities.

“Our primary focus is within FTAA (financial and technical assistance agreement) and we’d love to discover another Didipio at an opportune time or in and around our FTAA ground. That’s the primary focus area,” OGC senior vice president for business development and investor relations Brian Martin said in a recent media roundtable.

The Didipio mine in Northern Luzon is covered by the 25-year FTAA between the government and OGPI.

READ: OceanaGold income plunged 48% in Q1

The FTAA is a contract that allows for large-scale exploration, development and utilization of mineral resources in the country.

Martin said the company sees “potential opportunities” in the medium- to long-term as the Philippines, a core jurisdiction for OGC, is “largely underexplored.”

Martin said OGPI’s stock market debut over two months ago opened up potential new opportunities to look into other ventures at an “opportune time.”

“I think our ideal type of project would be something of an earlier stage where we could add value through exploration and not something that comes with a fairly significant capital investment at this stage,” he added.

OGPI has so far made adjustments to the mine’s sequencing to find a safer way to extract ore from underground. This meant that lower-grade ore would be mined in the near term, with a subsequent transition to mining higher-grade ore in the long run.—Jordeene B. Lagare INQ