UPDATE 1-Philippine nickel ore output may rise, but return to 2014 peak level unlikely - industry head

* Philippine mining output limited by govt curbs, weather
* Top nickel ore producer Indonesia to ban exports in 2020
* Philippines seen as China's alternative nickel ore source

(Adds more comments, background)
By Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Philippine nickel miners are
likely to ramp up ore output by next year, but their production
capacity is limited by a number of factors, including
government-imposed mining curbs, the head of the local industry
lobby group said on Wednesday.
The Southeast Asian nation's nickel ore output may rise in
2020 mining season, but the volume is unlikely to return to the
2014 record-high level of about 50 million tonnes, said Dante
Bravo, president of the Philippine Nickel Industry Association.
The Mines and Geoscienses Bureau (MGB), the industry
watchdog under the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), limits the land that miners can develop at any
one time under new rules introduced in September last year to
protect the environment. "I don't think we will return to that level because the DENR
has already imposed this area limit that you can mine, and there
is no new mine that's being opened," Bravo told reporters on the
sidelines of a Philippine mining conference.
"We are limited also by the weather," said Bravo, who is
also president of the Philippines' second-biggest nickel ore
exporter Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc FNI.PS .
The mining season in the Philippines usually starts in April
and ends in October. Mining and shipping operations are halted
towards the end of the year until the first quarter of the
following year because of strong rains and winds in the mining
region.
The Philippines was the world's second-largest producer of
nickel ore in 2018, selling most of its output to top buyer
China.
In 2020, when last year's top producer Indonesia is due to
ban its ore exports, China is expected to rely mainly on nickel
ore from the Philippines, according to analysts.
Indonesia said earlier this month it will stop nickel ore
exports from Jan. 1, 2020, two years earlier than initially
flagged as it speeds up efforts to process more of its resources
at home.
Speculation about the ban and the eventual confirmation by
Indonesian authorities had fuelled a rally in nickel prices in
recent weeks.
"When you have higher prices, even lower grades can be
saleable already unlike before," Bravo said.
"But I won't say it's minimal. We'll see," he said about
the prospective increase in Philippine ore output.
"Each mining company has its own mining plans and, of
course, they would want at this time to optimize the use of
their resources, so they have to do it carefully," he said.