Jamalco Plans Investment to Boost Production

• Clarendon based alumina production company, Jamalco, says it has earmarked millions of dollars for some capital work at the plant. Jamalco's Managing Director Marvin Jackson says the investment will aid the company in increasing production back to the levels seen before the August 2021 fire.

• "We're back almost to where we were before the fire; we have been at that level for the past month. Last month we were on plan. The plan is to get another boiler into service as of the end of July this year and we are also purchasing a new turbine for the refinery powerhouse. That is a value of US$40 million and that will go a far way in getting us back to where we were and getting the stability at the refinery," he outlined.

• Jackson said there is also optimism about the global demand for bauxite by-products. "The prices on the market have been going up, so that is reflecting in a positive light for us and our owners, Century Aluminum and the government of Jamaica, through CAP (Clarendon Alumina Production Limited), so...for now it has a positive outlook for the rest of the year."

• In May last year, US based Century Aluminum Company bought the 55% stake in Jamalco, which was previously held by the Noble Group. The government-owned Clarendon Alumina Production holds the remaining 45% in Jamalco.

• These developments bode well for alumina production. Given Jamaica’s main exports are crude bauxite and alumina, the anticipated growth in these subsectors should continue to contribute to the mining and quarrying sector’s export revenues and overall value added from the sector.

(Sources: RJR News and NCBCM Research)