Jamaica betting big on bauxite and alumina sector - Alpart to be the game changer

Jamaica’s bauxite and alumina industry is on a growth trajectory. Driven by the reopening of Alpart bauxite mining and processing complex by Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) Limited in Nain, St. Elizabeth, the industry is growing bringing hope for the entire economy, Minister of Transport and Mining, Mike Henry, said in a recent press meet.

JISCO has committed an investment of around US$3 billion over a period of three years for upgrading the 1.65-million tonnes per annum plant which it opened in June this year. The expansion project will take the production capacity of the plant to two mtpa by the end of 2020, Henry said.

The investment by JISCO includes construction of the following projects in addition to the main Alpart plant expansion plan:

• A new 120MW LNG power plant at the Jamalco refinery in Clarendon
• A new US$500,230-megawatt (MW) liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant
• A new aluminium foil/stainless steel plant
• A new aluminium sheet plant
• A new welding rod plant with other aluminium hydrate products.
• Redevelopment and expansion of Port Kaiser
• Housing and support infrastructure for workers/investors as part of the SEZ
• A greenhouse agricultural demonstration project by the end of Q2 2018

The projects “will improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase (the plant's) profitability,” the minister said.

Bauxite and alumina sector was the second highest foreign earnings generator after tourism in Jamaica. Between 2014 and 2016, the mining and quarrying sector accounted for 50 per cent of the country's domestic export earnings with the bauxite and alumina sub-sector responsible for 97 per cent of this amount, which averaged approximately US$663 million for that period, reported Jamaica Observer.