JISCO to restart Jamaica’s 2-million tpa Alpart Alumina refinery

China's Gansu Province-based steelmaker Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group (JISCO) Co. has announced the commencement of a 14-MegaWatt gas turbine on April 6. The gas turbine project is aimed at restarting Alpart Alumina plant in Jamaica.

As per Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) report, JISCO will restart the 2-million tonne per annum alumina capacity shortly.

In the last quarter of 2016, Russian aluminium giant Rusal completed the sale of its Alpart alumina refinery in Jamaica to JISCO for US$299 million. The sale was part of Rusal’s efforts to improve its own debt ratio. The two companies also established a consulting and technical services agreement in order to facilitate the hand-off.

Alpart’s capacity, prior to its shut down in 2009, was 1.65 million metric tonnes of alumina and 4.9 million metric tonnes of bauxite that it sourced from its own mines. Rusal acquired a 65 per cent share in the alumina refinery's operation in 2007 when it acquired alumina business of Glencore. It went to possess the remained shares in 2011.

{googleAdsense}

JISCO on owning Alpart alumina refinery in Jamaica became one of the top ten producers in the aluminium industry value chain in China. Outside China, it has operations in  South Africa, the Philippines, and Mongolia, and produces approximately 8 million short tons of crude and rolled steel per annum.