US imports of bauxite declined to 644,000 tonnes in Q1 2026, down 15.8 per cent from 765,000 tonnes in Q3 2024. The decline reflects longer-term pressure on the US primary aluminium and alumina industries, including reduced refining capacity and weaker demand for imported raw materials. Trade...
Jamaica’s bauxite and alumina export earnings are expected to improve in 2026, even though the first quarter was weak. The government expects production to rise as repairs continue after Hurricane Melissa, and the aluminium industry is watching closely because bauxite is the raw material used to...
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Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation plans to double its initial investment plan for its Discovery Bay port expansion to US$20 million. The scope will also be widened from dredging to include infra-structure works. The United States-based company with local operations in St Ann told shareholders...
The New York-based Fitch Ratings agency announced today that it had downgraded the Clarendon Alumina Production Ltd's ratings on the basis of the Jamaica government debt exchange, which closes today. This follows announcements made last week by international insurance rating agency A.M Best that it...
Jamaican Government is to offer mea culpa to Parliament, before seeking support for a Bill to validate its actions pertaining to the misuse of funds accumulated under the Bauxite (Production Levy) Act since 1999. A Bill to this effect, titled The Bauxite Act, was tabled last week by Minister of...
The pilot plant being established to undertake the extraction of rare earth elements from the island’s bauxite waste (red mud), will have no negative impact on the environment, says Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), Dr. Paris Lyew-Ayee. The assurance has come following...
Nippon Light Metals has broken ground on its red mud pilot plant on the grounds of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) in Hope Gardens, St. Andrew. For the next three months the Japanese aluminium firm will be extracting rare earth elements from Jamaica’s red mud as the focus of its US$3 million...
International bauxite companies operating in Jamaica are being accused by farmers of pocketing millions of dollars that should be paid to them for property purchased for mining purposes. The payment to persons for crops on lands purchased by the bauxite companies has long been a source of...
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Clarendon Alumina Production Limited's (CAP) foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B-'. Fitch has also affirmed CAP's USD200 million 8.5% unsecured notes due November 2021 at 'B-/RR4'. The notes continue to be supported by an explicit unconditional...
The Government is hoping to reach an agreement with Russian company UC Rusal by month end on the timeline for the reopening of the Alpart and Kirkvine bauxite plants. The downturn in the global aluminium market forced the company to close the plants in 2009. UC Rusal has cited the high cost of...
Jamaica may be able to benefit from newly found deposits of rare-earth elements that are key ingredients for smartphones, computers and numerous other high-tech goods, the Caribbean island's top mining official said Tuesday. Science, Technology, Energy & Mining Minister Philip Paulwell said...
The Government and representatives of aluminum giant UC Rusal are to hold talks today, as the parties seek to sign off on an arrangement for alternative energy solutions for the reopening of the Alpart and Kirkvine alumina plants. UC Rusal closed Alpart and Kirkvine in 2009, amid the global...
Just under four years since the closure of bauxite/alumina plants Alpart in south eastern St Elizabeth and Kirkvine in central Manchester, economic gloom hangs heavy with unemployment on the rise and savings of ex-bauxite workers already spent or fast running out. There was a spark of hope late...
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, says he is confident that the Alpart bauxite and alumina plant at Nain, St Elizabeth, will re-open soon, as discussions with U C Rusal, the majority share-holders and operators of the plant, are going well. Addressing a Rural...
Cabinet has approved the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at providing a suitable energy solution for the Jamalco plant in Clarendon. The MoU is to be executed by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, and involve the Government, Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica, and...
Bauxite company Noranda is defending itself against claims by irate farmers in the Dry Harbour Mountains of St Ann that their land reclamation efforts leave a lot to be desired. Last week, residents of Rhoden Hall, Stepney and surrounding districts took the Jamaica Observer to deep craters in the...
Jamaican Government is to take $1.8 billion from the Capital Development Fund, $1.4 billion of which is to be used for budgetary support. Dr Peter Phillips, the finance and planning minister, laid a withdrawal order in the House of Representatives today, indicating his intent to draw down on the...
Government intends to rid itself of its stake in Clarendon Alumina Partners (CAP) in the next two months. "We are currently in discussions with potential partners in CAP which is aimed at taking CAP off the Government's accounts totally by the end of this calendar year," Finance Minister Dr Peter...
The Jamaican government has disclosed a number of agreements it has secured to ensure the continued operation of the Ewarton bauxite plant in St. Catherine. It was earlier announced that the company’s 600 employees would be sent home starting this month as its parent company UC Rusal continues to...
Russia's Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer, will invest $100 million in a coal-fired electricity generating plant in Jamaica, hoping to reduce power costs at its operations in the Caribbean country. Jamaica's Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell announced the company's plan...
