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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The country could hear more details about the future of the Ewarton bauxite plant in St. Catherine within the next two week. Workers and communities which benefit from the plant have been on edge ever since the energy minister announced that the owners of the plant indicated it would be temporarily...
Jamaica's powerful bauxite/ alumina partners have warned that it would be a mistake for Government to rely solely on natural gas as an alternative fuel source, and is urging the Government to adopt a diversification strategy that includes coal, compressed gas and renewables. Further diversification...
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says the Government is exploring the possibility of producing aluminium locally. Speaking at Wednesday's (July 25) Jamaica House media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Paulwell said details of the undertaking...
A high-end technical team is to be flown into Jamaica from Russia next month to hammer out wrinkles at the United Company (UC) RUSAL-operated Ewarton Alumina Works in St Catherine, according to Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell. "I would like to inform this House that a high-level delegation from...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Co reported second-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates as higher shipments of aluminum and flat-rolled products offset lower prices. Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange dropped about 20 percent in the second quarter due to high inventories, prompting Wall...
Noranda aluminium plans to start a US$11 million (J$970 million) expansion of its harbour capacity at Port Rhodes in Discovery Bay this year. The local investment, along with plans to build a US$45-million rod mill in the US, proved attractive “because their value-creation is largely independent...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation announced plans to move forward on two capital projects--a $45 million investment to build a new rod mill and an $11 million investment to further expand harbor capacity at Port Rhodes in Discovery Bay, Jamaica. "The new rod mill and the port expansion project...
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) was last night investigating another effluent spill, reportedly by the West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco), that affected sections of the Rio Cobre. Natalie Fearon, manager of public education and corporate communications at NEPA, last night...
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), says it is moving to take action against bauxite mining company Windalco, over this week’s fish kill in the Rio Cobre in St. Catherine. NEPA said it is preparing to issue an Enforcement Order on Windalco to compel it to cease the discharge of...
UC RUSAL 's announcement that it has not taken a decision to close its bauxite plant in Ewarton appears to have been influenced by the Government's intention to revoke the special mining lease the Russian firm now holds on two alumina plants — Alpart and Kirkvine — that have remained idle for three...
Russia's Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, denied on Friday it plans to close its last working enterprise in Jamaica and lay off 600 workers, Izvestia daily newspaper reported. The Jamaica Observer reported this week that Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip...
Nearly 600 Jamaicans will be forced to join the unemployment line later this year as Russian aluminium giant UC Rusal moves to shut down its Ewarton plant in St Catherine. Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell, in a statement to the House of Representatives yesterday, said he was "verbally advised" on...
A total of 40 teams will this year participate in the Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners (NJBP) Football League. The teams, which are drawn from the company's operating areas of Alexandria, Brown's Town and Discovery Bay, are playing for cash prizes of $300,000 and trophies. Matches in the league...
Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners continued its support to education with the announcement last week Thursday of 110 secondary and tertiary-level scholarships to mark Jamaica's 50th year of Independence. Making the announcement in the presence of Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, who was touring...
Several residents of Stepney, Nine Miles, Higgins Land and neighbouring communities in rural St Ann have said they are worried that they have not been able to identify suitable parcels of land on which to continue farming since they were displaced by bauxite mining expansion. The disgruntled...
There are indications that the government may be stepping in to offer some reprieve to the owners of the Ewarton bauxite plant in St. Catherine. The cost of production and the decreased demand for alumina has continued to take a toll on the company. The high cost of electricity has also been blamed...
THE Government expects to lose billions of dollars this year due to Clarendon Alumina Production's (CAP) unstaunched bleeding. CAP will lose US$91 million ($7.9 billion) for the current financial year, according to spending estimates given by the Finance and Planning Minister Peter Phillips, last...
DISCOVERY BAY:A JOINT Effort by Noranda Bauxite, Brown's Town Community College and Heart/NTA to establish the Discovery Bay Skills Training Facility recently, earned commendation from Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who has reiterated her administration's commitment to making education a...
