Jamaica to export alumina to China

Jamaica’s largest alumina refinery, Aluminia Partners of Jamaica (ALPART), will on Friday ship 35,000 tonnes of alumina to China, the first shipment since the plant reopened under Chinese ownership earlier this year.

The plant, located in the community of  Nain in the southern parish of St. Elizabeth, is owned by Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) Limited.

In a release on Thursday, Chairman of JISCO Alpart Jamaica, Liu Wanxiang said the shipment is a testimony to the management and staff of Alpart, many of who went beyond the call of duty to ensure that deadlines were met.

He also thanked the Alpart team for their work and commitment to the company and the Community Councils, which have worked closely with the company and the government and people of Jamaica for their support.

The company will host its “First Shipment of Alumina Ceremony” just before the ship leaves Port Kaiser for China on Friday.

In July 2016, UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell a 100 per cent stake of the Alpart to the Chinese state industrial group, JISCO.

The deal was worth an estimated US$299 .

It wasundertaken within the programme for RUSAL’s assets optimization and debt ratio reduction.