Jamaica bauxite/alumina company sold

UC Rusal plant in Mandeville amaica sold for US$299 million
UC Rusal plant in Mandeville amaica sold for US$299 million

MANDEVILLE, Jamaica— Aluminium giant UC Rusal has announced the sale of bauxite/alumina company Alpart Jamaica to Jiuquan Iron & Steel (Group) Co Ltd (JISCO) of Gansu, China.

A release on the Rusal website said the sale is worth US$299 million. Refinery operations at Alpart closed in 2009 in the fallout from the global financial crisis, plummeting metal prices and the high cost of oil.

Rusal and the Jamaican government agreed more than a year ago that refinery operations would resume at the close of 2016.  Alpart resumed bauxite mining early last year and there have been exports of raw bauxite from Port Kaiser, pending resumption of refining operations.