Growing ecosystem for bauxite expansion

WITH ACCELERATED growth in the bauxite/alumina industry, subcontractors such as Conveyance Partners Jamaica (CPJ) Limited are preparing to cash in on the expansion by building out their own capacity.

The mining and quarrying sector was one of the largest contributors to the growth in the economy in the January to March quarter for 2018, according to the latest Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) report released in May. The sector, which is dominated by the bauxite/alumina industry, grew by an estimated 25.5 per cent, compared to the corresponding period last year.

The bauxite/alumina industry has been trending upwards since 2106, according to data from the Ministry of Transport and Mining. A total of 1.86 million tonnes of alumina was produced in Jamaica in 2016, after which Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), the country’s biggest refinery, was reopened in 2017 by new owners, China’s Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company Ltd (JISCO).

With a capacity of 1.65 million tonnes, Alpart’s reopening is poised to boost the Jamaican output to more than two million tonnes, by the end of 2018 and, possibly more than three million tonnes in the longer term, based on projections from the ministry.

In response to the growth, CPJ, a new company, closely aligned to the 18-year-old entity Conveyance and Konstruk’Shon Limited, has purchased 14 Shacman trucks, through the Tank-Weld Group, to add to its fleet of 14 trucks, which it subcontracts from independent operators, said Karen Lawson, spokesperson for CPJ. The Clarendon-based company is one of the aggressive subcontractors underpinning the country’s growing mining industry.

Shacman partners (from left) and Curtis Martin, acting managing director, JN Bank; Karen Lawson, spokesperson for Conveyance Partners Jamaica (CPJ); Keith Senior, consultant, JN Bank; Naomi Dawkins, managing director, CPJ; Chris Bicknell, Chief Executive Officer, Tank-Weld and Fisher Wang, commercial representative, Shacman.