KINGSTON, Jamaica – The United States-based Century Aluminum Company, is to acquire Noble’s 55 percent ownership interest in the bauxite company, Jamalco with the transaction expected to be completed by month end.
“This acquisition is highly strategic for Century as it secures a predictable, long-term supply of alumina, our most critical raw material, and achieves increased transparency and control of our supply chain,” said the company’s president and chief executive officer, Jesse Gary, in a statement.
Jamalco is a joint venture between Noble Group and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP), which is owned by the Jamaican government.
In March, the Hong Kong-based Noble Group Holding Limited (NGHL) announced that it has entered into “a call option deed to transfer its entire ownership of General Alumina Holdings Limited (GAH), through which NGHL holds its 55 percent stake in Jamalco, to a third party.
“The call option, if exercised by the third party, will result in NGHL transferring its interest in Jamalco to an owner with significant operational expertise and supply chain capabilities. The foregoing transaction will divest all the NGHL Group’s interests in GAH and Jamalco,” Noble said in a statement then.
Century said pursuant to the terms of the agreement, a wholly owned subsidiary will acquire General Alumina Holdings Limited, a Noble subsidiary and owner of Noble’s 55 percent interest in Jamalco.
“Acquiring this interest in Jamalco allows us to integrate our aluminum smelting operations with this critical upstream supply of bauxite and alumina to create a more balanced and robust operational footprint, resulting in an organization that is better positioned to deliver strong performance through industry cycles,” said Gary.
He said with an annual alumina production capacity of approximately 1.4 million tons and a workforce of over 900 employees, Jamalco is a well-known and highly regarded organization with a world-class operational team.
The Ministry of Finance says the Jamaica government is looking forward to working with Century to maximize Jamalco’s value.
In November 2021, the refinery experienced a fire that engulfed the power plant, halting production for almost a year before partial production resumed on a single digester basis in August 2022.
In order to restore the refinery to its rated capacity of 1.4 million tons, a series of further investments, referred to as Project Restore, are required, the finance ministry points out.
“With the transfer of Noble’s share-ownership to Century, the necessary investments are expected to be made, in association with Clarendon Alumina Production, to improve Jamalco’s operating efficiency.
“Furthermore, Century is aligned with the GOJ on the priority of transitioning Jamalco from an unincorporated joint venture legal structure arrangement to a limited liability company structure. These efforts will therefore continue and are expected to gain increased momentum and achieve completion.”
