Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
DAMAGE SUSTAINED to the Gramercy alumina refinery in Louisiana is not expected to impact bauxite production in Jamaica.
The refinery, which processes Jamaica's bauxite exports, sustained minor damage to some facilities during the passage of Hurricane Katrina earlier this week, but head of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute Paris Lyew-Ayee says the refinery is now up and running. The refinery closed down for two days during the passage of the hurricane.
"It's not impacting on our production," he assured The Gleaner.
Bauxite production declined by 1.1 per cent last year, but overall earnings from the bauxite/alumina sector increased significantly last year raking in US$904.1 million, an increase of 16.8 per cent compared to 2003 figures.
According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica, these figures should improve this year. Alumina and crude bauxite exports are expected to increase to approximately 4.2 million and 4.7 million tonnes respectively.
Meanwhile, Gramercy is expecting the refinery to return to normalcy by the end of the week when the Mississippi clears. Lyew-Ayee explains that this should facilitate the return of several employees who live in the north who use the river to get to the refinery. Hurricane Katrina hit several Gulf States on Tuesday, including Louisiana, uprooting lives and property.
The refinery will have to make up for the two days of production time it lost during the passage of Katrina, however. It is not clear what the monetary value of this production loss amounts to.
