By Andrew Green, Acting Business Co-ordinator 
JAMAICA'S BAUXITE/alumina industry will suffer no damage from the sale of the local assets of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation (Kaiser), said Parris Lyew-Ayee, general manager of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI).
Kaiser announced on Monday that it was exploring the sale of some of its bauxite assets in its global commodities business unit, which include its bauxite and alumina operations in Jamaica and Australia.
This is of major local interest as Jamaica earned a significant US$712 million (approximately $40 billion) from the sector last year and Kaiser's local operations produce close to half the industry output.
"Jamaica will come out the better from the process," Mr. Lyew-Ayee said. "Either Kaiser comes out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, or somebody else comes on who has the cash."
Kaiser is now considering expressions of interest from six potential buyers.
Local authorities have been approached to determine whether the bidders are seen as acceptable partners, he said.
"We have said we will welcome you with open arms and you will get the same kind of treatment as we deal with any of our foreign partners," the JBI general manager added.
Kaiser Aluminium Corporation, the parent company for Kaiser and the number three aluminium producer in North America, filed for bankruptcy in the United States in February, last year. It said then that its 65 per cent interest in Aluminum Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), and a 49 per cent stake in Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Company (KJBC), would not be affected.
But, "Kaiser made an announcement earlier in the year they called it exploration to see if anybody would be interested in the bauxite and alumina sector," Mr. Lyew-Ayee said. To emerge from bankruptcy, the company decided to sell off this less profitable side of its operations.
The exploratory offer involved the Jamaican bauxite/alumina operations, along with that at Gramercy in Louisiana,
United States, and in the state of Queensland, Australia.
"What is going on now is that the people who are expressing interest are putting their credentials on the table," Mr. Lyew-Ayee said. "Then of course, Kaiser has to go through the due diligence process to weed out the sheep from the goats. That is the process which is about to start."
The Jamaican policy is that the Government does not have to own any of the production facilities. "All we want to ensure is that we maintain viable, profitable operations. Our objective is to ensure that the industry stays on the growth path and can bring in the earnings the country badly needs."
Based on the direction the divestment process is taking place, "no matter where the chips fall, I think Jamaica will come out on the positive side," Mr. Lyew-Ayee said. "Our operations will continue fully on the same trend in terms of the expansion mode for Alpart because they are a good, competitive organisation right now. They have done remarkably well and can stand up to the tests of the global market."
