Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Samuda

Jockey International is hunting a buyer for its 56,000-square foot plant in Hanover, a fixed asset it will no longer need after its pull-out of Jamaica in six months.

Anxious to replace the 575 jobs that will die when the American company locks down its garment manufacturing operation, Jamaica's Ministry of Industry and Investment is working with Jockey to identify potential investors.

Jockey departs after 24 years in this market.

"We are trying to sell the factory for them, the physical factory - that's number one," said Industry Minister Karl Samuda.

"And number two, we are trying to attract other investors to operate from those sites."

Samuda said exploratory talks were held with an information technology company but converting the plant would have been expensive.

But Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) is in discussion with another local investor.

"I think there is one solid prospects coming out of Western Hanover. Our representative there has indicated that he had an investor. Robert Gregory and JTI are dealing with that," said Samuda.

Jockey International, which produces mostly under garments, said the closure of the Lucea factory was linked to the shutdown of its Cooleemee, North Carolina knitting facility, from which the Jamaica operation sources its fabric.

Jockey's US office did not acknowledge requests for comment. But real estate brokers say commercial space in Hanover fetches $20 to $40 per square foot. That price would not take into consideration the land on which the plant sits, nor the equipment.

The Financial Gleaner also understands that Jockey's Sandy Bay plant, which was closed last year, is also on the market. But those details were also unavailable.

Samuda said the pull-out of Jockey from Jamaica was not a surprise given the competitive economic environment the company was operating in.

"It is a new paradigm that whole entire industry is operating in. You are now dealing with an exceptionally competitive China, you are dealing with a NAFTA environment where Mexico has taken most of the factories and you are also dealing with a Dominican Republic," said Samuda.

The minister noted that while the Government was disappointed, as the pull-out represents job loss, it was looking in a different direction to provide jobs.

"We feel that there are other areas such as agro industry where the focus ought to be right now and not necessarily in the low-end jobs," said Samuda.

"We are looking for high-end jobs."

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com