Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation on September 1 announced that it had become the sole owner of Gramercy Alumina LLC and St. Ann Bauxite Limited (formerly each owned 50 percent by Century Aluminum Company. St. Ann operates a Jamaican bauxite mine and related facilities pursuant to a partnership agreement with the Government of Jamaica and supplies Gramercy’s bauxite requirements. The Gramercy alumina refinery supplies substantially all of the alumina used at Noranda’s New Madrid smelter.
Layle K. “Kip” Smith, Noranda’s president and chief executive officer, stated: “We are pleased to have completed this transaction, which advances our vertical integration strategy. Bauxite and alumina are critical raw materials for Noranda, and 100% control of the operating assets in St. Ann and Gramercy provides us security of supply and long-term cost competitiveness for these essential raw materials. We thank Century for its strong partnership support over the last five years.”
“The support of the Government of Jamaica continues to be critical to the success of St. Ann’s operations,” he added. “We look forward to continuing and strengthening our partnership with the Government of Jamaica as we build a sustainable foundation for our integrated business in Jamaica.”
Noranda also announced today that in order to support increased customer demand, Gramercy and St. Ann will both immediately increase production. “We are very excited to be increasing our output during these difficult times,” said Larry Holley, president of Gramercy and St. Ann. “The ramp-up at these sites will support our key constituents, including customers, suppliers, employees and communities. The support of Noranda by the Government of Jamaica has been critical to our decision to increase production.”
Production capacity of alumina and bauxite at Gramercy and St. Ann is approximately 1.2 million metric tons and 4.5 million metric tons, respectively. The ramp-up of production at both locations is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2009.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation is a leading North American integrated producer of value-added primary aluminum products, as well as high quality rolled aluminum coils. Noranda is a private company owned by affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P.
