OREANDA-NEWS. UC RUSAL is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to sell a 100% stake of the Alumina Partners of Jamaica (‘Alpart’)  to the Chinese state industrial group, JIUQUAN IRON & STEEL (GROUP) Co. Ltd. (‘JISCO’). The amount of the deal is USD 299 mln. The deal is undertaken within the programme for RUSAL’s assets optimization and debt ratio reduction.

To facilitate the transfer of Alpart ownership, JISCO and RUSAL will also enter into a Consulting and Technical Service Agreement that will be effective 18 months from the closing of the deal.

Vladislav Soloviev, UC RUSAL’s CEO, commented: ‘We are very pleased with the achieved agreement. The deal is of financial interest for us, in that it does not affect the vertically integrated production chain of the company. RUSAL’s production facilities both in Russia and abroad fully satisfy the company’s alumina demand while the company-owned bauxite resources ensure our plants’ performance for the next 100 years and more.  The deal also strengthens our relationship with our Chinese partners, opening new opportunities for the future co-operation in other areas.’

Alpart (Alumina Partners of Jamaica) is a large production complex in Jamaica, which uses its own bauxite mines to feed alumina production. Before the shut-down of Alpart from 2009 to 2015, annual production capacity of the complex was 1.65 million tonnes of cell-grade alumina and 4.9 million tonnes of bauxite. RUSAL acquired a 65% stake in Alpart in 2007 following the merger of the Company’s assets with the alumina assets of Swiss-based Glencore. Since the acquisition of the remaining 35% in Alpart in 2011, RUSAL owned 100% of Alpart.

The deal has received the required approval by UC RUSAL’s Board of Directors.  The deal is also subject to approvals by the Government of Jamaica and by a number of state bodies in China.