A. Information not published

SOHEDULE C-l - Major

,

C:ontrilmticns of the '1JaJ:h ts - Alumina Industry to the ,Economy of Jamaica

...

Exports

Hauxits-alumina values Contributions to government revenues 11

Bauxi, l '

Alumina Production Expprts Pe

r-cent

as.es cf ',: To'tal

~.\',~~tlE::.::.;t;S

Percentage {factor

_(~

Gross Exports Gpyt.

1;..-J bcJ:x::L~0

of total Year (thousand long tons) cost, million, National recurrent ::al1lmina govt.

!,

million; f.o.b.) Product

revenues eompani es revenues

,current _prices)

_{.~; (!,}

in riJ-il

^{l i}

^{on )} ' "

-1952 265 2 1.6 0.4 2 2 N.A.

N.A:

N.A.

1953 1,203 29 2·5 :N.A. 2 N.A.

.~.A.

N.A.

N.A.

1954 1,998 106 4.6 'N.A. 4' 'N .A. N.A.

N.A. N.A.

1955 2,5 29 184 6.3

1~

.,A. 5 N.A.

N.A.

N.A. ,N.A.

1956 2,575 207 8.1

_1O~4

5 ' 27 11. A. N.A. lI.A

1957 3,641 436 16.1 21.5 8 43 N.A.

N.A.

N.A

1958 4,799 373 16.5 '21.7 8 46 28.6 4.6 16

1959 4,197 399 15.6 20.4

^{"t '}

7 45 31.1

.~

4.1 13

1960 4,147 665 18.9 27;.5

^~..,

.: 8 ; 49 34.2 5.9 17

1961 4,975 703 20.0 30,0· 8 > 49 36.9 6.1 16

1962 5,987 628 22.1 30.2 9 49 40.1 7.3 18

Sourc~~_:Jamali:ca

Ministry of Development and l!elfare, Five Year Independence Plan, 1963-1266 (1963);

annual economic surveys of the Central Planning

U~it ,

arid Jamaica Commissioner of Mines.

11 Fiscal years ending March 31 of subsequent year.

N.A. Information not published.

r:

•

'ICN •

14/rNR/lOo

_1-j.pD8Ddix C I'age 21

,-:f.cll;,,,dditional alumina [,lant3 are restr-Lcted in tho ncar futureb;LPlans oftl1e .comparu es to expand in other countries. ,'Phe industry illustrate-;

in Ja1I\aica an cutstandi n.; case of bauxite helping 8 nmaLl d ev e.Lopi.n.g econom.if'·

"','

Australia

46,

Only since 1255 has_, Au~tr'l.lia been recocnized as, possessing the

.)

largest deposits of bauxite kno.u in the world, economically accessible.

; ,

i,lthouc;h bauxite was found in ilustralia as early as 1899, the explora-tions 'of deposits in No'rth~rn and H",stern Australia since 1955 by pt'i1rate companies have' indicated that the country has over' a third of the 1<otfdIS

commercial dep'osi tc;. As a result, it h , Government of Australia hopes the country

c~n

l;ecome a world

su~plier,[ireferably

cif alumina i'ather tvan bauxite, and possibly aluminium a" well, On a major international scale.

47. The Government had joined with the ship of very small alumina and aluminium

state 6fTasmania in the OT~mer­

j

plants placed in operation in 1955. The hauxite was imported rather

The uneconomical alumina and aluminium

than produced in the country.

plants (13,000 long toni of

•

..- ' . - . , .

ingot capacity in 1955) were protected, by im,'ortrestrictions to e'nOl'bie tl.e sale of the metal above the import nri co , This enterpri~~fe ~a8 turned over in 1961 to the control of private sriterprise by the government selling its hID thirds interest to a company, Connnonwea.I th Aluminium Cor-por-at i on (Comalco), ovn od by the Zaiser luminium company and an Australian mi n i.n g company. The Government of Tasmania retained its intere'lt. Comalc') had agreed in 1957 ;Ji th the Australian State of Queensland to develop, avery large bauxite conc e s s ion^{j v} c ondi.tionally also an a Iunun a pLant and ",fter 20 years;' tobuilcl an a l urmm um smelter, if requested by,.the st'at e 'or'e18e forfeit a third a the 'bauxite conc es si on , This' contract reflected the lil:ierali ty,of_jmil1tn~ concec;sionsin"ustr,,,lia, rU(j,ning

for 84

years. ' , :

-, ;.[' .

48'.' Carnal co has moved to enlari\,e the high-cost T';~manianenterprise, into an econom:i:cal one of'55,060

lone:

tori" capacHyand tddevelop the

E/CN• 14/INR/100 Appendix C Page 22

bauxite deposits of 'ueensland. The company announced plans for build-ing a 122,000 ton smelter in New, Zealand to use low-cost hydroelectric power, but this plan was ups et '''hen the Aluminium Company, of Arnerici'

joined in 1961 with other Australian mlning interests to build.an inteerated industry including bauxite mine, alumina plant and a smelter. The Australian aluminium market presently is smaller'than the output of Comalco arid Alcoa but is expected to .consurae the supply in 'a 'few years.

•

49. Both Alcoa and Coma'l c o are now produci~g bauxite,Alcoa for i.t~

alumina plant and Com';i;; for the

'rasmania~

plant' and for export to Japan. Alcoa also

e~p~';ts

^{some of i ts alumina}

to' _~new

^aluminium

producer in Japan •

. - ,'!: -.

C~malco'

^{late in}

1963j~ined

with' Canadian iil£miriium

. . r,

Li~ited and the ,French company Pechiney tq const~uct in eas~ern

Australia the larcest private alumina plant outside of North America

and alumina. With the presently possible continuation of bauxrt.e few years may be producing almost 2 ' capacity and a

Australia in a committed alumina

,nth a capacity of 600,000 long tons. This plant will use Comalco's

bauxi te from northern Australia. I't will replace the uneconomical alumina plant in l'a"m~riia and will supply alumina for export. The combined

capacity of this plant a~d Alcoa's, 300,000 long tons,will far exceed the market in'Australia for many years. Hence,Australia'will become

"'.'..',1' " ' , " ! .

a major exporter of both bauxite

.[",

,exports to Japan,

r'- ,\

million tons of bauxite per year from these two companies alorie.

50., However, the Australian government has placed. other bauxite concession'aires ,under pressure to become alumina producers also for the world,I!l,arkets. TI;i8 pressure raises a conflict, between the desire of compal'lies to obtain a firm hold on Australian bauxite and a practical time ,schedule for world markets to be able to absorb t~e al~mina. In

:L

1963, ,the government terminated a bauxite lease held by a British '"

affiliate of the Reynolds Metals Company because the company would not defj.p.i tely commit itself to build another alumina plant in Australia.

The gov~rnment is seeking candid&tes who will agree to build at least a 300,000 ton alumina plant and ultimately a smelter. Swiss Aluminium

•

~/CN

.

14!:J:NR/100 AppendixC P'lge 23

is interested. I":~d other companies. 'I'he Government also i.~sued in 1963 bauxite 18.3.888' to.the Fr-ench c ornpany

:F'eChine'y~'.

^{r equi r-Lnr,} that company

.,." ^{' , . "}

.to

st

ar-t eXP9rtin8);auxi te in 1965 ?t. rete not less than 250,000 tons per yea.r:., and to submi t 1<i thin three years c. proposal for developing .anothar-, a l umi.na plant.

51. The e,::_gerness of l~orei:gn private enter.prises. to see,k·Aur~tral,:i.an

bauxite eveh\1nderconditi.on s that may r aqud.r-o commitments to bvHiL' alumina cap!ici·ty ahead~of the demand Ls due t<l· a number. of ·cpndit i ons., First, there is the abundance of bood grade bauxite, economically

min~able and transportable by sea. Second, there is the politioal

security of an investment in Australia as compared to recent uncertainti'3s in nfrica, the Caribbean and South America. Third, there are also the decreasing reserves of bauxite controlled by some companies within Europe, and the need to obtain additional long-

term

^supplies. Fourth, there is the very 10'1 burden of payments to the Australian government under the income tax law and r ova I ty regulations. Such payments may be less than US 1.00 per long ton of bauxite compared with double and nearly triple t:'is fi"ure in the Caribbean area. Fifth, there is the economy of shipping bauxite or alumina in vessels of over 30,000 tons capacity at a very low unit cost compared to costs of land transportation. Sixth, there is the general expectation of the wor-Ld aluminium industry that mc:rket crowth will in a r-eaa onebl e time re(juire much more bauxite and alumina production. Seventh, Australia does have some 10>1 cost po1<er potentialities including coal ~n~ hy~ro projects that can support 9.1uminium smelters for export markets.

52. The effect of all these factors is to place Australia at present in a very favourable position as compared ~ith other less developed

countries. Australia now has the vote of confidence of the French, 31<1S8 and North American aluminiuIT. compcnics who only eight years ago had

locked confidently t ocar-d AfrlCE\ for additional ventures into bauxite, alumina, hydroelectric YC01<er and aLunnn Lurn srosltcr s , i,ustralia is

essentially an undsveloped country a.I so. Its rcopula tion (including New Zealand) of 18 million is only one-tenth that of the United States

:'!W.14/INR/1.00 Appendii'C' Page 24'

although the land area is nearly 90 percent that of the USA. The I.ustralian per capita income of nearly·706

(1961)

is only one-thitd that oft!le USA but nearly tuice that of Jamaica and more than nine

times,that of the Republic of Guinea. The bauxite and alumina industries

•

~o

the other less developed countries countries now face the compet:i t:l6n"for would contribute relatiyely more

than to Australia, but the other

these'industries from a country with a combination of political

stabili ty, moderate tax burden, and f'avcuz-abLytLoc.rt ed bal.1xi1;e of good

;;;rad'!" on't:he o'i'der of one-third of the present w"l'ld reservlilil.

,",-:1

- '-;'.

.,

,~" ..

i':'

•

^I'

-E/CN •14/nJR/100

AppendiJlOC

Page

25 '

APPENDIX TABLE e-l - Production and trade of bauxite in

1961,

by majorcoL'- tries (Thousand long tons).

~xnn~ts- - '~~bv countrL of destination4 _- _ . _ . - _ •. _ -•.,....:'--..l;.;:~-_~_,... _ ..'_. ._

._- -

-.... .., ... " -....-...u""r1.ca ^l!llA..I:U1Jf:3

Canada

us'A France-

w:rrerm;-"Tt'it1y--USSR1l/UK

Asia

O".hc:cs Japan Austra-

ill

lia o_C()~.t

c-. _.i

_o

.;

C:.Q:tJJJ.TIiI .

_{North Ani~rica: Europe :Asia All}

... . _ _, _ '''''''_' ,.,~.,.._ "'" " .. '. . Austra-. other Canada USA France W.

Ger~,>

^{Italy USSR}

ffi:/

UK

Oth~rs ·.i~~~-,==i:ia ·~~,.;."i~1~;

.::ccc

^{C_. _..}

.F.'r.2=

dUd~'

tion Total

·.Ei!iport·s·oy·"c·ountr;y-'0f-clestinatj::eft-·- .

'-.::":.

__

^..•__^.

-_

^..- --- , " ; '

.:.:._-.

^"..'.':~ ,:)

t./~"~~'ta

^not,:

~vailabi e' .,.::

" •. 1 _ _ • - • • • ~ • • • • •

13I/

Expo r-t s: ••. " ' , .•-.';: .~

!!,liJata

d~~ot

• ^add'• • • • • • '. • • • •

exacH!r~'6j;p'\ils

L~_·...;'.' .•

."'" ^{' . . , "',} ' . " ' , ' - ':...

..&howi'/,~because of- rQllJlding· v1ref'e

'~~1imaii/d

^figures'

arei~ci~~~~iin

.0the ·dS't-aH. . ,,; . ;:,.ee)) .-:·~;'6

226 1,159 (4'05 "1'68' ,1,;015···

19'·'L,,:,

144

World total ••.•• 28,305 ~15,806

Scu r-ce r US Bur-eau

.(}t

ilines, Minerals

t~arbook,

^1962, BaUXlte chapter

§:/

USSR and other Co~muri:tst nations of East Eur'ope

E!

^{US imports}

s!

^{Less than 500 tons}

Dans le document Africa and the aluminum industry (Page 160-166)