A second month of decline in alumina exports from Jamalco — the larger of the two operational refineries in Jamaica — and lower-than-capacity sales by Windalco has positioned the country to repeat last year’s lacklustre performance in export of the commodity.

Recent data from the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) showed that Jamalco’s alumina export fell by 12.2 per cent in September from year-earlier levels, following a 23.3 per cent decline in the prior month.

At the same time, 48,493 tonnes left Port Esquivel in Old Harbour, St Catherine, in September after the first set of shipments — totalling 50,599 tonnes — since it reopened its Ewarton plant in July was made by Windalco in August.

Windalco Ewarton expects to produce 321,000 tonnes of alumina for a half year’s production from its 650,000-tonne capacity, but is exporting at a rate that will yield sales of closer to 250,000 tonnes for 2010.

What’s more, Jamalco’s exports for the first nine months of the year was 73,670 tonnes lower than the comparative period in 2009.

Even if the Clarendon-based operations attains last year’s final quarter export levels of just under 370,000 tonnes, total export volume of alumina will likely come in at 1.57 million tonnes or 17.6 per cent lower than in 2009.

At present, alumina prices up to May this year were estimated to be 25 per cent higher than a year before. So if the prices hold Jamaica should see an modest increase in earnings from alumina this year of approximately three per cent.

On the other hand, crude bauxite export for Port Rhoades for the first nine months of 2010 stood at 4.04 million tonnes, or 56 per cent higher than the comparative period last year and higher than export of the commodity for all of last year. Bauxite prices up to May were tracking at 12.2 per cent above year-earlier levels.