Jamalco plant in Clarendon, co-owned by Alcoa and the Government of Jamaica. - File

Alcoa on Tuesday announced that it had reshaped its regional structure, a move that will see Jamalco falling under the company's Latin America and Caribbean office and reporting to Brazil.

The Jamaican operation is also to be led by Jerome Maxwell, whose appointment comes more than four months after Alcoa lost its former managing director Albert Fabrini to chief rival Rusal.

Following Fabrini's departure - he now heads Alpart in Mandeville, Jamaica - Jamalco's refinery manager, Lascelles Spalding, was referred to by company employees as the man in charge, but communications manager Brian Doy denied this.

Yesterday, alongside news of Maxwell's appointment, Alcoa also announced that Spalding and another employee, technical manager Michael Simpson, "have elected to leave the company and pursue other opportunities."

Maxwell, who has been coordinating Alcoa's activities across the Caribbean and Africa, will now report to Franklin Feder, the new president of Global Primary Products - Latin America and the Caribbean, a division based in Sao Paulo.

Feder will also have "direct accountability" for three other regional refineries - one in Suriname, and two in Brazil - as well as two aluminium smelters in Brazil.

Alcoa's Executive Vice President and Group President - Global Primary Products, Bernt Reitan, had originally announced the reshaping of regional operations on October 8.

"Jerome will now lead the restoration of Jamalco's operations following Hurricane Dean," said Feder.

"Under Jerome's leadership, Jamalco will be on its way to establishing a new benchmark for world-class refining operation."

The company has not commented on how big a loss it suffered under Dean, saying only that its port facilities at Rocky Point took the brunt of the hit, and that its repairs would take some time.

business@gleanerjm.com