Venezuela-based Sural is lobbying the Government of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to restart the Alutech project which was stalled six years ago. Company officials made a presentation to the prime minister and members of the Standing Committee of Energy on Wednesday.
Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre confirmed to the GML Enterprise Desk that Sural officials, President Alfredo Riviere, director of the Sural Group Edgard Romero and the director of Alutech Dave Baijoo made a presentation on the “production of high-quality aluminium downstream products, and brought us up to date on the state of the project.”
The Prime Minister’s office released a photo with some of the aluminium rims that were shown to the team. Minister Olivierre explained that the aluminium rims and other downstream products are produced using patented technology. She described it as “an initial discussion and there was no discussion on where the hot metal for the products would come from. We have not reached there as yet,” she said.
The initial Alutech project was linked to the Alutrint smelter plant that was scrapped by the Peoples Partnership administration. Alutrint was to have provided hot metal from the smelter for Alutech to make a number of downstream products, including wheel rims.
Minister Olivierre said there was no discussion on the scrapped smelter project since “that is off the table and will not be considered.”
As part of the original initiative construction had started of the Alutech Technical Centre in the Tamana In-Tech Park in Wallerfield. But work on the plant stopped in March 2010 when state-owned Evolving Technologies Company Limited ran out of money. At that time the building was 40 per cent complete.
The Alutech centre was to have been the first of its kind in the Caribbean with robots playing key roles in the manufacture of pressed aluminium coils, billets and wheel rims.
Minister Olivierre said: “The new committee is becoming familiar with the project. The team, which met with us, made us aware of all the investment that was made previously.” She said: “It is early stages, we trying to determine whether there is any merit in it at all.”
As a result of those discussions she said that “we need to evaluate Alutech as an investment opportunity. Some US$20 million was spent five years ago. They have two warehouses with brand new equipment which was brought into the country prior to 2010. The equipment was brought in but not installed. We need to determine how to go forward.”
She said a “full evaluation would have to be done before any decision is taken.” As part of the process of evaluation Minister Olivierre said “a team will have to be put in place to look at all the issues, including employment opportunities.”
Alutech boasts that the technology used for the industrial production of cast aluminium products including wheel rims and automotive parts, allows for minimum waste and a high degree of precision using highly calibrated and automated machinery.
Through the patented Sural Advanced Neo Globular Structure (SANGS) method, pure aluminium is smelted and then processed by various machines along a mechanized line and aluminium wheel rims are produced.
The discussions with Sural and Alutech come at a time when arbitration remains outstanding in a matter brought against by Sural T&T over the scrapped aluminium smelter plant. But Minister Olivierre could shed no light on that matter.
In 2014, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, then in opposition, had raised concerns about a US$100 million claim in the United States from Sural, the minority shareholder in the US$400 million Alutrint smelter plant.
In April 2015, former Attorney General Garvin Nicholas said he was awaiting the judgment in the second Sural arbitration (at which his predecessor gave evidence on behalf of the state). In that matter, Sural Barbados had sued the State for over $700 million.
SURAL ARBITRATION
In February of this year there were reports that this country and Sural “moved closer” to settling the arbitration matter.
Sural, part of the Venezuelan based Sural Group of Companies moved in 2014 to vacate in part a roughly $2.4 million award issued in Miami by the International Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration.
The arbitration tribunal shot down Sural’s argument that T&T was legally required to buy out Sural’s interest in an aluminium smelter and production project. That project dated back to 2001 and began unravelling in 2007 in the face of a legal challenge over its environmental permit, budget increases and Sural’s failure to make a payment related to the project.
Sural then made two restructuring proposals bringing on board Brazil’s Votorantim Group as a partner. The Brazilian company agreed to buy Sural’s interest plus a return of Sural’s equity contributions.
This country later decided to partner solely with Votorantim and terminate the agreement with Sural. By 2010 the Manning government lost the election and the Partnership government was elected.
Sural then started buyout negotiations with the Kamla Persad Bissessar-led administration but those were unsuccessful and the parties went into arbitration in 2012.
A 3 member tribunal ruled against Sural in 2015. But the Company has argued that the tribunal erred. Attorneys for this country describe the bid to vacate part of the award as a delay strategy.
ATTORNEYS
Sural is represented by James D. Wing and Michael E. Hantman of Holland and Knight LLP.
Trinidad and Tobago is represented by Angelika Hunnefeld of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
The case is being heard in the US district court for the Southern District of Florida.