JB Ethanol Ltd., a fuel ethanol dehydration plant located at Port Esquivel in the parish of St. Catherine, is allowing our Group to take advantage of ready markets for ethanol which exist in North America, Canada, some parts of Central America and CARICOM.  The facility, which has the USA as the principal market for its ethanol products, also:

• Possesses a production capacity of 120 million gallons per year of Fuel Grade Ethanol;
  
  
• Has a storage capacity of 25 million gallons, following the erection of storage tanks for raw material (hydrous ethanol) and finished product (anhydrous ethanol);
  
  
• Can process locally-produced hydrous ethanol from Jamaican sugar cane – thereby providing an outlet for this product and directly supporting the privatization strategy of Jamaican Sugar assets;
  
  
• Utilized the expertise of several major international firms to help make the plant a reality – inclusive of :

                   o Dedini, a leading Brazilian company, which supplied the Dehydration Plant and Equipment;

                   o Chicago Bridge and Iron Works, a major tank construction company in the USA, which supplied and installed the tanks;

                  
The Group’s initial investment in the plant was US$20 million – an amount which represents the single largest investment in Jamaica’s ethanol industry.  In addition to the expected returns to our Group, the investment should reap significant benefits for the country as a whole.  With “clean” fuels such as ethanol being widely lauded for, among other things, their cost effectiveness, the generation of fewer greenhouse gases, the promotion of rural development and the generation of new export industries for developing countries, our Group regards this investment in Jamaica’s ethanol industry as an opportunity to help convert such potential into reality on behalf of the country.     

The plant was commissioned into service on July 23, 2007.  JB Ethanol dispatched the first of a 2-part 1st shipment of 3.2 million gallons to the USA on July 26 – completing the final part of that shipment on August 7.