Guinea bauxite shipments hit record on strong China demand
Guinea's exports of bauxite, a feedstock for aluminium, surged 39 per cent to a record 48.6 million tonnes in the first quarter though regulatory crackdowns sidelined major operators, official data obtained by Reuters showed.
Most of this bauxite was shipped to China, where aluminium production has recovered. In the first five months of the year, China produced 18.59 million tonnes, a rise of four per cent from the same period last year, data from its National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Guinea, which supplies around half the world's bauxite, has expanded port infrastructure to handle surging bauxite demand.
Guinea, the world's second-largest bauxite producer, shipped 312 vessels compared to 225 ships carrying 34.9 million tonnes in Q1 2024, according to Guinea's Ministry of Mines and Geology.
Shipments from Guinea soared even as an export ban on Emirates Global Aluminium's local unit, which shipped 3.6 million tonnes in Q1 2024, remained in effect, while a regulatory cleanup curtailed exports from other key operators including China Hongqiao's subsidiary AGB2A/SDM.
Current weekly exports of 3.7 million tonnes point to an annualized rate of 199 million tonnes in 2025, up from 146 million tonnes last year, said Bernabe Sanchez, an independent mineral economist focused on Guinea.
This underscores the sector's resilience amid continuing strong Chinese demand from the military-ruled West African nation since 2016, said Sanchez.
Chinese-controlled companies dominated the Q1 export boom, with Société Minière de Boké (SMB) leading at 18.4 million tonnes, up 41 per cent from 13.1 million tonnes in Q1 2024.
China’s state-owned Chalco increased shipments by 35 per cent to 5.1 million tonnes from 3.8 million tonnes, while AGB2A/SDM exported eight million tonnes despite regulatory challenges. The data further underscores China's tightening grip on Guinea's bauxite resources as Beijing ramps up aluminum production.
China imported 158.7 million tonnes of bauxite in 2024, with Guinea accounting for almost 70 per cent of supplies.
(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
