Guinea\u2019s bauxite exports surged 23% year-on-year in the third quarter, defying heavy rains and regulatory headwinds, official data showed.<\/p>\n
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Shipments of the critical aluminium feedstock rose to 39.41 million metric tonnes, up from 32 million in Q3 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Mines and Geology reviewed by Reuters<\/em> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The majority of the shipment went to China.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Monthly shipments from Guinea, the world’s second-largest bauxite producer, averaged 13.14 million tons in Q3, down nearly 19% from the first half as heavy rains disrupted mine access and slowed port operations, underscoring seasonal volatility in the country’s supply chain.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rebound comes despite a crackdown by Guinea\u2019s military-led government, which has revoked licences and pressed miners to build alumina refineries, creating operational uncertainty.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWith these volumes, Guinea\u2019s annual bauxite output is likely to land around 180 million tons, well below the pace set in the first half, but still more than 20% above last year\u2019s record,” said Bernabe Sanchez, an independent Mineral Economist focused on Guinea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n CHINA DEEPENS GRIP<\/p>\n Chinese firms controlled 54.6% of Guinea’s Q3 exports, led by SMB-Winning (17.51m tons), CHALCO and CDM-CHINE, according to the Guinean Ministry data.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guinea supplies roughly one-third of China\u2019s bauxite imports, giving Beijing growing leverage over global aluminum supply chains.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite a dip in steel output, China\u2019s aluminum production stayed strong with primary production growing by 2.6% year-on-year in Q1 2025, driven by electric vehicle and infrastructure demand, according to Chinese official data.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guinea\u2019s bauxite export surge comes as the long delayed Simandou iron ore project prepares for its first shipment, with most of the high-grade ore headed to China.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The dual ramp-up in exports deepens Beijing\u2019s grip on Guinea\u2019s mining output and cements Conakry\u2019s role as a key supplier to China\u2019s industrial engine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guinea exported just 78 000 tons of alumina in Q3 2025, the data showed despite the government’s mounting pressure on miners to build domestic alumina plants.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n –Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12974,"template":"default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-12973","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Guinea\u2019s bauxite exports surged 23% year-on-year in the third quarter||Guinea\u2019s bauxite exports surged 23% year-on-year in the third quarter","published_date":"2025-10-16 15:15:50||2025-10-16 15:15:50","news_description":"Guinea\u2019s bauxite exports surged 23% year-on-year in the third quarter||Guinea\u2019s bauxite exports surged 23% year-on-year in the third quarter","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18315,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12973\/revisions\/18315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}