Roskill reports that Guinea’s mining minister has announced that the country is aiming to expand bauxite output to 60 Mt/y by 2020 to meet demand from China for the aluminium raw material.

Guinea possesses the world’s largest known bauxite reserves and its potential is being unlocked by investment from Asia and the Middle East.

Large-scale bauxite exports to China began in H2 2015. Singapore-based shipping company Winning International Group formed a strategic alliance with Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group (parent of Shandong Weiqiao Aluminium & Electricity), Yantai Port Group and Guinea UMS to jointly develop bauxite resources in the Boké region of Guinea called Société Minière de Boké-Winning Africa Port (SMB-WAP). Winning International Group holds 45% of shares in the project, which has $500 million of investment.

In October 2016, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) opened its new port facility at Kamsar in Guinea. Bauxite production is scheduled to commence in 2018 and ramp up to 12 Mt/y. As the company further develops the Kamsar port, enabling loading of Capesize vessels, shipping costs per tonne of bauxite will be reduced and Guinean exports will become increasingly cost-effective. This will continue to open up exports to Chinese and Indian markets.

Guinea exported an estimated 11 Mt of bauxite to China in 2016 and shipment volumes are forecast to surge in the future.