China's High Bauxite Imports Show Aluminum Production Growth
By Reuters | 30 Jun, 2025

Despite high US tariffs China continues to grow bauxite imports from Guinea to feed its fast growing aluminum production.

A ship carrying bauxite from Guinea is unloaded at a port in Yantai, Shandong province, China May 15, 2017. Picture taken May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

Guinea's exports of bauxite, a feedstock for aluminium, surged 39% to a record 48.6 million metric tons 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 tons, a rise of 4.0% from the same period last year, data from its National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Guinea, the world's second-largest bauxite producer, shipped 312 vessels compared to 225 ships carrying 34.9 million tons 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 tons in Q1, 2024 - remained in effect, while a regulatory cleanupcurtailed exports from other key operators including China Hongqiao's subsidiary AGB2A/SDM.

Current weekly exports of 3.7 million tons point to an annualized rate of 199 million tons in 2025, up from 146 million tons 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 tons, up 41% from 13.1 million tons in Q1 2024. 

China’s state-owned Chalco increased shipments by 35% to 5.1 million tons from 3.8 million tons, while AGB2A/SDM exported eight million tons 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 tons of bauxite in 2024, with Guinea accounting for almost 70% of supplies.    

Guinea, which supplies around half the world's bauxite, has expanded port infrastructure to handle surging bauxite demand.

(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Sharon Singleton)