Despite seasonal rainfall and regulatory pressure, Guinea's bauxite exports in the third quarter of 2025 increased by 23% year-on-year to 39.41 million tons, higher than 32 million tons in the same period last year.
Data from Guinea's Ministry of Mines and Geology shows that this growth is mainly attributed to the strong demand from China.
The average monthly export volume in the third quarter was 13.14 million tons, a decrease of approximately 19% compared to the first half of the year, reflecting the impact of the rainy season on mining area traffic and port operations.
The military government of Guinea has strengthened supervision over mining companies, revoked some licenses and required the construction of alumina plants. However, exports still grew against the trend in the third quarter, indicating the strong resilience of the country's bauxite supply. Independent mining economists point out that the annual bauxite output may reach 180 million tons, although it is lower than the growth rate in the first half of the year, it is still more than 20% higher than the record level of last year.
Chinese enterprises dominated in exports in the third quarter, controlling a total share of 54.6%. Among them, SMB-Winning exported 17.51 million tons, followed closely by CHALCO and CDM-CHINE. Guinea supplies about one-third of China's bauxite imports, providing an important resource guarantee for China in the global aluminum industry chain. Despite a decline in China's steel production, aluminum output has continued to grow. In the first quarter of 2025, the output of primary aluminum increased by 2.6% year-on-year, mainly driven by the demand for new energy vehicles and infrastructure construction.
Meanwhile, the long-delayed Simandou iron ore project is also about to ship its first batch. Most of the high-grade iron ore will be exported to China, further consolidating Beijing's control over Guinea's mineral resources. Despite the Guinean government's pressure on miners to build domestic alumina plants, the export of alumina in the third quarter was only 78,000 tons, indicating that the implementation of the policy still lags behind.
Overall, the strong growth of Guinea's bauxite exports not only highlights its key position in the global aluminum supply chain, but also further strengthens China's control over raw materials, providing a stable guarantee for its industrial production.
