CONAKRY, Jan 27 – Guinea’s bauxite exports rose 25% in 2025 to 182.8 million metric tons, according to official data, underscoring the country’s growing dominance in the global aluminum ore market and the scale of Chinese demand for its resources.
China accounted for a record 74% of total shipments, based on customs data, reinforcing its position as the primary destination for Guinean bauxite. The surge reflects Beijing’s continued efforts to secure upstream supply for its aluminium industry amid tightening global resource competition.
Guinea overtook Australia in 2023 to become the world’s largest bauxite exporter and has since maintained double digit growth in output, according to BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions. The trend continued in 2025, with 23 companies shipping bauxite during the year.
China’s state-owned aluminium producer Chalco led exporters with 22.1 million tons. It was followed by Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), which shipped 17.4 million tons and is majority owned by a consortium that includes Rio Tinto and Alcoa. SMB, Guinea’s first private bauxite exporter, and the largely Guinean-owned AGB2A and SDM joint venture each shipped around 17 million tons.
Although export volumes slowed in the second half of the year, shipments still rose 16% to 84 million tons during that period, highlighting the resilience of demand despite logistical and operational constraints.
China remains the main beneficiary of Guinea’s broader mining boom. Beyond bauxite, Chinese firms control more than 60% of the Simandou iron ore project, which began production last year, and hold stakes in gold and lithium assets across the country.
Chinese customs data show that the country’s total bauxite imports jumped 26.4% in 2025 to 200.5 million tons, largely supported by Guinean supply. A note from Citi estimated that by November alone, Guinea had shipped around 150 million tons to China, covering more than 80% of the feedstock requirements for Beijing’s 45 million ton aluminium smelting capacity.
The figures highlight Guinea’s rising strategic importance in global industrial supply chains, while also underlining the country’s deepening economic dependence on Chinese demand for its mineral exports.
