Australia and Guinea to promote global bauxite production growth in 2021, Fitch estimates

Fitch Solutions has forecast in its recent industry report that new projects coming online in Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia and ramp-up in Indian and Indonesian output will drive the global bauxite production growth this year after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The American credit rating agency has estimated that new projects in pipeline will underpin the bauxite production growth in Australia, which holds 12 of the 32 new bauxite projects in Fitch’s Key Mines Projects Database, more than any other country.

Rio Tinto’s production capacity expansion at the Amrun project will boost the country’s bauxite output over the coming years. The Amrun project achieved its first production in December 2018 and increased operations to the full production rate of 22.8 million tonnes per annum in April 2019.

Resumption of Metro Mining production at Bauxite Hills mine in April 2021 after having to cease shipments earlier than expected in September 2020 is also estimated to contribute significantly to the bauxite production growth in Australia. Stage 2 expansion at Bauxite Hills also looks promising, Fitch asserts.

Besides, Mistubishi Corporation’s agreement to acquire a 30 per cent stake in Glencore’s Aurukun bauxite project in March 2021 is expected to stimulate the growth further. Mitsubishi plans to reach a final investment decision on the mine during 2022.

Australia is globally the top bauxite producer, accounting for around 29.6 per cent of the world’s total output in 2020. Fitch forecasts the country’s bauxite production growth to average 4 per cent year-on-year in 2021, following 4.8 per cent growth in 2020 as impacted mining firms recover from the covid-19 global pandemic.

Guinea’s bauxite sector, having the world’s largest bauxite reserves, will see solid production growth over the coming years, driven by a healthy project pipeline and substantial resource base, Fitch predicts. The country’s bauxite reserves are estimated at around 7.4 billion tonnes as of 2020, with production totalled 82 million tonnes, according to USGS data. Guinea’s bauxite production accounted for more than 22 per cent of global output last year.

Boke region has the deposit containing about 430 million tonnes of bauxite, and Société Minière de Boke aims to produce between 6 million tonnes and 10 million tonnes per year with production set slated to begin in 2022. 

In June 2021, Consortium inaugurated bauxite export railway spanning over 84 mile and connecting SMB’s Santou II and Houda blocks to port facilities at Dapilon.

Earlier, in January 2021, Australian firm Lindian Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese construction company China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) concerning the creation of an infrastructure development plan for Lindian’s Guinean bauxite assets: the Woula, Lelouma and Gaoual projects.