Guinea’s bauxite-aluminum industry is undergoing a significant expansion of investment, concession agreements, and in-country mining and refining operations. Emirates Global Aluminium's Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) project is likely to boost the industry further, being one of the largest Greenfield investments in Guinea in the last 40 years, involving US$1.4 billion for the development. In August 2019, the first bauxite ore exports from GAC had taken place, marking the completion of EGA’s strategic upstream expansion in the aluminium value chain.
So, with all these new investments and expansions in Guinea, the country is more likely to record a growth in bauxite exports. According to the international trade data, Guinea in 2020 is expected to export 66.15 million tonnes, up 3 per cent from the estimated export volume of 64.45 million tonnes in 2019. In 2017 and 2018, the country exported 43 million tonnes and 54.15 million tonnes of bauxite, respectively, which indicates the fact that Guinea is witnessing a rise in bauxite exports over the years now. While in 2018, the export volume raised by 26 per cent; in 2019, the export climbed up by 19 per cent.
However, the above data also indicates that the growth rate in Guinea’s bauxite export is likely to stand lower than the two preceding years.
In tandem with the growth in export volume, Guinea’s revenue from bauxite export is also estimated to grow. According to the global trade data, the country is expected to generate US$622 million, up 1.13 per cent from US$615 million.
China is expected remain the mainstay as a bauxite importer from Guinea. The former is estimated to haul 50 million tonnes from the latter in 2020. Germany and India are likely to follow China by securing 2.4 million tonnes and 1.06 million tonnes, respectively.
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