As of mid-July 2025, China’s bauxite supply chain stands at a crossroads, flush with incoming cargo but showing signs of lagging shipments. The latest Mysteel survey, dated July 11, 2025, paints a contrasting picture of China’s bauxite trade dynamics, revealing a week-on-week increase in seaborne cargo volume, even as actual shipments to Chinese ports dropped dramatically. The story here is not just about numbers; it’s about timing, trade strategies, and potential implications for the aluminium supply chain.
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Seaborne volumes climb, driven by Guinea
The headline figure is clear: China’s seaborne bauxite cargoes (bauxite currently in transit) reached 1.638 million tonnes, up by 98,260 tonnes W-o-W. The bulk of this increase came from Guinea, which contributed 1.497 million tonnes, marking a significant jump of 119,400 tonnes week-on-week to 1.378 million tonnes. This surge underscores Guinea’s continued dominance as China’s leading bauxite supplier, even amid internal political instability and export uncertainties that have plagued the West African nation in recent quarters.
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