Guinea AGB2A plans to produce about 300,000mt of bauxite in September, up from about 100,000mt in August, reported local Chinese media. AGB2A is a partnership between Guinean company GIC (58pc), and Chinese firm Contemporary (42pc).
Uncertainty loomed large over Guinean bauxite supply to China following a coup in the West African nation last Sunday.
This announcement comes after the Coup leader Mamadi Dumbuya’s assurance to mining companies on Sept 7. He instructed mining corporations to resume production and assured them that the curfew will be lifted in the mining areas.
Due to heavy rainfall in August AGB2A’s bauxite output dropped in the month and the company plans to recover to an output of 300,000mt in September as rainfall is expected to weaken from mid-Sept, mentioned reports. From October, the Guinean bauxite producer plans to push its monthly bauxite production to 600,000mt to 400,000mt.
The company has an inventory of about 100,000mt and in the first eight months of this year, its bauxite production totalled about 1.2mn mt, down from 1.4mn mt in the prior-year period.
Currently, the price of Guinean bauxite or Al 2 O 3 45pcmin SiO 2 3pc max in China is US$50-52/mt cif, an increase of $1/mt from the last weekend.