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Bauxite: a record first half, and a rising logistics bill
114.8 million tonnes exported between January and June, up 15%. Behind the record, a fuel-cost increase that weighs on every tonne moved.
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Guinea, the world’s leading bauxite exporter, shipped 114.8 million tonnes between January and June 2026. That is a record, up 15% year on year, carried by Chinese demand.
Who ships what
Société minière de Boké leads with 16.95 million tonnes for the quarter, ahead of Chalco (7.73 million) and Compagnie des bauxites de Guinée (4.13 million).
Port capacity has kept pace: the country went from five terminals in service to nine in a single year, with major works at Kamsar and Boké.
The flip side: cost per tonne moved
Two pressures push against volume.
- The rainy season, which from May to October constrains site access and loading windows.
- Fuel, whose price has risen by more than 80% in the wake of the crisis in the Middle East.
An operator billing by the tonne carried either absorbs that increase or passes it on. Either way, it shifts the trade-off between transport modes.
Why the barge holds up
On a river like the Rio Nuñez, draught imposes constraints the road does not know: seasonality, tide windows, idle time. In exchange, the cost per tonne-kilometre remains without comparison, and the gap widens precisely when fuel rises — a barge moves the same load for a fraction of the energy a road convoy needs.
It is that calculation, more than habit, that explains why river transport remains the answer on this corridor.
Sources: Mining Weekly, Mysteel. Photograph: Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0.
