Guinea's top bauxite producer announces $1 billion investment for terminal upgrades and vessel acquisition

Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB), the leading bauxite producer and exporter in Guinea, announced plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next five years. On February 5, 2024, Frederic Bouzigues, the CEO of SMB, stated that the investment aims to enhance its river terminals and acquire vessels. This initiative seeks to bolster exports, which achieved a record high in 2023.

On the sidelines of an African mining conference, the CEO stated, "We can expect to increase exports by 10 million (metric tons) a year, starting at the end of this year."

The company achieved a remarkable milestone in the previous year by producing and exporting a record 48 million tonnes of bauxite ore. This significant contribution aided the West African nation Guinea, which is prominently ranked among the world's leading producers, in boosting its overall output to around 126 million tonnes—an impressive six-fold increase. A mere decade ago, Guinea's total bauxite production hovered around 20 million tonnes.

Bauxite ore is the primary source of alumina production, a crucial component in manufacturing aluminium products. Such materials are in high demand, especially amidst the global focus and investment directed towards the energy transition, which underscores the importance of critical metals sourced from Africa.

Expanding the capacity of the Dapilon river terminal will involve the following:

• Implementing fully automated barge loading systems.
• Increasing the size of the barge fleet.
• Accommodating more Cape-size vessels.

These barges utilise the river to transport ore to larger ships anchored in deeper waters offshore.

As for infrastructure upgrades, he said costs could range from $500 million to $1 billion over the next five years, “We have 50 Cape-size in-house, so we intend to have ten more Cape-size.”

He mentioned that the mined bauxite is sold only to Shandong Weiqiao, a Chinese shareholder of SMB, noting that SMB intends to collaborate with other bauxite producers in the area.

Ismael Diakite, the Chief Representative of the SMB-Winning Consortium, said, “The European Union has officially declared aluminium as a critical material … so because of that, demand will increase.”