Guinea’s SMB Announces $1 Billion Investment to Expand Bauxite Exports

Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB), Guinea's foremost bauxite producer and exporter, has unveiled plans to invest up to $1 billion in the coming five years to enhance its river terminals and acquire additional vessels. This move is aimed at significantly increasing its export capacity, which reached a record high in 2023. Frederic Bouzigues, SMB's CEO, shared this development with Reuters during an African mining conference, indicating a potential annual export increase of 10 million metric tons starting from the end of this year.

In 2023, SMB set a new production and export record by shipping 48 million tons of bauxite ore, contributing to Guinea's six-fold increase in total output to 126 million tons. This growth underscores Guinea's position as a leading bauxite producer globally, a stark contrast to its production levels of about 20 million tons a decade ago.

Bauxite ore, which is refined into alumina for aluminium product manufacturing, is critical for the global energy transition. The planned upgrades at the Dapilon river terminal will include fully automated barge loading, an expanded barge fleet, and the addition of more Cape-size vessels to transport ore to deeper sea waters for shipping.

Bouzigues revealed plans to increase the company's Cape-size vessel count by ten, with total infrastructure enhancement expenses estimated between $500 million and $1 billion over the next half-decade. SMB's bauxite ore is currently sold exclusively to its Chinese shareholder, Shandong Weiqiao, but the company is open to collaborations with other bauxite producers in the region.