Guinea’s bauxite market remained firm at elevated levels in July, with the average landed price of imported bauxite moving further upward from June. Meanwhile, as the impact of Guinea’s rainy season intensified, mine transportation, barging operations and port loading efficiency were disrupted to varying degrees, resulting in lower weekly shipment volumes compared with June.
Prices
As of July 29, the SMM Imported Bauxite CIF Index had risen from $69.98/mt at the beginning of July to $70.87/mt, representing a cumulative increase of $0.89/mt during the month. The July average stood at approximately $70.34/mt, up around $1.32/mt from the June average of $69.02/mt.
Guinea bauxite CIF prices remained at $71/mt in early July, edged down to $70.5/mt in mid-July, and then recovered to $71/mt toward the end of the month. The July average was approximately $70.75/mt, up $1.25/mt from June.
By comparison, Guinea bauxite FOB prices remained unchanged at $39/dmt throughout July, with no significant adjustment during the month. Despite stable mine-side FOB prices, Guinea bauxite CIF prices remained relatively high, as landed costs continued to receive support from freight rates and shipment conditions.
Shipments
As of July 24, Guinea’s bauxite shipments in the four published weeks of July stood at 3.4063 million mt, 3.1869 million mt, 2.8320 million mt and 3.0697 million mt, respectively, showing an initial decline followed by a modest recovery.
Total shipments over the four weeks reached approximately 12.4949 million mt, with a weekly average of around 3.1237 million mt. This was approximately 16.5% lower than the weekly average of 3.7397 million mt recorded during the four published weeks of June. Weekly shipments fell to 2.8320 million mt in mid-July before recovering to 3.0697 million mt, although they remained well below early-June levels.
By port, average weekly shipments from Kamsar stood at approximately 1.8169 million mt in July, down around 33.9% from June, making it the main contributor to the overall decline in Guinea’s shipments. Average weekly shipments from Boffa, however, increased by approximately 24.8% from June to around 1.1794 million mt, partially offsetting the reduction at Kamsar. Shipment volumes from Boké and Conakry remained relatively limited.
Compared with the same period in 2025, the average weekly shipment volume during the four published weeks of July was still approximately 27.3% higher. However, this year-on-year increase was partly attributable to unusually low shipment volumes in certain weeks of the corresponding period last year.
Outlook
Entering August, Guinea will remain in the more disruptive phase of its rainy season. Rainfall may continue to affect road transportation from mining areas, barging operations and port loading efficiency, and Guinea’s weekly bauxite shipments are therefore expected to remain low and volatile.
In terms of prices, negotiations for August term-contract prices are under way. With freight rates continuing to fluctuate at elevated levels and mining costs rising across different producers, the market has become increasingly polarised, while the gap between buyers’ and sellers’ target prices has widened.
Should rainy-season disruptions persist and dry bulk vessel availability remain tight, Guinea bauxite CIF prices may continue to receive cost support. However, as downstream procurement remains largely based on term-contract execution and spot trading activity is relatively limited, the potential for further price increases will depend on actual transaction levels.
