La Guinée envisage d’instaurer des quotas d’exportation de bauxite

Guinea is considering implementing bauxite export quotas to protect itself against a collapse in prices for this ore, which is used in aluminum production. Guinea is the world’s leading producer of bauxite, but it is suffering the full force of rising shipping costs and a price collapse—prices have fallen by nearly 35% from their 2025 peaks due to unexpected production shutdowns within Guinea itself. If implemented, this measure would see Guinea following in the footsteps of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe, countries that have recently restricted exports of critical minerals, mostly destined for China. The Guinean plan would also inject an additional dose of uncertainty into the metals market, already disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East—a region that is a major aluminum production hub.