Tapping potential

Mega project helps Guinea become key exporter of bauxite.

The SMB-Winning consortium comprising Singapore's Winning International Group, the French UMS Group, the Chinese aluminum producer, Shandong Weiqiao and the Yantai Port Group, entered the Guinea bauxite market in 2014, and has become a pioneer in using marine transport platforms for shipments. They have now opened up a bauxite transport route from Guinea to China.

In 2016, the consortium shipped 12 million tons of bauxite from Guinea, and, in 2017, the volume of the shipments was 32 million tons.

At present, the consortium can produce 50 million tons of bauxite per year.

The project has created more than 10,000 direct jobs for Guinea, and is the world's largest bauxite development project.

Since the beginning of 2018, the monthly shipments are between three and four million tons, and the plan is to exceed 40 million tons annually.

The companies involved in the project are among the earliest to respond to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Photos and story by Shi Jiamin for China Daily.