Following the political turmoil in Guinea, the price of the country’s bauxite hit new highs on Monday, in reaction to the tension generated.
Guinea produces the second highest-number of bauxite in the world. The raw material is essential for the production of alumina used in making aluminum metal, and also exported to China.
According to China, Guinean bauxite prepared for delivery to China was last bought by Asian Metal at $50.50 a tonne, up 1% from Friday and the highest since March 16, 2020.
The toppling on Sunday of Guinea’s President Alpha Conde by a unit of the army also widened a rally in aluminium prices to the highest rises in about a decade, causing shares in the prices of aluminum companies, Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL)and Rusal (RUAL.MM) to enjoy significant increments.
Panic-buying and other yet-to-be identified factors are believed to have influenced the increase in prices in the country which produced 88 million tonnes of bauxite in 2020.
There are fears that mining may be affected in the country following the unrest with many companies observing the situation on the next line of action.