Guinea Instability
Affects Aluminium Output
The
political instability in Guinea is said to be affecting the
price of aluminium ore bauxite.
According to a Finance ministry document, the impact of
institutional instability led Guinea's output of the aluminium
ore bauxite to fall by more than one fifth, in the first nine
months of 2009.
Specifically, Output of alumina, which is refined from bauxite
to make aluminium, fell 25.3 percent in the first nine months of
the year to 361,410 tonnes, while gold production fell 26.4
percent to 359,610 ounces.
Chaos in the world's top bauxite exporter began with a December
2008 coup and ended in a failed assassination bid on its leader.
The document revealed similar falls in output of other resources
such gold, which together with bauxite form the backbone of the
West African state's economy and public finances, already under
pressure from a slowdown in global demand.
Income from projects run by mining majors including Alcoa, Rio
Tinto and RUSAL accounts for 80 percent of Guinea's foreign
currency reserves. Such revenues amounted to $149 million in
2007.
The report said Alcoa-Rio venture CBG (Compagnie des Bauxites de
Guinee), saw bauxite output of 8,299,780 tonnes in the first
nine months, a figure that compares with the record 13.7 million
tonnes it produced for the whole of Year 2008.
Reuters/Qasim/Yinka
