LONDON -- Canada's Alcan Inc is confident the supply of alumina to its aluminum smelters won't be affected by the national strike in the Republic of Guinea, a company spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
"We are constantly monitoring the situation in Guinea and we are confident we'll be able to supply our smelters," said Alcan's Crystele Ivins.
The nationwide strike continues to halt output at Guinea's large bauxite producer, CBG. Four metric tons of bauxite make two tons of alumina, which in turn is smelted to produce one ton of aluminum.
Alcan is a 45% shareholder in Halco (Mining) Inc., which holds a 51% stake in CBG. Alcoa World Alumina LLC, owned 60% by Alcoa Inc. (AA), also has a 45% interest in Halco, while Dadco Investments Limited holds a 10% stake. The Guinean government is Halco's partner in CBG.
CBG also operates a port at Kamsar for drying and shipping bauxite, with around 250 vessels carrying the ore to destinations across the world in a typical year. The bauxite mines supply refineries in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
Guinea, a key bauxite producer, along with Australia and Jamaica, dominates African production of the raw material. The west African nation contains 30% of the world's bauxite reserves and accounts for 94% of African bauxite production.