LaycanDeskBauxite and alumina bulk freight
Guinea bauxite to China on Capesize by barge transhipment, Australian and Brazilian bauxite, and alumina on Supramax tonnage. Freight for bauxite and alumina in bulk: Guinean bauxite from Kamsar and the Boké coast loaded offshore from barges into Capesize tonnage for China, Australian bauxite from Weipa and Gove, Brazilian bauxite from Trombetas, and alumina on Supramax tonnage, with the IMSBC Group A bauxite fines schedule and moisture certificates settled first.
Bauxite has become a Capesize trade. Guinea exported about 183 million tonnes in 2025, most of it to China, where Guinean ore made up about 74 percent of imports, and about 70 percent of the bauxite carried to China by sea that year went on Capesize ships. The Guinean coast is shallow, so ships do not berth: at Kamsar, bauxite goes out by barge to a transhipment point about 37 kilometres offshore, where floating cranes with grabs lift it into a Capesize of around 180,000 tonnes, some fifteen barge loads and four and a half days of loading. Australia ships from Weipa, which exports over 30 million tonnes a year, and from Gove, which produces over seven million tonnes and is due to stop mining in 2029; Brazil's largest mine at Trombetas produces 18 million tonnes. Since 1 January 2021 bauxite fines have been an IMSBC Group A cargo under IMO resolution MSC.462(101): shipped above its transportable moisture limit it can liquefy, and wet-season cargoes are the ones to watch.
Send us the cargo, the IMSBC declaration with moisture content and TML certificates, quantity with tolerance, load port or transhipment point with the barge and crane arrangement and the daily rate, discharge port with draft and rate, laycan, commission and the charterer's name. Guinea and Australia cargoes into China go to owners of Capesize tonnage; smaller parcels, secondary receivers and alumina go to Panamax and Supramax owners. Alumina is a fine, dusty powder carried dry in clean holds, so owners are asked about hold condition and the discharge method. The mine and the shipper of record come first, and every counterparty is screened before an owner sees the cargo.
How it ships
- Guinea: barge to offshore transhipment, floating cranes with grabs
- Capesize of about 180,000 MT loads in about 4.5 days at Kamsar
- Bauxite fines IMSBC Group A since 1 January 2021
- Moisture and TML certificates before loading
- Alumina dry in clean holds
Load areas
- Guinea (Kamsar, Boké coast, Boffa, Conakry)
- Australia (Weipa, Gove)
- Brazil (Trombetas)
Discharge areas
- China (alumina refineries)
- Other Asian refineries
Ships that carry it
Questions charterers and owners ask
Is bauxite still treated as a safe Group C cargo?
Not all of it. Since 1 January 2021 the IMSBC Code has had a Group A schedule for bauxite fines, which can liquefy above their transportable moisture limit, and a revised Group C schedule for bauxite that does not. The shipper declares which applies and supplies the moisture and TML certificates.
How does loading work off Guinea?
At Kamsar the ship anchors in deep water about 37 kilometres out. Barges bring the bauxite from the port and floating cranes with grabs lift it into the ship; a Capesize of around 180,000 tonnes takes about fifteen barge loads over four and a half days. Owners price the days at anchor, so the barge and crane arrangement belongs in the enquiry.
Does bauxite always go on a Capesize?
Most of the Guinea to China trade does, about 70 percent of seaborne bauxite into China in 2025. Panamax, Kamsarmax and Supramax ships take the cargoes where a port, a receiver or the parcel size does not suit a Capesize.
How is alumina different from bauxite on board?
Alumina is refined, dry and dusty, shipped in smaller parcels on Supramax and Panamax tonnage into smelter ports. Owners want to know the discharge method and whether dust controls apply, and holds must be clean and dry.