Bauxite bargaining: Guinea versus the aluminium multinationals

Abstract

Guinea possesses all of the “factors of production” (very high grade bauxite, hydro-electric energy potential, etc) which traditional economic analysis suggests necessary to permit local transformation of the raw material. However, raw bauxite from the important Boké site was shipped until recently to be processed in Quebec, and as of 1983 will be exported thousands of miles to be transformed into alumina at Aughinish, Ireland, then shipped to Lynemouth, England, to be processed into aluminium. The above paradox led to a study which has as its object to understand the causes which limit and condition the capacity of a bauxite producing country to negociate with the multinationals of the aluminium industry.