Commodity trading

What the service covers

• Trading licence from the ministry of mines or of trade.
• Customs registration and export regime by category of ore.
• Review of offtake contracts and the incoterms chosen.
• Local content and subcontracting obligations, where they exist.

In practice

Trading ores such as bauxite or iron is about volumes, grades and lifting schedules more than the licence itself. The licence allows buying and exporting; the contracts set who loads, where, when, at what price, and who bears the risk in transit. Producing countries often regulate exports: quotas, reference prices, export taxes or local processing requirements. These rules change, and a long contract provides for what happens when they do. Offtake contracts are most often drafted under the International Chamber of Commerce Incoterms (FOB, CIF); quality is proven by an independent laboratory certificate at the loading port. Guinea is the world's largest bauxite exporter, holding close to a quarter of global reserves and shipping by sea from the port of Kamsar; its Simandou iron-ore project, run by Rio Tinto and its partners, has entered production.

Framework and documents

In Guinea, bauxite is exported under the control of the ministry in charge of mines; in Sierra Leone, iron ore falls under the National Minerals Agency. Documents usually requested: articles of the local company, offtake contracts, quality and quantity certificates, export authorisations. The ore leaves by sea, from dedicated mineral ports: Kamsar for Guinean bauxite, Pepel for Sierra Leonean iron ore. The contract also sets the guaranteed minimum grade and the price reduction when it is not met.

Recorded on 1 October 2026; to be checked for each file.

What we tell you before we start

Other services

• Accounting, filings and audit
• Compliance, KYC and beneficial ownership
• Company formation
• Redomiciliation
• Mining permits: exploration and extraction
• Bank account opening