The first shipment from Guinea’s Simandou iron ore project has remained stuck at anchor more than two weeks after loading began, reports Caixin. A dispute over locomotives and rising geopolitical friction is the cause of stalled progress at one of the world’s largest iron ore reserves.
On Nov 11, Simandou began loading 9,850 tonnes of ore at Marébaia anchorage onto the Winning Youth, a 200,000-ton Capesize bulk carrier operated by project stakeholder Winning International Group. Despite a floating transfer platform capable of moving 5,000 tonnes per hour, the vessel still has not departed.
Sources said that mine output is not the bottleneck. The core issue is insufficient rail transport: only four locomotives from US-based Wabtec Corp have arrived, allowing just two engines per train, severely limiting how much ore can be transported from the mine to the coast each day.