Sanctions-hit Russian aluminium producer Rusal said on Tuesday it had started shipping bauxite from its Dian-Dian bauxite project in Guinea to its alumina refineries in other countries. Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer outside China, has been hit by U.S. sanctions imposed on it and co-owner Oleg Deripaska in early April, a move that damaged the company's exports and internal supply chain. The company said it had completed the first stage of development of the Dian-Dian bauxite deposit in Guinea, the world's largest, and started exporting the ore.