Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 16 2022
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Mongolia plans to increase
coking coal and copper
shipments to China in 2022
MONGOLIA MONGOLIA plans to open three railways to exported 335,000 tonnes of copper concentrates
ramp up trade this year, said Batnairamdal to China in the first quarter of this year, meeting
Otgonshar, vice-minister of mining and heavy 25.6% of the annual objective, he said.
industry in an interview with S&P Global Com- Mongolia will only focus on the Chinese mar-
modity Insights. ket since transportation expenses to other mar-
The country suffered dismal trade in 2021, kets are prohibitively expensive. China’s market
and with China’s rigorous “non-Covid” border is large enough to absorb Mongolia’s expanding
controls and the impacts of the ongoing war in output, according to the minister.
Ukraine, its economy has not so far achieved the According to market sources, copper concen-
re-amplification planned for this year. trate from the Oyu Tolgoi mine was previously
However, with the additional three railway offered on trial to Japanese and Korean smelters.
lines, the Mongolian mining sector hopes to The government intends to construct a cop-
reach a new level, Otgonshar was reported as per smelter in Erdenet mine by 2025-2026, and
saying. another copper smelter in the Oyu Tolgoi mine
The Tavantolgoi-Gashuunsukhait railway is also being considered, the minister also said.
line will open in July, with 75% of the project Mongolia expects to sell 36.7mn tonnes of
completed so far, according to the ministry. coking coal to China this year, Otgonshar said.
eanwhile, the building of the Zuun- If the target is realised, Mongolian sales in
bayan-Khangi/Mandal railway lines began in 2022 would be 161%up on 2021. In 2021, the
March, with the country hoping to begin opera- country shipped 14.04mn tonnes of coking coal
tions later this year, according to Otgonshar. to China, representing one-quarter of the coun-
Despite transportation obstacles, Mongolia try’s total imports.
Mongolia increases
trucked coal exports in
April but short of target
MONGOLIA MONGOLIA has increased its trucked coal If the second major land border port,
exports through the Gashuunsukhait-Gan- Shiveekhuren-Ceke in the west, is reopened,
qimaodu land port during April to date, but is yet Mongolia’s coal exports could increase sig-
to meet the 300-truck-per-day target announced nificantly. However, Shiveekhuren-Ceke has
by deputy PM Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan on been closed since last October due to a surge of
March 23. COVID-19 cases in the region.
According to Fenwei Energy, 278 coal trucks Around seven million tonnes of coal have
entered China the port on April 18, the highest accumulated at the port.
number recorded since December.
P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 16 20•April•2022
