Total capacities of Mongolia-China border crossings will reach over 225 million tonnes in the coming five years, easily handling 100 million tonnes of coal, Zoljargal Jargalsaikhan Zolo, executive director of Mongolian Coal Association, said at an industry conference on March 8.

 

Mongolian miners aim to provide reliable supply of coal through transparent trade, good transport logistics and constant quality, Zolo said in a speech delivered at the 2024 China Coal Import International Summit in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian province.

 

 

Mongolia boasts 173.5 billion tonnes of geological coal resources and 33.27 billion tonnes of approved reserves, among which, 0.75 billion tonnes are anthracite (2.25%), 10.23 billion tonnes bituminous (30.75%) and 22.29 billion tonnes lignite (67%).

 

In 2023, the country's coal exports reached 69.6 million tonnes, up for the second straight year and the highest in history, data showed. The share of Mongolian coal also increased to 14.7% in China's coal imports last year.

 

However, Zolo noted coal exports are expected to fall 13.8% to 60 million tonnes in 2024, citing logistics as the biggest challenge to boosting sales to China.

 

In order to reduce risks in the coal trade, the Mongolian government issued Resolution #362 on October 5, 2022, that the Mongolian side will take responsibility for delivering coal from mines to the border of China.

 

On December 14, 2022, Mongolia issued Resolution #499 on the digital trade of coal on the mineral exchange for state-owned coal mines. On July 1, 2023, the Law on Mining Production Exchange came into effect.

 

As of the end of 2023, Mongolian miners sold a cumulative 15.1 million tonnes of coal on the mineral exchange, data showed. Over January-February, 3.9 million tonnes of coal were sold on the exchange.

 

Zolo predicted the share of coal trade by mining company ETT on the mineral exchange to be 50% in 2024. Some private coal mining companies have also participated on the exchange.

 

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