JAKARTA: Business Recorder reported that Mongolian coal exports fell by a third in February, the country’s statistics bureau said that, with bottlenecks at the border with China continuing to drag on trade. According to the National Statistics Office, export volumes declined 33 % to 3.25 million tonnes, while the value of coal exports dropped 25 % to USD 245.4 million in the first two months of the year.
Mr Mogi Badral Bontoi, chief executive and analyst for Cover Mongolia said that “The reason is obvious: the bottleneck at the border is causing exports to drop.”
Mr Bontoi said the number of trucks passing through the border is now a “fraction” of what it was last year.
Coal exports have helped shore up Mongolia’s struggling economy, but they have been hit by Chinese border restrictions. Trade slowed after customs authorities cracked down on the smuggling of meat and other goods into China last year.
Truck queues stretched as far back as 130 km on one border road for more than a week in October 2017, forcing Mongolia to close it down to clear traffic. Authorities plan to build a new route to cut down on congestion.
