Mongolian ambassador Ts. Sukhbaatar has said his country is reaching out to China’s largest coal producer China Shenhua Energy in an effort to break a deadlock over the terms of the souring coal supply deal with Chalco. The impasse has led in part to Tavan Tolgoi being unable to continue to pay for the logistical operations of transporting and exporting the coal to China, he said.
Mongolia is now tapping Shenhua, which is in the running as a candidate to develop part of Tavan Tolgoi, to try to resolve the dispute. “What we’re trying is to deal with Shenhua as the principal and the gest coal company,” he said. “They have the infrastructure. They are an international company. Chalco has nothing to do with coal.” Mongolia has held some talks on the issue with Shenhua, with no clear results, he said.