Coal export revenues set a new record

The National Statistics Office reported that the total foreign trade turnover of our country as of August 15 this year reached $12.2 billion, an increase of 28.8% compared to the same period last year. Of these, exports accounted for $7.06 billion and imports for $5.17 billion. In particular, exports increased by 31.8% and imports by 24.9%, respectively. During the same period, foreign trade generated $1.9 billion in profits. The foreign trade balance is up 55.5% this year, compared to a surplus of $1.2 billion at the same time last year. Among mineral exports, coal export revenues are far ahead. In particular, as of mid-August, our country exported a total of 12.8 million tonnes of coal and earned about $3.5 billion. This represents a 22.6% increase in physical volume and a 192% increase in value over the same period last year. Monthly coal exports in July reached nearly three million tonnes, the highestsince November 2020. In addition, the export of 1.8 million tonnes of coal in the first half of August shows the potential for further intensification of trade. If coal transportation continues normally, the goal of exporting 18 million tonnes of coal set in this year’s budget will be fully achieved by next October. The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that in the first seven months of this year, revenue from coal exports reached a total of $3.96 billion, effectively setting a new record for coal exports. Specifically, in 2019, our country exported a total of 36.5 million tonnes of coal worth $3 billion 74 million, which was considered high. In the first seven months of this year, we exported 11 million tonnes of coal, setting a new record. Although the total physical volume of coal exports this year is small, its value has risen sharply. However, in July and August coal export sales prices continued to decline.

Exports of copper concentrate rank second after coal in terms of revenue. As of mid-August of this year, Mongolia had exported a total of 907,000 tonnes of copper concentrate worth about $1.9 billion. This is a 3% increase in revenue and a 10% increase in physical volume. As for pure copper, exports were down 40%. Gold exports rans third in terms of revenue. As of August 15 this year, gold exports from our country reached 8.6 tonnes and brought in more than $500 million, an increase of 135% over the same period last year. Iron ore exports are second to gold exports in terms of revenue. By the end of the year, however, iron ore export revenue was $236 million, down 67% from the same period of the previous year. Nevertheless, revenues from zinc concentrate exports increased significantly by 53% to $190 million.

For other minerals, revenues from the export of fluorspar ore and concentrate decreased by about 50%, while revenues from the export of molybdenum concentrate increased by 27%. As for oil, exports have begun to recover, with 680,000 barrels of oil exported as of mid-August, valued at $75.3 million. This is significantly less than the same period last year, in terms of physical volume and total income, but the unit price has risen sharply. In particular, for the first seven and a half months of last year the average export price of oil was $60.3 per barrel, and this year it rose to $110.6, or 83.4%.Our country’s exports of iron ore, oil and fluorspar are declining this year, but exports of coal, gold and zinc concentrate are rising, a major boost to foreign trade profitability.

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