Commenting on complaints from private companies that the coal export price is too high, B.Altsukh, senior specialist at the Fuel Policy Department in the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, has said in The Mongolian Mining Journal that in Mongolia, the mines want to increase the domestic price and decrease that for export. The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Ministry of Finance jointly set the minimum export price, basing it mainly on prices in China. This price, inclusive of VAT and transport costs, varies between USD35 and USD40 per ton. Some exporters want the price to be pegged at between USD10 and USD20.

Explaining why this does not make sense, Altsukh says exporters cannot be allowed to undercut one another. A few years ago Tavan Tolgoi coal was sold at USD8 per ton. He advised exporters not to think only about immediate and individual profit, especially as the Chinese importers work very closely with one another. 

Favoring the establishment of a spot market for both local and foreign trade, Altsukh also wanted marketing of coal should be left to professional organizations, and not to producers. Once this is done, opportunities will arise to sell coal not only to China but to other countries, too. 

Mongolia now exports more coal than it consumes domestically. The State has been promoting exports and offering preferential terms all along. Altsukh feels it is now time to think about wider national interests. Exporting companies should have accumulated enough capital by now to invest in infrastructure and processing facilities, with or without State collaboration.