On the Mongolian-Chinese border, superhuman patience is required. Lorries are queuing over a 130-kilometer stretch of road. It’s not only harming the health of the drivers, but also the Mongolian economy.

In 2017, Mongolia had been planning to export a total of 11.5 million tonnes of coal to China; however, coal export has slowed due to the limited capacity at the border crossing on the Chinese border; this has resulted in queues now exceeding 100 km.

In the year to date, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC has exported a total of 7.5 million tonnes of coal to China; 2.7 million tonnes from its West Tsankhi sector and 4.8 million tonnes from the East Tsankhi sector.

As a result of the queues and congestion on the border, the coal stock is building up at the Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC mine; currently this has risen to 3.6 million tonnes of coal.

The Mongolian government has been in close contact with Beijing about the queue problem for months; so far the border facility has not been extended. In the meantime as temperatures plummet to below zero in the Gobi one can only but respect the Mongolian truck drivers.