As of November, in 2017 Mongolia exported USD 1.9 billion worth of coal, practically all of it (USD 1.86 million) going to China. This represents a three-fold increase in Mongolian coal export revenue on the previous year with the country benefiting from global price increase and an upturn in the Chinese economy.

The new demand has enabled the country’s largest mining company, Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, to increase the price of coking coal from USD 22 to USD 55 per tonnes. Located in the Gobi desert, the Tavan Tolgoi coal is trucked by road to China. This year the mining complex had planned to planed  to export even more –  USD 32 million tonnes of coal – however, the traffic congestion at the border, caused by inadequate Chinese facilities, has resulted in a decrease since July. Beijing has promised to solve the coal truck queue problem, so it is likely that the coal stockpiles at Tavan Tolgoi will soon be transported to China in 2018, further boosting Mongolian coal exports.