Earlier today (19 December), the Mongolian Agricultural Commodity Exchange for the first time, organised forward trading of cashmere. Two companies,Mongolia Cashmere World and Khatant International have signed agreements to purchase a total of 11 tonnes of the luxury fibre.

Mongolia produces a third of the global supply, and cashmere makes up 40 percent of the country’s non-mineral exports. The country trades MNT 700-800 billion of cashmere annually. Mongolia processes only 15 percent of cashmere domestically; the remaining 85 percent is exported. The primary global destination of processed cashmere is Italy.