Coal transportation from the mines in Mongolia’s Gobi to China was suspended on 12 December by order of Mining Minister D.Sumyabazar. Every day, companies such as ‘Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi’, ‘Energy Resources’ and ‘Tavan Tolgoi’  transport coal to China by road from their South Gobi operations via the Gashuun Sukhait crossing

Last week it was decided that Mongolian custom officials would clear what is arguably the biggest queue in the world – a 120 km-long snaking line of coal trucks bound for China within eight days. Currently, the queue has decreased to 53 km and shipments via Gashuun Sukhait are expected to restart next week. On average 500-600 coal trucks enter China daily. One kilometre of queue consists of 35-40 trucks with a capacity of 70-100 tonnes.

Mongolia’s Mining Ministry has approved a new route for coal transport from the mines in Gobi to China. The coal trucks will offload their cargo at the Tsagaan Khad crossing and other trucks will transport it on to Gashuun Sukhait crossing. Tsagaan Khad is located 23 km from Gashuun Sukhait. Previously, the trucks had transported coal from the Gobi mines directly to China.