Mongolia’s customs has suspended the clearance of coal deliveries at a key border checkpoint into China for mining companies in the Gobi desert as it works to clear the road of a dangerous traffic jam. ‘It should last until the long queue at the border crossing clears, approximately one week to ten days,’ said a ministry spokesperson about the suspension on Friday.

Coal exports have helped lift the sagging Mongolian economy while foreign investment remains cool. However, less coal is reaching the Chinese market now than the first half of the year, while the Gashuunsukhait-Gants Mod border checkpoint into China is jammed as customs officials crack-down on smuggling. On both sides of the border, customs officials are struggling to deal with the huge number of trucks.

During the suspension, coal miners will not be allowed to load new trucks with coal for deliveries, the spokesperson said. He added that operations would resume immediately after the road is cleared. Companies will also be held to a quota for deliveries.

Hong Kong-listed Mongolian Mining Corp is currently allowed 40 percent of the traffic carrying coal to the border, according to a company spokesperson. The traffic queues of heavy-duty trucks carrying tonnes of coal stretched as far a 130 kilometres in October.

Traffic accidents are frequent on the narrow road crowded with trucks. Drivers essentially live out of their vehicles in winter temperatures that can dip below minus 40 degrees Celsius. The troubles at the border, which began last July, have already directly slowed growth in the Gobi mines.

Data from the National Statistics Office shows that during the first half of the year there was a more-than-fourfold increase; the appearance of the queue has reduced exports drastically. Coal made up nearly half of the total USD 4.51 billion earned from mineral exports during January-November this year – practically all going to fuel the Chinese economy.

Coal mining companies say a railway would deliver coal more quickly and efficiently, but the government has struggled to finish a line between the coal fields in the Gobi desert and the border.