In July of 2018, the gross industrial output reached MNT 1.3 trillion, decreased by MNT 184.6 billion (12.8%) compared to the previous month.

The seasonally adjusted industrial production index in July 2018 was 174.7 (2010=100), increased by 7.7% from the same period of the previous year, by 14.7% from the end of the previous year and by 2.9% from the previous month.

In the first 7 months of 2018, in mining sector, productions of copper concentrate, zinc concentrate, gold, fluorspar and gravel are increased by 1.3-59.5 %. In manufacturing sector, and production of production of vacuum windows and doors, beer, alcoholic beverage, fodder, buuz and dumpling, sausage products, combed cashmere, cashmere products and wooden products are increased by 5.2-6.5%.

On the other hand, in mining sector, productions of coal, molybdenum concentrate, crude oil and iron are decreased by 3.8-15.6%. In manufacturing sector, productions of cathode copper, wooden window and door, and horse meat are decreased by 3.7-95.7%. In the first 7 months of 2018, the sales of industrial production reached MNT 10.0 trillion and MNT 7.1 trillion (70.7%) of sales were exported.
Source: the National Statistics Office

Tax revenue reached MNT 4.5 trillion, increased by MNT 1.1 trillion or 33.0 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. This growth was mainly influenced by increases of MNT 291.6 billion or 34.1 percent in value added tax, MNT 277.7 billion or 31.5 percent in income tax, MNT 168.4 billion or 68.5 percent in excise taxes, MNT 145.0 billion or 20.5 percent in social security income, MNT 108.5 billion or 33.0 percent in other taxes and MNT 102.8 billion or 39.0 percent in revenue of foreign activities.

The General Government revenue accounted for 79.6 percent of tax revenue, 10.3 percent of non-tax revenue, 7.3 percent of the future heritage fund and 2.8 percent of stabilization fund.

In the first 7 months of 2018, total expenditure and net lending of the General Government Budget amounted to MNT 4.8 trillion, increased by MNT 271.9 billion or 6.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. This growth was caused by increases of MNT 199.5 billion or 5.2 percent in current expenditure, MNT 76.0 billion or 69.5 percent in net lending, even though there was a decrease of MNT 3.6 billion or 0.6 percent in capital expenditure compared to the same period of the previous year.

The General Government expenditure and net lending accounted for 84.3 percent of current expenditure, 11.8 percent of capital expenditure and 3.9 percent of net lending.

Source: National Statistics Office of Mongolia

It was mainly driven by increases of MNT 46.4 thousand (9.1 percent) in income from wages and salaries and MNT 28.5 thousand (41.7 percent) in income from non-agricultural production and services.
In the second quarter of 2018, monthly average household real monetary income (effects of price change have removed) was MNT 982.9 thousand, increased by MNT 56.4 thousand (6.1 percent) compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the second quarter of 2018, monthly average household monetary expenditure amounted to MNT 1.1 million, increased by MNT 96.7 thousand (9.7 percent) compared to the same period of the previous year.
This increase was mainly driven by an increase of MNT 73.1 thousand (9.7 percent) in non-food expenses and services and other expenditure.

In the second quarter of 2018, monthly average household real monetary expenditure (effects of price change have removed) was MNT 1025.0 thousand, increased by MNT 22.9 thousand (2.3 percent) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office of Mongolia

Copper fell 2% to $2.6770 a pound or $5,902 a tonne on the Comex market in New York bringing its losses over just two months of trading to nearly 20% or $1,450 a tonne.

China consumes nearly half the world's copper and data released today showed fixed investment in manufacturing, real estate and infrastructure for the first seven months came in well below expectations at 5.5% year on year.

In a research note, Capital Economics says on a monthly basis this means that growth recorded its slowest pace on record declining from 5.7% in June to 3% last month.

The independent researcher says there are further downside risks to the Chinese economy in the coming months because credit growth is still slowing:

The recent strength of exports is also unlikely to be sustained in the face of expanding tariffs and cooling global growth.

Admittedly, infrastructure spending may soon bottom out given the recent shift toward a looser fiscal stance and monetary easing should eventually drive a turnaround in credit growth.

However, these are unlikely to put a floor beneath economic growth until the middle of next year.

Safer supply
Workers at the Escondida mine in Chile, the only copper operation with output of over one million tonnes per year, called off a strike set to kick off on Tuesday, extending negotiations with part-owner operator BHP.

The extension follows five days of closely-watched talks over pay at the mine that have been mediated by the government of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

“We’ve managed to clear up the points that had stalled the negotiation. But there are still some important points to be resolved,” the union said in a short statement, without giving further detail.

Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP also said in a statement that it had agreed to extend talks with the union through Tuesday.

In its last known offer more than two weeks ago, BHP offered a signing bonus of about $18,000, plus separate bonuses intended to buy out clauses in a previous contract that allowed for housing benefits and a loan program.

The total package was valued at $27,700, including a salary increase of 1.5 percent.

But the union had asked for a signing bonus almost double that offered by the company, and had requested a salary increase of 5 percent, leaving a wide gap between the two sides.

The union said it would have to take any potential deal on Tuesday back to its members for approval.

A 44-day strike in February-March last year crippled production at Escondida, which BHP expects will produce more than 1.2m tonnes in 2018 (up from 925kt last year).

Nio started selling its first vehicle, the ES8 SUV, in December – three years after the company was founded. The vehicle comes with a price tag of $65,000, or about half the current price of the most basic version of Tesla’s Model X SUV in China.

The Chinese company is seeking to launch the more affordable ES6 sport-utility vehicle next year and bring out a sedan called the ET7 in 2020. “We are generally targeting to launch a new model every year in the near future as we ramp up our business,” the company said in Monday’s filing.

Like Tesla, Nio is burning through money. The company had a net loss of $502.6 million on less than $7 million in revenue in the first half of 2018, according to the filing.

Nio’s move to sell shares in the US comes at a time when Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a plan to set up a gigantic factory in Shanghai, China to corner a market where the government is promoting new-energy vehicles with incentives for buyers.

According to Bloomberg estimates, by 2040, more than half of all new car sales and a third of the world’s automobile fleet, which is 559 million vehicles, will be electric.

Within the frames, a comprehensive measures are intended, such as establishment of coal processing plant, introduction of electric heaters and liquefied gas into use and housing program for ger area residents. These measures are believed to contribute to the reduction of air pollution by 50 percent.

To see the implementation process of the Government resolution, Head of the Cabinet Secretariat of Government G.Zandanshatar and authorities of 'Erdenes Mongol' LLC worked at 'Tavantolgoi Tulsh' Company on August 13.

The company is capable of producing 100 thousand tons of processed fuel per year. Price for five tons of processed fuel is about MNT150 thousand or cheaper than that of raw coal. Experiment showed that five kilograms of processed coal retain its heat for eight hours, said J.Batbileg, general engineer of Tavantolgoi Tulsh Company.

Calculating that a household of ger area in the city burns five tons of coal annually, then annual coal consumption of 214 thousand households of ger area will be over a million tons. As the coal of Tavantolgoi deposit has high calories, the needs are likely to be entirely satisfied if plants produce over 600 thousand tons of processed fuel.

There are 52 thousand ger households living in central area of the capital city, 97 thousand households in western area and over 53 thousand in eastern area. It plans to produce 300 thousand tons of processed fuel in total.

The same day, G.Zandanshatar also visited a South Korean company which produces processed fuel.

M.Unurzul

The Mongolian prime minister made the remarks when meeting with South Korean Ambassador to Mongolia Jong Jae Nam.

"We are ready to take necessary measures to bring bilateral relations and cooperation between Mongolia and South Korea to a new level for the benefit of both peoples," Khurelsukh said.

The two countries should make progress on mutual visa-free travel for ordinary citizens, the prime minister said.

Khurelsukh paid his first overseas trip to South Korea in January since he took office last October.

During his visit, the South Korean government expressed its willingness to support Mongolia on combating air pollution in its capital city, with a soft loan worth 500 million U.S. dollars within the framework of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1990.

The largest digital currency fell as much as 6.2 percent to $5,887 as of 10:44 a.m. in Hong Kong, the lowest level since June, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. Ether sank 12 percent, while all but one of the 100 biggest cryptocurrencies tracked by Coinmarketcap.com recorded declines over the past 24 hours. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies dropped to $190 billion, from a peak of around $835 billion in January.

While Bitcoin and its peers rallied in July on hopes that a Bitcoin-backed exchange-traded fund would attract new investors to the world of virtual currencies, U.S. regulators have yet to sign off on multiple proposals for such a product. The letdown has coincided with growing concern that entrepreneurs who raised crypto-denominated funds via initial coin offerings are now cashing out of coins such as Ether.

Bitcoin has now dropped about 23 percent in August, extending its retreat this year to 58 percent.