According to Arnaud Soirat, chef executive for copper and diamonds at Rio Tinto, increased consumption from new technologies, including electric vehicles, will drive demand for the metal and its by-products, he said.

“We anticipate global market supply and demand will keep close to balance in 2019 and 2020,” he said, noting that after that the deficit will become increasingly evident.

The outlook is widely shared by other experts, including CRU analyst Hamish Sampson. According to him, unless new investments arise, existing mine production will drop from 20 million tonnes to below 12 million tonnes by 2034, leading to a supply shortfall of more than 15 million tonnes.

Over 200 copper mines currently in operations will reach the end of their productive life before 2035.
The situation looks even worse when considering that over 200 copper mines currently in operations will reach the end of their productive life before 2035, Sampson said on Monday.

Only if every single copper project currently in development or being studied for feasibility is brought online before then, including most discoveries that have not yet reached the evaluation stage, the market could meet projected demand, the consultant said.

Colin Hamilton, managing director of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets, fully agrees with Sampson. He told MINING.com on Tuesday that even when there was an apparent rise in copper inventories on exchanges around the world, which somehow has dented confidence in the metal, the outlook is very positive.

“What we’ve seen is a shift from invisible to visible stockpiles,” Hamilton said, adding that Chinese inventories so far this year are at the lowest levels in recent times.

Delivery to exchanges, however, does weigh on prices because of data-driven investors, which adds to the facts that shareholders are still somewhat opposed to companies investing in new projects and exploration. “They just want returns,” Hamilton said.

He believes the expected copper supply crunch will become “much more real” in 2019, due to the lack of mega-projects coming on stream before the mid-2020s and as global production will peak by the second half of next year.

Mongolian delegates to the discussion was headed by L.Purevsuren, Ambassador of Mongolia to the Swiss Confederation and Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. Establishing the first Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan is new for Mongolian trade policy and it is bringing marked changes. Purpose of the agreement is to increase trade and investment between the two countries, exchange technologies, diversify export and strengthen business relations, emphasized Ambassador, Permanent Representative L.Purevsuren in his speech, also informing that it will pay attention to implement the agreement mutually beneficial in future.

During the discussion, delegations from Mexico, the European Union, the United States, Taiwan and Canada expressed their views on the agreement. The EU and U.S part appreciated the reflection of online trade in the agreement considering it contributive to move forward issues in Multilateral Trade Agreements in the future. Moreover, they requested information on actions to improve business environment.

Negotiations on establishing the EPA commenced in June, 2012 and it came into effect on June 7, 2016, as signing the agreement on February, 2015.

B.Batchimeg

The team foresees that growth is expected to remain strong in 2018 but, amid still high public debt, several risks remain including changes in global commodity demand and bottlenecks at the border. The report highlights that all end-December quantitative performance criteria were met, generally by large margins. “Of the 10 structural benchmarks for the review, five were met, three (tax administration legislation and a recapitalization law) will likely be passed in the Spring parliamentary session and two are unlikely to be implemented. In addition, the authorities reversed three fiscal measures considered during previous reviews,” assessed the IMF staff team on the program implementation.

Heenam Choi, Executive Director for Mongolia, remarked “The EFF program, official sector support and a favorable external environment wahave supported a strong economic recovery in Mongolia. The authorities undertook extensive economic reforms that have strengthened macroeconomic fundamentals. As a result, the fiscal deficit and public debt are decreasing at a much faster pace than projected at the time the EFF was approved. Inflation is within the target range; the exchange rate has stabilized and foreign reserves have continued to rise.

The authorities’ commitment to the program objectives, fiscal discipline and prudent monetary policy have played a key role in the economic revival of the country.” He underlined that quantitative targets for the end of 2017 were exceeded by considerable margins. “Most structural benchmarks were either met or, in the case of the revised taxation laws and bank recapitalization law, will be implemented with a short delay. Some policy measures were revised after widespread public objection. The authorities are aware that there is no room for complacency. They are committed to pursuing a tight fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, together with implementation of reforms under the program to strengthen macroeconomic stability, build buffers and promote inclusive growth,” concluded Mr Heenom Choi.

His speech at the Boao Forum for Asia - often referred to as Asia's Davos - appears to be an attempt to calm a trade row with the US.

He pledged to cut import tariffs on cars and relax requirements for foreign firms investing in China.

But there were few specifics on when the changes would happen.

Mr Xi made no specific references to the ongoing spat with the Washington which has seen both sides announce tit-for-tat plans to slap tariffs on imports.

But in a veiled swipe at US President Donald Trump's America First stance, Mr Xi called for openness.

"In today's world, the trend of peace and cooperation is moving forward and a Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking are outdated.

"Paying attention only to one's own community without thinking of others can only lead into a wall. And we can only achieve win-win results by insisting on peaceful development and working together."

President Trump, whose plan to hit hundreds of Chinese products with duties have stoked fears of a trade war, has yet to react.

Washington claims China has failed to fulfil earlier promises to open up the economy - including putting up barriers to international companies accessing markets and forcing investors to form joint ventures and hand over intellectual property.

China's President Xi Jinping likes to position himself as the champion of globalisation. He consistently does that when he's making speeches at international forums.

And what better time to do that than now, against the backdrop of the ongoing US-China trade row.

President Xi says a cold war and zero sum mentality are out of place and that dialogue is the way to resolve disputes.

What he most likely means by that of course - although he never specifically says it - is that US President Trump's recent rhetoric on trade and unfair practices by China aren't in keeping with the way reasonable adults should behave.

In contrast to the bluster and fiery barbs evident in President Trump's tweets, President Xi put forward the face of a new China, and announced steps to make China's economy more open.

Amongst the things he talked about included lowering import tariffs for vehicles, and improving transparency, and intellectual property rights protection.

He also said China genuinely doesn't want a trade surplus.

But while on the surface the promises sound grand, some of this is stuff we've heard before. So it's hard to see just how much more access China will give foreign firms in reality.

But will President Trump see President Xi's conciliatory speech as a sign that he's won some concessions for the US side? Wait for his next tweet!

US officials familiar with the secret, high level planning talks for the bilateral meeting told CNN that Kim would prefer to host it in Pyongyang, but that Ulaanbaatar is being floated as neutral ground.

Former and current presidents of Mongolia also seem open to the plan. Mongolia has hosted meetings between North Korea and Japan in the past and is on friendly terms with most countries, including its neighbors Russia and China, as well as both the US and North Korea.

Take a look around the city that could soon play host to Trump and Kim.

http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-ulaanbaatar-city-coul…

The matter was touched upon during the official talks between Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on April 9 in Beijing. The sides exchanged views on broadening bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade and humanitarian spheres and international and regional matters.

While expressing mutual satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations in line with mutual respect of national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two countries, the Prime Ministers of Mongolia and China expressed their readiness to maintain the frequency of mutual high-level visits and intensify political and parliamentary exchange.

Within the objective to increase bilateral trade turnover to USD 10 billion by 2020, the dignitaries agreed to intensify operations of cooperation mechanisms, correlate development strategies, eradicate non-tariff barriers in bilateral trade, strengthen cooperation in industrial capacity and investment and reinforce the implementation of projects focusing on economic development and household livelihoods. For instance, the sides reached agreement on launching Chinese Government-funded projects in the nearest future, including on the Ulaanbaatar Wastewater Treatment Plant and ger area re-planning .

The sides also emphasized the potentials in bilateral cooperation on sectors such as agriculture, energy, mining and transit transport and backed the activation of relevant dialogue by corresponding bodies. Furthermore, the Prime Ministers expressed their commitment towards the development of trilateral cooperation with Russia and moving forward the priority projects between the three countries. 
Kh.Aminaa

According to the official Xinhua news agency, Li told Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in Beijing the two sides should work together more in industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, energy and minerals, transportation, pollution control and infrastructure construction.

Landlocked Mongolia sells the bulk of its exports to China, its southern neighbour, and it has also been trying to make greater use of China's transport network as well as its commodities exchanges in order to gain access to foreign markets.

Mongolia aims to become a "transit corridor" to facilitate trade, as well as oil and gas deliveries, between Russia and China, and has sought funding for transportation projects from the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

But some nationalist politicians in Mongolia remain suspicious of Beijing's intentions, and have expressed concern that China's growing economic might could further enhance its political dominance in the region.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry)