261 foreigners deported from Mongolia www.theubpost.mn

The Mongolian Immigration Agency announced that it has deported 261 foreign citizens and fined over 600 who have been staying past their visa expiration dates in Mongolia.

BOM issues 1-week bills www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ BoM issues 1 week bills worth MNT 1168.1 billion at a weighted interest rate of 12.0 percent per annum.

Ulaanbaatar railway company to reduce loss through tea road project www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The second Mongolia-Russia-China Tourism Ministers’ meeting was held on June 21 in Ulan-Ude, capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia attracting an audience of nearly 200 tourism delegations and journalists of the three countries.

Mongolia to join construction of Asian Super Grid www.mongolia.gogo.mn

Mongolia has expressed a desire to join a project for construction of the Asian Super Grid, a project to establish an electrical power transmission network connecting China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan.

These plans have been unveiled by the press office of Russian Networks (Rosseti) following a meeting between the head of the company, Oleg Budargin, and the general manager of the project office of the executive director of the Japanese Softbank, Shigeki Miwa.
“Oleg Budargin noted that in recent months, he met several times with representatives of the government of Mongolia, which had expressed a wish to join the project”, a report says.
The document states that Budargin and Miwa confirmed their interest in the continuation of consultations for the purpose of implementing a project for construction of the electricity grid.
Earlier, a Memorandum of understanding on construction of the Asian Super Grid was signed by Russia, Japan, China and Korea, according to the www.russianconstruction.com.

Iron ore price soars www.mining.com

The Northern China import price of 62% Fe content ore jumped 6.5% on Tuesday to trade at $59.10 per dry metric tonne according to data supplied by The Steel Index. The most actively traded iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange advanced 6% to 456.5 yuan ($67) per tonne. The price of the steelmaking raw material is now up more than 10% from year lows hit two weeks ago.

Iron ore price bulls took heart from higher steel prices, but part of the move could also be explained by futures speculators "window dressing" ahead of the end of the quarter reports Reuters:

"High margins after the government's effort to eliminate low-grade steel are enticing mills to produce more steel, which increases the need for iron ore," said Zou Mingdong, Shanghai-based steel manager at Zhongcai Merchants Investment Group.

"However, the rising price doesn't change the fundamental situation of oversupply and weak demand."
Shares of the world's top iron ore miners reacted positively led by Kumba Iron Ore units trading in New York which surged 6.7% on Tuesday. The South African company, controlled by diversified giant Anglo American, produces more than 40m tonnes per year. The stock is worth $3.6 billion in New York and is trading in positive territory for 2017.

Australia's Fortescue Metals Group, a pure play iron ore producer, added 3.8% on the Australian stock exchange and some 10% on US over the counter markets. FMG stock is still down by 18% in 2017 and the Perth-based firm is now worth US$11.5 billion on the ASX.

World number one Vale gained 3% in Brazil trading, lifting the Rio de Janeiro-based company's market capitalization to $43.8 billion after 12.6% gains this year. Diversified giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also advanced, up 3.3% and 2.4% respectively, although the Melbourne-based companies both show declines year to date.

Today's move in the price goes counter to what most analysts believe is in store for the market which has been in oversupply for more than two years.

Morgan Stanley this week sharply cut its forecast for the iron ore price in the third quarter with the investment bank now seeing an average of $50 over the period, climbing to $55 in the final three months. For the year as a whole Morgan Stanley sees the commodity averaging $63 compared to a year-to-date average of $74. Iron ore is expected to continue to soften averaging $58 next year and $54 in 2019.

The latest forecast from the Morgan Stanley is more optimistic than predictions in a research note Citigroup released last week. The bank lowered its price outlook by a fifth saying iron ore will average $48 a tonne in Q4 2017, down from $60 in its previous prediction:

Both analysis blame growing global supply – most notably from Vale's S11D mine and Roy Hill in Australia hitting full production – for the weak outlook. According to Citigroup, 2017 will see a surplus of 118m tonnes following a more than 60m tonnes glut last year. Morgan Stanley predicts nearly 40m tonnes of oversupply this year, growing steadily to top 120m tonnes in 2019 and 185m excess tonnes in 2021.

With no election winner, Mongolia sets runoff for July 9 www.thewashingtonpost.com

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Mongolia will hold its first runoff election for president next month after none of the candidates attained the necessary majority in Monday’s voting.

3 Sectors To Buy In Mongolia If IMF Funding Succeeds In Boosting Diversification Beyond Mining www.fronteranews.com

IMF funding to focus on 3 areas in Mongolia

International observers present preliminary conclusions on election www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia’s presidential election competitive and well-organized, but ongoing court cases caused uncertainty over candidacies, international observers say.

The June 26 June presidential election was competitive and well-organized, featuring a short yet fierce campaign; the election administration largely enjoyed public confidence and the freedoms of complaints, as well as pending court cases, led to uncertainty regarding candidacies. The media coverage was extensive, but largely devoid of analytical reporting, the international observers concluded in a statement.

Representatives of the International Election Observation Mission of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) / Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament released the joint statement today at a press conference.

“These were well-run elections, and are overall promising for the future of Mongolia’s democracy”, said Guglielmo Picchi, Special Coordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission. He expressed hope that the mission’s overall positive experience is confirmed by the second round which is fixed on July 9.

The General Election Commission enjoyed stakeholders’ trust, met key deadlines and operated in a transparent manner, the statement says. It also suggests that current candidacy requirements are overly restrictive and limit voters’ choice.

The election campaign was dynamic, however, the political discourse wasn’t exempt from xenophobic rhetoric, the observers stated, citing several leaked recordings alleging candidates’ involvement in corruption and other illegal activities which shaped the campaign narrative.

“We regret that campaign finance regulations on transparency and accountability didn’t address, in a timely manner, concerns of corruption in political life”, said Laima Andrikiene, Chair of the European Parliament delegation, noting how candidates’ mutual accusations discouraged voters, especially the youth, from voting. The European Parliament observation mission was divided into three teams, deployed in Ulaanbaatar, Zuunmod and Darkhan, and visited both urban and rural areas.

The international observers visited limited number of polling stations on election day to find that voting and counting were orderly, but transparency was somewhat limited by the GEC releasing only aggregated results. They observed that female workers outnumbered men. 

“I think that the Mongolian people had, in the first round of the presidential election, the possibility to express their choice in a genuinely democratic election, although there were a number of shortcomings”, remarked Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR limited election observation mission. The mission will stay in Mongolia until after the second round.

The OSCE/ODIHR mission comprises 12 core team experts from 12 participating stated based in Ulaanbaatar and 20 long-term observers deployed throughout the country.

Re-polling is scheduled on Jul 9 www.mongolia.gogo.mn

General Election Committee (GEC) issued three resolutions related to the presidential election. 

First, GEC states that 1.357.788 people voted for the president out of 1.988.868 registered voters. Thus, the election was considered valid due to voter turnout was 68.27. 
Secondly, the GEC reports the result;
Kh.Battulga, a nominee of Democratic Party won 517,478 votes /38.11 percent/, 
M.Enkhbold, a nominee of Mongolian People`s Party won 411,748 votes /30.32 percent/,
S.Ganbaatar, a nominee of Mongolian People`s Revolutionary Party won 409,899 /30.19 percent/ of votes. 
According to the Law on Election, a candidate must receive at least 50 percent plus one vote of the total valid votes to win the election. If none of the candidates win absolute majority votes in the first round, the two most voted candidates to run for a second round while a candidate who received the least votes will be disqualified from the competition. Thus, S.Ganbaatar, a nominee of Mongolian People`s Revolutionary Party quit the presidential race. 
Third, the re-polling is scheduled on Jul 9th nationwide and Mongolian citizens living abroad will vote on Jul 4th. The most voted candidates, Kh.Battulga, opposite Democratic Party nominee, and M.Enkhbold, the ruling Mongolian People`s Party nominee will run for the second round of voting. All voters is set to attend the second round of voting. 
Moreover, the re-polling was estimated to cost 7.2 billion. 
The voter turnout must be more than 50 percent at the re-polling and the re-polling will be considered as valid if one of the candidate win 50 percent plus one vote. If the participation rate will not reach 50 percent re-election must be carried. 
If re-election will be held, all political parties seated in the Parliament are eligible to nominate another candidate or upgrade their action plans.

Mongolia to hold runoff presidential election www.asia.nikkei.com

ULAANBAATAR -- Mongolia is headed for its first runoff presidential election in history after all three candidates failed to secure an outright majority in the Monday voting.