Beijing has been in talks with Moscow on increasing fossil fuel deliveries to China. However, despite Russia’s readiness to cooperate, transportation problems may hinder the efforts, the Russian ambassador to China says.

“The Chinese economy is quite rapidly recovering from the [Covid-19] pandemic crisis [but] there are certain imbalances that no one hides here. And, according to the forecasts that we see in the open press, ahead lies a cold winter; the northeast, which is closer to us, may well face a certain deficit. For this reason, yes, they really ask us to consider the possibility of increasing supplies. We are, of course, ready,” Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov told journalists this week.

“In addition to coal, we [have] a new product that emerged last year – natural gas. Last year we supplied it in a trial mode through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, bringing the supply to about 5 billion cubic meters. This year we planned to increase it to 10 billion cubic meters, since we cannot bring everything to full capacity yet,” Denisov said. He noted that although the Russian authorities have greenlighted the boost in deliveries, certain issues remain.

“This is not so much a government issue as a question of companies – mining and transporting companies. Certain difficulties we have are not so much in volumes, but in transport capabilities and equipment of border crossings,” he said.

The official explained that there are significant problems in the cross-border road transportation of goods due to the tightening of sanitary and epidemiological controls: Before the pandemic, 120 vehicles at a time were allowed to pass through the border crossings, but now only 40.

Denisov noted that the newly-built Blagoveshchensk-Heihe cross-border road bridge and the railway bridge at the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang border crossing could significantly ease the delivery process. However, neither bridge crossing has been launched yet.

“Both sides – both the Chinese and ours – are now thinking about how to organize the launch of these two bridge crossings. The railway bridge would probably help a lot in the coal business,” Denisov stated.

Authorities of several provinces in China, mainly in the northeast of the country, have been trying since mid-September to cope with interruptions in electricity and heating which have arisen due to shortages and the high cost of coal, as well as rising prices for natural gas. To avoid power outages, 20 provinces in China imposed restrictions on electricity consumption last month, both for industrial enterprises and households. As a result, China has been trying to stabilize the situation by increasing fossil fuel imports. In September alone, the import of coal rose by 76% in annual terms, amounting to 32.88 million tons.

A long line of trucks outside the tiny coal town of Tsagaan Khad has been reduced to a trickle, held up by China and Mongolia’s strict coronavirus measures, leaving the drivers stranded without pay or company. Some 3,500 increasingly wretched drivers have been quarantined in camps of 40 people while they wait.

B.Undrakh told AFP he spent 42 days waiting without making a delivery, having been quarantined outside capital Ulaanbaatar after one member of his group tested positive. After returning to Tsagaan Khad, the 43-year-old faced another 28 days of waiting. On the Chinese side, they are not allowed out of their cabs, or even to open windows.

Drivers are tested for Covid-19 in Mongolia then bussed over the Chinese border in masks and hazmat suits, where they undergo yet another test.

Mongolia’s vast South Gobi province is home to 12 billion tonnes of coal reserves — a key supplier to Chinese iron ore smelters. Last year, Mongolia exported over 35 million tonnes of coking coal to China — this year so far is less than a third of that.

But now many drivers are considering finding other work. There is already a shortage of drivers, with numbers down by around half according to Tsagaan Khad officials, and the impact on the small town has been devastating.

The main street is empty, with canteens and shops closed. Strict virus measures are necessary to keep trade flowing, officials say.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Fifa has been criticised over its handling of complaints of sexual harassment and physical assault in girls’ football after it emerged it had not publicly announced a worldwide ban given to a coach.

B.Uchralsaikhan, a former manager of Mongolia’s under-15 girls’ team, received the sanction from Fifa in August after an investigation by the Mongolian Football Federation found he had sexually harassed and physically assaulted youth team players during the East Asian Football Festival in South Korea in 2019. B.Uchralsaikhan has denied committing “sexual crimes”.

The international players’ union Fifpro has raised concerns, telling the Guardian: “It is not enough to privately ban individuals. In an industry where professionals frequently move clubs and countries, this simply allows perpetrators to take up roles elsewhere. To keep players safe we need a system whereby persons of concern are immediately suspended and a notice of this is publicly available.

“If, after investigation, individuals are banned this must be internationally expanded and recorded. Players, clubs, leagues and federations should be able to access these records to protect themselves and those for whom they are responsible.”

A Fifa spokesperson explained that “given the serious nature of these cases which are often criminal in nature, all sanctions are communicated in the first instance by the respective investigating body”. Fifa added that decisions taken by its independent ethics committee were “communicated at their discretion”.

B.Uchralsaikhan was first suspended from all football-related activities in August 2019 by the Mongolian Football Federation’s disciplinary body, which reported the matter three months later to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The AFC told the Guardian that Buuveibaatar’s “sanction was extended worldwide by Fifa in August 2021” but football’s world governing body initially responded to the Guardian’s questions about the case by making no mention of its ban.

It said that “in line with due process” it had referred the case to the AFC after carrying out a preliminary investigation. Later it confirmed the suspension had been extended worldwide after “an investigation and subsequent decision by the AFC disciplinary and ethics committee”.

The allegations against B.Uchralsaikhan came to light in August 2019 when the MFF’s vice-president Kh.Azjargal received a letter from Kawamoto Naoko, the head coach of the under-15 girls’ team, which alleged that B.Uchralsaikhan had sexually harassed and physically assaulted players in South Korea and abused team members during a trip to Japan earlier that year.

B.Uchralsaikhan was sacked a week later by the MFF’s then general secretary, but it is understood he continued to work for the MFF until the end of November. He posted a picture of himself on Facebook with Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, who visited Mongolia to mark the MFF’s 60th anniversary on 16 October. The caption said: “The biggest boss of the sector came and I was able to talk to him for five minutes!”

Source: Guardian

Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has faced several unexpected challenges. The trade spat with Australia, the continued South China Sea shipping congestion, and a shortage of coal supply are testing the country’s economic capabilities and problem-solving skills. China has stepped up its efforts to engage Russia, Mongolia, and other third parties to fill their coal shortage.

Exactly a year ago, in October 2020, Chinese state-owned companies were ordered to stop the import of Australian coal, widely viewed as retaliation for Australia’s more critical stance on China. The restrictions on Australian coal naturally pose a new opportunity for other parties in the region, particularly in East Asia and Northeast Asia, to fill China’s coal shortfall.

But apparently it wasn’t enough. In June 2021, Chinese factories began to report power outages and electricity shortages. The Lantou Group’s September 28 report showed the provinces with the most severe power consumption problems to include Xinjiang, Qinghai, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong, where China’s major manufacturing companies are located.

In September alone, major supplier companies were struggling under power constraints. Pegatron, a company that produces parts for and assembles iPhones for Apple, reported “limiting electricity supply” in their Kunshan City factory. Moreover, the Global Times reported that “A textile factory based in East China’s Jiangsu Province received a notice from local authorities about power cuts on September 21. It will not have power until October 7 or even later.” The following week, on September 27, the national broadcaster CCTV reported that Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province, will experience an acute power shortage.

China’s central and local governments alike are now actively looking for solutions to the domestic energy shortage before the winter, particularly in its northeastern provinces, which will face freezing temperatures in the coming months.

Amid the energy shortages, Beijing is carefully considering transportation costs and tariffs as the price of coal continues to hike. According to the Global Times, China is currently seeking imports of coal from “Indonesia, Russia, and Mongolia. China’s Zhejiang province had brought in its first shipment of thermal coal from Kazakhstan.” From a supply point of view, Russia, Mongolia, and Indonesia are closer to China than Australia. Local governments based in Northeast China, such as Heilongjiang province, have already chosen to work with the Russians in the past by connecting a local power plant to power transmission from Amur, Russia.

Russia, a major energy exporter, is already playing an integral part for both Mongolia’s and China’s energy sectors. In the past year, Russia’s coal supply to China has grown steadily. In the first half of 2021, Russia exported 24.15 million tons of coal to China, up from just 16.2 million tons in first six months of 2020 – nearly a 50 percent increase.

China’s other northern neighbor, Mongolia, is also a potential solution to its energy crisis. A month after the Chinese ban on Australian coal, Mongolia’s coal exports to China had grown by 17.17 percent. More recently, according to data from Mongolian Customs, “from January to September, Mongolia’s coal exports totaled 11.9 million tons, of which 11.3 million tons was exported to China, accounting for about 95 percent of the total.” However, while China is a major destination for Mongolia’s coal exports, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The Mongolian Mining Corporation Interim Report of 2021 noted that as of August 2021, “China’s coking coal imports from Mongolia reached 8.3 Mt, representing a 13.7% year-on-year increase.” However, despite the boost China’s total imports of coking coal still fell by a whopping 41.5 percent year-on-year, due largely “to the sharp decline of supply from Australia.” In the first half of 2020, Australia had supplied 24.1 metric tons of coal to China; that’s almost three times what Mongolia was exporting to China in the same period of 2021, even after increasing its supply. Without supply from Australia, China’s coal imports through the first half of 2021 dropped by 22.3 metric tons

The Mongolian Mining Corporation noted that “supply from Mongolia was also disrupted in the second quarter of 2021 after Chinese authorities strengthened preventive measures due to increased COVID-19 cases in Mongolia.” In late August, Gashuunsukhait Border Station, a major transit hub for imports and exports was closed and no coal shipments were going through.

However, the two sides were able to hammer out a solution that seems to be working. On October 20, Mongolian news agency Montsame reported that, since the end of September, Mongolia’s coal exports had jumped 60 percent compared to the preceding three-week period.

On October 12, during an online meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stated that China “hopes to carry out diversified energy cooperation, and welcomes a larger volume of coal trading between the two countries to achieve win-win results… and ensure a smooth and secure energy supply chain.” Moreover, Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh, told the press during her visit China in July 2021 that the two countries have agreed to boost economic activities, including but limited to expanding Mongolia’s coal exports to China.

Given Mongolia’s abundance of coal and China’s heavy manufacturing industry, Mongolian coal is more than a band-aid solution for China’s domestic energy shortage. As the global coal price continues to hike, steep transportation costs and tariffs are a major dealbreaker for the Chinese, further incentivizing sourcing coal closer to home. As for Mongolia, coal exports – and the mining industry at large – will continue to be the country’s primary source of investment and business. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, especially considering Mongolia’s slow economic growth and prolonged problematic deal with Rio Tinto.

GUEST AUTHOR

Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.

Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia confirmed 1,321 new COVID-19 cases, raising the national tally to 349,509, the country's health ministry said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 17 more people died from the viral disease in the past day, pushing the death toll to 1,587.

Currently, 18,786 COVID-19 patients are being hospitalized across the country, while 50,010 patients are receiving home-based care due to a shortage of hospital beds and medical staff, according to the ministry

The Chinese city of Ejin Banner, which borders Mongolia, announced harsh punishment on six officials including local health commission's heads on Saturday for their slack response and ineffective management since the COVID-19 broke out on October 17.

The city has sacked the director and the deputy director of the local health commission. Another health commission official, three police officers, together with local people's hospital and civil affairs bureau will be held accountable.

Ejin Banner in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is the first city to impose punishment on officials since the emergence of the latest COVID-19 flare-up in multiple places, including the capital city Beijing, Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi and Jiayuguan in Northwest China's Gansu.

An expert told the Global Times last week that a possibility could not be ruled out that loopholes in ports in Inner Mongolia may have had triggered the domestic outbreak.

According to the regional health commission, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has reported 49 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 11 am Sunday, with 31 cases detected in Ejin Banner.

The latest COVID-19 resurgence, which has been spreading into 11 provinces within a week, was triggered by a new imported source, which was then diagnosed as the Delta variant, according to officials from China's top health authority on Sunday.

Thailand U23 team head coach Worrawoot Srimaka on Sunday warned his players not to take their Group J opener of the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers against hosts Mongolia lightly.

The match will kick off at 10am (Thai time) and will be broadcast live on Channel One 31 and AIS Play.

Worrawoot told a pre-match news conference yesterday that he was wary of the Mongolian team's counter-attacking skills.

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"I am sure it will be an exciting match during which we would need to be on our toes all the time, especially in the midfield and defence," said the Thai coach.

"Mongolia have improved a lot, but we have the potential to do well. We have the strikers who can deliver three points to us.

"The first match of any event is always important and the key for us will be to avoid conceding an early goal."

Meanwhile, Thailand team manager Nualphan Lamsam has promised a one million baht incentive for the Thai U23 team if they could win today's game against Mongolia.

"The players look really excited but it will be a difficult game for us because the hosts would also want to start off with a victory," Nualphan said. "I have high hopes for a win."

The Thais also submitted their final line-up of 23 players to the organisers yesterday. The team are led by England-based players Thanawat Suengchittawon and Benjamin Davis.

Port bag three points

Second-half goals from Bordin Phala and Javier Patino gave Port a crucial 2-0 home victory over PT Prachuap in Thai League 1 last night.

Both sides had opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half but it was Port who dominated for the most part.

The home team's efforts finally led to the first goal for Port in the 78th minute when Nelson Bonilla set up Bordin for an unstoppable header. Pakorn Prempak created the second six minutes later when his lob was guided into the net by Patino.

Also last night, former champions Buriram United rallied to edge hosts Ratchaburi 2-1 to continue their stay at the top of the table.

In Saturday night's late game, Chiang Rai United struggled to claim a 1-0 victory over promoted Khon Kaen United.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the Russian Federation, a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation A.L. Overchuk is in Mongolia on a working visit between October 21 and 22.

October 22, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia S. Amarsaikhan received his Russian counterpart A.L. Overchuk at State House.

At the outset of the meeting, Deputy PM S.Amarsaikhan emphasized that the peoples of Mongolia and Russia are united by good neighbors’ mutual trust and respect and strong friendship. The two sides expressed their commitment to pay more attention to expanding and intensifying bilateral trade and economic cooperation in the next 100 years.

Within the framework of intensifying bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the parties discussed the implementation of comprehensive measures such as modernization of the central railway corridor, expansion of Thermal Power Plant-III, Bogdkhan Railway Bypass Line project, gas pipeline project, as well as the modern equipment supply to border ports and improvement of infrastructure.

The parties also concurred to continue their efforts to organize the 23rd regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, which is a main mechanism of Mongolia-Russia trade and economic cooperation, within this year.

Mr. Amarsaikhan said that the Government of Mongolia has set a goal to remove the country's over-dependence on the mining sector, develop non-mining exports, and establish an export-oriented economic structure, in addition to ongoing successful implementation of the Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor Program. He thanked Russia for its continued support.

As inter-regional cooperation, especially the Mongolia-Eurasian Economic Union free trade agreement, is significant to achieve the goal to have an export-oriented economic structure, the parties decided to review the joint study on the possibility of concluding the agreement in the near future.

The wild moves in the copper market this week have sent traders into the history books. As inventories on the London Metal Exchange dropped to the lowest in decades, the price of contracts for immediate delivery surged to a record premium of more than $1,000 a ton to contracts for delivery in three months — the hallmark of a supply squeeze. The exchange has responded by launching an inquiry and imposing emergency rules.

While there’s been no suggestion of wrongdoing in this month’s squeeze, the LME has a rich history of wild price moves when markets are over- or undersupplied. In fact, it’s a heritage as old as the exchange itself.

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The Secretan syndicate

One of the first corners on the LME began in 1887, only a decade after the exchange was founded. It was led by Pierre Secretan, the head of France’s largest brass manufacturer, the Societe Industrielle et Commerciale des Metaux, who formed a syndicate with the intent of cornering the copper market. He bought up stocks of metal and struck contracts with all the world’s major copper mines, ending up controlling 80% of the world’s supply. Prices more than doubled. But high prices caused production to increase, and Secretan could no longer finance the huge volumes of copper he needed to buy to keep the price at its inflated levels. Copper prices collapsed, triggering disastrous losses for Secretan and his bankers.

The tin crisis

In 1985, the LME faced a crisis of a different sort: an oversupply of metal. Under an agreement involving 22 countries, the International Tin Council bought and sold tin on the LME with a view to maintaining stable prices. But on the morning of Oct. 24, 1985, the ITC collapsed: it could no longer keep propping up prices, and it defaulted under the weight of its obligations. The LME suspended tin trading amid warnings of “Armageddon” on the market. It only resumed four years later, in 1989.

Marc Rich

Beginning in 1991, Marc Rich + Co attempted to corner the zinc market. Together with two large zinc producers, the trading house bought up more than 90% of LME stocks of zinc and succeeded in pushing the price to a two-year high. But then the LME intervened, putting a limit on the backwardation and allowing anyone with a short position to defer delivery. It wasn’t long before prices started falling. Marc Rich + Co ended up losing $172 million, in a crisis that precipitated Rich’s exit from the company that he had founded (and which subsequently became Glencore Plc).

Mr. 5 Percent

For much of the 1990s, Yasuo Hamanaka, a trader at Japan’s Sumitomo Corp., was known as “Mr. 5 Percent” for his supposed share of the world’s copper market. He built up huge positions on the LME, driving prices higher. But his apparent mastery of the market began to unravel as prices fell in 1996. When the full extent of his trades became clear, it was revealed that he was hiding losses of more than $2 billion in what Sumitomo said were unauthorized trades. Hamanaka was sentenced to eight years in prison. The LME responded with a drastic rule change in an attempt to avert future market corners: it introduced “lending guidance”, forcing any trader with a large position to lend it to other market participants.

No more nickel

The LME intervened in the nickel market in August 2006 after stocks fell to the lowest in decades and prices hit record highs. This time there was no one trader responsible for the move, which was instead the result of a combination of strong demand from China and a strike at a major mine in Canada. The LME responded by imposing a cap on the backwardation in nickel prices. “These are exceptional circumstances,” then LME Chief Executive Simon Heale told Bloomberg at the time. “It’s an incredibly tight market.”

(By Jack Farchy)

The Ministry of Health reported that 2,153 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. Specifically, 1,147 cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city, with 1,006 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 342,992. 6,586 patients have made recoveries in the past 24 hours.

Furthermore, 17 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,518. Currently, 18,717 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 52,060 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.