On June 29, a regular meeting of the Citizens’ Representative Khural of the Capital City took place virtually. During the meeting, Capital City Road and Transport Projects Manager B.Odsuren introduced a resolution on some measures to be taken in the capital city.

According to the resolution, traffic congestion will be comprehensively resolved with an annual financing of MNT 420 billion. In order to tackle the challenge, professional organizations highlight that there are numerous issues to be resolved such as auto roads, pedestrian overpass, traffic lights, a smart system for roads, and traffic security cameras.

Studies show that it is necessary to replace 70-80 percent of the 960 buses currently being operated for public transport in the capital city. Thus, the capital city is planning to replace 160 buses as starters, 350 buses in 2022, and 150 buses in 2023. Furthermore, many more works are also planned to reduce traffic, including measures to increase the daily amount of passengers from 800 thousand to 1 million, to increase the capital city’s road capacity to 650 thousand cars, and promote government organizations to move to the outskirts of the city.

As drivers currently spend an average of 26 minutes looking for parking spots, works are underway to increase parking spots by 5,000 and introduce a paid parking system, reported the officials. Light rail transit is also being planned for routes including Peace Avenue, and Doloon Buudal - Yarmag as well as one connecting the capital city districts of Songinokhairkhan and Bayanzurkh.

At its meeting dated June 30, the cabinet extended the current nationwide regime of heightened state of readiness or high alert together with Orange Level of regulations that are in place until August 31 in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic and alleviate the risks associated with it. The regime is being adhered by state and local government administrative organizations of the country’s all territorial units and all private enterprises and individuals.

Under the coronavirus-related Orange Level of restriction, which is issued when cluster infections are confirmed and local cases recorded in the past 14 days are related to each other in terms of their timing and locations, complete or partial heightened state of readiness is declared and operations of public and private organizations and individuals are restricted to a certain extent depending on the situation.

As of now, Arkhangai, Bulgan, Gobi-Altai, Gobisumber, Darkhan-Uul, Zavkhan, Orkhon and Selenge aimags are at a level of high transmission of COVID-19 cases.

The decision to extend the current restriction to prevent from further transmission of COVID-19 is made on the basis of recommendations by World Health Organization, Ministry of Health and experts and a risk assessment team.

Moreover, the cabinet extended the present temporary suspension imposed on the movement of passengers through the country’s border checkpoints, except for the Zamiin-Uud and Altanbulag auto vehicle border points and Chinggis Khaan air border crossing point, until the end of August 31, 2021. The measure is aimed at preventing from the coronavirus infections.

In Ulaanbaatar, all types of food production and services (restaurants, cafes, food chains, coffee shops, food courts, buffets, eateries, etc) are allowing only those people who have been fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 to be admitted to indoor dining or to serve take-out and delivery services. In addition, operations of tourist camps and resorts are suspended, and retail and wholesale shops and service places that are not included in the restriction are permitted to open between 7 AM and 10 PM.

BloombergNEF has upped its predictions for annual demand for lithium-ion batteries by more than a third from its previous forecast on the back of expectations for rapid growth in the passenger vehicle segment.

BNEF predicts annual demand for lithium-ion batteries will pass 2.7 terawatt-hours per year by 2030 – a 35% increase from the analytics company’s forecast made last year. Passenger vehicles will represent 72% of the overall market as sales race to 14 million by 2025 from just over 3 million last year.

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BNEF expects China to extend its lead in the battery supply chain — particularly processing and refining. The country accounts for almost half of new lithium hydroxide projects coming online this year and has 55% of the world’s nickel sulfate market and 80% of the global market for cobalt sulfate, according to the report.

The Asian nation also accounts for 95% of the world’s manganese sulfate production and almost all of the graphite used in producing materials for anodes. Despite its dominance in the supply chain, the electric car market is expected to grow fastest in Europe with Germany expected to represent 40% of total sales by 2025 versus 25% for China.

“Diversifying the global supply chain would require significant investment from regions such as Europe and North America.”

Chemistries

BNEF says automakers wary of rising raw materials costs could switch to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are significantly cheaper to manufacture but come at the expense of lower range. This would enable the electrification of transport to continue unabated, says the firm:

“LFP’s share of stationary storage deployments in 2030 jumps to 53% in this outlook from 23%, at the cost of the highest nickel chemistries.”

Lithium

BNEF believes lithium carbonate and hydroxide should be sufficiently supplied until at least 2025, but hydroxide could face a shortage by 2027, as demand for high nickel chemistries surges:

“One key risk is that some 35% of the projected supply growth from now until 2025, will come from integrated spodumene-to-hydroxide converters in Australia.

“These projects are expensive and have a history of delays. Should the commissioning of these Australian converters be delayed there may be a shortage of hydroxide by 2025.”

Lithium prices have been on a tear this year, with carbonate climbing 71%, hydroxide 91%, and spodumene feedstock 58%. BNEF expects all prices to continue their rally but gradually plateau as more supply comes online through 2022.

Nickel

The nickel sulfate market is expected to remain balanced in the medium term and in the near term prices should hover around the $18,000 a tonne mark:

“Domestic demand in China was relatively low as some automakers are shifting to LFP chemistries. This will have limited impact in the adoption of nickel-rich battery cathode chemistries, and as such, the nickel sulfate market may slip into a 128,000 metric ton deficit as early as 2024.

“At the start of the year, BNEF predicted that the nickel market will move into a two-tier system for nickel pricing to further incentivize investment into additional Class 1 battery-grade nickel supply. At the end of the first half of 2021, there have been no concrete developments toward this much-needed change in the dynamics of pricing in the nickel market.”

Cobalt

BNEF expects the cobalt market to move into a small surplus of around 3,300 tonnes this year on the back of increasing large-scale and artisanal mining production. The DRC is responsible for some two-thirds of global output, which is predicted to rise to about 166,434 tonnes in 2021.

From above $50,000 a tonne in March, a two year high, cobalt metal prices could average $45,000 per tonne by the end of the year:

“With the market projected to be relatively in surplus this decade, BNEF expects prices will hold at an average of $44,000 per ton up to 2025.”

Manganese

Manganese production in top producer South Africa in April more than tripled as covid disruptions eased, but BNEF says mining operations in the country are plagued by challenges associated with haulage, electricity reliability and port operations.

The manganese battery supply chain will experience the strongest growth through 2030, with the market increasing in size by a factor of more than 9. Manganese sulfate prices have risen 30%, from $867 per tonne in January to $1,128 in June, and are expected to continue to strengthen over the course of the year:

“With the manganese sulfate market currently projected to be in a deficit, prices are likely to rise to support new refinery projects in order to meet demand by 2024.”

Graphite

Graphite demand from lithium-ion batteries, according to BNEF, is set to grow by 37% year on year to just under 447,000 tonnes in 2021, increasing fourfold by the end of the decade. Commercial vehicles will represent the fastest growth, with year-on-year demand doubling in 2021.

China’s biggest bank dumped a plan to finance a $3 billion coal-fired power plant in Zimbabwe, dealing a blow to coal developers in Africa that see the Asian country as the last potential funder of their projects.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. told Go Clean ICBC, an ad-hoc body representing 32 environmental groups, that it won’t fund the 2,800-megawatt Sengwa coal project in northern Zimbabwe, according to a June 18 email seen by Bloomberg that was sent to 350.org, one of the Go Clean groups. ICBC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Western and South African banks have come under increasing pressure from their shareholders not to fund developments that could contribute to climate change, leaving Chinese lenders as one of the last avenues to secure finance. That door may now be closing, should China plan to improve its own environment credentials.

“This is highly significant, obviously for Zimbabwe but also for Chinese overseas energy financing,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. “It is the first time, to my knowledge, that a Chinese bank has pro-actively walked away from a coal-power project.”

The Sengwa project was being developed by RioEnergy Ltd., a unit of RioZim Ltd. RioEnergy Chairman Caleb Dengu said last year that ICBC had signed a formal notice of interest in funding the plant, to be constructed by China Gezhouba Group, while associated transmission lines would be built by Power Construction Corp. of China Ltd.

ICBC’s withdrawal marks the second time the bank’s coal-funding plans have been scrapped. A permit to build a coal-fired plant in Lamu in Kenya was canceled by the government last year.

RioZim Seals $3 Billion Zimbabwe Coal Plant Deal With China

ICBC described Sengwa as a “bad plan due to environmental problems,” 350.Org said in the email.

The Chinese lender has been under scrutiny over the environmental impact of funding coal projects and is in discussion with the coalition to “chart a clear road map to stop funding coal,” Go Clean ICBC said in the email. Nathalia Clark, the associate director of Global Communications at 350.org, declined to give further details.

The coalition had planned to roll out a global campaign last week against the lender’s coal activity, which it suspended after ICBC said it would halt engagement if it did so.

Over the past two decades, China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have funded more than $50 billion of coal projects across Asia, Europe, Africa and South America, according to research from Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. A plan proposed last year would make it tougher for the so-called Belt and Road Initiative to finance environmentally damaging projects like coal power plants and metal smelters.

While President Xi Jinping in September put the country on a path to zero out carbon emissions by 2060, he plans to let coal consumption increase through 2026 and the fuel is expected to remain an important part of the country’s energy mix for a decade beyond that.

RioEnergy is seeking alternative financiers, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because ICBC’s withdrawal hasn’t been formally announced. Simba Mhuriro, the general manager at RioEnergy, said he wasn’t privy to the matter and couldn’t comment. Wilson Gwatiringa, a spokesman for RioZim also declined to comment. Winston Chitando, Zimbabwe’s mines minister, said he wasn’t aware of ICBC’s decision.

Sengwa was initially owned by London-based miner Rio Tinto Group, the one-time parent of RioZim. It was set aside as Zimbabwe’s relations with the U.K., its former colonial ruler, deteriorated. After the project was revived in 2016, General Electric Co. and a unit of Blackstone Group LP didn’t pursue initial inquiries.

The backing of ICBC was seen by RioEnergy as a fresh start in a plan to develop the plant and end recurrent power outages in Zimbabwe. Climate activists say the company will struggle to find another funder.

“Opportunities to fund coal power are rapidly diminishing, given the climate and other impacts of coal,” said Robyn Hugo, director of climate change engagement at Just Share, a Cape Town-based shareholder activist group. “There is simply no basis to consider new coal-fired projects and all plans to do so are likely to be strongly opposed.”

— With assistance by Godfrey Marawanyika, Evelyn Yu, and Dan Murtaugh

China imposed a ban on coal exports from Australia late last year. Amidst talk of reducing the carbon footprint, Canada, the US, Russia, and Indonesia expressed their interest to replace its market share. Yet, it was Mongolia that became the leader of the race. The vice president of one of the country's largest mining companies, MAK (Mongolyn Alt), spoke on where the profits from coal sales would go to.

Relations between the Middle Kingdom and Australia had been strained even before the pandemic started. The government of the latter openly criticised Chinese domestic policies — for instance, as to how they treated the Uyghurs or the Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was detained in China a year ago. Finally, after Canberra followed Washington in demanding an "independent" investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, China interpreted the move as improper interference in its affairs. Thereupon it banned coal and copper exports.

So far, Australia's losses have been estimated at $20 bln, with experts projecting them to reach $80 bln a year. For this country, China was the second-largest importer of coal after Japan. Australia, in turn, was the largest supplier to China, providing it with 70 mln tonnes of coal annually. By comparison, Russia exported less than 40 mln tonnes in 2020. China imported 304 mln tonnes of the raw material last year altogether.

Everything changed as a result of the confrontation between the two states.

Let us take coking coal – essential for use in steel manufacture – as an example. In the first quarter of 2021, the volumes of shipments from Canada and the US reached their highest levels since 2013. Canada's exports grew to 1.3 mln tonnes in March, thus doubling year-on-year. As for America, it increased its supplies almost fivefold, to 663 thousand tonnes, in the same period. Additionally, Russian companies shipped 1.4 mln tonnes of coking coal to China in January–March, thereby increasing the supplies by 8.3%.

Mongolia was the quickest to act upon the situation, though. The country shipped 2.17 mln tonnes in March and 6.08 mln tonnes in the first quarter, a 123% year-on-year increase in exports. Therefore it became the primary contender for the top spot amongst the exporting countries. However, is it at all surprising?

"China accounts for more than 50% of global coal consumption, and our country is the closest neighbour to this enormous energy market. 250 km from the Chinese border, there is one of the world's largest coal deposits, Tavan Tolgoi, with an estimated resource of almost 6.5 bln tonnes. About 40% of that is high-calorific coking coal. This raw material owes its current growth in exports to an increasing number of dump trucks. When we had a spike in COVID-19 cases this spring, truck drivers, who transported the raw material, were the first to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Still, this is not an option if we want a large-scale increase in supply.

The main issue is that Mongolia's transport system is in principle unable to deliver more coal to the border with China. And because we cannot transport larger quantities, it constrains the full-fledged development of the deposit. The single-track railway allowing for a maximum of eight freight trains travelling over it at a time is clearly not enough to increase export volumes. Hence the top-priority task for the government is now to build a new railway line of about 400 km and a power plant," says Gantulga Ganbayar, Vice President at MAK.

The Tavan Tolgoi–Züünbayan railway is currently under active construction. It is expected that the works will be completed in 2022. The authorities are also looking into leasing port areas in Russia.

"MAK was established in 1993 as a gold-mining company. But in the early 90s, a strategic decision to diversify the business and expand into coal mining was made by the conglomerate's executives. Back then, it was already evident that energy would become a highly topical issue. We have several mining-engineering universities in my country, but there is a particular need for qualified generalists. Russian education is still of high value here, so the company announced a competition, the winners of which could leave to study at St. Petersburg Mining University. The choice of a university is hardly coincidental. Both Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, the first president of Mongolia, and Nyamtaishir Byambaa, founder of MAK, graduated from Mining University," recalls Gantulga Ganbayar.

His uncle also studied at Mining University and suggested that he participate in the contest, Gantulga notes. Since he got a high score on the tests, he was admitted to the Department of Mine Surveying.

"I am fortunate to have been a student of the programme where I learnt a lot beyond the basics. In addition to field-specific disciplines, we were also taught economics, as well as numerous other subjects. I interned at Boroo Gold, a subsidiary of OZD Group, and Erdenet Mining Corporation, Mongolia's largest mine and mill. Mining University's students have excellent technical competencies. Accordingly, they quickly move up the career ladder, advancing to either managerial positions or becoming in-demand field experts. MAK chooses the most talented high-school graduates every year and sponsors their education at Mining University. Due to the nature of my job, I often meet foreign partners and take part in various international events, and I have always felt that my professional skills are up to global standards," admits Gantulga Ganbayar.

After graduating, Gantulga returned to his home country and took a job as a surveyor in the technical-engineering department of MAK. He was responsible for performing surveying activities at all of the company's mines. Two years from then, his main line of work was to take care of coal mines. Afterwards, he was promoted first to mining engineer with 150 subordinates, then chief engineer managing 600 employees, deputy director and director of the department, before finally becoming vice president.

"Mining is one of the dominant industries in Mongolia. Coal makes up about 40% of our exports, plus we have copper and molybdenum. Coal also accounts for 90% of Mongolia's total domestic energy consumption, with wind and solar power accounting for the remaining 10%. This explains why all mining-related specialities are of high prestige here, even though globally, there is a lot of controversy surrounding coal usage. At the US-hosted Leaders Summit on Climat, which took place in April, dozens of countries and organisations talked about green energy and reducing emissions. In fact, even China promised to limit coal consumption. It pledged to achieve peak emissions of CO2 before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. Of course, we understand that this is the direction the world is headed in. Still, we are sure that the consumption of fossil fuels will last for at least several decades more. Our company is currently upgrading its coal facilities and developing the rest of its assets with the money earned from coal sales," says Mining University's graduate

Gantulga Ganbayar was appointed vice president two years ago. Since then, he has been developing MAK's new business area — sales of construction products, such as concrete, cement, and others. These goods are mostly made from limestone, which the company extracts itself. Aside from this rock, MAK is involved in mining lignite, hard and coking coal, copper-molybdenum ores, and gold prospecting.

A new coal preparation plant is being built in Mongolia, with the project completion date set for the end of this year. Modern, sophisticated technologies will be used at the plant, by taking advantage of which the sulphur content of coal will be lowered to 0.85% and the ash content to 18%. This will help reduce the overall level of air pollution.

On June 29, Tuesday, Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan delivered a presentation on the liability management taken by the government of Mongolia to refinance its bonds – Chinggis and Gerege maturing in 2022 and 2023 respectively – at all-time low interest rates.

In September 2020, the government of Mongolia issued a ‘Nomad’ sovereign bond and raised USD 600 million on international stock markets, by taking advantage of the favorable indicators of the international markets at that time. Now, the government has taken the debt management measure as part of its project named ‘Century’ to refinance a total of MNT 1 billion debts from the Chinggis and Gerege sovereign bonds, which were growing closer to their maturity dates, at historic low interest rates, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Mongolia issued 5.125%, USD 1 billion and 10-year Chinggis bond during the peak of its economic growth in 2012 when Mongolia’s economic growth rose to up to 17.3 percent and the country’s credit rating was already two levels’ higher than the current rating and the bond was set to mature in 2022.

“This time with the country’s economy has shown 5.3 percent contraction and credit rating was at B level by 2020 amid the pandemic, we have successfully implemented liability management to pay off USD 1 billion that were reaching maturity in the next 2 years through debt refinancing for a USD 500 million bond with 6-year term and 3.5 percent interest, and another USD 500 million with 10-year term and 4.45 interest as part of the ‘Century’ project,” stated in the Finance Ministry’s press release.

“Successfully refinancing Mongolia’s sovereign bonds with the lowest rates of 3.5 and 4.45 percent compared to those of other countries with the same B credit rating is a result of the Mongolian government’s effective policy response and measures to protect the population’s health and recover the economy during the pandemic and shows international investors’ high confidence in the political and economic stability of Mongolia”.

The Finance Ministry reports that the liability management – the debt refinancing to replace high-interest bonds with low-interest bonds - will help reducing the burden to be imposed on the government’s budget and balance of payment in coming years and maintain currency stability while improving Mongolia’s credit rating.

Steppe Gold Ltd., Mongolia’s premier precious metals company, announced on June 24 that it has received the approval from the Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia in relation to its proposed cross-listing on the Mongolian Stock Exchange.

Regarding the approval, Bataa Tumur-Ochir, President and CEO of Steppe Gold, commented, “On behalf of our shareholders and colleagues, I would like to extend my gratitude towards the authorities of the Financial Regulatory Commission and the MSE for considering our request and supporting our vision. Steppe Gold quickly positioned itself as Mongolia’s leading gold producer and we are excited to attract more Mongolian retail investors and institutions in the growth of our exciting and growing portfolio of precious metal assets.

Steppe Gold already has over 20% of its shares owned by Mongolian investors and, with this move, we are reaffirming our commitment to enable more Mongolians to share in the success of Steppe Gold.

Steppe Gold has built a strong reputation regarding community engagement, investment on the education of Mongolian youths, local development support, job creation, and responsible mining. This cross-listing is aligned with our goal to make an important contribution to not only Mongolia’s economy, but also Mongolia’s stock market”.

The Company will raise MNT 5 billion by issuing a total 1,111,110 common shares at a fixed price.

Proceeds of this placement will be used for Phase 2 expansion at the Company’s ATO Gold Mine.

Five independent analysts forecasted the share price to reach CAD 4.09.

Ard Securities, a lead advisor and underwriter, is working on the listing with Snow Hill Consultancy providing legal consulting, DRA Americas Incorporated – technical consulting, and MNP Audit – financial consulting services respectively.

Amarbayasgalan Enkhsaikhan, Executive Chairman of Ard Securities and Head of Investment Banking at its parent, Ard Financial Group, noted, “We are delighted to be working with Steppe Gold on the cross-listing of its shares on the MSE. We are witnessing an increased interest from Mongolia’s growing retail investor base and they are excited to participate in the success of a home-grown mining company with a demonstrated success story.”

Ard Securities is a fully licensed Mongolian investment advisory firm that offers brokerage and financial advisory services. Ard Securities has led the market with 40 percent secondary trading volume on MSE in the past two years. Its parent, Ard Financial Group, leads the Investor Nation initiative which aims to increase access to capital markets to ordinary Mongolians.

In 2020, Ard Securities has successfully underwritten and closed the funding for the country’s first ever closed-end fund on MSE, National Privatization Fund, bringing the total listed companies managed by the Group to 5: Ard Financial Group JSC, Ard Insurance JSC, Ard Credit NBFI JSC, Mongol Post JSC, National Privatization Fund.

At the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Health for today on June 30, it was reported that 2,246 new cases were detected in Mongolia. More specifically, 1,345 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 901 cases in aimags.

As of today, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Mongolia now stands at 114,565.

Furthermore, 15 COVID-19 related deaths have been also reported, raising the country’s death toll to 563. In the past 24 hours, 2,825 patients made recovery, bringing the total recoveries to 78,654.

Of the 14,131 patients currently undergoing treatment, there are 9,502 patients in mild, 3,143 in serious, 1,237 in critical, and 239 in very critical condition.

The World Bank has approved a USD 100-million loan to support a sustainable urban transport project in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, the bank’s office in Mongolia said Thursday.

The project is aimed at developing a comprehensive framework for sustainable urban mobility for Ulaanbaatar and reducing congestion, improving road safety, and addressing climate resilience on selected transport corridors, the office added.

“Improving traffic conditions in Ulaanbaatar has become a top priority for the municipality and the Mongolian government, and the World Bank is pleased to be providing support in this area through its expertise and financial resources,” said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank country manager for Mongolia.

In Ulaanbaatar, home to around half of the country’s 3.3 million population, travel demand has been increasing amid rapid urbanization.

The city’s current 1,100-km-long street network is sparse and disconnected, while traffic management and road safety facilities are insufficient, causing delays, traffic accidents, and congestion, according to the bank. Poor public transport services and vulnerability to natural hazards such as flooding are affecting residents’ livelihoods and disproportionately hurting vulnerable and low-income population.

The project is expected to finance street network infrastructure for selected transport corridors as well as better integrated public transport systems. This includes road reconfiguration, rehabilitation, and construction on selected priority corridors, upgrading bus management systems and improvements of bus stops, and installation of intelligent transport systems and smart parking management systems across the city, said the bank.