At a meeting several days ago, officials from the U.S. and Mongolia discussed devising innovative approaches to ensure the smooth entry of essential minerals from the landlocked Mongolian nation into the global market, namely for materials for rare earth magnets. Following his meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, Mongolian Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene told Reuters that Mongolia planned to intensify its collaborative efforts with the U.S. in the realm of mining. The country would specifically target rare earths, rare earth magnets, and other minerals integral to advanced technologies.

The two parties also delved into strategies for advancing the objectives laid out in a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum stemmed from a June collaboration between the U.S. State Department and Mongolia’s Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry. This could potentially make way for a new source of rare earths for the U.S. to produce rare earth magnets, which could add strength to rare earth prices (see MetalMiner’s price forecasting track record).

United States Hopes to Support Mongolia Despite China

Experts feel that the visit has significant implications for the ongoing geopolitical rivalry between China and the U.S. Presently, China occupies a commanding position in the rare earth market. Indeed, the country not only boasts substantial natural reserves, but also significant expertise in the refinement and extraction of these vital elements.

According to a U.S. State Department spokesman quoted by Reuters, the discussions focused on specific areas where the U.S. could assist Mongolia in comprehending its resource potential. They also touched on methods for extraction and avenues for production. The spokesperson added that the U.S. would support Mongolia in finding inventive solutions that empowered it to exercise greater control over mining, exploration, extraction, and production of critical minerals and rare earth elements.

This led to numerous inquiries into how the U.S. might facilitate the unimpeded exportation of such resources from Mongolia. This is prudent, given the country’s challenging geopolitical position. The spokesperson acknowledged the complexity and highlighted ongoing dialogue regarding strategies to make resources like rare earth magnets accessible to the market. These sourcing strategies are also highlighted in The 5 Biggest Cost-Saving Sourcing Tactics.

China and U.S. Race for Rare Earth Magnets and Copper

Despite commencing patent applications later than the U.S. and Japan, China now commands over 80% of all patents related to rare earths. In the first half of 2023, China undertook considerable ores and metals, including from the U.S. It later exported refined rare earths, primarily in the form of materials for rare earth magnets. China’s control over the supply chain coupled with its proficiency in refining and separating rare earths continues to give it a strategic upper hand.

China’s neighbor Mongolia also possesses vast reserves of copper. The reddish-orange metal is essential for numerous advanced technological uses, including certain defense apparatus. Meanwhile, the U.S., has an urgent need for both rare earths and copper for advanced technological applications, including defense systems. For this reason, the country has been trying to diversify its sources beyond its primary global competitor, China.

By Sohrab Darabshaw

The economy of Mongolia is expected to grow by 5.5% in the second quarter of this year and by 5.4% in the first quarter of 2024, according to a survey conducted by the Bank of Mongolia among external experts.

According to the National Statistical Committee, Mongolia's gross domestic product increased by 6.4% to 13.6 trillion tugriks in 2015 prices as of the first half of the year. The mining sector accounted for 3.9% of the total growth, the service sector for 3.5%, and the agricultural sector for 1.7%.

The agricultural sector, which saw growth in 2022, contracted by 9.9% in the first half of 2023 due to drought. However, the value added of the industry and the construction sector, which had been declining steadily in previous years, reached 1.4 trillion tugriks, up 2.4% year-over-year, according to the National Statistical Committee.

As part of the “Years to Visit Mongolia”, “Nas Summit-2023”, which was successfully organized in more than 10 countries, was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia this year on August 19, with the aim of promoting Mongolia abroad. The conference was attended by the best content creators and investors from around the world, as well as from Mongolia, and shared their experiences and methods.

13 influencers from 9 countries with millions of followers on their social media pages arrived in Mongolia for 7 days, and they traveled and made content about Mongolia.

The number of followers of their social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, twitter).

1. Nuseir Yassin / CEO of Nas company/- 63 million,

2. Dhruv Rathee /Explainers that inspire/ - 21,4 million,

3. Alyne Tamir /Internet’s Favorite Travel Vlogger/ - 3,8 million,

4. Daniela Rita /From an Audiovisual Communicator to Travel Creator/ - 4 million

5. Wil Dasovich /TV Personality/ - 7 million,

6. Alan Wurman / Alan’s Theory Creator/ - 1,3 million,

7. Larissa D’SA /Best Indian Travel Vlogger/ - 1,9 million,

8. MONT / A journalist Content Creator/ - 4 million,

9. MONT / A Journalist Turned content Creator/ - 4 million,

10. Julius Dein /World’s biggest Magician/ - 72 million,

11. Jordan Matter / Most successful “Old” YouTuber in the World/ - 28 million,

12. Mark Weins / Food and Travel Creator/ -20 million,

13. Max Haase / Travel Creator/ 10 million.

Erenhot Port in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region has logged over 2,000 China-Europe freight train trips so far this year, the local railway authorities said on Friday.

Since the port launched its China-Europe freight train service in 2013, it has handled a total of more than 13,000 China-Europe freight train trips.

From the beginning of this year, the land port has offered a “green channel” for China-Europe freight trains, further improving operational efficiency.

Erenhot Port is the largest land port between China and Mongolia. Currently, 69 China-Europe freight train routes run through this port, linking China with more than 60 regions in over 10 countries, including Germany and Poland.

Source: Xinhua

China’s hydrogen sector is expected to see strong growth as local governments announce ambitious plans to produce quantities of the gas that far exceed the national target, analysts said.

However, slow growth in infrastructure and consumption demand remain major challenges that could put the sector at risk of overcapacity.

China’s provincial and municipal governments have jumped on the hydrogen bandwagon, rolling out plans to develop the industry after Beijing released its first ever national hydrogen strategy last March.

The country aims to have at least 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEVs) on the road and produce 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of “green hydrogen” – hydrogen produced by splitting water through the electrolysis process – annually by 2025, according to the plan.

However, the national targets were eclipsed by the plans rolled out by the local governments. For example, just the combined green hydrogen production targets set by the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and Gansu amount to 740,000 tonnes per year by 2025. Meanwhile, 13 provinces and cities aim to have 111,000 HFCEVs on the road by 2025, with more targets expected to be announced.

“On the green hydrogen production side, major investments from state-owned enterprises are easing a significant overbuild in terms of production – an endemic issue in the energy transition where getting supply and demand more or less in balance has proven difficult and is an investment risk,” said a Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) report released this month.

China, already the world’s largest hydrogen producer, accounted for around 60 per cent of global electrolyser shipments in 2022 and is estimated to dominate at least half of the global market in 2023, according to BloombergNEF.

However, green hydrogen demand remains low globally, with a projected demand of 10 gigawatts (GW) in 2025 as compared to at least 71GW of electrolyser manufacturing capacity to be online by the end of 2024, BloombergNEF data showed.

“The wide range of potential shipments attests to China’s significant overcapacity to ship electrolysers,” the Citi GPS report said. “Overcapacity is not just endemic to electrolyser manufacturing: consumption lags supply in hydrogen as a transport fuel and indeed in a wide range of green energy areas.”

For example, HFCEV sales were low at 3,367 units in 2022, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. To meet the 50,000 target, average annual sales from 2023 to 2025 will need to be roughly 12,500, some four times higher than the 2022 sales.

China’s northern coal-producing provinces, such as Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Jilin, and Gansu are playing a significant role in the hydrogen sector’s rapid growth, driven by the unfavourable long-term outlook for the coal industry under China’s 2060 net-zero emissions goals and Chinese president Xi Jinping’s announcement two years ago calling for the reduction in coal use from 2026, said Cosimo Ries, an energy analyst at think tank Trivium China.

“Meanwhile, these northern provinces also boast some of the most abundant renewable energy resources in the country, which local policymakers hope to leverage to turn them into the most cost-competitive regions for hydrogen production,” said Ries.

Ries argued it’s unlikely that China’s hydrogen sector will struggle with overcapacity as the national hydrogen targets appear highly conservative and there are ample opportunities for industries such as steel, cement and aviation to use green hydrogen to replace the fossil fuel-derived grey hydrogen because the former only accounts for a fraction of China’s annual production of the gas.

Grey hydrogen is created from natural gas, without capturing the greenhouse gases given off in the process.

As is the case globally, China’s hydrogen market remains at a nascent stage, with big challenges around the pace of expected cost declines and supply chain integration.

“The business model of hydrogen energy hasn’t been fully established yet. At present, it still relies heavily on government policies to drive the development of the industry,” said Kevin Kang, chief economist at KPMG China.

The country’s sluggish economy is also a factor slowing down the sector’s growth, he added.

The hydrogen fuel cells and HFCEV industries are probably a decade behind the lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle industries when it comes to cost, economies of scale, and technological maturity, according to Ries. Other more promising sectors such as steel and cement face similar problems over costs and inadequate infrastructure for hydrogen transport and storage, he said.

“These problems will be resolved gradually, but are tricky issues and will take time,” said Ries. “Policy mechanisms like government subsidies or a more expansive emission trading system with higher carbon prices will no doubt help, though we’re not sure what Beijing has planned.”

BY Yujie Xue

Yujie Xue covers China technology for the Post in Shenzhen. Before joining the SCMP in 2020, she was a technology features reporter at Shanghai-based news outlet Sixth Tone. She studied Mass Communication at Boston University.

China’s imports of Australian coal rose in July even as total coal arrivals declined, with Australia’s high-quality fuel remaining cheaper than domestic supplies while demand from utilities stayed strong amid stifling hot weather.

China brought in 6.31 million metric tons of Australian coal last month, up from 4.83 million tons in June and the highest in three years, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.

Australian shipments comprised 6.15 million tons of thermal coal used in power plants and 161,619 tons of coking coal for steelmaking.

The step up of Australian coal imports came even as China’s overall coal imports eased in July by 1.5% from June.

High-quality Australian thermal coal is needed for China’s power plants to meet soaring electricity consumption in summer when households increase air conditioning demand.

Australia’s thermal coal with energy content of 5,500 kilocalories traded as much as 70 yuan ($9.62) a ton lower than the same quality domestic coal in the southern port of Guangzhou in July, trading sources said.

Analysts and market participants expect Australian coal imports to remain high through the year – assuming no policy changes – supported by robust import profits and lower domestic output due to stricter mine safety inspections.

Arrivals of Russian coal in July edged down to 8.99 million tons from June’s record 10.65 million tons, but were up 21% from the same month last year.

Imports from Mongolia, mostly coking coal, grew 13% from June to 5.94 million tons, even as lower steel production dented demand for steelmaking raw materials.

Customs data also showed 15.83 million tons of Indonesian coal were imported in July, down from 16.32 million tons in June.

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by William Mallard)

Did you know that the musical hit Bohemian Rhapsody by the British rock band Queen could have been titled as ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’? And that the band’s most loved member Freddie Mercury had an eye for detail in the history of fashion, so much so that he understood the boundless opportunities for creativity by selecting materials with which he knew he could create some spectacular outfits, while also being able to move freely on stage. From stage costumes, handwritten lyrics, fine and decorative arts, Japanese art, precious objects and a trove of personal belongings, there’s a display revealing a new side of the global icon, Freddie Mercury, in his never-before-seen private collection at Sotheby’s exhibition and auction series. The exhibition at Sotheby’s London galleries is up all throughout August with six auctions in September.

As the chief songwriter and vocalist for the rock band Queen, Mercury had gone beyond the realms of a musician or performer. His dazzling creativity was nothing less than a global cultural phenomenon. The contents of Freddie Mercury’s London home, Garden Lodge in Kensington, West London, all lovingly cherished and cared for over the last three decades by Mary Austin, one of Mercury’s closest and most trusted friends, are revealed in this exhibition, while celebrating Mercury’s rich and multi-faceted life and passion.

For instance, one of Mercury’s lyrics and writings reveal that he originally planned to call the song ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’, before crossing out Mongolian and replacing it with ‘Bohemian’ — rhythmically similar but with a different resonance. There is also an unseen trove of Mercury’s handwritten working drafts for Queen’s immortal hits with pages revealing the genesis of a roll call of Queen songs — most created during a burst of great creativity in the mid-1970s — which, almost 50 years on, continue to resonate throughout contemporary culture.

“The rare survival of the manuscripts provide fascinating insights into how his songs were developed and put together, as well as reminding us of their musical complexity and sophistication. The pages bear witness to the many hours he put into perfecting his craft, as he experiments and plays with language, hones and shapes the lyrics and harmonies for songs which have always been there in our lives”, says Dr Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s books & manuscripts specialist. Revealing an alternative title and narratives for Queen’s greatest commercial hit: The Autograph Working Lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody from circa 1974 is estimated at £800,000-1,200,000; Handwritten working lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody are estimated at £800,000-1.2 million, written in black and blue ballpoint pen and pencil, this early draft for Bohemian Rhapsody encompasses all sections of this most ambitious of Queen hits, one of the most globally beloved and streamed songs, with almost four billion streams across Spotify and YouTube alone, and the third best-selling UK single of all time. There’s also a completely unseen, unrecorded red notebook from the early 1970s, which was one of his prized possessions, dating back to the period before Queen were signed as a band. As well as including his own working lyrics (Stone Cold Crazy, Liar, and Keep Yourself Alive) the notebook reveals which songs by other artists Queen were performing at the time, with set-lists for early gigs featuring Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and The Rolling Stones’ Stupid Girl. It also includes doodles, designs for Queen’s logo and fragments of unpublished songs. All the notes are written across 42 pages in total with coffee stains on the cover.

There’s a section of Mercury’s sensational costumes relating to songs and promotional video for which he commissioned designer-friend, Wendy de Smet to create a catsuit and bolero of ivory satin. An Indian miniature painting dating back to the 16th century is part of this collection. The Mughal folio from an ‘Akbarnama’ depicting a prince on horseback with his entourage is said to be reflective of the flamboyant artist’s Indian Parsi ancestry.

The bustling city of Ulaanbaatar is brimming with excitement and pride as it hosts the East Asian Youth Games (EAYG), demonstrating exceptional talent and sportsmanship from the region's young athletes.

In the competition of Basketball (3x3), the Mongolian Men's Youth 3x3 Basketball Team reached the final match with a record of no defeats. On August 18, Mongolia defeated China in the final with a score of 18:15, bagging a gold medal and claiming the title of East Asian Champions.

The Mongolian Women's Youth 3x3 Basketball Team also won a bronze medal after defeating a team from Hong Kong.

Currently, Mongolia has won a total of 19 medals: 3 gold, 6 silver, and 10 bronze.