National Security Council discusses natural gas pipeline project www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The National Security Council of Mongolia called a meeting today and issued a resolution to set up a working group responsible for providing policy and coordination to the project collaboration to construct a natural gas pipeline that will link the Russian Federation to the Republic of China through the territory of Mongolia.

2020 copper production forecast trimmed to 21mt www.mining.com

Global copper production in 2020 is impacted by the covid-19 outbreak, with data analytics firm GlobalData now forecasting output growth of 1.9% this year compared to the original forecast growth rate of 3.4%.

Coal export through Khangi border port resumed www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Coal export through Khangi border checkpoint resumed from today, March 31. Even though the country halted its coal export temporarily in prevention of COVID-19 infection, Gashuunsukhait border checkpoint was re-opened on March 23 to restore the coal export.

Two more imported Covid-19 cases detected in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

At today’s briefing of the Ministry of Health, General Director of the National Center for Communicable Diseases D.Nyamkhuu reported that two more imported cases of Covid-19 have been detected in the country. On March 28, the Republic of Korea sent a charter flight to repatriate its citizens in Mongolia and three family members of the staff of the Turkish Embassy in Mongolia arrived by the flight to Ulaanbaatar.

Economic stimulus package to limit COVID-19 impact to be submitted to Parliament www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On April 1, at its regular meeting, the Cabinet held a discussion on a draft parliamentary resolution and accompanying bills on a package of measures to protect the health and income of people, preserve employment and stimulate the economy. The package contains 14 measures in four areas, as introduced by Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh on last Friday.

ETT exports 22.6 tons of coal since border reopening www.zgm.mn

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT) JSC has been exported 22.6 tons of coal since the coal export resumed. The Head of Public Relations Manager of ETT said, “Even though our country follows the government measures in connection with COVID-2019 prevention, the company operates normally. ETT has extracted approximately 2.2 tons of coal, loaded 2.1 tons of coal and exported nearly 800,000 tons of coal during the period from January 1st to March. However, coal price dropped and the risk was estimated previously. ”Moreover, the Mongolian Central Securities Depository (MCSD), Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) and the State Bank, as well as the Customs, Taxation and Financial Information Technology Center will be involved in organizing efficient work regarding dividends distributing from May. ETT will distribute a total of MNT 1 trillion dividends from the beginning of May. Of these, 85 percent or MNT 199.7 million will be allocated to ETT shareholders and entities. In addition, the company has signed an agreement to cooperate with 30 broker-dealers who want to use the ETT application and open a stock account.

Russia resumes natural gas supplies to China via Power of Siberia pipeline www.rt.com

Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday the restart of natural gas deliveries to China following the completion of regular maintenance at the Power of Siberia pipeline.
The pipeline had been shut since mid-March as Gazprom and China’s CNPC agreed that it would undergo a maintenance check-up twice a year (every spring and autumn).

Oil ends lower after U.S. crude stockpiles jump, gasoline demand sinks www.reuters.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday after U.S. crude inventories rose last week by the most since 2016, while gasoline demand suffered its biggest weekly drop ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose by 13.8 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. That was the biggest one-week rise since 2016, and analysts expect similar data in coming weeks, as refineries curb output further and gasoline demand continues to decline.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell 17 cents to settle at $20.31 a barrel, after hitting a low at $19.90.

Oil market shock to spill over into global supply chains: IEA
June Brent crude LCOc1 fell $1.61 , or 6.1%, to $24.74 a barrel. The global benchmark fell to $21.65 on Monday, its lowest since 2002, when the now-expired May contract was the front month.

The market has slumped on the sharp fall in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic and rising output from Saudi Arabia and Russia after a supply pact collapsed last month. Brent crude fell 66% in the first three months of 2020, its biggest ever quarterly loss. Saudi Arabia’s production rose to more than 12 million bpd in the most recent months, according to sources.

“The likelihood of distressed cargoes, increased freight rates, force majeures, strains on storage capacity, VLCC availability will be combining in placing additional downside pressures on petroleum prices,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Wednesday for global oil producers and consumers to address “challenging” oil markets while U.S. President Donald Trump complained that oil cheaper “than water” was hurting the industry.

Trump invited several energy industry executives, including the chief executives of Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp, to a meeting on Friday to discuss aid for the industry, including possible tariffs on oil imports from Saudi Arabia, an administration source confirmed.

News of those efforts has intermittently bolstered futures prices, but physical grades of crude are deteriorating, as refiners and shippers confront the coming wave of supply and freeze-up in demand. Gasoline demand fell by the most ever in one week, with products supplied, a proxy for demand, dropping by 2.2 million barrels per day to 6.7 million bpd. That augurs for more refining cutbacks down the road.

“Demand is a disaster,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. “That’s the whole problem here. It’s horrible.”

The bearish mood has been fueled by a rift within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have been unable to agree to a technical meeting in April to discuss sliding prices.

An OPEC-led supply deal fell apart on March 6 when Russia refused to cut output further. Saudi Arabia has already begun to boost output, a Reuters OPEC survey showed on Tuesday, and is expected to pump more in April. [OPEC/O]

“It is very unlikely that OPEC, with or without Russia or the United States, will agree a sufficient volumetric solution to offset oil demand losses,” BNP Paribas analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said in a report on Tuesday.

Two more imported Covid-19 cases detected in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

At today’s briefing of the Ministry of Health, General Director of the National Center for Communicable Diseases D.Nyamkhuu reported that two more imported cases of Covid-19 have been detected in the country. On March 28, the Republic of Korea sent a charter flight to repatriate its citizens in Mongolia and three family members of the staff of the Turkish Embassy in Mongolia arrived by the flight to Ulaanbaatar.

Should you wear a mask? US health officials re-examine guidance amid coronavirus crisis www.cnn.com (from MBD: PLEASE USE YOUR MASK DOES NOT MATTER WHAT WHO AND DONALD TRUMP SAY!!

(CNN)It's the debate heard 'round the world: Should you or shouldn't you wear a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic?

That's something White House and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are discussing, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert.
WHO stands by recommendation to not wear masks if you are not sick or not caring for someone who is sick
WHO stands by recommendation to not wear masks if you are not sick or not caring for someone who is sick
While the World Health Organization on Monday stood by its recommendation only to wear a mask if you are sick or caring for someone who is sick, a growing number of officials and health experts argue that people should wear masks to help prevent spread of the virus.
"We are not going to be wearing masks forever, but it could be for a short period of time after we get back into gear. I could see something like that happening for a period of time," President Trump said during Monday's White House briefing.
The idea of recommending broad use of masks in the United States is under "very active discussion" at the White House, said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, adding that the White House Task Force will be discussing it Tuesday.
Speaking to CNN's Jim Sciutto, Fauci said on CNN Newsroom that "the idea of getting a much more broad communitywide use of masks outside of the health care setting is under very active discussion at the Task Force. The CDC group is looking at that very carefully."
White House task force actively discussing whether public should be wearing masks, Fauci says
White House task force actively discussing whether public should be wearing masks, Fauci says
"The thing that has inhibited that a bit is to make sure we don't take away the supply of masks from the health care workers who need them," Fauci added. "But when we get in a situation where we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about more broadening this recommendation of using masks. We're not there yet, but I think we're close to coming to some determination.
"Because if, in fact, a person who may or may not be infected wants to prevent infecting somebody else, the best way to do that is with a mask. Perhaps that's the way to go."
Fauci warned, "You don't want to take masks away from the health care providers who are in a real and present danger of getting infected. That would be the worst thing we do. If we have them covered, then you could look back and say maybe we need to broaden this."
Meanwhile, many health experts already have turned to social media to make the argument for the public to wear masks, signaling a shift in some medical opinions around the topic.
Different types of masks under debate
In this debate, there are different types of masks in question: N95 respirator masks, surgical masks and cloth masks, which could be homemade.
Trump says he could see recommending all Americans wear masks
Trump says he could see recommending all Americans wear masks
"The N95 masks that we wear in health care should not be worn by the general public," Dr. James Phillips, CNN medical analyst and assistant professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University, said during an appearance on New Day on Tuesday morning.
"There's not any great proof that that's going to make a big difference. Those are used to prevent getting the disease from health care workers that are in close proximity to patients with it," Phillips said.
He added that surgical masks or cloth masks are different.
"Those are designed to keep the droplets that may be infected from coming out of your own mouth and nose on to other people, thus, spreading the disease. It makes logical sense that if everyone, including those who may be spreading the virus, was wearing that mask as sort of a shield over their face to prevent droplets from getting out into the air, that it would limit the transmission of the virus," Philips said on New Day.
"Now, cloth masks are not recommended to try to prevent you from getting disease, that's been shown to not work -- that's why we don't wear cloth masks in the hospital," he said. "I think the CDC and the federal government will end up coming out with a recommendation for people to wear masks, specifically to prevent droplet spread. I think that's coming."
Celebs pictured in face masks amid coronavirus fears

Celebs pictured in face masks amid coronavirus fears 01:19
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, wrote in a Twitter post on Sunday that a recommendation from the CDC "for consumers to wear cotton masks (with guidelines on how to fashion these products from household items) can improve safety and reduce spread and not strain the hospital supply chain."
Also on Twitter, Tom Inglesby, director of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, wrote in a thread on Sunday that "members of the general public should wear non-medical fabric masks when going out in public in one additional societal effort to slow the spread of the virus down."
The countries where masks are mandatory
Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have all made face coverings in public mandatory. Many Czechs are even sewing their own masks as the world experiences a shortage.
Authorities in the German town of Jena on Tuesday said it planned to make wearing a mask mandatory in shops and on public transport, as well as other public places. Even a personal scarf or cloth over the face will do.
Meanwhile, in China, where the pandemic began, the Chinese CDC has recommended to "wear a mask when going out."
Masks may actually increase your coronavirus risk if worn improperly, surgeon general warns
Masks may actually increase your coronavirus risk if worn improperly, surgeon general warns
WHO and US CDC experts have long argued that people who are not sick nor caring for someone who is sick should leave masks in the medical supply chain for health care workers who need them most.
"What the World Health Organization and the CDC have reaffirmed in the last few days is that they do not recommend the general public wear masks. Here's why: On an individual level, there was a study in 2015 looking at medical students -- and medical students wearing surgical masks touch their face on average 23 times," US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Tuesday. That small behavioral observation study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, was based on 26 medical students at the University of New South Wales.
"We know a major way that you can get respiratory diseases like coronaviruses is by touching a surface and then touching your face," Adams said. "So wearing a mask improperly can actually increase your risk of getting disease."
The US CDC currently recommends that if you are not sick, "you do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick."
Doctor: 'Our masks are our only armor'

Doctor: 'Our masks are our only armor' 11:22
Some experts who have made the argument for people to wear masks have pointed to past research showing the effectiveness of masks against the spread of influenza and to early research on Covid-19.
A study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection in 2013 found that surgical masks could help reduce exposure to infectious influenza virus in the air. Preliminary data on how the virus shed from 13 Covid-19 patients at the University of Nebraska Medical Center supports "the use of airborne isolation precautions," such as masks. That early data currently is not published in a peer-reviewed journal.
A global shortage
Masks can't stop the coronavirus in the US, but hysteria has led to bulk-buying, price-gouging and serious fear for the future
Masks can't stop the coronavirus in the US, but hysteria has led to bulk-buying, price-gouging and serious fear for the future
As the debate continues around whether the public should wear masks, the world faces a serious shortage of medical supplies for doctors.
WHO officials warned during a media briefing in Geneva last week that there is a "significant shortage" of medical supplies globally, including personal protective gear or PPE.
"We need to be clear: The world is facing a significant shortage of PPE for our frontline workers -- including masks and gloves and gowns and face shields -- and protecting our health care workers must be the top priority for use of this PPE," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said during the briefing.
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All elements of the supply chain for supplies appear to be under "extreme strain," said Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of health emergencies programme.
"There are problems in the supply chain all along that chain. The simple issue is demand," he said. "There are shortages of PPE, shortages of ventilators and other products for the medical response to Covid. We also have to avoid shortages in other medical supplies, as supply chains come under strain."
CNN's Amanda Watts and Angela Dewan contributed to this report.