Queue of trucks at Gashuunsukhait remains steady at 3 km

The truck logjam at Gashuunsukhait border crossing that extended over 150 kilometers at its peak has dwindled down to three to four kilometers and has remained stable after Cabinet started imposing a schedule on coal shipment from Tavan Tolgoi.

Gashuunsukhait Road Company reported that the queue is currently at three to four kilometers and that a minor hiccup in the transport of coal has been observed as coal companies operating in Tavan Tolgoi have been working to renew their transportation agreements with logistics companies.

As of January 5, only 70 to 120 trucks a day are being passed through the border to China. In order to abide by Cabinet’s decision to reroute the transport of coal through Tavan Tolgoi – Tsagaan Khad – Gashuunsukhait, coal companies will have additional transportation costs. Coal companies will have to unload and load again at the Tsagaan Khad Zone, adding approximately two to three dollars for every ton of coal, reported Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi.

“This will influence the market price of coal in the long term,” said CEO of Erdenes Mongol Ts.Tumentsogt.

Companies mining coal at the West Tsankhi of Tavan Tolgoi have renewed their transport contracts and are continuing exports.

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi has sought to change its agreement with the Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, which purchases almost 80 percent of the coal from the East Tsankhi of Tavan Tolgoi.

Mongolia has exported 31.3 million tons of coal in the first 11 months of 2017 and the Finance Ministry forecasts coal exports of 28 million tons in 2018.

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming said that the Chinese side has taken steps to alleviate the problem at the Gashuunsukhait – Gants Mod border crossing, despite China’s surplus in domestic production of coal.