ULAANBAATAR -- Mongolia is a leading player in the global market for wool -- for cashmere from goats that is.

The country is home to 30 million sheep, too. But unlike the merino breed prevalent in Australia and New Zealand whose soft, fine wool is valued for sweaters, scarves and other clothing almost as much as cashmere, Mongolia's 15 native breeds produce a fleece too thick and coarse for such use.

Until recently, most Mongolians lived in circular tents called ger which were covered with sheep's wool felt to retain heat amid the country's freezing winters. But urbanization has cut such demand.

With prices for sheep's wool stagnating around 2,000 Mongolian tugrik (76 U.S. cents) a kilogram, local entrepreneurs have begun cooking up new uses for the material, giving hope that the country can move up from its reliance on commodity exports as well as boost farm incomes.

Tsogbadrakh Bayanjav is one of the wool pioneers. During his time as a Mongolian trade representative in Europe, he came across scientists at Humboldt University in Germany who were experimenting with turning sheep's wool, which naturally contains nitrogen and potassium, into organic fertilizer.

Now at a smelly factory in Tuv Province southeast of Ulaanbaatar, Tsogbadrakh's company Monpellets applies the Germans' technology, using imported machines to clean wool to remove bacteria and then crush it into a powder.

The powder in turn is pressed into cylindrical pellets that can retain 3.5 times their weight in water and support plant growth for up to 10 months, according to the company's tests.

Monpellets fertilizer can support plant growth for up to 10 months, according to company tests. (Photo by Uugansukh Byamba)

Monpellets exported 20 tons of pellets to Germany in 2019, then doubled its foreign sales the next year. After hitting 80 tons in 2021, Tsogbadrakh aims to bring in 240,000 euros ($261,000) in revenue by exporting 220 tons this year and is seeking financing to build a second factory.

Tsogbadrakh brags about the performance of his pellets in laboratory tests and field trials. "A mining company in Bayankhonhor Province struggled to grow vegetation at the site of its old mine, but after using our fertilizer, vegetation appeared," he said.

His next ambition is to use the pellets to support organic greenhouse farming in Tuv that would be capable of competing with imported Chinese vegetables. "I'm looking for a partner who will share the same vision with me," he said.

Meanwhile in Darkhan, an industrial city near Mongolia's frontier with Russia, Byambadorj Mendbayar's company Eco Wool has taken a fresh look at sheep's wool as an insulator.

After seven years of testing and developing, the company began exporting rolls of chemical-free sheep's wool insulation to Japan in 2018 as well as selling to local customers.

Byambadorj says the sheep's wool insulation provides almost seven times better thermal resistance than fiberglass and is highly fire resistant. It also absorbs noise and moisture, a useful feature in humid climates. By using local wool, Eco Wool can sell its insulation at less than $70 per 10 sq. meters versus over $100 for comparable Merino-based products.

The ger, the traditional Mongolian home, is covered with a felt made from sheep's wool for insulation. © Reuters

"Wool not only traps air between fibers, but air is also trapped inside the fibers, retaining more heat," said Enkhtuya Dorj, a professor of textile engineering at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology in Ulaanbaatar. "That is why wool is the perfect insulation material."

Unfortunately, Chinese border closures to control COVID have disrupted exports for Eco Wool as well as much bigger Mongolian companies. This has made Byambadorj more reliant on the local market where construction is still booming.

Perhaps the most unlikely new use for sheep's wool is in cosmetics. Helen Botanical Beauty has been selling an organic exfoliating soap which has a wool felt wrapper enclosing a ball of soap made from sheep tail fat and other natural ingredients.

"We try to use our domestic organic resources as much as we can," said Bayasgalan Burenchudur, founder of the Ulaanbaatar-based startup. The company has been shipping soap to Germany and other European countries, as well as selling it through souvenir shops at Mongolia's international airport and tourist sites.

Helen recently started producing sheep's wool balls for use in clothes' dryers as an alternative to fabric softener or plastic balls and has secured trial orders from the U.S. and Germany.

"If there were no COVID, we could have shined even brighter," Bayasgalan said.

Mongolia's health ministry confirmed 15 new COVID-19 infections on April 25.

10 new cases were recorded in Ulaanbaatar, 5 cases were detected in the regions.

No new related deaths have been recorded in Mongolia since March 10, and the country's COVID-19 death toll remains at 2,108.

When Volodymyr Zelenskiy, while still a Ukrainian presidential candidate, was asked about his childhood years in the Mongolian mining town of Erdenet, he said that he remembers one word very clearly – “baihgui”. It’s an expression that means “we do not have it”, and was illustrative of the deprivation of the time, when Mongolia’s independence from the Soviet Union was nominal at best and grocery store shelves empty. Today while Zelenskiy is leading his nation against Russian aggression, Moscow is working to secure Mongolia as a junior partner for a new strategically important natural gas pipeline to China.

The idea of a trans-Mongolian gas pipeline is not new and was revived by Mongolia’s pro-Russian President Battulga Khaltmaa at the 2018 Eastern Economic Forum. In 2019, with a tacit approval from Beijing, and Gazprom, Mongolia’s state-owned Erdenes Mongol launched a feasibility study of the construction of a Mongolian leg of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline – known as the “Soyuz-Vostok” pipeline.

As bne IntelliNews reported, most of Russia’s oil and gas pipeline infrastructure goes west to deliver 60% of Russia’s oil and 70% of its gas to Europe. But with energy sanctions looming over Russia, it is scrambling to develop more gas and oil pipelines to Asia, where Moscow has more friends and willing customers. So far only the Power of Siberia 1 gas pipeline and Eastern Pacific-Siberian Ocean (ESPO) oil pipelines run east to the Asian markets, both of them built in the last decade.

In early 2022 Mongolian authorities and Gazprom approved the feasibility study, notwithstanding the fact that Power of Siberia 2’s feasibility study is still ongoing. A few days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Erdenes Mongol and Gazprom speedily signed an agreement for the engineering and design work of the pipeline with the aim of starting construction in 2024.

During Putin’s recent visit to China for the Winter Olympic Games, a deal linking the Power of Siberia 1 with the Far Eastern Sakhalin-Vladivostok pipeline was signed, and parties further co-ordinated efforts on Soyuz-Vostok progress.

The Power of Siberia 2, and by extension the Soyuz-Vostok pipeline, has a capacity comparable to that of the suspended Nord Stream 2 projects of about 50bn cubic metres a year and is well-positioned to bring the Yamal peninsula’s production, which was originally destined for European markets, to China, thus completing the unification of Russia's gas transmission network.

Tough bargaining

In spite of having no expertise in developing natural gas pipelines, until now Ulaanbaatar has not engaged any third-party advisors in evaluating the technical and financial feasibility of the Soyuz-Vostok project. At the same time, Mongolia’s political leadership and Gazprom do not seem to be interested in involving a third party in the project, which could arguably increase transparency, provide additional capital and allow for greater scrutiny of the financial, engineering and environmental aspects.

As a result, Gazprom appears to have locked in Erdenes Mongol for a pre-determined set of technical and financial parameters, which will allow it to shift the unwarranted amount of total project cost onto the Soyuz-Vostok while leaving itself, or the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, the lion’s share of the net profits.

Without a proper evaluation of the project and third-party involvement, Mongolia is likely to take on a sizable loan from Russia, possibly on predatory terms, to finance its portion of the costs, while agreeing to pay it off from the gas transit fees. In this scenario, ironically similar to the Soviet-era development of the Erdenet copper mine, Mongolia would be bearing heavy, possibly unjustified cost burdens, but make just enough for the project to break even, while not being able to secure long-term benefits such as scalable discounted gas supplies. Accordingly, negotiating on the transit fees, gas prices and project funding in an information asymmetry will be detrimental to Ulaanbaatar’s interests.

Moreover, there is little reason to believe that Mongolia will be able to shield itself from the political and geo-technical risks of Soyuz-Vostok, where a suspension of gas transmission could delay cash-flows, devalue Ulaanbaatar’s investment and further indebt it. Political risks in this case do exist, not only from the Russian side, which continues to block Mongolia’s attempts to build indigenous hydropower generation capacity, but also from China, which has a habit of closing borders and applying diplomatic pressure on Mongolia every time the Dalai Lama visits at the invitation of Mongolian Buddhists.

With the energy exports to the Western countries set to decrease, Putin’s urge to accelerate infrastructure connections to Eastern markets gives China a bargaining chip for a discounted pipeline gas supply deal. This new geopolitical reality will put pressure on Gazprom to squeeze the most it can get out of the Soyuz-Vostok pipeline, and leave Mongolia at a disadvantage.

Under the current circumstances, the risks of agreeing to a deal with Gazprom entail increased dependency of Mongolia on both Russia and China without meaningful economic benefits while further exposing itself to political risks and potential pressure on sovereign domestic matters from its neighbours.

By Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva in Ulaanbaatar April 24, 2022

The Chinese capital Beijing has kicked off mass testing for millions of residents after a spike in Covid cases.

The Chaoyang district reported 26 cases over the weekend - the highest number so far in Beijing's latest surge.

Long queues outside supermarkets and shops were seen despite government assurance of a sufficient food supply.

It comes amid fears that Beijing could face a similar situation to Shanghai, which has seen some 25 million people shut in their homes for weeks.

'All the meat was snatched up'

All 3.5 million residents in the city's largest Chaoyang district will undergo three rounds of mass testing, according to a notice by the city's disease prevention team.

The news prompted residents to rush to stock up essential supplies, with images circulating on local media showing supermarket shelves emptied of goods and snaking queues at check-out counters.

Beijing's major supermarkets also extended their opening hours to accommodate the spike in demand.

"Never thought I would go to the market early in the morning….when I got there, all the eggs and prawns were gone and all the meat was snatched up," said one Weibo user in Shanghai, before adding they managed to get some vegetables.

Another Weibo user in Shanghai said: "Seeing people in Beijing rush to buy food is both funny and distressing… its like looking at what my own life was like just last month."

State-media news outlet The Global Times said that Beijing's fresh food companies have been ordered to increase the supply of groceries like meat, poultry eggs and vegetables.

They also quoted health experts as saying that the results of the mass testing would indicate whether there is a need to escalate measures further, such as locking down several areas.

Separately, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, told state-media outlet China Daily that the number of cases in Beijing is expected to increase in the following days.

The latest outbreak in Shanghai, first detected in late March, has seen more than 400,000 cases recorded so far and 138 deaths.

Some of the measures Chinese authorities have enforced include placing electronic door alarms to prevent those infected from leaving and forcibly evacuating people from their homes to carry out disinfection procedures.

Some in locked-down areas of Shanghai say they have been struggling to access food supplies, and forced to wait for government drop-offs of vegetables, meat and eggs.

Green barricades have also been erected overnight in parts of Shanghai without prior warning, effectively preventing residents from leaving their homes.

In contrast to many other countries, China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy with the aim of eradicating the virus from the country completely.

While officials managed to keep infection levels relatively low at the beginning of the pandemic, later lockdowns have struggled to contain more recent, transmissible variants of the virus.

The UK government is weighing the feasibility of opening a new coal mine to reduce dependence on Russian energy, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph on Saturday, citing sources in the Conservative Party.

According to the sources of the publication, Michael Gove, the UK’s housing and regional development minister, is inclined to approve the construction of a new coal mine in the city of Whitehaven, Cumbria in the northwest of England. The project was originally presented several years back and greenlighted in October 2020, but six months later, the UK Cabinet of Ministers stalled certification and launched a new review of the project amid protests by environmentalists.

However, against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine and the sweeping restrictions placed on Moscow, which include scrapping Russian coal imports by the end of the year, the UK authorities could end up approving the project despite previous objections, The Telegraph writes. Gove is expected to reach a decision on the new mine by July 7, but sources say this could happen as early as mid-May. According to the Cabinet, the mine will provide coal for key steel mills.

If approved, the Whitehaven project will be the first new coal mine in Britain in three decades. The project will focus on extracting metallurgical coal (met coal), which is used in the production of steel. Until recently, 40% of the UK’s met coal needs were covered by Russia.

However, contracts were scrapped amid the sanctions that followed the launch of Russia’s military operation in neighboring Ukraine. On April 6, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced that by the end of 2022, London will stop all coal and oil imports from Russia and take measures to stop Russian gas deliveries as well.

The EU, which is also pressuring Moscow with economic restrictions amid the Ukraine crisis, has already decided to abandon Russian coal. Earlier this month, Brussels said it would ban the purchase, import, or transit of coal and other solid minerals from Russia starting on August 10.

Mongolian rockers The HU have announced they’ll be returning to Australia on tour this August. Beginning in Melbourne on 3 August, the band will head to Brisbane and Adelaide, before ending in Sydney on 7 August.

The metal favourites rose to worldwide prominence after the release of their 2019 debut album The Gereg, which reached number 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album also debuted at number on the World Album and Top New Artist Charts.

It quickly gained them some notable celebrity fans: Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix called the band “the real deal”, while even Sir Elton John hailed them as “my band of the year” on his Beats 1 Rocket Hour show. A deluxe edition of The Gereg was released one year later in 2020, featuring guest appearances by Shaddix, U.S. rock outfit From Ashes to New, and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale.

The HU have been preparing The Gereg‘s follow-up, with their highly-anticipated sophomore album set for release later this year from Better Noise Music. The Black Thunder Tour will offer fans the opportunity to hear new music from the forthcoming album.

HOHHOT, April 24 (Xinhua) -- North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region saw its exports grow 20.9 percent year on year in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, according to the local customs.

The region's foreign trade totaled 29.8 billion yuan (about 4.6 billion U.S. dollars) in Q1, of which the export value reached 13.1 billion yuan, according to the customs of Hohhot, the regional capital.

During the period, the region's imports and exports of processing trade surged 146.8 percent year on year hitting 2.3 billion yuan. The region's foreign-invested enterprises also saw fast growth in foreign trade, increasing by 53.2 percent year on year in Q1.

Its major export products maintained strong growth momentum, as the exports of mechanical and electrical products, agricultural products and basic organic chemicals grew 56 percent, 15.6 percent and 33.3 percent respectively in the period.

The imports and exports between the region and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries stood at 9 billion yuan, up 9.3 percent year on year, the customs said.

Studies continue to improve railway cooperation between Turkey and Mongolia. At the meeting held at the General Directorate of Turkish State Railways (TCDD), a consensus was reached to improve railway cooperation between the two countries.

Cooperation Meeting in the Field of Railway Between Turkey and Mongolia was held at the General Directorate of TCDD. TCDD General Manager Metin Akbaş, Mongolian Ministry of Road and Transport Development (MRTD) Undersecretary Batbold Sandagdor, Railway and Maritime Policy Implementation Coordination Department Specialist Artur Byamba-Yu, Mongolian Railway KIT (MTZ), Head of Projects and Investment Department Myagmarsuren Zevgee, Ulaanbaatar Railways AŞ In the meeting held with the participation of (UBTZ) Deputy General Manager Luvsandash Enkhbold, brief information about the institutions was shared. After brief information was given by TCDD Teknik Mühendislik ve Müşavirlik AŞ Marketing and Sales Director Mustafa Özdöner and Turkey Rail System Vehicles Industry AŞ (TÜRASAŞ) Marketing and Customer Relations Branch Manager Fatih Karaköse, the parties discussed the cooperation opportunities between the two countries. Mongolia, the delegation stated that they wanted to cooperate in their new projects, and requested a proposal from TCDD Teknik for the feasibility studies of the freight wagon factory planned to be established in Mongolia, and that they would need railway vehicles when the projects were completed.

TCDD General Manager Metin Akbaş stated that this meeting, where the railway stakeholders of the two countries came together, formed a good basis for possible cooperation and that concrete steps should be taken in this direction. Akbaş noted that it would be beneficial to start the studies for the preparation and soon signing of a protocol that will involve all railway stakeholders for the development of cooperation between the two countries in the field of railways.

MRTD Undersecretary Batbold Sandagdorj emphasized that they appreciate Turkey's development and success in the field of railways. Sandagdorj stated that they can benefit from TCDD's experience in this field.

In connection with the law on preventing the rise in price and shortage of key commodities caused by the international crisis and reducing their impact that was adopted last week, the State Great Khural made certain amendments to the Law on Anti Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism.

In its framework, the decision to restrict the export of precious metals and foreign banknotes amounting to MNT 20 million in cash comes into effect from today, April 22, reported the Customs General Administration.

The aforementioned decision will be implemented until January 1, 2023.

The decision to restrict the export of foreign banknotes and precious metals was made by the Cabinet at an irregular meeting on April 4.