A surge in iPhone sales, especially in China, has led to a doubling of profits at Apple since the start of the pandemic.

The results reflected "optimism" about the days ahead, Apple's boss said.

Rival tech firm Facebook also reported bumper revenues and profits.

But the social media giant warned Apple's latest software release could undermine its prospects later in the year.

Apple has seen sales of its phones, apps and other devices rise throughout the pandemic, as consumers spent more time working, shopping and seeking entertainment online.

Customers continued to upgrade to Apple's new 5G phones which were rolled out last year, and also bought Mac computers and iPads to tackle working and studying from home, the firm said.

Fitness and music apps also saw a lockdown boost.

Sales to China nearly doubled, leading to overall revenues for the first three months of this year of $89.6bn (£64.2bn), more than 50% up compared to a year earlier.

Profit was $23.6bn, up from $11.3bn for the same period last year.

"This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us," said chief executive Tim Cook.

Paolo Pescatore, analyst with PP Foresight, said it was "another blowout quarter" for Apple.

"The iPhone remains a core product and gateway to the Apple universe," he added, providing Apple with "a key launchpad" to sell further services.

Sophie Lund-Yates, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said customers had proved willing to "splurge on big-ticket items thanks to a global shift to working from home, and the fact people have found comfort in treating themselves".

"The sheer scale of Apple's sales is testament to the grip that shiny embossed piece of fruit has on global consumers," she added.

Facebook, which relies on sales of advertising rather than consumer electronics, also saw bumper revenues and profits in the first three months of the year.

The time spent by consumers at home, and the spending power that shifted online, translated into revenues of $26.17bn, outpacing analysts predictions. Profit was also higher than expected at $9.5bn.

Facebook said in coming months it expected revenue to be stable or grow moderately, and admitted a new feature released this week by Apple - an option for users to prevent apps from collecting user data - could "significantly" hurt its business.

It's not just Apple and Facebook who have posted astonishing profits this week. Google and Microsoft announced eye-watering quarterly figures yesterday too.

That may not be surprising to many. Global lockdowns have made people work and play more online. What's less clear though was whether this was a pandemic bounce? Or have people permanently changed their behaviour? These figures certainly suggest the latter.

Apple's figures across multiple sectors, across the world, are exceptional. In places like China, which has mostly been lockdown-free in recent months, sales were up dramatically. Facebook's figures too, show that advertisers are feeling bullish about online spending.

Almost all of Facebook's revenue is from ads, so when Facebook is doing well, that usually suggests we're buying more things on the internet. Amazon's quarterly figures are out tomorrow, and they too are expected to have had a bumper quarter. Big Tech's pandemic bounce is increasingly looking like a trend.

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The two companies are locked in a stand-off after Apple announced the latest version of its iOS operating system this week.

A new feature will prompt device users to decide whether they are happy for their data to be collected by apps. Many are likely to say no.

But user data is a large reason why Facebook's ad-based business model is so profitable. It allows advertising to be targeted and monitored for efficacy.

Facebook saw a rise in monthly active users, however, which were up by 10% at 2.85 billion.

On Tuesday Google's parent company Alphabet reported a record profit in the three months to March as its advertising revenue swelled by a third.

The firm credited "elevated consumer activity online" for its results as populations around the world spent more time indoors at home to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

27 APRIL 2021, Ulaanbaatar ---- In November 2020, at the initiative of the Government of Mongolia, Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, through their nominated board members of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, submitted draft resolutions for the establishment of a Special Committee of the board of directors of Oyu Tolgoi LLC whose mandate is to appoint independent experts to conduct an independent review of the cost overruns and schedule delays of the underground expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi project. The proposed resolutions were approved at the meeting of Oyu Tolgoi LLC’s board of directors held on 30 November 2020. Rio Tinto opposed the proposed independent review and Rio Tinto appointed board members declined to support the board resolutions. However, following the approval of the proposal by an overwhelming majority of the board members of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, Rio Tinto gave its assurances to the Government of Mongolia that it will fully support and cooperate with the independent review.

Following the establishment of the Special Committee consisting of two board members nominated by each of the Government of Mongolia and Turquoise Hill Resources Limited shareholders as envisaged in the board resolutions, the special committee immediately began its work and approved the scope of work for the independent review/investigations. Further, members of the special committee worked tirelessly to look for and appoint internationally recognized experts who will conduct the independent review. Thanks to the continued efforts and works of the special committee members, the Independent Consulting Group, a consortium of highly qualified and credible consultants in the fields of project management, mine planning, cost management, and related fields, are appointed and started their investigation relating to the Oyu Tolgoi project delays and cost overruns few weeks ago. These investigations are reviewing the delays in the projects schedule and the increase required in capital to complete the project. To date, the Independent Consulting Group are making progress and reviewing technical data that is currently made available by the Special Committee.

However, the Independent Consulting Group have requested several key documents through the Special Committee relating to Rio Tinto’s technical expert reports and project management documents which Rio Tinto have to date failed to disclose.

This investigation has been initiated to seek a full and transparent review of the underground project progress, and to report failures and lessons which may be learnt. Presently, the refusal by Rio Tinto to provide the data and reports requested by the Independent Consulting Group is hampering the expert’s efforts and causing potential delays to the final report/outcome of the review. Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC fully supports the works of the Special Committee who is seeking a fully transparent review, meeting international standards relating to good corporate governance and recognised compliance standards.

We hereby strongly urge both Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources Limited to fully cooperate with the investigation and provide all requested information available to the Independent Consulting Group without further delay and make their relevant technical personnel available for interviews with the Independent Consulting Group. Should Rio Tinto and/or Turquoise Hill Resources Limited continue to frustrate this process, and remain uncooperative, Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC as a shareholder of Oyu Tolgoi LLC reserves its right to gain access to the information required through legal channels or other methods as Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC currently considers Rio Tinto to be in breach of its obligations as a project manager to provide data to Oyu Tolgoi LLC’s shareholders when requested.

About Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC and Oyu Tolgoi’s underground expansion

Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC is a wholly state-owned company holding 34% of the issued and outstanding shares in Oyu Tolgoi LLC. Oyu Tolgoi LLC is currently undertaking the underground expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi project in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. The remaining 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC is owned by Turquoise Hill Resources Limited, a company co-listed in the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Rio Tinto, a global mining company is appointed as mine operator and project manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project and has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project since commencement of the underground expansion in 2016.

On 16 December 2020, Rio Tinto reported that the Oyu Tolgoi underground project is expected to have cost overruns of US$1.45 billion and sustainable production from the underground operations will be delayed by 22 months compared to the initial plan of January 2021. Although Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources Limited explain that the cost overruns and schedule delays are caused by difficult ground conditions, there are various reports and allegations pointing to potential project mismanagement and procurement related issues. These allegations are addressed in the amended claim submitted by certain minority shareholders of Turquoise Hill Resources Limited in the class action against Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources Limited (including certain executive management members of such companies) filed in the New York court in March 2021.

ERDENES OYU TOLGOI LLC

Mongolian peacekeepers have acted quickly to protect humanitarian workers who were attacked by angry youths during a demonstration in the remote area of Jam Jang in the Unity region of South Sudan.

On Saturday morning, approximately 50 youth began a violent demonstration about the hiring of workers from outside the local area by a non-governmental organization based in Jam Jang. They stormed the organization's compound and injured several staff.

As soon as reports of the attack were received, Mongolian troops serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in nearby Pariang deployed a quick reaction force to protect the humanitarian workers, prevent further violence, and ensure that those who were injured received medical care.

The peacekeeping team later reinforced their presence with additional troops and are continuing to patrol the area to provide safety and security for humanitarian partners who are working to support communities in desperate need of assistance.

Over the past few years, UNMISS has been engaging with authorities in many parts of the country, including Unity, to deal with increasing demands from local populations that agencies should only hire workers from particular ethnic backgrounds.

The United Nations acknowledges the serious youth unemployment problem in the country due to the dire economic situation and fully supports recruitment practices that are based on competence, professionalism, integrity, and respect for diversity.

The UN supports all efforts to rebuild the economy and create employment opportunities so that young people can reach their full potential and enjoy a much brighter future.

Source: UNMISS

On April 27, the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) presented results of 'Business Confidence Index 2020' Survey, which aims to assess businessmen’s confidence in business environment by reviewing status and further changes of businessmen and citizens’ expectations.

The 2020 Business Confidence Index had shown pessimistic results from the last four years’ performance or -0.28. In specific, the pessimistic results can be linked to unfavorable condition of foreign market, decline in export growth and foreign direct investment, disruption in normal operation of entities and reduction of their income and profit.

In 2020, the four main indicators of the business confidence index have decreased compared to 2019. Particularly, businessmen’s confidence in business environment in construction, agriculture and service sectors was lower than the national average. Businessmen of construction and trade sectors, who were involved in the survey, expect that business environment would deteriorate in 2021. The participants also deem that financial situation and decline in product demand would affect adversely to their business activity.

The BCI survey is conducted with four main indicators such us general situation of business environment, income of enterprises, major problems of macro economy, favored and ill-favored factors to business environment and challenges. The survey methodology has been changed this year and is calculated according to the international methodology for the main sectors of the economy.

The BCI survey was conducted in March of this year in Ulaanbaatar city and rural areas with involvement of over 1400 enterprises. By the areas of business operations, 15 percent of the participants for survey were in manufacturing sector, 14 percent in construction, 10 percent in agriculture and 37 percent in service sector. 76 percent of the participant enterprises have income up to MNT 1 billion while over 95 percent of them have employees up to 200.

During the presentation of the survey result, a discussion was held on economic situation and trends. At the event, businesses expressed their views on issues related to tax and social insurance premium. Moreover, President of the MNCCI O.Amartuvshin stressed that the chamber would pay attention to reviving the economy in a way of raising issues including tax, social insurance, abnormal loan amount and loan forgiveness for entities to the Parliament and the Cabinet.

Since 2000, MNCCI conducts the survey, bringing the results to the decision-makers and making the outcomes reflected in government’s policies and actions.

Daily COVID-19 press briefing for today, April 28, by the Ministry of Health, reported that 1,171 new coronavirus cases were detected in the past 24 hours across the country.

In specific, 1,092 new cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city, one was hospital-acquired case, six cases are imported cases from abroad, and 72 cases were detected in rural regions, including Zavkhan, Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon, Arkhangai, Bulgan, Dornod, Sukhbaatar, Khuvsgul, Khovd, Selenge and Tuv aimags. As a result, the nationwide infection tally is now 33,608, with the cases registered in the capital city grown to 29,308.

In the last 24 hours, 490 coronavirus patients were recovered, making the number of COVID-19 recoveries 18,033. As of April 28, a total of 4,703 coronavirus patients are being treated at hospitals in Ulaanbaatar city and the rural aimags. Among them, 103 patients’ health are in serious conditions, reports the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), the primary healthcare organization in the country responding to the pandemic. Another 3,380 patients who are experiencing a mild disease are being treated at home while taking home isolation precautions.

NCCD also reported nine new COVID-19 related deaths, raising the country's death toll to 97. The casualties are COVID-19 patients aged between 47 and 87 years old, who were being treated at NCCD in Ulaanbaatar city.

ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) – It sounds like an episode of Survivor but Mongolia's 3x3 heroes are pushing the limits as they strive to achieve their Olympic dreams.

Not even Rocky Balboa trained this hard. But these warriors have the spirit of Genghis Khan as they attempt to make history for Mongolia, everyone's favorite 3x3 underdog.

Mongolia, the off-beat Central Asian country, has been one of the biggest success stories in 3x3 and perhaps are the best example of FIBA's mission of spreading hoops into new frontiers. Their men's and women's teams are both ranked in the top 10 in the world – an incredible feat for a country with just over three million people.

The women have already clinched their ticket to Tokyo, making it the first time in Mongolian history the country participates in a team sport at the Olympics. And now they have a shot at going to Japan with their two national teams. But to get one of the three tickets to Tokyo in the men's competition, Mongolia have to get through the tough Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Austria next month.

They are pitted in Pool A alongside Brazil, Poland, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Knowing the obstacles ahead, the players have been literally climbing mountains during an arduous training camp to prepare for the biggest tournament of their lives.

Their grueling schedule includes three two-hour daily practices starting from 5am and running up steep stairs in the picturesque mountainside north of Ulaanbaatar.

"We have a sports camp…1700 metres above sea level, which enables players to train in high altitude and have better fitness," team manager Myagmarjav Luvsandash said.

Renowned as playing a physical style of 3x3, through their sheer strength and mental toughness, Mongolia is set to be even stronger in Austria after such intense workouts.

They will certainly be unafraid having proven they are more than just a feel good story after winning the Asia Cup in 2017 and reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2018.

"I think they do have confidence with this tournament not being a first time meeting against top teams, but it is entirely up to them to show what they got mentally and physically," Luvsandash said.

Mongolia aren't just going to be a team of Schwarzeneggers in Graz, they have a lot of talent that is well known to fans of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour. Delgernyam Davaasambuu is a human flame thrower, while Dulguun Enkhbat has earned 100% approval for his sick handles.

But for Mongolia to shock the world in Austria, they know everyone must do their bit in 3x3 where no one can merely hide in the corner. "Everyone in the team should be a leader," Luvsandash said.

"On the court, one player is one third of a team - in the whole team a player represents a quarter of the role - thus everyone is important."

3x3 is the most popular team game in Mongolia, where the national players are something like rock stars. They could easily start a boy band although they are probably too rugged for that.

"3x3 is the most popular team game in Mongolia," Luvsandash said. "Every household, apartment blocks and houses have hoops outside. Kids play the whole day outside."

It has all meant that there is a lot of anticipation for Mongolia's performance in Austria. "Making the Olympics in a team sport, especially in Tokyo, would be historic achievement," Luvsandash said of Mongolia who first participated in the Olympics in 1964.

"Expectation is high and excitement is tremendous. We have got exactly a month to go. Cannot wait."

Be warned rivals, ain't no mountain high enough for this Mongolian team.

FIBA

April 27 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) led by former Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) led by former President Nambariin Enkhbayar on Tuesday announced their intention to merge.

"The two parties with the same history and the same origins have been able to handle their political differences. This gives us an opportunity to work together," Dashzeveg Amarbayasgalan, general secretary of the MPP, told local media.

The process of merger of the two parties is successfully continuing, said Amarbayasgalan.

"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of a political party in Mongolia. Therefore, our two parties, which share the same history and ideology, are discussing the merger, with the aimed at working together to address the major challenges facing the country," said Enkhbayar. "Our party is already aiming to join the MPP, so we will support a candidate of the MPP in the upcoming presidential election."

The MPP is the oldest political party in Mongolia. In 2010, the ruling party restored the name at its establishment and has become the MPP. Opposing this, Enkhbayar formed an independent political party and received approval from the Supreme Court of Mongolia in 2010 to use the MPP's previous name of MPRP. Enditem

April 28 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's economic growth is expected to recover gradually in 2021 and accelerate in 2022 as the COVID-19 pandemic risks fade and the global recovery strengthens, said a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released on Wednesday.

The ADB in its Asian Development Outlook 2021 report said that Mongolia's economic growth is projected to recover to 4.8 percent in 2021 compared to the 5.3 percent contraction in 2020 before climbing to 5.7 percent in 2022, boosted by domestic demand, investment, increased private credit, and a full recovery across economic sectors.

Pavit Ramachandran, ADB country director for Mongolia said that as Mongolia faces elevated health risks for the population, it needs to ensure a proactive management of the pandemic and secure access to vaccines.

Mongolia should also focus on accelerating structural reforms, promoting investment, rebalancing fiscal and debt metrics, and strengthening financial stability to sustain growth, he noted.

Mongolia's growth prospects in 2021 and 2022 will largely depend on the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rebounding of commodity exports, the overall investment climate and private sector credit growth, according to the ADB's report.

Until the vaccination target of 60 percent of the population is achieved, concerns over public health will continue to dampen domestic demand and business confidence, which results in an uneven recovery outside of the mining sector, the report said.

In addition, average inflation is expected to accelerate to 6.9 percent in 2021 and 8.5 percent in 2022, rising above the 6.0 percent medium-term inflation target due to the economy and demand recover, fuel prices increase, among other reasons.

The bank warned that downside risks to the outlook would be prolonged impacts from COVID-19 on economic activity, slow implementation of the vaccination program, and deterioration in the investment climate. Enditem

Copper was once again approaching the pivotal $10,000 a tonne level on Tuesday, jumping to over $4.50 a pound or $9,940 a tonne in New York amid über bullish sentiment and renewed supply worries in the world’s top producing region.

The rally in copper, which has more than doubled in price from its covid-lows, has been fuelled by a widely-held belief that demand for the bellwether metal will receive a massive boost, not just from post-pandemic economic stimulus, but also from a worldwide push for decarbonisation.

Everything to do with the green energy transition requires more copper – notably the electrification of the global vehicle fleet and massive investment electrical grids, renewable energy infrastructure and storage.

While almost all agree copper’s longer term future is bright, there is much less consensus on how much the price of the metal will shine in the next few years.

Copper price eyes record, but further out forecasts are grim

A monthly poll conducted by FocusEconomics, shows wide disparities in forecast prices by the investment banks, brokers, economists and governments in the survey compiled 13–18 April.

The lowest forecast among the more than two dozen participants for the average price in the fourth quarter this year is by BMO Capital Markets which predicts copper to retreat to the $7,000 a tonne level.

Other notable bears are JP Morgan, Societe Generale, BBVA and Capital Economics which also see the price in the $7,000s with further declines in 2022.

That’s a big gap to the most bullish forecaster – Goldman Sachs sees prices averaging $10,620 a tonne in Q4. Goldman, the number one proponent of the existence of a supercycle in commodities, sees more gain in 2022 reaching $12,250 by the end of next year.

The only other participant expecting the copper price reaching five digits is Singapore’s United Overseas Bank. Only ABN Amro, Citi and ANZ see copper above $9,000 in Q4 but apart from ABN, also see a retreat back below that level a year later.

The consensus forecast for the Q4 average is $8,340, sliding to $8,130 in Q4 2022.

FocusEconomics notes that in its April survey more than half of panelists adjusted predictions upward (and four became less bullish) from the forecasts compiled in March.

While the underlying copper market is moving fast at the moment, unless more market analysts come around to the idea of a supercycle in coming months, Goldman looks set to continue to be a lone voice.

On April 27, members of a working group in charge of the ‘Bogdkhan Railway Bypass Line’ project delivered a presentation on the implementation progress, general plan, and preliminary design budget and plan of the project.

The Bogdkhan railway bypass line project will develop the railway bypass, starting from the main railway of the Ulaanbaatar Railways JSC and branching off from Mandal station to connect to the Maanit station by bypassing the Bogdkhan Mountain to the south.

The project is expected to allow railway transit freight and export/import freight transportation to bypass Bogdkhan Mountain to its south side instead of running through the middle of Ulaanbaatar city. The current railway line will be used for passenger travels and public transportation of cities and districts.

The Bogdkhan railway bypass line project will build a railroad line around the steepest areas in the mountain, the Emeelt and Khoolt mountain passes, enabling freight trains to travel with increased speed and enhancing the freight transportation volume by 5-6 million tons per year. The project also aims to tackle engineering challenges that arise between the Emeelt and Khangai stations with a view to reduce the costs of railway operations. What’s more, the burden on the freight railway and auto road systems of Ulaanbaatar city will be lowered.

The government’s action plan for 2016-2020 and the economic recovery plan approved by the State Great Khural in 2016 both set out to build the Bogdkhan railway bypass line.

After hearing the presentation, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene noted that it is important to launch a study on developing a detailed blueprint for the railway bypass line in the first place and ordered the working group members, including the Finance Minister and Road and Transport Development Minister, to present options to resolve funding issues for the study for the cabinet discussion.