Elon Musk's Tesla made a strong start to the year with profits up and record deliveries of its electric cars.

It came despite production hurdles due to a global shortage of computer chips that has also hit other carmakers.

Mr Musk said the chip shortage caused "supply chain challenges", although that "particular problem" had eased.

Profits for the first three months of the year were $438m (£315m), up from $16m last year, bolstered by sales of Bitcoin and environmental credits.

But the profits were dented by a $299m payment to Mr Musk as part of a controversial compensation plan struck in 2018.

Revenue rose to $10.4bn, from $6bn in the same quarter last year.

Mr Musk claimed Tesla's Model 3, its midsize sedan, was the "best-selling luxury sedan of any kind in the world" for the quarter.

He also predicted the company's midsize sport utility Model Y would become the best-selling car or truck of any kind in the coming years.

"We've seen a real shift in customer perception of electric vehicles, and our demand is the best we've ever seen," Mr Musk said.

The company said the Model Y had so far received a strong reception from consumers in China, where Tesla began manufacturing last year.

China is possibly the world's most competitive market for electric vehicles, with hundreds of manufacturers vying for a slice of the growing market.

Bitcoin move

However, not all of the company's revenues came from selling cars.

The company bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin during the first quarter, but then cut its position by 10%, which contributed $101m to its revenues.

Tesla recently made it possible for customers to purchase the cars in Bitcoin, allowing it to accumulate more of the cryptocurrency.

"It is our intent to hold what we have long term and continue to accumulate Bitcoin from transactions from our customers as they purchase vehicles," the company's chief financial officer, Zachary Kirkhorn, told investors.

Tesla also earns credits for exceeding emissions and fuel economy standards and then selling them to other carmakers that fall short so they can avoid penalties.

The company earned $518m from sales of those credits in the first quarter, an increase of 46% over the same quarter in 2020.

Tesla said it delivered roughly half a million cars in 2020, and 185,000 in the January-to-March period.

The company expects its deliveries to increase by 50% annually, and is ramping up production at its existing facilities in California and Shanghai while it builds its new factories in Berlin and Texas.

Tesla is the world's most valuable car company, with its share price pushed higher by investors betting on strong growth in electric vehicles in the coming years.

However, the company makes far fewer cars than companies such as Toyota and Volkswagen, which each sold more than nine million cars last year.

Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, said that despite the generally positive results, there could be problems ahead.

"There's the complete lack of guidance around near-term production headwinds," he said. "A global shortage of computer chips is expected to limit production from all manufacturers in the immediate future, and Tesla won't be exempt. Given the ongoing importance of its production ramp up, it may even be more heavily impacted."

And despite Tesla making a profit from sales of Bitcoin, Mr Hyett said there were many sceptics: "Tesla has made some $101m on its investment so far, which is all well and good, but huge gains and losses aren't really what corporate treasuries are all about.

"Investors could well argue that if they wanted to have exposure to Bitcoin they would have bought some themselves and don't need Tesla to do it for them.

"Still Tesla has never played by the rules - so far that hasn't stopped it being a winner."

Keller Williams announced Monday that it is opening franchises in Albania and Mongolia, both of which are part of the brand’s continued worldwide expansion.

The two new franchises are both currently “initializing operations,” according to a statement from Keller Williams. In Albania — which sits just north of Greece — Genti Skenderaj will serve as regional operating principal, and the franchise will open its first market center, or office, in the third quarter of this year.

In a statement Monday, Skenderaj said that “although we are a small country, our dreams are very big and ambitious.”

“We aim to become the largest real estate company in Albania inside five years, using Keller Williams’ models and systems, technology and training,” Skenderaj said.

Odsuren Lkhagvasuren will serve as regional operating principal for the Mongolian franchise, which is also initializing operations and plans to open a market center in the third quarter of the year. Lkhagvasuren praised Keller Williams in the statement, describing the brand has having a “uniquely strong culture” that will enable the team to “grow our people and the real estate profession as a whole in Mongolia.”

“In Mongolia, real estate is a young profession and most of the existing agents are young,” Lkhagvasuren said. “There’s a strong demand for a healthy environment where agents can learn and grow in their professional and personal lives.”

Also in the statement, William E. Soteroff — president of Keller Williams’ international division Keller Williams Worldwide — said the company is “honored to introduce two impressive world-class leaders.”

“While we remain focused on the future, the addition of these two new regions to our worldwide family builds on our proud past,” Soteroff added.

Keller Williams announced the two new franchises as part of an update on the company’s international reach. Among other things, the statement revealed that as of March 31 there were 12,912 Keller Williams agents outside the U.S. and Canada — a number that’s up 23.1 percent compared to a year ago. Those agents closed 13,088 sales in the first quarter of this year, up 58.7 percent year-over-year, and did $2.5 billion in volume, up 100.9 percent.

In total, Keller Williams Worldwide has 265 market centers outside of the U.S. and Canada. In order to start an international Keller Williams franchise, a would-be principal needs to have “a qualified leadership team grounded in the Keller Williams culture,” the company’s statement explains.

“The company also strives for government, banking and judicial system stability and a higher maturity level for a real estate market,” the statement adds.

The announcement of two far-flung new franchises comes as speculation mounts that the company could be going public in the near future, though Keller Williams itself has not confirmed any plans to begin selling shares.

Beyond Anglophone North America and the two new markets, Keller Williams operates internationally in South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Soteroff added in the statement that “despite COVID conditions, it’s our unique privilege to again report robust growth across the globe.”

“The credit for our continued year-over-year momentum belongs to our people,” he added, “the driving force and the foundation of our culture and our strong agent-centric systems and models, supported by powerful technology.”

April 27 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 1,098 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its national tally to 32,437, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Monday.

Six of the latest confirmed cases were imported from abroad, and the remaining ones were locally transmitted, the NCCD said in a statement.

Eight more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 88, the center said.

Meanwhile, 733 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 17,543.

A full nationwide lockdown, aimed at curbing the steep surge in local COVID-19 cases, took effect on April 10 and will last until May 8.

A total of 707,838 Mongolians have received vaccines, according to the country's health ministry.

Address by H.E. Mr. Khaltmaa Battulga, President of Mongolia, at the Seventy Seventh Session of The United Nations Economic And Social Commission For Asia And The Pacific.

"Mr. Chair,

Madame Executive Secretary

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to have this opportunity to address virtually at the opening of the seventy seventh session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

I am confident that this session of the Commission will contribute to setting out policies and identifying common goals designed to overcome the social and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has brought the most serious social and economic devastation to the world since World War II. It remains unclear when the crisis will end, when countries will accomplish social and economic recovery, and when humanity will adapt to the “new normal.” Although each country is taking steps to overcome the crisis, we need to fight the crisis together and further enhance multilateral cooperation.

The speedy and efficient vaccination against the pandemic is the best solution to returning life to normal. Equal distribution and access to vaccines is the most effective way to overcome the crisis together. Nobody is safe until everyone is safe.

Mr. Chair,

It is clear that social protection responses to the pandemic by many Governments will hinder the economic recovery. It is important to look at the “big picture” of how to successfully overcome the current crisis, integrate the economic recovery with people-centered development policies, and address the challenges.

The present situation requires change in our understanding on the economic system that we know, including the notion of a growth-based economy. In the future, the difference between developing and developed countries will be widened and the debt is expected to rise. Also, it is expected that there will be slow and delayed implementation of goals, such as achieving sustainable development, developing transport connectivity, building a fair society and delivering accessible health care and social services.

Therefore, it is crucial to expand international cooperation, develop a unified long-term policy aimed at improving human development and livelihood and ensuring environmental sustainability. We expect that this unified policy will be as a signal of change and an opportunity to lead to new conditions, to see holistically and give impetus to solution.

Infrastructure, energy and transport are the central development pillars of landlocked developing countries like Mongolia. In this regard, we proposed to jointly implement a project to build an energy power grid to address the rational use and distribution of power in Northeast Asia. In the region, which is rich in renewable energy, the project is expected to not only increase the use of renewable energy, but also make a significant contribution to environmental protection and the fight against climate change.

Lastly, it is my firm belief that the deed to build the most prosperous and most crisis resilient Asia-Pacific will be realized and implemented.

I thank you for your attention.

Source: The Office of the President of Mongolia

On April 26, 2021, Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Mongolia Chai Wenrui.

At the outset of the meeting, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene expressed his gratitude for the government of China and its people for putting the issues discussed over the course of a phone call between Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene and Chinese Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang dated April 7 into effect and requested the Chinese Ambassador to convey the thanks to the Chinese officials.

He further thanked Ambassador Chai Wenrui for his efforts and quick actions to support Chinese assistance and donation vaccine, medical supplies, and PPEs for Mongolia’s COVID-19 response and in the commercial vaccine shipments within the framework of the friendly neighborhood relations and cooperation of the two nations.

The Prime Minister and the Ambassador also exchanged views on possibilities to arrange the next shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to Mongolia as well as further opportunities to deepen the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership and maintain normal cooperation amid the pandemic. As of today, Mongolia has received 1,500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China through donation and purchase.

PM Oyun-Erdene informed that he would become acquainted with the conditions at the country’s border ports next week. In connection with this, the sides talked about further measures to take in order to regularize the operations of border checkpoint that play important role in the bilateral relations of Mongolia and China.

On April 26, 2021, Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Mongolia Azizov Iskander Kubarovich.

While discussing some timely bilateral issues of mutual concern, the sides at the meeting pledged to ensure active collaboration between Mongolia and Russia amid the pandemic.

In accordance with an agreement established to purchase 1 million doses of Sputnik-V vaccine from Russia, Minister Oyun-Erdene highlighted the importance of the prompt supply of the vaccines and delineating the delivery schedule.

Vowing to pay special attention to ramping up the vaccine delivery, the Russian Ambassador congratulated the Prime Minister and the government of Mongolia for taking proper measures against the pandemic, vaccinating its population within a short period, leading among Asian countries in terms of percentage of the vaccinated population.

Both sides also agreed to develop a detailed plan of events and high-level meetings to be organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Mongolia-Russian diplomatic ties.

Iron ore prices jumped to a fresh high on Monday, supported by structural contradiction of supplies and a shortage in medium and high-grade products, Jinrui Capital analyst Zhuo Guiqiu told Reuters.

“Even the low-grade Super Special Fines with 56.7% iron content is at over 1,200 yuan a tonne, which is more expensive than the most-traded futures contract,” Zhuo added.

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, closed 4.3% higher at 1,145 yuan. The contract jumped 6.3% earlier.

According to Fastmarkets MB, Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China (CFR Qingdao) were changing hands for $193.58 a tonne on Tuesday, up 3.93% from Friday trade.

The high-grade Brazilian index (65% Fe fines) also advanced to a record high of $226.90 a tonne.

Chinese steel futures also closed at all-time highs, underpinned by robust demand and concerns over production curbs.

The northwest Shaanxi province recently urged local departments, as requested by China’s state planner and other authorities, to verify local steelmakers’ crude steel output in 2020 and explain those whose production exceeded designated capacity or didn’t meet it.

Another major steelmaking city Handan in the Hebei province recently issued a notice, asking mills to implement production-control measures in the second quarter.

The measures have sparked concerns of more curbs in the ferrous sector, lifting prices as demand is still strong during the peak season.

The most-active construction rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for October delivery, rose as much as 4.3% to 5,475 yuan ($843.63) a tonne. It closed up 2.3% at 5,371 yuan.

Top iron ore producers Rio Tinto, BHP, and Vale released disappointing output figures last week. And a weaker dollar is making commodities traded in the currency cheaper to buy.

Aluminum is surging and copper jumped to a 10-year high as commodities advance toward the highs of the last supercycle. Metals are benefiting as the world’s largest economies announce stimulus programs and climate pledges as they rebuild from the coronavirus shock.

“Biden’s new climate promises and at least lip service by China to greener domestic policies are keeping the demand picture rosy,” Tai Wong, head of metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets told Bloomberg.

(With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)

The Japan Sumo Association has decided to hold the first three days of its upcoming tournament in Tokyo without spectators in response to a coronavirus state of emergency.

Association executives on Monday discussed how to organize the 15-day tournament that will start on May 9.

The state of emergency went into effect on Sunday in the capital and three other prefectures. It is set to continue through May 11.

The association said that if emergency measures end on May 11 as scheduled, it will allow spectators at the tournament from the fourth day.

This will be the first time since March of last year that a Grand Sumo Tournament will be held without spectators. Tournaments are held every two months.

Carrie Booth, a translator by trade, at the end of 2020 founded Hero Cashmere, whose offering is billed as “loungewear combining ethics, design and soul” and includes leggings, cardigans and headbands.

She has been working from her base in the Scottish capital with a female-led small firm in Mongolia – and says the country’s goats produce some of the world's most luxurious cashmere.

Hero Cashmere has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise about £7,000 to help fund a new knitting machine for her Mongolian colleagues. Additionally, the crowdfunder has been selected by Kickstarter as one of its Projects We Love, and closes on May 7.

It comes after Ms Booth visited Mongolia a couple of years ago, and discovered that around 90 per cent of cashmere harvested there is exported for production elsewhere.

The entrepreneur, who is also director of The Translation Booth, said: “I felt that I could put some of my language and communication skills to use in starting this new business. I had made some friendships when I was in Mongolia... and had maintained these. When the time felt right, I decided to pursue the cashmere business and I used my contacts to help me find a supplier.

"Mongolia is not given the chance to shine, and creatives there are left behind. Working from ‘farm to finished garment’, my aim is to keep more of the value chain in Mongolia – and allow creatives to explore their potential.”

“Annual profitability from sheep flock in Mongolia could reach USD 1 billion, which equals to ¼ of the government budget and will definitely help promote the economic growth of the country. Each herder household will become able to directly earn MNT 300 million in a year only with less than 1,000 livestock animals, helping the country’s economy to flourish and triggering market benefits. Mongolians have ample opportunities to become billionaires with its great wealth of growing population of livestock,” noted the team of the Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO, intending to address challenges in the animal husbandry and herders, pastureland degradation, etc. The non-government organization is willing to divert public attention to this area.

Mongolia has been seeking to export meat abroad in the past three decades. The only obstacle is diseases in grazing animals, because of which, foreign quarantine services usually became hesitant to buy meat from Mongolia, leading the problem to persist until now. The problem is often aggravated by Mongolians’ traditional practice in animal husbandry. Particularly, herders spend 4-5 years of hard work and labor to raise their animals which causes overgrazing and wasting their precious time. As an alternative, herders have the opportunity of meat processing of young livestock animals to sell on the market.

Foreigners arriving in Mongolia prefer to eat meat from pasture-raised animals, which perhaps can be found in Mongolia only. Unfortunately, we do not pay much attention or understand this valuable healthy and organic food we have. Some countries misjudge that Mongolian livestock animals are ‘ill’ and it is worth mentioning that there is excessive use of Ivomec injection. Young livestock animals under the age of one are less prone to diseases and their meat is properly considered a healthy and clean product.

The Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO has very well understood the situation and has introduced the ‘Mongolian Lamb’ lamb brand, naming it as one of the solutions to problems in the industry. The brand project – ‘Mongolian Lamb’ has been launched by the Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO within the framework of its ‘Wealthy Herder’ program in cooperation with Mon Ecolamb LLC.

About this, L. Odser, head of Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO told, “We have started to make improvements in the livestock flock structures and ensure supply of animal meat to the market within a short period to make herders businesspeople and producers.”

The ‘Wealthy Herder’ project was carried out to make Gobisumber aimag a model region, with tasks to change herders’ mindset and approach and to breed livestock population with animals with extra vertebrae and with breeds of Barga and Uzemchin for meat production. As a result, the breed quality in Gobisumber’s livestock population has been improved and the live weight of six to seven-month-old lambs averaged more than 35 kilograms. The same works are in full swing in other aimags, such as Umnugobi, Khentii, Khuvsgul, Khovd and Bulgan. Herders in the regions started selling lamb meat through the Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO, followed by Dornod, Sukhbaatar, and Khovd aimags which implemented the program to provide their lamb meat.

Under a tripartite agreement of Chineeleg Malchin Boijuulakh Tuv NGO, Mon Ecolamb LLC and Tsaluut Impex LLC – meat factory, pasture-grazed lamb meat branded as ‘Mongolian lamb’ which are produced to satisfy international quality and health standards with proper packaging are offered on the market. These measures are designed for preventing pastureland degradation that is associated with overgrazing, as well as excessive use of Ivomec, and are aimed at providing residents with organic lamb meat and allow them to build healthy eating habits with domestic food products. Furthermore, herders are given chances to reduce their burden by tending to fewer animals with increased benefits and to enjoy regular income from their livestock flocks. Taking all these into consideration, it is undisputed that the Mongolian Lamb brand is a comprehensive project to bring reform to Mongolia’s agricultural system.

To give an instance, a livestock census for 2020 by the National Statistics Office of Mongolia shows that Mongolia had 67 million livestock animals in 2020 after reaching an all-time high of 70.9 million in 2019. Among them, 4.1 million heads of horses, 4.7 million heads of cattle, 472.9 thousand heads of camel, 30.0 million heads of sheep, 27.7 million heads of goats were counted. Out of the 30 million heads of sheep, there are 14-15 million dams and the remaining 15 million sheep are grazing through pasturelands without yielding any significant benefits and adding work burden on around 230,000 herder households.

“I do not understand people who object to consuming lamb. They never think about millions of livestock animals dying every year,” said Mr.Odser. “In reality, it has been thousands of years since the world first introduced into their diet meat from young sheep in their young or adolescents ages when the meat is the richest in nutrition and minerals. I believe that Mongolia has the potential to make the lamb a global brand and supply to the world countries by way of keeping its basic and traditional animal husbandry production knowledge and making management reforms since the type of pasture-grazed lamb is found only in Mongolia. The world knows that this is a valuable product.”

Translated into Mongolia, ‘lamb’ means the meat of young sheep. From this, Mongolian people imagine a baby animal feeding from her mother when they hear this word. However, in this case, meat from lambs who reached 8-12 months already has the highest nutritional value and contains many vitamins and minerals, and becomes an excellent component of a healthy diet.

About the ‘Wealthy Herder’ program, Mr. Odser said “Each whole meat of sheep provided to us by our partner - meat producers within the program weights up to 17-23 kilograms. This shows our project’s economic viability and capability to provide healthy foods to the population. With around 20 million heads of good quality lambs, we could use 5-6 million of them for domestic meat consumption and export the remaining 14-15 million to foreign countries at an average retail price of USD 10-15. That way 230,000 herder households in Mongolia could earn an annual income of USD 1.5-2 billion could be earned per annum and businesses will grow thanks to the value chain created by the lamb exports. Five to ten times of increase in income of Ulaanbaatar city and other larger residential regions will lead to the promotion of small and medium-sized businesses and manufacturers, helping the country to achieve economic growth.”

“Why ‘Mongolian Lamb’ brand cannot be like a global franchise such as KFC and McDonalds with presence in New York, Tokyo, Moscow, and Beijing. That is our motive – to become a chain that covers the whole world. For example, we are aiming to create brand products that meet every customer's need for pasture-grown eco and clean products, such as Mon Eco Lamb, Mongolian Lamb, Paster, Eco and Premium that are available in every corner of the world. We are ready to overcome all challenges to arise on our way ahead.”

“Arab countries are buying lamb meat from us in recent years. We, ourselves, need to learn to adopt habits of eating clean and healthy foods and give the cleanest food to our loved ones. We need to produce and eat the tender and healthy lamb meats and sell them abroad, this is our ultimate aim.”

N.Saranchimeg