Mongolia’s humanitarian assistance handed over to the United States www.montsame.mn

H.E. Mr. Yondon Otgonbayar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the United States, officially handed over the 60 thousand personal protective equipment (PPE) to Mr. Mike O’Hare, Regional Administrator of the FEMA’s Region 10, on June 21, 2020.

The PPEs are the donation of the people and Government of Mongolia to the people and Government of the United States, which is delivered as part of the “Far Is No Distance For Friends” humanitarian act. The representatives from FEMA, Port of Seattle as well as Embassy of Mongolia in Washington DC and Mongolian Consulate-General in San Francisco were present at the hand-over event.

During the hand-over event, Ambassador Otgonbayar highlighted that the people and Government of the United States have been helping Mongolia during the difficult times of transition and natural disasters. He then underscored that today the people and Government of Mongolia are donating these PPEs as a show of solidarity to help the people and the Government of the United States to combat the coronavirus. Ambassador expressed his confidence that American people will overcome the coronavirus pandemic and wished good luck.

The PPEs will be distributed by the FEMA to the states of Arizona and Nevada.

In the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Mongolia and the U.S., declared by the President of Mongolia H.E. Mr. Kh. Battulga and the US President Donald Trump in 2019; and a Roadmap for Expanded Economic Partnership between Mongolia and the U.S., announced by the Prime Minister of Mongolia, H.E. Mr. U.Khurelsukh, and the US Vice President Mike Pence in 2018, the two sides agreed to increase the opportunities for economic cooperation, expand the relations across all areas of cooperation, including political, economic, cultural, educational and humanitarian, as well as people-to-people ties; recognized the importance of transport development and aim to improve the competitiveness of their respective transportation sectors in more open markets.

The Boeing’s B-767 airplane, named after Chinggis Khaan, is making a first-ever direct flight between Mongolia and the United States while bringing the PPEs. On the way back, the airplane will carry onboard Mongolian citizens stranded in the U.S. and dinosaur fossils. Ambassador stressed that these two-way flights are turning the new page of aviation cooperation between Mongolia and the United States and setting the new milestone in the bilateral relations.

The Government of Mongolia and the Embassy of Mongolia in Washington DC express deep appreciation to U.S. institutions, including the Department of State (DOS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Port of Seattle for their major assistance in successfully bringing the PPEs, repatriating Mongolian citizens and delivering the dinosaur fossils back to Mongolia.

Embassy of Mongolia to the United States

Mongolia reports 7 new cases of COVID-19 www.xinhuanet.com

June 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported seven new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 213, the country's National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) said Monday.

Putin not ruling out run for another term www.nhk.or.jp

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he does not rule out the possibility of seeking another term in office, if voters approve proposed constitutional reforms that would allow him to do so.

Why the HU has cancelled online concert? www.news.mn

Mongolian rock sensation the HU has cancelled an online concert for collecting donations to support the National Emergency Commission of Mongolia in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The concert was scheduled for June 23 at the White Rock Centre. However, the Democratic Party had expressed concern that the concert, scheduled right before parliamentary election which would affect voting and become an advertisement for ruling Mongolian People’s Party.

Mongolia reports 2 new COVID-19 cases www.xinhuanet.com

June 21 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported two new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 206, the country's National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) said Sunday.

Mongolia’s first direct flight to U.S. departs, carrying PPE assistance worth USD 1 million www.montsame.mn

On June 20, Saturday, a charter flight from Frankfurt, Germany landed in Ulaanbaatar with 256 passengers onboard. After discharging its passengers, the same plane took off to Seoul, South Korea and brought 265 Mongolians, who had travelled from eight Southeast Asian countries, last night on June 21.

All returnees on the latest two flights were directly taken to compulsory-isolation facilities to spend 3 weeks there and further will have to self-isolate themselves at home for 14 days as a precautionary measure. Some returnees showing suspicious symptoms are being observed under separate isolation at the National Research Center for Communicable Diseases for.

All preparations to accommodate more than 500 people at the same time had been ensured, confirms D.Nyamkhuu, Director of the National Research Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD).

Since there are reportedly around 10 thousand Mongolians in foreign countries wishing to return home immediately, only those with reasonable excuses, such as people with disabilities, older people, students, people with health concerns, people with small children or pregnant women, etc, are being given seats on the repatriation flights.

The next repatriation flight of June – a special diplomatic flight operated by MIAT Mongolian Airlines, national flag carrier, to the USA departed from the Chinggis Khaan Ulaanbaatar Airport today morning, June 21. The flight is delivering a donation of 60,000 hospital gowns, worth USD 1 million, to help the US Federal Emergency Management Agency fight coronavirus.

The plane, which marks the first ever direct passenger flight of Mongolia to the USA, is scheduled to return to Ulaanbaatar on June 24, bringing more than 250 Mongolians from Seattle city.

As of Mongolia’s COVID-19 cases, in the past 24 hours, two more people were tested to have the novel coronavirus and seven more people have been recovered, bringing the COVID-19 total cases in Mongolia to 206. Out of them, 108 patients have already recovered.

In particular, a freight vehicle driver, who arrived from Russia across the Altanbulag border checkpoint and an 80-year old man who flew in on the the charter flight from Frankfurt have been tested positive after the NCCD carried out COVID-19 tests on 314 people yesterday, June 20, including random tests on 13 people who were being treated at district clinics for other illnesses to check if there is any community transmission.

Soft underbelly in China's steel sector boom points to bumpier economic recovery www.reuters.com

MANILA/BEIJING (Reuters) - Behind the boom in China’s steel production since March - and hopes for a quick economic recovery - is a tale of two diverging sectors: construction demand for infrastructure projects has been strong, while manufacturing has been slower to bounce back.

That highlights the challenge facing policymakers as Beijing and local governments can control the pace of spending on projects like roads, rails and reservoirs, but have very limited options to support exports or domestic demand for machinery and appliances.

The soft underbelly in China’s steel revival following the coronavirus outbreak is about to be thrown into stark relief by a seasonal downturn at building sites, analysts say, and points to a more protracted recovery for the world’s second-largest economy from a once-in-a-century pandemic.

“There is only so much China’s steel industry can do while the rest of the world struggles,” said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ.

CRITICAL COG
China’s mammoth steel sector has long been a central pillar of its industrial powerhouse, employing hundreds of thousands of workers who churn out vital raw materials for industry and support scores of ancillary logistics and processing businesses.

The economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter, the first contraction in decades, hit by the new coronavirus which emerged in China late last year.

The surge in steel output to all-time highs in May raised hopes that the heart of the economic engine is recovering well, and may help resuscitate growth at home and globally.

Yet amid the recent sector-wide bustle has been a lopsided reliance on metal demand from construction sites that has partially masked weakness from manufacturers and calls into question the robustness of the steel boom as well as how quickly China can restore growth.

“The market appears to be relying too heavily on expected infrastructure stimulus in China to boost demand,” ANZ’s Hynes said.

REBAR RELIANCE
Demand for the main steel products used in construction - rebar and wire rod - has accounted for an average over 53% of total steel demand since late March, according to calculations based on figures from data-tracking firm Mysteel.

That compares to an average of 47.5% for all of 2019, and 51% for the same period in 2019.

At the same time, demand for the main steel products used by manufacturers - hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) - has been well below normal, averaging 35% of total demand since late March compared to 40.4% on average in 2019.

Stocks of rebar have also fallen faster than other steel products, dropping by 51% since peaking in mid-March.

Given the extent of lockdowns in many of China’s trading partners, sluggish factory demand is not too surprising and could persist for many more months.

Yet the surge in overall steel production - driven by a 59% jump in rebar and 40% rise in wire rod output since mid-March - suggests the sector is at risk of over-supplying the market just as demand is expected to take a hit from rained-out work sites, especially across the South.

The monsoon season, which runs through August, arrived 10 days earlier than normal in southern China this year, causing widespread floods that have already stopped work at some sites.

“We are now about to enter the traditional slack season for steel consumption,” said Richard Lu, senior analyst at consultancy CRU in Beijing. “It will largely depend on the weather, and we should see some decline at least starting from July, if not late June.”

While construction materials are losing demand momentum, flat steel use has been plagued by the global economic contraction and that has kept China’s factories underpowered.

Sales of steel-heavy items like autos and machines have fallen this year, with China’s auto exports dropping 16.9% in the first five months, and home appliance exports - worth $77.8 billion in 2019 - down 9.1%.

Direct metal exports have also dropped.

To offset lower global demand China’s policymakers have unveiled stimulus measures aimed at reviving consumption and supporting large infrastructure projects including key industries.

However, the uneven steel demand shows the limits of Beijing’s stimulus, which comes with its own risks, and points to a bumpy economic recovery.

“The Chinese government does not want to spend a lot on stimulating the economy because that also means having to pile up debts,” said Iris Pang, ING chief economist for Greater China.

Reporting by Min Zhang, Sophie Yu and Tom Daly in Beijing, Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila and Mai Nguyen in Singapore; Editing by Gavin Maguire & Shri Navaratnam

AIIB approves first loan to Mongolia in support of COVID-19 response www.montsame.mn

A special purpose company to be created between Mongolian Government and Gazprom www.montsame.mn

In frames of implementing a project on building pipelines between Russian Federation and People's Republic of China going through the territory of Mongolia, the Government of Mongolia and “Gazprom’ Public Joint Stock Company of Russia are working to establish a “Memorandum of Intent” (MOI) and a “Confidentiality Agreement” (Nondisclosure Agreement) to set up a special purpose company.

ADB approves 30-mln-dollar loan to support economic cooperation zone for Mongolia www.xinhuanet.com

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of 30 million U.S. dollars to build Mongolia's Zamiin-Uud free zone, local media said Saturday.