Mongolia reports no new COVID-19 cases, 10 recoveries www.xinhuanet.com

June 15 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia conducted 258 tests for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and the results were all negative, the country's National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) said Monday.

Petro Matad books annual loss on Mongolia well costs www.stockmarketwire.com

Mongolia-focused oil company Petro Matad booked a full-year loss, owing to exploration and staff expenses.

Elixir Energy to develop SSLNG facility in Mongolia www.nsenergybusiness.com

Australian oil and gas company, Elixir Energy has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mongolia’s fuel retailer, MT Group to develop a small scale LNG (SSLNG) facility in Mongolia.

Gold and iron ore are doing equally well. Their miners are not www.reuters.com

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Clyde Russell, a columnist for Reuters.)

Gold and iron ore are the standout commodities so far this year, but the performance of their respective miners are far more divergent – and weighted in favour of the precious metal.

Spot gold closed at $1,729.67 an ounce on June 12, up 14% since the end of last year. Meanwhile benchmark 62% iron ore for delivery to China MT-IO-QIN62=ARG, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, was at $104.45 a tonne, a gain of 14.6%.

If the year-to-date performances are very similar, the underlying drivers of iron ore and gold are quite different.

The steel-making ingredient is benefiting from China’s economic stimulus push as it recovers from the novel coronavirus, coupled with number two exporter Brazil’s struggles with the same disease.

While there is also a coronavirus element to gold’s rise, what investors are buying into is the belief that the weak global economy and expected extended recovery period mean low interest rates and heightened volatility of other asset classes.

Given that iron ore has rallied to a 10-month high and has both bullish stories for both demand and supply, it’s perhaps surprising that the top miners are generally not sharing the good news.

Shares in Rio Tinto, which derives the bulk of its profits from its iron ore mines in the state of Western Australia, are down 3.7% so far this year in Australian dollars and 4.8% in U.S. dollar terms.

Stock in BHP Group, Australia’s second-biggest iron ore producer behind Rio, is down 9.6% in U.S. dollars, with some its underperformance versus Rio likely being explained by the company’s greater exposure to crude oil and natural gas.

But both Rio and BHP will be huge cash generators with iron ore at its current price, given their cost to produce a tonne of iron ore is around $14-$15.

Australia’s third-ranked iron ore miner, Fortescue Metals Group, is easily outperforming Rio and BHP, its shares gaining 33% year-to-date in U.S. dollar terms. That’s a reflection of the fact that it is a pure iron ore play and also tends to pay out a higher proportion of earnings as dividends to shareholders.

Brazil’s Vale is the laggard, its stock sliding 20% in U.S. dollar terms so far this year. Unlike its Australian competitors, Vale is struggling with mine closures and a potentially worsening situation as Brazil’s cases of coronavirus continue to rise.

Gold miners outperform
While the high iron ore price isn’t reflected in the share price of the miners, Fortescue excepted, gold miners have been performing quite well for the main part.

Canada’s Barrick Gold has seen its stock price jump 29.8% in U.S. dollars so far this year, while Newmont has gained 27.6%.

Outside North America, AngloGold Ashanti is up 35.1% while fellow South African producer Gold Fields has gained 13.4%, both in U.S. dollar terms.

But top Australian producer Newcrest is down 4.1% in U.S. dollar terms year-to-date: the company had concerns, now resolved, over water supply at its Cadia mine in New South Wales state.

Overall there does appear to be a clear trend, with gold producers generally outperforming while iron ore miners haven’t gained as much as the commodity they produce, Fortescue being the outlier.

While there are many elements that go into assessing the value of a company – such as dividend policy, debt levels and regulatory risks – it does appear that iron ore’s story isn’t as compelling as the narrative for gold.

There may also be regional and investor bias at play, with the major gold companies more exposed to retail investors in the United States, while the iron ore miners are more heavily held by institutional investors.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, Clyde Russell was an investor in Rio Tinto and BHP Group as an investor in a fund.

(Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

Deputy Prime Minister visits Oyu Tolgoi www.montsame.mn

On June 14, Deputy Prime Minister U.Enkhtuvshin got acquainted with the Oyu Tolgoi project along with representatives of the Ministry of Road and Transport Development and the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry.

Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh checks railway construction progress www.montsame.mn

Dornogobi/MONTSAME/. On June 13, Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh checked the progress in the construction works of 414.6 km railway connecting Tavantolgoi mine in Tsogttsetsii soum of Umnugobi aimag with the Zuunbayan Station in Dornogobi aimag.

Mongolian court slaps huge bail fee on former PM and Finance Minister www.news.mn

The trial of former PM S.Bayar and other six people started at the Ulaanbaatar’s Chingeltei Criminal Court today (15 June) at 09.00 a.m. However, the trial was postponed to 18 June after lawyers and one of the defendants – former finance minister S.Bayartsogt – simply did not show up in the court because he was away election campaigning in Selenge province.

European Business Associations in Mongolia Cooperate Closely www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

The European Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EuroChamber) has signed a Cooperation Agreement with the German Mongolian Business Association (DMUV), French Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FMCCI) and the British Business Group (BBG) .
One of the founding principles of EuroChamber Mongolia it to bring the European and Mongolian business community closer together and to have a strong common voice that represents the interest of its members. Today with the signing of the cooperation agreement the German, French and British business associations become represented in the EuroChamber Board, allowing for common decision making, leadership and alignment, while the bilateral business associations' member companies are becoming members of EuroChamber.
With this step, EuroChamber Mongolia now provides a united platform to more than 125 British, French, German and other European as well as Mongolian member companies from very diverse sector backgrounds.
All European business associations and EuroChamber intend to promote the highest values of cooperation and partnership, while exercising unified power toward improvement of business and investment climate in Mongolia, for the benefit of our members and the wider public. Mongolia has a tremendous potential for development, and we jointly intend to support the socio-economic development with helping removing bottlenecks and obstacles for investment and ease of doing business for Mongolian and international companies, investors and banks.
The main focus areas and goals of EuroChamber in cooperation with DMUV, FMCCI and BBG are:
1/ Policy dialogue and advocacy on behalf of its members, with focus on trade facilitation and barriers (export/import), business and investment climate, human resource development, etc.
2/ Additional Networking opportunities for establishing and developing business contacts 3/ Support to Mongolian companies to access European markets; among
others through cooperation with the EU-funded Trade Related Assistance to Mongolia (TRAM) program, with whom EuroChamber enjoys close cooperation.
Based on main interests and needs of our members, the team of EuroChamber, DMUV, BBG and FMCCI will develop white papers as a basis for policy dialogue with the Government of Mongolia.
We would like to express our gratitude to those who made this milestone European Business Cooperation happen, especially to the leadership teams of the three bilateral business associations and EuroChamber. Special thanks go also to HE Ambassador Traian Hristea and the team of the EU Delegation to Mongolia as well as all national diplomatic representatives for their continued support.

Mongolia reports no new COVID-19 cases, three more recoveries www.xinhuanet.com

June 14, 2020 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Mongolia reported no new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, with its total confirmed cases remaining at 197, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Sunday.

Japan to give JPY 1.2 billion to Mongolia as non-refundable aid www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Amid COVID-19 global pandemic, the Government of Japan has decided to provide JPY 1 billion as part of the non-refundable assistance to promote economic and social development, and another JPY 249 million as nonrefundable aid to carry out human resources development program to the Government of Mongolia.