According to Bayan Zam Transporters Association, over 7000 trucks are stuck in line at the main coal export route Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod border checkpoint. Therefore, a working group from the Ministry of Road and Transport Development and National Center for Auto Transit has been deployed at Gashuunsukhait in Umnugobi aimag to resolve the issue. The working group has reportedly sent unloaded vehicles to Oyu Tolgoi route. Specifically, they are sending the trucks heading to Tsagaan Khad customs inspection zone in two lanes by temporarily halting movement of the opposite direction. Officials highlighted that this will prevent long queues and potential accidents in the long queue of trucks driving in wrong-lane. Although 77 trucks entered the border on Monday, which doubles the amount of previous day, the association highlighted that the entry capacity needs to be increased to 1000 trucks per day, which was the average capacity in October; however, the number drastically dropped to 400 in November and on November 16, only 30 trucks were able to enter the border. Economist Naranbaatar Lundeg remarked, “Chinese side decided to cease all types of coal import. China explained that this year’s import plan has been fulfilled around 40 days prior to the end of year as this year’s amount was set lower than 2017. So this unpredictable situation might continue until February of next year. Sarah Liu, Vice President of Fenwei Energy Information Services, mentioned about this situation during an international conference of coal in Beijing. Also researchers from different countries warned about this near the end of the year at Coal Mongolia 2018 conference, yet our Government ignored it.

Published Date:2018-11-22