The total foreign trade turnover reached 10.6 billion USD at the end of September, marking a surge of 911 million USD (9.5 percent) compared to the same period of last year, reported the General Customs Authority on Wednesday.

In the last nine months, Mongolia traded with 146 countries, exporting products to 72 countries and importing products from 145 countries. As of September, the trade turnover had a surplus of 1.3 billion USD.

Export jumps 12.6%

As of September, exportation amounted to 5.95 billion USD, up by 663.3 million USD (12.6 percent) since September 2018.

This growth was mainly driven by increases of 424.1 million USD in mineral product export, 200 million USD in pearl, precious stones and jewelry, as well as 28.2 million USD increase in exports of knitted wear and handmade crafts.

A breakdown of exported goods shows that prices of 13 out of 21 types of products went up.

As of September, mineral products accounted for 82.2 percent of all exports, while knitted products accounted for 6.5 percent and gold for 5.8 percent.

In the reference period, 14,400 tons of horse meat, 1,900 tons of mutton and goat meat, and 1,300 tons of animal by-products were exported.

Coal export draw up to 30 million tons

Mineral products made up 82.2 percent of total exports as of September and 98.5 percent of mineral exports was made up of iron ore, coal, copper concentrate,  zinc concentrate, fluorspar and molybdenum concentrates, and unprocessed oil.

Here’s a breakdown of mineral exports.

• 28.6 million tons of coal were exported, generating around 2.44 billion USD. This is an increase of 312.5 million USD and 1.6 million tons. Average coal price stood at 85 USD per ton, up by 6.5 USD compared to last year. Reportedly, 98.2 percent of total coal exports went to China.
• Copper concentrate export reached 107 million tons, down by 6,700 tons compared to last year. Copper concentrate generated revenue of 1.4 billion USD in September.
•  Iron ore export stood at six million tons as of September, generating 422.3 million USD. While the exported volume went up by 819,600 tons, monetary revenue increased by 181.9 million USD. Average price became 68.8 USD per ton, up by 23.6 USD since last year.
• Unrefined oil export reached 4.84 million barrels, generating 271.7 million USD. Although the volume increased by 30,200 barrels, revenue declined by 44.4 million USD. Average oil price became 56.1 USD per barrel from 65.7 USD per barrel in 2018.
• Fluorspar export reached 500,000 tons, generating 155.1 million USD. This is 155,300 tons higher and 39.4 million USD higher compared to September 2018. Average price was 310.2 USD per ton, down by 25.5 USD compared to last year. 
• Zinc concentrate export amounted to 100,700 tons (worth 145.1 million USD). This is 8.4 million USD lower than last year. Average price became 1,441.2 USD per ton, down by 223.8 USD compared to last year.
• Molybdenum concentrates export reached 4,229.4 tons, down by almost 200 tons. This generated 37.1 million USD, up by 1.1 million USD. Average price declined from 8,133.5 USD per ton in 2018 to 8,784.7 USD per ton in September 2019.

Gold price UP 4 USD per kg

In the first nine months, Mongolia exported 7,464.5 kilograms of gold, up by over four kilograms since September 2018, according to the General Customs Authority.

The report underlined that gold export price increased from 42,104.9 USD per kilogram in September 2018 to 46,121.4 USD per kilogram in September 2019. This is a rise of 4,016.5 USD.

In monetary value, gold export amounted to 344.3 million USD, rising by 199.8 USD compared to the same period of last year.