Railway Policy Adopted
(a different article on the matter previously distributed)
June 25 (UB Post) Mongolia approved railway policy of 1,520 mm broad gauge rail track putting an end to uncertainty over major infrastructure projects. On Thursday session of the Parliament, 89.4 percent of the votes backed the government-submitted policy documents for the construction of new rail tracks in the South Gobi region. After months long debates on whether next rail lines are narrow or broad gauge should Mongolia use for the transportation of minerals.
Private businesses lobbied hard to choose narrow gauge track be stretched from the major coal mines in the region to the nearest Chinese border. But lawmakers’ mind was changed a lot, as press speculated, after hearing top classified briefings made by the President Ts. Elbegdorj last week at the parliament hall. But the Parliament gave the rights to the Government to come up with a draft resolution to allow private businesses to build narrow gauge track directly to border without crossing central railway system.
According to the plan, the Government would build 1,100 km new railway track from Tavan Tolgoi to Russia through Sainshand and Choibalsan cities in the first stage to commence within this year. Sainshand, a small city stationed on the main railway system, is expected to role as a major hub for the mineral processing industry where as much value added products would be made for further export to North East Asian economies.
After approving railway policy, the Parliament continued discussion on establishment of high-tech industrial complex in a closed door meeting.
India Keen to Buy Mining Assets in Mongolia
June 25 (UB Post) India is keen to acquire mining assets in Mongolia, especially for minerals such as coking coal, copper and uranium, among others.
As a first step in that direction, an inter-Ministerial sub-group consisting of officials from the Mines Ministry, SAIL, Hindustan Copper Ltd, Coal India Ltd and RITES among other public sector entities, has recently been set up to explore options and formulate the acquisition strategy.
Technical cooperation
India has agreed to provide technical cooperation to Mongolia in developing its mineral capabilities. The Geological Survey of India will be providing technical training to upgrade the mining skill sets and would assist Mongolian agencies in the areas of satellite-based mapping, conducting targeted surveys and studies of mineral wealth.
The Indian Bureau of Mines will be collaborating with its Mongolian counterpart in the areas of mineral processing, laboratory scale studies, information sharing and computerized ore modeling among others, said Nayak.
The Inter-Ministerial group is likely to finalize the Indian strategy for acquiring assets or formation of joint ventures in Mongolia sometime in October after discussing various issues with the Mongolian delegation in New Delhi, India.
Options of forming a Government of India backed consortium of Indian companies from public and private sector for seeking mining and mineral concessions from Mongolian authorities for exploration or joint development would also be explored, said Nayak.
Mining Association chief flays Tavantolgoi policy
June 28 (news.mn) D. Damba, President of the Mongolian National Mining Association (MNMA), does not think much good will come out of the government’s decision to extract the Tavan Tolgoi deposit through operating contracts. Since the operating companies will be required to make sizable investments, they will raise their costs at will, and once the work starts the government will have to go along.
He also thinks splitting the deposit among many operators makes less sense than allowing one big company to run the show. The Mongolian Government does not have the resources to monitor the work of so many companies operating in several areas in their different ways.
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STOCK EXCHANGE WEEKLY NEWS
June 28, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ Five stock trades were held at Mongolia's Stock Exchange (MSE) during the week from June 21 to June 25. Overall 174.2 thousand shares of 31 JSCs were sold totaling 253.7 million MNT trade.
Index top-20 is 9408.34 points was increased by 85.0 units, or 0.9% against the previous week. The total market capitalization was set at MNT 778.5 billion, increased by MNT 7.2 billion or 0.9%.
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Shares of "Genco tour bureau" JSC (34.2 thousand units), "Hermes center" (30.8 thousand units) and "Khokh gan" (27.9 thousand units) JSCs were actively traded in terms of trading volume, but in terms of trading value "Tavan tolgoi" (MNT 122.3 million), "Sharyn gol" (MNT 52.1 million) and "Shivee ovoo" (MNT 19.1 million) JSCs were actively traded at MSE last week.
China
China's coal-price cap will hurt some, help others
June 27, TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- A move by China, the world's top coal-consuming nation, to effectively cap the price of coal, will hurt domestic producers but benefit many independent power producers, analysts said.
The National Development and Reform Commission announced Friday that it has asked China's major coal companies to keep prices stable in order to control inflation.
Coal companies should honor the 2010 coal contract prices and return any additional charges from higher prices by the end of June, the NDRC said.
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In late morning trading, shares of China Shenhua Energy fell 1.5%, China Coal Energy lost 4.8% and Yanzhou Coal fell 3.3% in Hong Kong, defying broader gains in the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which was up 0.6%.
In Shanghai, Yanzhou shares (CN:600188 17.84, -0.47, -2.57%) shed 1.7%, China Coal (CN:601898 9.05, -0.15, -1.63%) lost 0.8% and Yitai Coal fell 0.4%, as the Shanghai Composite traded 0.1% lower.
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Power producers gained ground in Hong Kong, with shares of Datang adding 2.5%, Huadian up 2.7%, Huaneng rising 4% and CR Power gaining 3.5%.
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Australia
Data error causes share spike
June 28 (BusinessDay) Close, Australian shares fell today as economic concerns weighed on investors, while a brief spike on the back of a contributor error sent the index more than 500 points higher.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 28.5 points, or 0.6 per cent, lower at 4384.5, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 29.7 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 4409.7.
Materials fell 0.8 per cent, financials slid 0.7 per cent, while energy shares dropped 0.4 per cent.
need2know:
- Asian shares flat after G20 meeting
- The dollar rises to 87.6 US cents
- Gold ticks up to $US1256; eyes record
- Oil climbs to 8-week high, above $US79
- Dow futures are 10 points higher at 10,115
The market jumped 13.4 per cent during the morning trade to 5012.8, its best since mid-April, after market contributor Standard & Poor's received some erroneous pricing information from its data provider, market operator ASX said.
"There were no trades, it was simply erroneous prices which affected the index only," ASX spokesperson Leeanne Bland said, adding it was not yet known whether the figure would be erased as the day's high.
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Directionless trading
The market's reaction to the weekend summit of G20 leaders was muted while a minor cabinet reshuffle by new Prime Minister Julia Gillard also had little impact. Traders described activity as directionless, with volumes low.
The main reason for the market weakness may have been tax-related selling ahead of June 30, where investors sell stocks that have lost value over the course of the financial year in order to offset capital gains and lower tax liability
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The major mining stocks closed lower, with Rio Tinto losing $1.00 to $68.60 and BHP Billiton shedding 31 cents to $38.49.
Several smaller materials and mining stocks performed better, including Fortescue Metals, up 6 cents at $4.42, Alumina, up 2.5 cents to $1.61 and chemicals maker Orica, up 24 cents at $25.35.
Among the gold stocks, Newcrest Mining lost eight cents to $35.92 and Lihir Gold dropped 3 cents to $4.41.
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Dollar hangs on to weekend gains
June 28 (AAP) The Australian dollar held on to weekend gains during Monday’s local session despite a weak day on equity markets.
At the local close, the dollar was trading at $US0.8735, up 1 US cent, or 1.2 per cent, from Friday’s close of $US0.8633. During the day, the local unit moved between a high of $US0.8776 and a low of $US0.8722.
The Australian dollar traded higher during weekend offshore trading, benefiting from weaker than expected US economic growth data that prompted investors to sell the US dollar.
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Ms Trinh said the market focus ahead of non-farm payrolls report would be on the expiry of the European Central Bank’s one-year 442 billion euros ($A625.89 billion) long-term refinancing operations on July 1.
‘‘It’s impact on the euro and other correlated assets like the Aussie dollar will be watched very closely,’’ Ms Trinh said from Hong Kong.
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Global
U.S. Stocks Rise as Spending Grows, Tobacco Shares Rally
June 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gained, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, following a bigger-than-forecast rise in consumer spending and a rally in cigarette and telephone companies.
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The S&P 500 increased 0.1 percent to 1,077.33 as of 12:22 p.m. in New York after gaining as much as 0.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.49 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,159.3.
“Consumer expenditures were better,” said Don Hays, who manages more than $1 billion at Hays Advisory Group in Nashville. “There’s not this humongous change today but we’re in a bottoming process. People are alive and well and shopping.”
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Stock prices are mirroring government bond yields more than ever, a signal to bulls that shares may be poised to rally. The S&P 500 and 10-year Treasury rates posted a correlation coefficient of 0.8412 in the 60 trading days through June 16, showing stock prices and bond yields were the most linked in Bloomberg data going back to 1962. The last time the relationship was almost this strong during an economic expansion was at the beginning of the 2002 to 2007 bull market, when the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities doubled.
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Miners say government grab is a global problem
June 29 (The Age, Australia) IT APPEARS it is not just Australian mining companies that are concerned about governments taking a larger slice of their profits. A report by professional services company Ernst & Young shows global companies are becoming increasingly spooked by the growing number of governments in resource-rich countries trying to top up depleted coffers with relatively resilient mining money.
The 2010 Business risks facing mining and metals report, to be released today, shows resource nationalism has jumped from ninth position to fourth in the sector's top strategic business risks. Ernst & Young garnered responses from 50 of the world's top mining houses, but completed most of the report before the release on May 2 of the Henry review and before the government's subsequent resource rent tax proposal.
As Prime Minister Julia Gillard offers to open the door for consultation with the mining industry over an increased tax take, several governments have already moved on similar proposals. South Africa's new royalty regime came into effect in March, Ghana has plans to double royalties on mining, and Sierra Leone wants to increase royalties from precious metals. Chile recently requested and received an increase in royalties to help in the country's reconstruction following February's devastating earthquake.
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… while Mongolia had issued a freeze on issuing and transferring licences as it planned to introduce stricter laws on mining investment.
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Rounding out the top five risks for global mining business were skills shortage, cost management and maintaining a social licence to operate.
Most Asian Stocks Fall as G-20 Summit Fails to Buoy Investors
June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Most Asian stocks fell as a weekend meeting of Group of 20 leaders failed to reassure investors about the strength of the global economic recovery. …
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About five stocks declined for every four that advanced in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which was little changed at 115.61 as of 7:27 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has risen 6.2 percent since dropping to a 10-month low on May 25. The measure swung between gains and losses at least 11 times as G-20 leaders pledged to maintain existing stimulus plans and take “concerted actions” to sustain the recovery following their meeting in Toronto.
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Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.1 percent.
Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.3 percent. The gauge gained 0.3 percent on June 25 as congressional negotiators agreed on financial reform that doesn’t ban hedge-fund and buyout-fund investing.
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China’s coal companies were ordered to keep prices stable as the government seeks ways to manage inflation, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, said on June 25. Consumer prices rose 3.1 percent in May, the quickest pace in 19 months, according to government data released June 11.
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Oil, Metals
Other commodity-related companies gained after crude-oil futures jumped 3.1 percent on June 25 to settle at $78.86 a barrel in New York. The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including copper and zinc increased 1.1 percent. Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.2 percent in London trading after gaining 0.8 percent on June 25. Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, rose 2.5 to HK$13.84.
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Misc.
101, 102 and 103 opens
June 28 (news.mn) Information, Emergency Control Center has officially started its operation on Friday. The opening ceremony was attended by Vice PM M. Enkhbold, Government member, Minister for Internal Affairs Ts. Nyamdorj, Ambassador of South Korea Jong Il, executive director of LG Group of Korea and other officials and emergency service workers. In order to help the victims of disasters and accidents, the 101, 102, 103 public phone lines were combined and Information, Emergency Control Center was established. 101 receives fire calls, 103 receives ambulance call and 102 receives police calls.
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Planning the future of the National Library of Mongolia
June 28 (Australian Policy Online) In November 2008, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a grant to Stichting eIFL.net to help the National Library of Mongolia (NLM) create a strategic plan in the course of 2009.
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FORUM OF WORLD MONGOLIANS TO BE HELD IN ULAN-UDE
June 28, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ A Forum of world Mongolians will run July 16-18 this year in Ulan-Ude city, Russia. In it a participation is expected of all Mongolian-speakers from 10 countries of the world.
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"Mogi" Munkhdul Badral
CPS International
Email: mogi@cpsmongolia.mn
Mobile: +976-99996779
CPS International is a marketing arm of CPS Securities in Mongolia. CPS Securities is a Perth, Western Australia based ASX Licensed Financial Services Company. To trade ASX stocks, feel free to contact me at mogi@cpsmongolia.mn or +976-9999-6779.
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