Mongolia's iron ore and coal rail traffic in 2023 both achieved year-on-year growth. At the same time, the country's coal exports are growing much faster than its rail traffic.
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics of Mongolia, in 2023, Mongolia transported 5.44 million tons of iron ore and 12.69 million tons of coal by rail, and the railway transportation volume of iron ore and coal increased by 13.03% and 38.67% respectively. In December 2023, the country's iron ore transportation increased by 76.6% month-on-month, reaching 565,900 tons. In 2023, the country's coal transport volume rose for five consecutive months, reaching 1.2 million tons in December 2023, an increase of 3% from the previous month.
In 2023, Mongolia exported 5.71 million tons of iron ore and 69.6 million tons of coal, up 20.72% and 118.75% respectively. Among them, from January to November 2023, China imported 47.4 million tons of coking coal from Mongolia, a year-on-year increase of 119.4%, accounting for most of the above growth. In 2023, the volume of coal transported between China and Mongolia through Ganqi Maodu port reached 36.5 million tons, and trucks played an important role in the transportation of coal between China and Mongolia.