The mining sector in Mongolia has been the main growth engine and source of international currency over the last decade. However, there are still worse bottlenecks in the existing commodity export activities. Similar to the exporting process of other goods, mineral commodity exporting consists of the following steps: (i) finding sales outlets, (ii) making sales contract, (iii) financing, (iv) transporting, and (v) closing deal.

This study aims to identify the burdens and problems associated with every stage of the trading process of mineral commodities and define ways to addressing those problems. Each commodity has its own market where pricing and selling mechanisms are different. To gather an insight into specific market issues, the research team conducted interviews with mining companies, association  representatives, and sector experts. According to the experts interviewed, coal and iron ore exporters are facing more severe problems in comparison to other mining commodities. As such, the study focused more on the issues faced in the coal and iron ore sectors.