🗞️ARDNEWS | Mongolia Monthly Brief

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Good morning 🌅 Mongolia’s economy is off to a remarkably strong start in 2026. Coal exports are gaining momentum, economic growth has reached 8.6%, and total dividend payouts in the capital market are approaching MNT 1 trillion. It is truly an encouraging and noteworthy start to the year. 📈🇲🇳

Settle in and enjoy the news. Wishing you a successful new week filled with opportunity, progress, and positive developments. ✨

📰 Today’s Edition Features the Following Headlines:

• ⛏️ Mongolia’s Coal Exports Accelerate, Reaching Average Daily Shipments of 330,000 Tons to Global Markets 🇲🇳

• 🇲🇳 Mongolia’s economy started the year strongly, expanding by 8.6% 📈

• 🏛️ Mongolia’s capital market is seeing a powerful wave of dividends, with total payouts nearing MNT 1 trillion 📊

Delivering key insights from the stock markets and the economy. 🤗

1. ArdCoin recorded a total gain of 7.45% in February

2. Of the total MNT 26.97 billion^{($7.56 million)} traded on the Mongolian Stock Exchange, MNT 1.45 billion^{($406.6 thousand)}, or 5.37%, was contributed by Ard’s publicly listed companies.

🚧 MINING NEWS: ⛏️ Mongolia’s Coal Exports Accelerate, Reaching Average Daily Shipments of 330,000 Tons to Global Markets 🇲🇳

🤔 What happened? Mongolia’s coal exports have maintained steady growth since the start of the year, while daily export flows remain stable.

📊 Rising year by year: Mongolia’s coal exports in the first two months of 2026 came in higher than in the same period last year. In particular, the sharp increase recorded in the first 10 days of March signals renewed momentum in the mining sector.

• 🚀 The increase is more than twofold: In the first month of the year, Mongolia exported more than 10 million tons of coal, a substantial jump compared with 5.8 million tons in the same period of the previous year. In February, coal exports reached 6.4 million tons, up 11% from 5.7 million tons a year earlier.

⛏️ That is 330 thousand tons per day: In addition, as of the 10th of this month, Mongolia had exported 3 million tons of coal, compared with 1.3 million tons in the same period last year, marking a 2.6 fold increase. In other words, coal exports accelerated in the opening days of March, with average daily shipments reaching 330 thousand tons.

🔄 The fact that export volumes have risen from a year earlier, while average daily flows remain relatively stable, is an encouraging sign. This suggests that the market has avoided sharp volatility and that coal supply has continued at a consistent pace.

👀 In conclusion, Mongolia’s coal sector has expanded its export volumes and meaningfully increased supply to external markets at the start of the first quarter of 2026. Going forward, whether this trend can be sustained will depend on border throughput, Chinese demand, and overall transport and logistics conditions.

🔙 THE MONTH IN REVIEW

• 🔨 Ulaanbaatar to implement 200 projects this year: Ulaanbaatar has planned to implement 200 projects and measures in 2026 with total funding of MNT 1.1 trillion. Most tenders have already been launched, while the remaining ones are expected to be announced by mid-March.

• 👮 Mongolian special forces took part in an international competition in Dubai: Young officers from Mongolia’s law enforcement agencies competed for the first time in the “SWAT Challenge 2026” in Dubai and successfully completed the competition.

• 🏭 Government discusses copper, welfare, and fuel issues: The government is working to select an investor for a copper concentrate processing plant in the first quarter of this year. At the same time, efforts are continuing to digitalize welfare services and improve fuel supply and safety.

• 🏦 The central banks of Mongolia and China to expand cooperation: The 10th meeting between Mongolia and China’s banking and financial sector representatives was held in Shanghai, where the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in payments and financial infrastructure. The next meeting is planned to be hosted in Mongolia.

• 💼 OTP Bank expresses interest in entering Mongolia’s market: Hungary’s major banking group, OTP Bank, has expressed interest in exploring opportunities to enter Mongolia’s banking sector. It believes market entry will be possible if the legal and regulatory environment becomes clearer.

• ⛏️ Natural resource benefits should be shared equitably with citizens: The President emphasized that citizens have the right to benefit equally from deposits explored with state budget funding and whose reserves have been officially established. The assets of the National Wealth Fund are also expected to grow.

• ✈️ Mongolia and the United States begin preparations for direct flights: Mongolia and the United States are moving forward with preparations to launch direct flights between the two countries. A legal framework has already been established, and a technical assistance agreement has also been signed, bringing the initiative closer to implementation.

• 🏠 Authorities studying the possibility of establishing a mortgage fund in Ulaanbaatar: City authorities have begun studying the possibility of establishing a mortgage fund. Currently, more than 112,000 households in Mongolia have mortgage loans, with outstanding balances reaching MNT 9.7 trillion in 2025.

📊 MONGOLIA ECONOMY: 🇲🇳 Mongolia’s economy started the year strongly, expanding by 8.6% 📈

🤔 What happened? This marks the fastest pace of growth in the past two years. Mongolia began 2026 on a strong note, with the economy growing by 8.6%, an eye-catching performance by recent standards. It is considered the fastest growth rate since February 2023.

This economic expansion was driven mainly by the mining sector, where a sharp increase in coal and copper concentrate production became the key engine of growth.

⛏️ Mining remains the main driver of growth: Economic growth in the first month of 2026 was led overwhelmingly by the mining sector.

• Coal production rose by 55.7%

• Copper concentrate production increased by 32.6%

As a result, the mining sector alone contributed 5.5 percentage points to overall economic growth, making it the primary source of real expansion.
The sharp increase in raw material extraction also had spillover effects across exports, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics, further accelerating overall economic activity.

🏭 Growth in other sectors remained relatively modest: Although mining recorded strong growth, expansion in the rest of the economy was more stable but comparatively slower.
During the reporting period:

• Mining sector: up 33.2%

• Services sector: up 4.3%

The continued growth in services suggests that domestic consumption and general economic activity remained relatively steady.

💰 A decline in tax revenue is particularly noteworthy: Despite strong economic growth, some fiscal indicators showed a decline.
Net taxes on products fell by 2.8% in January. This was mainly due to lower revenues from:

• Excise tax

• VAT on imported goods

• Product VAT

This may indicate certain changes in import composition and consumer demand.

🌍 International institutions remain optimistic about Mongolia’s growth outlook: There is broad expectation among international institutions that Mongolia’s economic growth will remain stable in the coming years. For 2026, Mongolia’s economy is projected to grow by 5.5%–5.7%, according to preliminary forecasts by:

• The Bank of Mongolia

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

😅 But can this growth be sustained? While Mongolia has started 2026 with strong economic momentum, the expansion so far has been driven largely by mining activity.

In the coming months, the key question will be whether growth can broaden into domestic consumption, services, and manufacturing, as this will determine the true sustainability of Mongolia’s economic performance.

🔥 HOT NEWS: 🏛️ Mongolia’s capital market is seeing a powerful wave of dividends, with total payouts nearing MNT 1 trillion 📊

🤔 What happened? This year, a dividend boom has arrived in Mongolia’s capital market. Under the legal requirement that joint-stock companies must decide within 50 days after the end of the financial year whether to distribute dividends, a total of 86 companies submitted their decisions. Of these, 47 companies, or 54.66%, decided to distribute MNT 946.54 billion ^{($265.43 million)} in dividends. 📈

Meanwhile, 39 companies, or 45.34%, decided not to distribute dividends.

📊 Dividend payouts are growing year by year, both in scale and in significance:

Recent figures show that dividends are becoming increasingly important in Mongolia’s capital market, while the number of shareholders benefiting from them continues to rise.

• 🔺 In 2021: 33 companies: MNT 110.5 billion ^{($30.99 million)}

• 🔺 In 2022: 38 companies: MNT 150.8 billion ^{($42.29 million)}

• 🔺 In 2023: 34 companies: MNT 303.07 billion ^{($84.99 million)}

• 🔺 In 2024: 47 companies: MNT 535.09 billion ^{($150.05 million)}

• 🔺 In 2025: 42 companies: MNT 1,144.26 billion ^{($320.88 million)}

• 🔺 In 2026: 47 companies: MNT 946.54 billion ^{($265.43 million)}

This clearly shows that dividends are no longer just an added benefit, but have become a real and tangible source of income for investors.💰

😱 It seems that the Mongolian Stock Exchange’s Tier I companies delivered outstanding results: The vast majority of this year’s total dividend payout came from large, stable companies. A total of 21 companies listed in Tier I of the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) accounted for MNT 909.92 billion ^{($255.16 million)}, or 96.13% of all dividends distributed this year. Truly impressive. 👏🏻

🥳 And let’s not forget the others they may well move up to Tier I soon:

• 🔹 19 Tier II companies: MNT 35.27 billion, or 3.73%

• 🔹 6 Tier III companies: MNT 1.24 billion, or 0.13%

• 🔹 1 delisted company: MNT 0.11 billion, or 0.01%

This suggests that the main flow of dividend income in the market is still concentrated among companies with strong financial capacity, solid profitability, and well-established business foundations. Still, it is encouraging to see that this base continues to expand year by year. 🙂‍↕️

🏦 Mongolia’s commercial banks are leading this year’s dividend season:

One of the most notable highlights is the role of the banking sector. Four banks alone decided to distribute a total of MNT 544.59 billion ^{($152.72 million)} in dividends, accounting for 57.54% of the total. More than 57% that is a remarkable share. This shows that the banking sector has become the biggest driving force behind this year’s dividend payouts. 🚀

On the other hand, of the 8 companies that have gone public over the last 3 years, 5 decided to distribute a total of MNT 52.94 billion ^{($14.85 million)} in dividends, representing 5.59% of the total. This is another positive sign that newly listed companies are also reaching the stage where they can deliver returns to investors. 🌱

😉 The beginning of your future as an investor starts today

You, too, can be more than just an observer of this market’s returns — you can become an active participant. Open your securities account with Ard Securities LLC, choose the “Smart Investor” automated securities savings plan, and start your journey today toward becoming a disciplined, long-term investor like Warren Buffett. 📈✨

Because great wealth is not built in a single day. It is built through consistent investing, smart decisions, and the power of patience over time. ⏳

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