Press Release
USTDA Establishes Partnership to Support the Development of Mongolia’s Cement Production Infrastructure
ULANBATAAR, MONGOLIA (August 28, 2009) – Today, USTDA awarded a grant to Yalguun International, LLC to fund a feasibility study on the development of a dry process cement plant along Mongolia’s main rail line that will support domestic cement production.
A signing ceremony to confer the $250,000 grant was conducted at the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbataar. U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Mark Minton and Yalguun General Director Natsagdorj Zonorov signed the grant on behalf of the U.S. government and Yalguun International, respectively.
“Assisting with this type of infrastructure development is an important aspect of our partnership with Mongolia,” Ambassador Minton said during the signing ceremony. “Strong economic growth in recent years has boosted cement consumption in Mongolia, but the product is over 90 percent imported. Both the high demand and transportation costs have contributed to cement's high price, which in turn have impeded growth in the country's construction sector.”
Yalguun International, a Mongolian-owned company, will use the USTDA grant to fund a feasibility study on its plans to build a plant to provide cement to the Mongolian market. The plant has a projected annual capacity of one million metric tons, roughly equivalent to Mongolia’s total annual cement consumption.
“This project will have a dramatic impact on construction costs in Mongolia by building the capacity for a domestic cement producer and increasing supplies,” said USTDA Acting Director Leocadia Zak. “USTDA is excited to partner with Yalguun in this effort, which will bring U.S. technologies and services to bear in reducing the cost of infrastructure development in Mongolia.”
Yalguun has selected FLSmidth, a supplier of cement processing equipment based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to perform the feasibility study for this project. FLSmidth will contribute additional resources toward the completion of the feasibility study.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair, open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services. Visit USTDA’s Website at www.ustda.gov