GEOGRAPHICAL STRUCTURE OF FOREIGN TRADE OF MONGOLIA: INTRACONTINENTALITY, BORDERCROSSES AND FEATURES OF LOGISTICS

Foreign trade is one of the phenomena most susceptible to the so-called spatial friction effect. This article provides an overview of the geographical structure of Mongolia’s exports and imports by remoteness zones, demonstrating the critical influence of its landlocked position. Examining the distribution of imports and exports, considering the degree of product processing, reveals that finished products have a more dispersed distribution across remoteness zones. In contrast, raw materials are primarily directed to the nearest zone. The article presents statistics on product transportability, understood as the price per unit weight, and its distribution by remoteness zones at border crossing points. It concludes that the most valuable cargo passes through border points with Russia, while raw materials with low transportability, primarily coal and copper, are transported through the Mongolian-Chinese points of Gashuunsukhait and Zamyn-Uud, mainly to the nearest zone. Field studies have revealed the specifics of logistics schemes for coal delivery to China from the Tavan Tolgoi deposit. These involve delivery by road trains or by rail in containers, which simplifies the transshipment process and mitigates the barrier factor of the difference in railway gauge between Mongolia and China. In the copper mining industry, Russia and Mongolia are entering into competition through the parallel development of their largest copper-gold reserves. To diversify Mongolia’s foreign trade and reduce its economic dependence on China, it is necessary to increase the processing of raw material exports into finished products, which can be achieved with the help of Russian high-tech companies.