Mongolia Focus: Moving Toward Higher-Value Cashmere Exports

Mongolia has a strong nomadic culture and people there are outnumbered by herded animals 23 to one. Alongside a strong export market for mineral products (predominantly copper) which has developed significantly in recent years with foreign investment, cashmere remains a critical industry. The material constitutes 40 percent of the country's nonmineral exports. Over a third of the world's cashmere came from a goat grazing the Mongolian steppe.

The large majority of cashmere from Mongolia is sold in raw form to China (90 per cent of the unprocessed cashmere) and just across the border there are a number of factories where cashmere products are manufactured. It is recognised that profits could be increased by trading cashmere products rather than raw cashmere and strategies for boosting processing capabilities within Mongolia are underway. Last year the Mongolian government launched a four-year program to support the industry, providing finance to better enable processing by domestic firms.

Monoglia’s largest cashmere manufacturer, the Gobi Corporation, will open an online store for the US market in September 2019.

Words and photography by Amy Wevill