China-Mongolia coal dispute deepens

State-run firm Aluminum Corp of China (601600.SH), also called Chalco, threatened a Mongolian mining partner with legal action if it continued to default on its contract, The Wall Street Journal reported. The remarks escalate a standoff after Mongolian mining firm Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi stopped exporting coal to China last week and threatened to terminate its coal-for-loans agreement with Chalco. Mongolian officials claim the contract price is unfair. Both governments signed and approved the US$350 million deal, Chalco said Monday. “A unilateral breach of the contract … could mean unlimited monetary damages,” said Li Dongguang, president of Chalco unit China Aluminimum International Trading.