Send parcel to Mongolia

How do you write an address in Mongolia?

In Mongolia the address follows a slightly different logic from the European one, because it relies on the urban districts and their subdivisions more than on a simple street. In Ulaanbaatar you indicate the district (düüreg), the khoroo which is the sub-district, the name or number of the building and that of the apartment, along with a five-digit postal index. A realistic example is: "Mario Rossi, Sukhbaatar düüreg, khoroo 1, building 12, kv. 34, Ulaanbaatar 14200, Mongolia, tel. +976 ...". Local addresses are in Cyrillic, but the international label is filled in in English. Always add the phone number with the +976 prefix, because the courier uses it to arrange delivery on the final leg, even more important here where landmarks often count as much as the formal address. The great majority of parcels head to Ulaanbaatar, where about half of the country's population lives.

What do Italian companies ship to Mongolia?

Mongolia's economy is driven by raw materials, and this gives the market a very precise profile. The big mining projects for copper, coal and gold, such as Oyu Tolgoi and Erdenet, fuel a constant demand for technical components, machinery, valves, instrumentation and spare parts that the Italian supply chain is well placed to provide, often as single sample pieces or urgent parts to be approved before a larger order. There is then a very Mongolian chapter, that of cashmere: the country is among the world's leading producers of goat wool and works closely with fashion and with the Italian makers of textile machinery, so yarn samples, spare parts and equipment travel. Alongside all this the urban demand of Ulaanbaatar is growing, where an expanding city class appreciates Italian fashion, design, furniture and premium food. To these flows add the personal parcels of the Italian professionals and families present in the country.

Extreme winters, Tsagaan Sar and Naadam: how to choose the right time?

Mongolia has one of the most extreme continental climates in the world, and Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital on the planet. The winters are very long and harsh, with very low temperatures, while summer is short and hot. Delicate or frost-sensitive contents need suitable packaging and a carefully chosen time, especially in the winter months. The local calendar also matters: Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year that falls between late winter and early spring, is the most important holiday and brings the country to a halt for several days, while in July the Naadam gathers the nation around the traditional games and slows down offices and warehouses. For samples tied to an event or gifts with a precise deadline it is worth checking the dates before sending, so as not to run into the days when everything is closed.

Customs and a landlocked country: how to prepare?

Every shipment to Mongolia goes through customs, and arriving with the paperwork in order makes the difference on timing. Commercial goods need an invoice in English with a clear description, a realistic value and HS codes, plus a certificate of origin where required and any documents foreseen for the product category. Unlike several neighbours in the area, Mongolia is not part of the Eurasian customs union and applies its own rules, so the recipient should check in advance what is needed for their category of goods and have their own local identification code for clearance. Geography also has to be considered, because the country is closed between Russia and China, with no access to the sea, and the goods always arrive through a transit: the precision of the documents counts even more, because an inconsistency is paid in days of waiting. A final tip concerns samples: writing only "samples" is not enough, better to specify what the parcel contains, for example "spare part for mining plant", "cashmere yarn sample" or "printed catalogue with no commercial value". An invoice filled in item by item makes the passage smoother and helps the recipient prepare before arrival.