ULAN BATOR, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The volume of industrial production in Mongolia grew 23.3 percent in the January-May period compared to the same period last year, amounting to six trillion Tugriks (about 2.439 billion U.S. dollars).

This was announced at a press conference for local media by the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry of Mongolia on Thursday.

Mongolia's Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren said that production of the main products of mining and extractive industries was up by 23.7 percent, which is the main cause of the growth of industrial production.

In particular, coal production increased by 48 percent, and the volume of iron ore production went up 12.6 percent against the corresponding period of 2017.

Currently, over 72.2 percent of Mongolia's total industrial production is accounted for by mining industry products.

The minister said that the production volume of copper concentrate for this period increased by 3 percent, and fluorite concentrate grew 39.5 percent. As for crude oil production, it fell by 9 percent compared to the same period last year.