Kazatomprom supplies uranium to the West bypassing Russia

The majority of uranium produced by Kazatomprom goes to the West bypassing Russia / Photo: Wikimedia Commons and Kazatomprom

According to Kazatomprom, 58% of the uranium it supplied to Western countries over the first six months of this year was shipped via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) from the seaport of Aktau to Baku and then through Georgia to the E.U.

«Kazatomprom has renewed the information about the status of its shipment of uranium through TITR. As of the end of the first half of the year, 58% of uranium was shipped to Western countries via TITR. In December 2023, it is expected that the share of uranium shipment to the West through TITR will reach 71%,» the company said in a statement.

According to the company’s report for the first six months of this year, China was its biggest consumer in this period, which bought uranium for $462.60 million compared to $206 million over the same period in 2022.

The company also revealed data on other deals in 2023 and 2022 in terms of countries: the U.S. ($249.70 million / $127.60 million), Russia ($152 million / $64.9 million, Kazakhstan ($117 million / $128 million), France ($109 million / $60.7 million), the Netherlands ($102 million / N/A), Canada ($64.9 million / $136 million), the U.K. ($9.7 million / $245.90 million), and other countries ($40 million / $74 million). The company earned $1.3 billion in 2023 and $1 billion last year.

On August 25, Dastan Kosherbayev, chief commercial officer at Kazatomprom, said that the company was expecting its uranium to be shipped through TITR as planned. In turn, Yerzhan Mukanov, head of the company, said that the company can even increase its sales this year.

The consolidated amount of sold products is going to reach 17,500 to 18,000 tons compared to the previous forecast of 15,400 to 15,900 tons. At the same time, Kazatomprom has decreased its forecast for the tenge average annual exchange rate from 470 tenge per U.S. dollar to 470 tenge per dollar. As a result, the total revenue of the company is going to increase to $2.6 to $2.7 billion compared to the previous forecast of $2.2 to $2.3 billion.

Taking into account the company’s strategy and limitations associated with the exploration of fields and production, the overall production in 2024 is expected at a level minus 10% from the overall level of subsoil use contracts or about 25,000 tons of uranium. Kazatomprom will report on its production plans for 2025 by the end of this quarter.

Kazatomprom reported that its net profit increased over the first six months of this year to $470 million, a 33% increase over the same period last year, thanks to the uranium price surge and increase in sales. However, the cost of sales also grew by 10% and reached $678 million. General and administrative expenditures grew from $39.7 million in 2022 to $68 million in 2023. The net debt of the company was $373.90 million as of June 30 ($360 million as of December 2022 and $597 million as of June 30, 2022).

Over the first six months of 2023, Kazatomprom produced 10,225 tons of triuranium octoxide U3O8, a 2% increase over the same period last year (10,070). During this period, the company sold 9,527 tons of uranium, a 6% increase over last year (9,017). The average price of the product also grew from $40.88 per pound in 2022 to $47.04 in 2023 (+15%), while production cost was $12.18 per pound as of June 30, 2023, compared to $9.77 in 2022 (+22%). However, the company’s consolidated reserves of U3O8 were 18% lower than last year (7,644 tons as of June 30, 2023).