By Nariman Gizitdinov
August 23, 2024 at 9:41AM EDT
(Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan, the world’s No. 1 uranium miner, cut its output plan for next year amid project delays and a lack of sulfuric acid needed to pump the radioactive metal from the ground.
Kazakhstan adjusted 2025 uranium production plans to 25,000 tons to 26,500 tons from “initial intentions” of 30,500 to 31,500 tons, state-run Kazatomprom said Friday in regulatory filings. The new 2025 plan implies about 12% growth compared with 2024 guidance of 22,500 tons to 23,500 tons, the company said.
Uranium prices have more than tripled over the past four years in anticipation of a surge in demand for the nuclear fuel. The US, Japan and France were among 22 nations that pledged late last year to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
Delays in ramping up output at JV Budenovskoye LLP account for a significant portion of Kazakhstan’s adjusted production, Kazatomprom said. That operation is now expected to produce 1,300 tons of uranium next year instead of the previously approved 4,000 tons, it said.
Kazatomprom stockpiles fell 20% to 6,132 tons in the first half, but the company still has a “comfortable level of inventories to fulfill its existing contractual commitments in 2025,” it said.
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