Friday, 22 August 2025 – Kazakhstan’s national atomic company, Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of natural uranium, has announced a significant reduction in its planned production for 2026. The company will lower its output by approximately 10% from previous targets, stating that current market conditions do not provide sufficient incentive to return to its 100% production levels at this time.
The decision was announced alongside the company’s consolidated financial results for the first half of 2025. CEO Meirzhan Yussupov stated that while the long-term price for uranium has remained stable at around US$80 per pound, proving that “fundamentals remain strong,” the company does not view the current supply-demand balance and existing uncovered demand as sufficient to justify a return to full capacity.
The reduction will decrease Kazatomprom’s nominal production level (on a 100% basis) from 32,777 tU (around 85 million pounds U₃O₈) to 29,697 tU. This cut, which amounts to roughly 8 million pounds, is expected to reduce the world’s primary uranium supply by about 5%. The majority of this production adjustment is attributed to the JV Budenovskoye project.
Kazatomprom’s announcement comes despite a positive first half of 2025, which saw a 13% year-on-year increase in production to 12,242 tU (on a 100% basis). The company’s whole-year production guidance for 2025 remains unchanged. Kazatomprom also confirmed that its sulphuric acid supplies, a key reagent for its in-situ leach mining process, are estimated to be stable for 2026.
In his statement, Yussupov also highlighted the potential for a new domestic market for the company’s output, pointing to Kazakhstan’s plans to build nuclear power plants. With each plant requiring about 400 tonnes of uranium annually, this could translate to a cumulative demand of 72,000 tonnes over the lifetime of three plants, potentially creating a new allocation for a portion of the company’s production.