ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazatomprom, the world’s biggest uranium producer, said on Thursday it was operating normally with no impact on output or exports despite unrest in Kazakhstan.
Uranium prices have risen after unrest in Kazakhstan which was spurred initially by protests against fuel price hikes. Spot prices hit $45.5 per pound on Wednesday, the highest since November 30, according to a Platts assessment.
But the central Asian country’s political turmoil does not seem to have so far affected key industries.
“Uranium mining is going according to plan there have been no stoppages. The company is fulfulling its export contracts,” a Kazatomprom spokesperson said.
And earlier a spokesperson for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, the group that transports the country’s main crude oil export blend, said it was operating normally.
Kazatomprom’s attributable production represented approximately 23% of global primary uranium output in 2020, according to the company’s website.
Kazatomprom’s London-listed shares were down almost 5% on Thursday, to the lowest since end-September and adding to Wednesday’s 8% drop. But shares in other uranium producers, such as Canada’s Cameco, are up nearly 12% so far this year.
(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva, Olzhas Auyezov, Polina Devitt; writing by Sujata Rao; editing by Alexander Smith)
