According to a press release on Kazatomprom’s website, the company enjoyed an outstanding rise in its financial strength in 2023 wherein generated revenue rose by 43 percent to 1.4 trillion tenge (~$3.1 billion), outpacing uranium price growth by more than 20%.
Operating profit increased to 680 billion tenge(~$1.5 billion), up 49%, and net profit for 2023 rose to 580 billion tenge (~$1.3 billion), up 23% from 2022. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) amounted to 828 billion tenge, an increase of 31%. The costs of raw materials totalled 364 billion tenge, an increase of 39%, and last year, those for sales, amounted to 28 billion tenge (~$62 million).
“There was significant volatility in the global uranium market in 2023, driven by increased interest in the transition to clean energy — and geopolitical instability,” reported Kazatomprom Board Chairman Meirzhan Yusupov.
The company emphasized that despite volatility in the uranium market, demand for nuclear energy as a stable source of low-carbon energy has increased significantly and thus demonstrates the important role of uranium in achieving sustainable development goals.
“Although some producers, including Kazatomprom, have decided to restart idle plants — or start new ones by the mid-2020s — this will not be enough to meet global needs after 2030,” the statement warned.
In a trading operations statement issued in early February, the company reported higher sales on lower production volumes. Uranium sales in consolidated terms increased to 18,100 tons, up 10%, whilst production fell by two% to 11,200 tons.
Kazakhstan currently provides about 40% of uranium required by the world’s nuclear power plants.
