Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Kazatomprom
Kazakhstan's state uranium company, created by presidential decree in 1997 from the wreck of the Soviet uranium industry, which turned the country's sandstone-hosted deposits and a cheap mining method — in-situ leaching (ISL), pumping acid solution through the ore body instead of digging it — into the world's largest and lowest-cost uranium supply. Kazakhstan overtook Canada as the largest producing country in 2009 and has supplied roughly two-fifths of the world's mined uranium since the mid-2010s (national output, all owners; World Nuclear Association, verify by year); Kazatomprom's own attributable share is about half of that, because most mines are joint ventures with foreign partners — Cameco, Orano, Russia's Rosatom, Japanese and Chinese groups. Since 2017 it has behaved less like a volume maximiser and more like a swing producer: it cut planned output by ~20% for 2018–23, sold ~25% of itself in London and Astana (2018–20), adopted a "value over volume" policy, and in 2023–25 learned that its real constraint was not ore but sulphuric acid. In 2025 it produced 25,839 tU on a 100% basis (~67.2m lb U3O8) and 13,519 tU attributable (~35.1m lb) (company, Feb 2026), and guided 27,500–29,000 tU (100%) for 2026, with spot uranium at ~$89.63/lb U3O8 and the long-term indicator at ~$96.50/lb at end-September 2026 (Cameco month-end).
At a glance
- Founded
- 14 Jul 1997 (presidential decree creating the National Atomic Company Kazatomprom, reported) from Soviet-era uranium enterprises in southern Kazakhstan
- Headquarters
- Astana, Kazakhstan
- Ownership / structure
- ~75% Samruk-Kazyna (Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund); ~25% free float as global depositary receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange (KAP) and shares/GDRs on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) and KASE (reported, verify current split)
- Leadership (2026)
- Meirzhan Yussupov (CEO from 2023, verify); board chaired by a Samruk-Kazyna nominee (verify); earlier CEOs include Mukhtar Dzhakishev (2004–09), Vladimir Shkolnik (2009–15), Askar Zhumagaliyev, Galymzhan Pirmatov, Mazhit Sharipov and Yerzhan Mukanov (dates verify)
- Assets
- 26 deposits grouped into ~14 mining assets in the Chu-Sarysu and Syrdarya basins (company, verify count); ISL operations held alone or in JVs: JV Inkai (Cameco 40%), KATCO (Orano 51%), Budenovskoye (with Rosatom's Uranium One), Akbastau, Karatau, Zarechnoye, Khorasan-U, Kyzylkum, Semizbay-U (with CGN), Appak (Japanese partners) and others; Ulba Metallurgical Plant (fuel pellets, beryllium, tantalum); Ulba-FA fuel-assembly plant with CGN; Trade House KazAtomProm (THK, Switzerland)
- Scale
- 2025: production 25,839 tU (100%) / 13,519 tU attributable; group U3O8 sales 18,495 tU (~48.1m lb); revenue ~KZT 1,803bn (~$3.5bn at ~KZT 515/$, approximate); net profit ~KZT 807bn (−29%) (company, 20 Mar 2026; FBroker)
- Cost position
- Lowest quartile of the world cost curve; C1 cash costs typically ~$10–15/lb U3O8 attributable and all-in sustaining costs ~$20–30/lb in recent years (company disclosures, reported ranges, verify by year); rising with the mineral extraction tax (MET), acid prices and development drilling
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Formation (1997); ISL expansion through foreign JVs (2000s); world's largest producer and the Dzhakishev arrest (2009); supply cuts (2017–23); IPO (2018); unrest, sanctions and the Trans-Caspian route (2022); sulphuric-acid shortage (2023); guidance cuts and "value over volume" (2024); subsoil-level cuts and the Russian-partner reshuffle (2025–26)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1997
Formation of the National Atomic Company
Founding (state consolidation of Soviet-era enterprises)
2004
ISL Expansion and the Foreign JVs
Partnerships and expansion (joint ventures with foreign miners and utilities)
2009
Largest Producer and the Dzhakishev Arrest
Milestone (largest producing country) and governance failure (CEO arrest)
2017
Production Cuts and Supply Discipline
Strategy pivot (supply discipline)
2018
London and AIX IPO
IPO / partial privatisation
2022
Unrest Sanctions and the Trans Caspian Route
Geopolitics / logistics (route diversification)
2023
Sulphuric Acid Shortage
Supply-chain failure (input shortage forcing production shortfalls)
2024
Guidance Cuts and the Value Over Volume Policy
Guidance and strategy (production plans cut; value-over-volume policy restated)
2025
Subsoil Level Cuts and the Russian Partner Reshuffle
Supply policy (cut to nominal production levels) and partner change (Russian JV stakes sold to Chinese state buyers)