Uranium enterprises paid 444 billion tenge to the budget in 2025

Global demand for uranium is projected to continue growing, and Kazatomprom is preparing new exploration areas, Kazinform reports in an overview of who buys Kazakh uranium and how much the country earns from it.

The bottom line

• In 2025, Kazakhstan produced 25.8 thousand tonnes of uranium, with Kazatomprom accounting for 13.5 thousand tonnes (52.3%).
• Exports in 2025 amounted to 21.36 thousand tonnes worth $2.98 billion, compared with more than 28 thousand tonnes worth $4.54 billion a year earlier.
• Industry payments to the budget totalled 444.1 billion tenge, including corporate income tax of 277.5 billion and mineral extraction tax of 150.5 billion.
• Kazatomprom's mineral base under JORC standards, including new areas, is estimated at 954 thousand tonnes versus 531 thousand tonnes currently.

Demand and production

According to the World Nuclear Fuel Report 2025, the world's reactors required about 68.9 thousand tonnes of uranium in 2025, while production was about 60 thousand tonnes. In the base scenario, demand will exceed 150 thousand tonnes by 2040, and under accelerated nuclear power development, 200 thousand tonnes.

In 2025, Kazakhstan produced 25,839 tonnes at 14 enterprises. Two of them, Kanzhugan/Sauran and RU-6, are wholly owned by Kazatomprom, while the other 12 are joint ventures with foreign partners.

Who buys and how much is earned

Exports in 2025 amounted to 21.36 thousand tonnes of uranium and its compounds worth $2.98 billion. According to customs statistics, pure uranium in this volume was 17.3 thousand tonnes. A year earlier, more than 28 thousand tonnes worth $4.54 billion were shipped. Among buyers in 2024, the largest were Russia ($1.81 billion) and China ($1.76 billion), followed by the United States ($313.5 million), France ($310.9 million) and Canada ($248.3 million). In 2026, the picture is changing: in January-April, France tripled its purchases of Kazakh uranium and moved into first place.

In 2025, Kazatomprom signed supply deals with Switzerland's AxpoPower, Czech Republic's ČEZ Group and Japan's Kansai Electric Power.

The industry transferred 444.1 billion tenge to the budget: corporate income tax contributed 277.5 billion, extraction tax 150.5 billion, infrastructure development payments 3.8 billion, and other payments 12.3 billion. The largest payers were Karatau (98.9 billion) and Inkai (83.6 billion).

Who owns the enterprises

Kazatomprom's stakes in major joint ventures vary. In Inkai it holds 60% (40% belongs to Cameco), in KATCO 49% (51% to Orano), Karatau and Akbastau are split 50-50 with Uranium One, in SMCC Kazatomprom holds 30% (70% to Uranium One), and in Semizbay-U 51% (49% to China's CGN).

The combined income of associated enterprises in 2025 amounted to 743.5 billion tenge, with net profit of 360.9 billion. Kazatomprom's share in profit was about 170 billion tenge, and it received 112.7 billion in dividends.

Reserves and exploration

Kazatomprom has assembled a portfolio of six promising areas covering more than 1 thousand km². By 2030, it plans to invest 75-85 billion tenge in geological exploration. The mineral base under JORC, the international reserve valuation standard, currently stands at 531 thousand tonnes of uranium, and with the new areas, 954 thousand tonnes.

Kazatomprom recently obtained a licence to explore for uranium at the Kyzyltu area in the Kyzylorda region. The licence is valid for six years. The area's resource is preliminarily estimated at 10 thousand tonnes, but this figure still needs to be confirmed by exploration.

What is happening around the industry

Projects are changing within the country. The Southern Mining and Chemical Company, in which Rosatom Group holds 70% and Kazatomprom 30%, has updated its development project for the Inkai deposit area: for 2026-2029, it plans to produce 7,605 tonnes, which is 612 tonnes less than under the 2025 project. The changes will be discussed at hearings in November.

Competition is growing. Canada's NexGen Energy has begun building the Rook I mine with projected production of about 11.5 thousand tonnes of U3O8 per year, while France's Orano announced a project in Mongolia at the Zoovch-Ovoo deposit, where the same in-situ leaching method as in Kazakhstan will be used. Industrial production there is promised by 2028, though for now this is the company's forecast.

Ust-Kamenogorsk has a separate role: the Ulba Metallurgical Plant hosts the IAEA's low-enriched uranium bank, up to 90 tonnes in the form of hexafluoride. Formally, this uranium does not belong to Kazakhstan; the agency handles accounting and control.

Author's conclusion

Forecasts promise growth in uranium demand, but export revenue in 2025 turned out lower than a year earlier, and Kazakhstan is facing new competitors. What this means for the industry depends on whether the resources of the new areas are confirmed and when the competitors reach projected production.