Iran plans to buy 950 tons of uranium concentrate from Kazakhstan.
The delivery is scheduled in two batches – 650 tons by installments during the first two years of cooperation and 300 tons in the final year. The processed uranium will be returned to Kazakhstan.
If the deal is struck, Iran will become an important buyer of Kazakh uranium, because of the geographical proximity, logistics and stable delivery.
In 2016 Kazakhstan mined 24 thousand tons of uranium, up by 1.7% YoY. But this year output is expected to drop by 8% YoY, or by 2 thousand tons, because of the weak market situation due to the uranium surplus.
Kazakhstan exports all the mined uranium, as the country has no processing facilities nor NPPs. China (50%) is the largest buyer of Kazakh uranium. (Ukrainian metal)