BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 19. At this time, all 2022 guidance metrics of Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom National Atomic Company (NAC) remain unchanged from previously disclosed expectations, Trend reports citing the company.
COVID-19 disrupted the overall production supply chain in 2021, resulting in a shortage of certain production materials, such as reagents and piping, affecting exploration and development activities, which led to a shift in the commissioning schedule for new wellfields.
Because of the shift, uranium production volumes through the first half of 2022 fell short of internal expectations. In addition to the delays in the commissioning schedule for new wellfields, shortages of certain materials, including sulfuric acid, also have a negative impact on development and production activities.
Despite these challenges, the Group is maintaining its 2022 production plan and making every effort to achieve it, though final year-end volumes could fall short if wellfield development and supply chain issues continue or worsen throughout the second-half of the year.
Revenue, C1 cash cost (attributable basis) and All-in Sustaining cash cost (attributable C1 + capital cost) guidance may vary from the ranges shown, to the extent that the KZT-to-USD exchange rate and uranium spot price differ significantly from the Company’s assumptions.
The Company only intends to update annual guidance in relation to operational factors and internal changes that are within its control. Key assumptions used for external metrics, such as exchange rates and uranium prices, are established using third-party sources during the Company’s annual budget process in the previous year; such assumptions will only be updated on an interim basis in exceptional circumstances.
The Company continues to target an inventory level of approximately six to seven months of annual attributable production.
However, inventory could fall below these levels due to Pandemic-related production losses.
“As such, during the first half of 2022, several transactions to purchase material in the spot market were carried out and the Company will continue to monitor market conditions for opportunities to optimize its inventory levels,” the company said.