Proactive Investors - Kazatomprom (LON:KAPq), the world’s largest uranium producer, sparked a surge in the price today as it warned a shortage of sulphuric acid was hurting production.
Kazakhstan-based Kazatomprom said the shortage would mean it missing production targets for the next two years at a time when demand for nuclear power is soaring again.
Construction delays at projects under development were adding to the problem, said the London and Astana-listed group.
A detailed assessment of the scale of any shortfall will be released by the end of January, it added.
Finding alternative power sources allied to the drive for greener types of fuel has seen a resurgence of interest in nuclear with many countries rebooting mothballed plans.
The US this week said it wanted a domestic source of high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, currently only produced in Russia, while the UK is looking at new large-scale development to match Hinkley Point.
Kazatomprom said it is committed to meeting contractual obligations to existing customers throughout 2024 but added production plans for 2025 are subject to “considerable supply chain risks”.
The spot price for uranium today was around US$92.5 a pound, up 1.7% to around a 15-year high.