ALMATY: Kazakhstan raised uranium output to 20,900 tonnes in 2012 from 19,450 tonnes a year earlier, strengthening its position as the leading producer of the metal with a 37-percent share of global output, state nuclear firm Kazatomprom said on Thursday.
Kazatomprom said that its own output stood at 11,900 tonnes, or more than 20 percent of the global output of uranium, which is used to make nuclear fuel.
Kazatomprom, which employs more than 24,000 people, exported 9,260 tonnes of uranium concentrate to serve its contracts in 2012, the company said in a statement.
Kazatomprom head Vladimir Shkolnik has said Kazakhstan plans to boost its output of uranium to as much as 25,000 tonnes by 2015.
Kazakhstan, which holds more than 15 percent of global uranium reserves, second only to Australia, surpassed Canada in 2009 as the world's largest producer. The country has no nuclear power stations and does not use any uranium byproducts.
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