LONDON, UK: JSC National Atomic Company (Kazatomprom) announced today that the international rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the Company’s credit rating Baa3, to Baa2.
The base credit rating of Kazatomprom was increased by one notch and the outlook remains Stable.
Moody’s released a statement announcing the rating change and stable outlook on 12 August 2021. More information can be found at https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-upgrades-ratings-of-five-Kazakhstani-GRIs-to-Baa2-outlook–PR_451902
To evaluate the Company, Moody’s applies the methodology it uses for evaluating government-related issuers.
Specific to the evaluation of Kazatomprom, Moody’s considers the Company’s leading position in the global natural uranium mining market, long-term contracts with consumers of uranium products, exposure to uranium prices, business diversification, exposure to risks, and dividend payments.
Kazatomprom is the world’s largest producer of uranium, with the Company’s attributable production representing approximately 23% of global primary uranium production in 2020.
The Group benefits from the largest reserve base in the industry and operates, through its subsidiaries, JVs and Associates, 26 deposits grouped into 14 mining assets. All of the Company’s mining operations are located in Kazakhstan and extract uranium using ISR technology with a focus on maintaining industry-leading health, safety and environment standards.
Kazatomprom securities are listed on the London Stock Exchange, Astana International Exchange, and Kazakhstan Stock Exchange. As the national atomic company in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Group’s primary customers are operators of nuclear generation capacity, and the principal export markets for the Group’s products are China, South and Eastern Asia, Europe and North America.
The Group sells uranium and uranium products under long-term contracts, short-term contracts, as well as in the spot market, directly from its headquarters in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and through its Switzerland-based trading subsidiary, Trade House KazakAtom AG (THK).