There are three major subcategories of uranium. The 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 284410 for natural uranium and its compounds. Code prefix 284420 represents enriched uranium, while 284430 is for depleted uranium.
Natural uranium exports by country totaled US$3 billion in 2019, down by an average -45.5% for all exporting countries over the five-year period starting in 2015. The value of exported enriched uranium was $2.5 billion, an amount down by -10% since 2015. Depleted uranium exports increased in value by 26.7% to $1.7 billion in 2019 up from $1.3 billion during 2015.
Uranium Exports by Country
Natural
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of natural uranium during 2019.
- Kazakhstan: US$1.5 billion (51.8% of natural uranium exports)
- Canada: $882.9 million (29.6%)
- Ukraine: $126.8 million (4.3%)
- Uzbekistan: $119.9 million (4%)
- United States: $101.5 million (3.4%)
- France: $92.6 million (3.1%)
- Niger: $56.8 million (1.9%)
- Netherlands: $28.1 million (0.9%)
- Czech Republic: $15.4 million (0.5%)
- South Africa: $7 million (0.2%)
- Germany: $4.6 million (0.2%)
- Malaysia: $139,000 (0.005%)
- Norway: $28,000 (0.001%)
- United Kingdom: $26,000 (0.001%)
- India: $7,000 (0.0002%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.999% of global natural uranium exports in 2019.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporter of natural uranium since 2015 was Kazakhstan thanks to its 11.4% increase.
Those countries that posted declines in their exported natural uranium sales were led by: India (down -99.9%), United Kingdom (down -88.1%), Norway (down -78%), Malaysia (down -74.3%) and Germany (down -69.1%).
Enriched
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of enriched uranium during 2019.
- Netherlands: US$912.7 million (36.2% of enriched uranium exports)
- Germany: $684.8 million (27.1%)
- France: $675.1 million (26.7%)
- China: $114.2 million (4.5%)
- United States: $90.1 million (3.6%)
- Sweden: $37.2 million (1.5%)
- Kazakhstan: $6.9 million (0.3%)
- Niger: $2.8 million (0.1%)
- Belgium: $242,000 (0.01%)
- Israel: $63,000 (0.002%)
- Canada: $41,000 (0.002%)
- Japan: $29,000 (0.001%)
- Czech Republic: $5,000 (0.0002%)
- United Kingdom: $4,000 (0.0002%)
- Austria: $1,000 (0.00004%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 100% of global enriched uranium exports in 2019.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of enriched uranium since 2015 were: Sweden (up 1,060%), France (up 35%), Israel (up 26%) and Belgium (up 15.2%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported enriched uranium sales were led by: Canada (down -99.9%), Japan (down -98%), Kazakhstan (down -93.1%), United States (down -80.9%) and China (down -13.7%).
Depleted
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of depleted uranium during 2019.
- Canada: US$437.6 million (26.4% of depleted uranium exports)
- Netherlands: $394.8 million (23.8%)
- United States: $188.1 million (11.3%)
- Belgium: $141.2 million (8.5%)
- Germany: $138.7 million (8.4%)
- Russia: $92.4 million (5.6%)
- France: $61.9 million (3.7%)
- South Africa: $28.9 million (1.7%)
- Czech Republic: $25.5 million (1.5%)
- Poland: $22.4 million (1.4%)
- United Kingdom: $19.6 million (1.2%)
- Australia: $15.2 million (0.9%)
- Singapore: $12.6 million (0.8%)
- South Korea: $10.3 million (0.6%)
- China: $10.3 million (0.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.4% of global depleted uranium exports in 2019 by value.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of depleted uranium since 2015 were: Netherlands (up 81%), Czech Republic (also up 81%), Germany (up 71%) and Poland (up 67.6%).
Four countries posted declines in their exported depleted uranium salesy: United Kingdom (down -74.5%), Singapore (down -66.6%), South Africa (down -43.1%), Australia (down -19.2%).
Companies
Global Uranium Producers
According to MiningFeeds.com, the following companies represent established players engaged in the international uranium trade. Their home country is shown within parenthesis.
- Altius Minerals (Canada)
- BHP Billiton Ltd (Australia)
- Cameco (Canada)
- Energy Resources of Australia (Australia)
- Rio Tinto Ltd (Australia)
- Uranium Energy Corp (United States)
- Uranium Participation Corp (Canada)
- Ur-Energy Inc (United States)
From a continental perspective, suppliers in Asia earned the most revenue from natural uranium exports during 2019 with shipments valued at $1.7 billion or 55.8% of the global total. In second place were North American exporters at 33.1% while 9% of natural uranium shipments originated from Europe. Africa accounted for another 2.1% share.
European exporters were responsible for 91.5% of enriched uranium global sales. Asian countries generated 4.8% of worldwide enriched uranium sales followed by North American nations at 3.6%, then African suppliers at 0.1%.
Europe is also a leading source for depleted uranium exports responsible for 55.9% of the worldwide total, trailed by North America at 37.7% and well ahead of Asia (3.4%), Africa (1.8%), Oceania (0.9%) mostly Australia, then Latin America (0.3%).
See also Gold Exports by Country, Silver Exports by Country and Platinum Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 16, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Mining Feeds, Uranium Mining Companies Listed in All Countries. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Wikipedia, Uranium. Accessed on May 16, 2020