Commodities | Oct 13 2015
By Greg Peel
The US Nuclear Energy Institute’s annual International Uranium Fuel Seminar was held in Beaver Creek, Colorado, last week. Global industry gatherings in the commodities markets often have the effect of revving up market participants as they all try to talk up their stories, but whether last week’s jump in spot market trading activity had anything to do with the seminar is unclear.
Whatever the case, uranium traders decided to get a little more excited last week it would seem. Industry consultant TradeTech reports traders represented the most active buying group, although all of utilities, speculators and even producers participated in a buying spree that accelerated as the week progressed.
As renewed buying interest quickly became apparent, sellers steadily backed off their prices and by the end of the week, 1.8mlbs of U308 equivalent had changed hands. TradeTech’s weekly spot price indicator has jumped US$1.90 to US$38.50/lb. It’s the biggest weekly price jump since November 2011, when the spot price suddenly leapt US$4.00 to US$52.25/lb.
Interestingly, digging back through the archives reveals that 1.8mlbs also changed hands that week. Spot market activity had been subdued in the lead-up and sellers had been forced to tick down offers to clear out material before year end. Soon a bit of buying interest became apparent, and suddenly the race was on.
We’re a month earlier this time around but otherwise the scene has played out in a very similar fashion. Clearly prices were higher back then. March of that year was when the Fukushima crisis occurred and I made the comment at the time: “Has uranium now shaken off the Fukushima blues or is this just a false dawn? Early days.”
Early days indeed. It’s taken another four years before the first Japanese reactor has been restarted.
Three transactions were recorded in the term markets last week, both mid and long, totalling 1.3mlbs. TradeTech’s weekly term price indicators remain unchanged at US$39.50/lb (mid) and US$44.00/lb (long).
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