Media - In the Market

Update for the public provided three days after publication.

May 17, 2013 - Spot market activity was particularly light this week with only three transactions reported; however, the industry was anything but quiet. From the appointment of a new Secretary for the US Department of Energy, to the gathering of market participants in Beijing and in Washington, DC, it was an eventful week for the nuclear fuel industry. Although nuclear new builds, particularly in the USA and Japan, face increasing pressure from low-cost natural gas and safety concerns, the industry remains optimistic as China pledges to maintain its ambitious nuclear program. This optimism is evident with uranium producers and sellers, who remain reluctant to lower offer prices even as we enter the summer season, a time that is generally considered a period of low spot market activity. While spot market volume for June, July, and August is often viewed as historically lower than the other months of the year, the summer months are not nearly as predictable as conventional wisdom would suggest. In fact, when we examine the monthly spot transaction volume for the summer months over the past five years, we see that the June, July, and August period was above average in 2009, and particularly active in 2010. Certainly, some sellers believe this could be the case in 2013, pointing to the potential for new demand to enter the market as several utilities are considering discretionary purchases. This led sellers to hold firm to offer prices this week, and TradeTech’s Weekly U3O8 Spot Price Indicator remains at $40.75 per pound U3O8, unchanged from last week’s indicator and unchanged from the May 16 Daily U3O8 Spot Price Indicator. read more