Commodities | Mar 30 2010
By Greg Peel
Activity in the uranium spot market in the week ending on Friday continued to point to buyers being more amenable to meeting sellers' offers, notes industry consultant TradeTech. With spot uranium having languished at recent lows, the sell-side has been exhibiting both an element of reluctance and an element of patience.
Four spot transactions were noted for the week for a total of 600,000lbs of U3O8. This was down from a million pounds last week but prices paid had TradeTech ratcheting up its weekly spot price indicator by US75c to US$42.00/lb. Buying interest is currently diverse, the consultant notes, covering utilities, producers and intermediaries. Aside from actual transactions there has been an increase in buying interest as yet unsatisfied.
It would seem buyers have become frustrated by a recent inclination for sellers to keep backing away, and instead offers are now being hit. Longer-term buy-side interest is also building, and TradeTech notes several utilities are expected to enter the market in coming weeks for mid-term contracts of around five to ten years.
In industry news, China has reportedly given approval for a revised target of 28 new commercial nuclear reactors to be built by 2020. There are 20 of these reactors already under construction, TradeTech reports, and each is expected to be completed in a speedy four-year time frame.
