Uranium Drifts Lower

This story features PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: PDN

By Andrew Nelson

The low volume drop in uranium prices booked the week before last drew out some new buyers last week. There were six deals transacted and 800,000 pounds of uranium subsequently changed hands.

Industry consultant TradeTech reports that utilities and producers were the buyers for the most part. Traders, financial entities, and producers were the sellers. For most of the week the market was quiet, with buyers coming out as the week drew to a close, attracted by slipping prices.

US$40/lb was tested, but not broken and while TradeTech says that there were a number of discretionary buyers hanging around for sub US$40 prices, their hopes were in vain, it turned out. The low cost sellers had already been drawn out and the rest were simply unwilling to budge any further.

When the dust had settled, TradeTech’s Weekly U3O8 Spot Price Indicator was at US$40.25 per pound, down US$0.65 from the prior week’s value.

Unlike the spot market, the term uranium market was once again a quiet place last week, with no new transactions or demand reported. There were a few utilities around that are still thinking about jumping in, but that’s all.

TradeTech’s Mid-Term U3O8Price Indicator stayed put at US$46.00/lb, while the Long-Term U3O8Price Indicator held firm at US$57.00/lb.

Despite the continued weakness in the uranium price, there was a little bit of incremental good news that supports the expectation for building demand. Poland’s largest utility is looking for investors and technology partners for help in building the country’s first nuclear plant.

There were also a few rays of sunshine from Japan, with courts rejecting a petition to shut down the country’s only two operating commercial reactors. Anti-nuclear activists were trying to have the units shut down, claiming they sit over a fault line. The court thought not.

While two reactors kicking on with business is s a slight positive, the fact remains that some 50 reactors in Japan remain idled post the March 2011 Fukushima accident. The next bits of regulatory news are not gleefully awaited, with Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Agency expected to release new nuclear safety guidelines in July.

Paladin Energy ((PDN)) reported production last week, with output from its two uranium mines in Africa adding up to nearly 2 million pounds, or 95% of nameplate production capacity. Production for the first nine months was at 6.1 million pounds, 26% higher than last year’s first nine months.
 

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