Commodities | Nov 13 2006
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck
The spot price for U3O8 rose to US$61/lb on Friday, continuing uranium’s sharp price advance over the past two years. Of particular interest is the fact that price rises seem to have gone in acceleration mode over the past few weeks.
At this week’s spot price, U3O8 has already risen more than 22% in ten weeks with industry feedback painting an increasingly tight market environment, suggesting the price for uranium has only one way to go still and that is north.
Market rumours are that large utilities in the US are no longer considering buying on the spot market, as the quantities offered are too small. If true, this may have wider implications for the industry. According to one of our sources, 2007 is likely to become the year of the uranium explorers with large North American nuclear utilities about to start approaching uranium developers with projects in advanced stages with the aim of negotiating forward selling contracts.
It is also believed that the majority of supply agreements currently concluded are at prices above the latest spot price. According to information obtained by FN Arena, the latest spot price was set on the basis of a very small supply agreement only.
(see also the latest update by Stockinterview.com “Spot Uranium Price Creeps Up to $61/Pound as Buyers Begin to Worry About Supply” in our Sources of Wisdom section on the website).