Commodities | Mar 06 2012
By Greg Peel
Volumes in global spot uranium trading in the month of February were the lowest since the GFC nadir month of March 2009, industry consultant TradeTech notes. Only seven transactions occurred, totalling less than 850,000lbs of U3O8 equivalent, compared to January's fifteen totalling 1.8mlbs.
The problem continues to be that the bulk of current demand is located in Europe for uranium in the form of U3O8 while the bulk of current supply is located in the US in the form of UF6. The bid price for U3O8 exceeded the offer price for UF6 all month but one doesn't go importing apples when one is seeking local oranges.
TradeTech converts UF6 pricing to a U3O8 equivalent to arrive at its global indicative price, which closed in February at US$52.00/lb, down US25c from the January close.
Last week saw three transactions in the spot market, which almost seems like a rush after the previous weeks. A total of 1.2mlbs of U3O8 changed hands, exceeding February's total volume. The bulk reflected a utility that had been in the market for a while seeking 800,000lbs and who finally settled on a supplier, TradeTech reports. The other two parcels were bought by speculators.
While there is still reluctance to give ground on either side of the pond or the spread, with both buyers and sellers content to stand their ground, that price disparity did narrow slightly by the end of the week. This resulted in a drop in TradeTech's spot price indicator of US20c to US$51.80/lb, but at least we may have seen the first crack in the stalemate.
There were no transactions in the term market last week, and indeed none in all of February despite a growing number of potential buyers putting out the feelers for medium and long term delivery contracts. TradeTech's term prices closed the month and remain at US$54.00/lb (medium) and US$54.00/lb (long).
Find out why FNArena subscribers like the service so much: "Your Feedback (Thank You)" – Warning this story contains unashamedly positive feedback on the service provided.
