Uranium

Analysts have reduced commodity price forecasts over the next few years – across the board.

Stubborn sellers still need to pay the bills and opportunistic buyers are slowly being rewarded for their patience.

Analysts ponder the outlook for metal prices in the September quarter with a closer look at palladium and zinc and there’s upside for Indonesian wheat imports.

With the US in Independence Day holiday mode for good portion of last week, the uranium market settled in for a bad dream interrupted slumber.

Despite talk of diminishing supply and Japanese reactor restarts, uranium continued to back track in June, falling below US$40/lb for the first time in more than seven years.

The spot price slid a little last week and remained below US$40/lb as stubborn sellers are growing increasingly resistant to bargain hunting buyers.

RBC Capital Markets and others expect a quick restart of Japan’s nuclear fleet which could signal the beginning of a new age for uranium.

Many in the uranium market were in Turkey last week talking up the increasing importance of the growing markets of Asia, but it didn’t help the price much.

Sector analysts are growing increasingly optimistic about the prospect of some sort of reversal in uranium prices, but in the meantime the spot price continues to soften.

May was another slow month in the uranium market as buyers and sellers moved further apart.