Uranium Spot Price Hits $72/pound

Largest Weekly Spot Uranium Price Jump in History December 16, 2006 By Julie Ickes, Editor of StockInterview.com ‘Feeding Frenzy’ Sends Weekly Spot Uranium Price to Record $72/Pound The TradeTech Weekly Spot Uranium Price Indicator has soared by more than 97 percent during 2006. As StockInterview.com predicted a week ago, uranium sellers got what they were expecting - a price bump. For the week ending December 15, the weekly spot uranium price indicator jumped by $7/pound, or more than 10 percent, to $72/pound per pound U3O8. According to Treva Klingbiel, editor of Nuclear Market Review, this was “the single largest increase reported since NUEXCO began publishing prices in 1968.” TradeTech posts the weekly spot uranium price change on the company’s website – http://www.uranium.info The price increase resulted from a number of bids for an offering by a U.S. uranium producer of 260 thousand pounds of U3O8. According to Klingbiel, “The producer received multiple bids with the winning bid at, or very near, today’s Uranium Spot Price indicator of $72/pound.” At least nine buyers remain active in the market seeking about 5 million pounds of U3O8, according to TradeTech, which releases the weekly spot uranium price indicator through widely followed industry magazine, Nuclear Market Review. Klingbiel reported this week’s auction of uranium created a ‘feeding frenzy’ among buyers, writing, “Meeting this expectation, competition was indeed fierce, as buyers exhibited a willingness to pay a strong premium in order to purchase material at a fixed price.” Looking ahead, one U.S. utility hopes to secure 3.5 million pounds for delivery in 2012. A non-U.S. utility seeks to secure 10 million pounds for delivery starting in 2009. Another two non-U.S. utilities are attempting to purchase more than five million pounds in the long-term market, starting as early as 2009. Fifteen more utilities are evaluating long-term purchases for more than 35 million pounds for delivery between 2007 and 2020. Only one U.S.-based seller is currently evaluating bids for 1.2 million pounds of uranium for delivery as early as 2008. Clearly, the spectacular price rally of 2006 will continue into early 2007 as the impact of the flooding at, and subsequent delays of uranium production from, Cameco Corp’s Cigar Lake project in northern Saskatchewan. Because of the past two week’s news reports, there was concern about the Department of Energy future auctioning from uranium inventories. These auctions may not begin to take place until mid 2007.