Until 2020 at least, with glut of uranium, prices too low for new mines
Despite rebound, uranium spot price still too low to encourage new mines, South China Morning Post, 08 December, 2014 The spot-market price of uranium has rebounded almost 40 per cent from a nine-year low in May, but miners and analysts say prices are still too low to encourage the development of new mines to meet higher long-term demand for the nuclear power fuel, largely from the mainland.
Given ample supply, prices will remain depressed for some more time yet in the wake of the bear market induced by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, they say……..
it is a bit early to celebrate … in the near term, price gains will be held back by the existence of large inventory held by uranium consumers,” miner Rio Tinto Uranium’s managing director Clark Beyer said.
Mainland imports had been quite high in the past five years, and power producers in the United States were sitting on enough stock to last two years according to US government statistics, Beyer said.
Jonathan Hinze, a senior vice-president at US-based Ux Consulting, estimated this year’s combined mined uranium oxide supply and supply from inventories at 190 million pounds (86.18 tonnes), above demand of around 170 million pounds.
Even in 2020, the consultancy expects supply of 220 million pounds – including that from major new mines under development in Canada and Namibia – to be greater than the 200 million pounds of demand……
No comments yet.
Antinuclear 
Leave a Reply