Weekly Reports |Mar 17 2020
Uranium prices have not gone into a spiral along with other assets, but weakness prevails nonetheless.
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By Greg Peel
The recent coronavirus outbreak has triggered questions related to certain commodities markets, notes uranium industry consultant TradeTech. The nuclear fuel market is also exposed to outside economic and policy issues in today's global marketplace and even a limited market interruption or challenge has the potential to affect all sectors of the industry.
Uranium equities declined an average of nearly -17% last week, TradeTech reports, as investors weighed the potential economic impact of a slowing global economy on the nuclear fuel market In particular, China's nuclear power program, both domestically and abroad, may be challenged due to the economic stress of the recent quarantines and closure of businesses and manufacturing facilities.
Activity in the spot uranium market last week was slightly down on the week before, with 850,000lbs U3O8 equivalent changing hands in nine transactions. Prices dipped as the week progressed, TradeTech reports, spurred in part by the desire of some sellers to monetise their inventories, especially in light of volatility in the global financial and commodities markets this week.
Buyers are largely taking an opportunistic approach, hence sellers exhibited a greater willingness to drop prices in order to conclude transactions, which led to prices dropping consistently throughout the week.
TradeTech's weekly spot price indicator is down -US30c at US$24.10/lb.