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Paladin cuts output guidance again


Uranium miner Paladin Energy has curtailed its full-year output guidance for the second time in three months, after hitting production delays.
The miner said today that it expected to produce 5 million to 5.2m pounds of uranium oxide in the year, down from its original forecast of 5.4m to 5.8m pounds.
Today's downgrade was caused by damage to the pre-leach thickener and a subsequent delay to planned production ramp-up.
In January, the miner downgraded its output guidance to between 5.2m 5.5m pounds, as a result of a tightening world uranium market and reduced September quarter output at a mine in Namibia.
The output cut comes at a bad time for Paladin, considering the recent price increases for the commodity.
Uranium prices have increased in recent months to $US39 a pound, 40 per cent higher than a mid-2014 trough of $US28 a pound, as Japan edges closer to restarting reactors and China increases nuclear capacity.
JP Morgan analysts recently said global demand for the commodity is expected to grow between 3 and 4 per cent each year up until 2020.