Uranium posts another record Rebecca LawsonThursday, 15 March...

Uranium posts another record

Rebecca Lawson
Thursday, 15 March 2007

THE spot price of uranium surged overnight to record another new high of $US91 per pound, with analysts at Macquarie Research forecasting the price to continue its stellar run to $US100/lb by mid-year before starting its downward journey.



Concerns over uranium output from Energy Resources of Australia's Ranger mine in the Northern Territory due to flooding from tropical cyclones, coupled with the flooding of Cameco's Cigar Lake project, has given the all-important push to $US91/lb, as posted by uranium specialists Ux Consulting.

However, analysts at Macquarie have said the uranium price hike is not done yet, with the price forecast to reach $US100/lb by mid-year before "progressively dropping over the next four years to our long-run price forecast of $US35/lb, as primary supply starts responding to current high prices".

"In the short term, the market is expected to remain tight, and reactors are expected to continue to struggle to secure sufficient primary supply in the face of waning secondary supplies," Macquarie said.

Nevertheless, Macquarie does warn that any further disruptions to uranium mining will have a major upward impact on spot prices.

The spot price of uranium has now more than doubled since January last year where it sat at $US45/lb, compared to five years ago where it reached $US10/lb.

Uranium stocks on the Australian Stocks Exchange appeared to take well to the news with most hanging out in positive territory, with Eromanga Uranium taking the lead, up A3.5c (13.2%) to 30c.

Uranium majors also responded well, with Paladin Resources gaining 44c to $8.94, Summit Resources climbing 19c to $4.48 and ERA adding 60c to $23.60.

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