Industry will need government and private sector support to ‘meet its needs’.
TradeTech’s uranium spot price reached $86/lb uranium oxide (U3O8*) on 15 December – its highest level in nearly 16 years, the US-based market consultant TradeTech said.
TradeTech’s Weekly Uranium Spot Price Indicator has increased 76% in 2023 amid growing global support for nuclear power and uranium supply concerns linked to the arrival of investor interests and the potential for restricted supply due to geopolitical tensions.
“The spot uranium price, which has been under upward pressure for most of this year, increased again this week as bipartisan support for banning Russian nuclear fuel imports into the USA after 2028 is gaining momentum,” said TradeTech president Treva Klingbiel.
“The uranium market has been exhibiting the effects of increased demand and limited availability, and the ambitious goals set out at Cop28 will mean that the industry will need government and private industry support to meet its needs in the coming years.
“Today, uranium market participants face an environment characterised by both rising spot and long-term prices, combined with a significant gap in availability of material in the 2025 to 2028 time frame,” Klingbiel said.
The recent United Nations Cop28 climate conference ended with a landmark consensus that called for a transition away from fossil fuels and an acceleration of zero- and low-emission technologies, including nuclear energy. It marked the first time nuclear energy had been formally specified as one of the solutions to climate change in a Cop agreement.
That consensus followed a declaration endorsed by 22 nations earlier at Cop28to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, marking the first time that governments have joined together at Cop to endorse nuclear power.
While the price of uranium has more than doubled over the past three years, it remains far below its peak of $140/lb reached in 2007.
- U3O8 is a compound of uranium. It is one of the more popular forms of yellowcake – a type of uranium concentrate powder. U3O8 is shipped between mills and refineries. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before fuel fabrication or uranium enrichment.