The daily spot price of uranium Tuesday was $26.40/lb U3O8, down 50 cents from June 28, according to price reporting company TradeTech.
The U3O8 daily spot price has retreated from the $26.90/lb the company reported that day, which was up 10 cents from the price June 24-27. TradeTech has maintained the spot price at $26.40/lb June 29-July 5, although no report was issued July 4 in observance of the Independence Day holiday in the US.
"Demand is so weak because it's all purely discretionary," one market source said in an interview Friday. "Utilities are going to a more just-in-time delivery model," rather than building their U3O8 inventories. The reason for this, the source said, is that utilities "expect the material's prices to stay low for quite some time, so there's no rush to buy material."
"What we're seeing is that small amounts of supply and demand are bumping the price around, up and down in in a narrow range, with no real trend," said a second market source interviewed the same day.
TradeTech reported a weekly spot price Friday of $26.40/lb, unchanged from June 24.
Price reporting company Ux Consulting reported Monday a weekly U3O8 spot price of $26.50/lb, down 50 cents from June 27.
Ux Tuesday posted a Broker Average Price -- based on information from Evolution Markets and Numerco Ltd. -- of $26.50/lb, unchanged since June 30.
The bid-offer spread Tuesday was $26/lb-$27/lb, unchanged since Ux reported the same spread June 30. The Platts Nuclear Fuel range for the week is $26/lb-$27/lb.
