The volume of uranium market trades jumped almost four-fold in the week that ended Friday, with the rise likely reflecting some utilities' concerns about potential sanctions against Russia that could affect the availability of material, according to a market source.
"Transaction volume surged in the spot uranium market this week, with over 1.5 million lb U3O8 equivalent purchased in six transactions," TradeTech said in its weekly report.
A week earlier, it said "transaction volume remains low," noting that four spot transactions totaling less than 400,000 lb U3O8 were reported for the week that ended July 25.
Last week's increase in action was likely due to some players' concerns about possible, additional trade sanctions that could be imposed by the US and the EU against Russian companies in retaliation for Russia's alleged support of Ukrainian rebels.
"There have been growing rumors that some utilities are trying to cover increasingly risky positions with the Russians," another source said Friday. "I've heard that one utility bought [enriched uranium product] in anticipation of delivery problems," he said.
The daily spot price of uranium Tuesday is at or slightly above $28.50/lb, following a week in which the daily price rose and retreated by 25 cents, according to price publisher TradeTech.
It reported the daily spot price as $28.50/lb Monday unchanged from Friday. TradeTech had increased its daily spot price by 10 cents to $28.50/lb July 25 and increased it again to $28.75 on July 29, but dropped it by 25 cents to $28.50 July 31.
The Platts NuclearFuel range for the week is $28.25/lb-$28.75/lb.
Price publisher Ux Consulting, which publishes a spot price weekly, reported it at $28.75/lb Monday, up 25 cents from July 28.
Ux reported a daily Broker Average Price, or BAP, of $28.94/lb Monday, up 25 cents from Friday. The BAP bid-offer spread Monday was $28.63-$29.25/lb, with the bid up 13 cents from Friday and the offer up 37 cents, Ux said.
The BAP is based on information from Evolution Markets and Numerco Ltd., according to Ux.
