Demand for nuclear power keeps uranium rising - Marketplace by Bloomberg - International Herald Tribune

Commodities: Demand for nuclear power keeps uranium rising - Marketplace by Bloomberg - International Herald Tribune


MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006
WELLINGTON A revival in demand for nuclear energy is benefiting uranium, which outperformed the metals market in 2005 and could do so again this year.
Uranium is poised to climb 27 percent to $50 a pound in the next six months because "there's not a lot of uranium available," said Jean-François Tardif of the Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund.
Uranium gained 76 percent last year, beating all but one of the 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Only sugar jumped more.
Not even zinc, the favorite among commodity specialists surveyed by Bloomberg News in January, is expected to keep pace with uranium.
Miners produce just 60 percent of the uranium consumed in the world's nuclear reactors each year. Without supplies recycled from Russian warheads, the energy industry would not have enough uranium to keep its plants running.
Demand for nuclear power is increasing in China and India as prices for oil, natural gas and coal rise. Finland is building a new reactor, and utilities in France and the United States are weighing similar steps. Concern that burning fossil fuels adds to global warming is accelerating the push.
Bob Mitchell, who manages a hedge fund that invests in wholesale uranium, is so confident about its prospects that he rejected offers from mining companies to buy his entire inventory. He declined to identify the companies or give details on his holdings.
"I remain a buyer of uranium," said Mitchell of Adit Capital Management. Uranium ended last week at $39.25 a pound, according to Metal Bulletin.
Speculators "have taken out whatever slack exists in the market," said James Cornell at uranium trader RWE Nukem. Investors are "getting to available supplies of uranium before the utilities."
After three decades of stagnation, the nuclear industry may get more than $200 billion of investment by 2030, the International Energy Agency said.
Christopher Donville reported from Vancouver.


WELLINGTON A revival in demand for nuclear energy is benefiting uranium, which outperformed the metals market in 2005 and could do so again this year.
Uranium is poised to climb 27 percent to $50 a pound in the next six months because "there's not a lot of uranium available," said Jean-François Tardif of the Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund.
Uranium gained 76 percent last year, beating all but one of the 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Only sugar jumped more.
Not even zinc, the favorite among commodity specialists surveyed by Bloomberg News in January, is expected to keep pace with uranium.
Miners produce just 60 percent of the uranium consumed in the world's nuclear reactors each year. Without supplies recycled from Russian warheads, the energy industry would not have enough uranium to keep its plants running.
Demand for nuclear power is increasing in China and India as prices for oil, natural gas and coal rise. Finland is building a new reactor, and utilities in France and the United States are weighing similar steps. Concern that burning fossil fuels adds to global warming is accelerating the push.
Bob Mitchell, who manages a hedge fund that invests in wholesale uranium, is so confident about its prospects that he rejected offers from mining companies to buy his entire inventory. He declined to identify the companies or give details on his holdings.
"I remain a buyer of uranium," said Mitchell of Adit Capital Management. Uranium ended last week at $39.25 a pound, according to Metal Bulletin.
Speculators "have taken out whatever slack exists in the market," said James Cornell at uranium trader RWE Nukem. Investors are "getting to available supplies of uranium before the utilities."
After three decades of stagnation, the nuclear industry may get more than $200 billion of investment by 2030, the International Energy Agency said.
Christopher Donville reported from Vancouver.


WELLINGTON A revival in demand for nuclear energy is benefiting uranium, which outperformed the metals market in 2005 and could do so again this year.
Uranium is poised to climb 27 percent to $50 a pound in the next six months because "there's not a lot of uranium available," said Jean-François Tardif of the Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund.
Uranium gained 76 percent last year, beating all but one of the 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Only sugar jumped more.
Not even zinc, the favorite among commodity specialists surveyed by Bloomberg News in January, is expected to keep pace with uranium.
Miners produce just 60 percent of the uranium consumed in the world's nuclear reactors each year. Without supplies recycled from Russian warheads, the energy industry would not have enough uranium to keep its plants running.
Demand for nuclear power is increasing in China and India as prices for oil, natural gas and coal rise. Finland is building a new reactor, and utilities in France and the United States are weighing similar steps. Concern that burning fossil fuels adds to global warming is accelerating the push.
Bob Mitchell, who manages a hedge fund that invests in wholesale uranium, is so confident about its prospects that he rejected offers from mining companies to buy his entire inventory. He declined to identify the companies or give details on his holdings.
"I remain a buyer of uranium," said Mitchell of Adit Capital Management. Uranium ended last week at $39.25 a pound, according to Metal Bulletin.
Speculators "have taken out whatever slack exists in the market," said James Cornell at uranium trader RWE Nukem. Investors are "getting to available supplies of uranium before the utilities."
After three decades of stagnation, the nuclear industry may get more than $200 billion of investment by 2030, the International Energy Agency said.
Christopher Donville reported from Vancouver.