http://www.u3o8.biz/s/...le=Spot-price-rises-for-second-straight-week
July 08, 2008
Spot price rises for second straight week
Publisher: U3O8.biz
Author: Luke Brocki
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I know analysts the world over have for months now (and erroneously)
been saying spot uranium prices are finding bottom and strengthening,
but this time, there's proof. Price publisher Ux Consulting just
raised its spot price for the second week in a row, boosting it US$1
to US$60 a pound U3O8. Rival publisher Tradetech agreed, also bumping
up its spot uranium price estimate to US$60 a pound U3O8, citing the
emergence of significant demand from the investment community as the
biggest driving force behind uranium's continued upward movement.
Supply and demand dynamics rule this market, as they do all the
others, and sellers eager to cash in on the new buying interest are
raising their offer prices at every turn. This marks the second
straight week of price increases. To put that into context, it's also
just the second spot price increase of 2008, hence the investor
excitement.
But it's also important to note that term prices of uranium have again
declined, at least according to Tradetech, which dropped its term
price US$10 to US$80. Uranium bears fear the term price may continue
to tumble as utilities eager to replenish their inventories hunt for
bargains, but those fears are being drowned out by unbridled
enthusiasm in the spot market---a market that was all but dead through
2008 before the recent turnaround.
In uranium news around the world, G8 leaders were talking nuclear at
the G8 Hokkaido summit, but critics have called the meeting soft, as
the group didn't actually endorse nuclear energy as a means of
fighting climate change, despite seeking an ambitious 50-per-cent cut
of carbon emissions by 2050. G8 leaders have acknowledged growing
global nuclear interest, but weren't ready to throw their weight
behind the technology. Instead, the group plans to launch an
international initiative on '3S-based' nuclear energy infrastructure,
reported World Nuclear News. 3S stands for Safeguards, Safety, and
Security, and is being launched to help establish some common
guidelines in a world increasingly receptive to nuclear power.
Perhaps they're right to be careful, as the complicated situation in
Iran just got more complicated. The G8 leaders, echoing the concerns
of much of the Western world, have also called on Tehran to halt
uranium enrichment activities. A new round of US financial sanctions
followed, this time against companies and individuals suspected of
nuclear involvement.
BBC News reported a senior defense ministry scientist and several
companies suspected of having links to Iran's nuclear industry were
included in the new list of restrictions, which freezes the US assets
of those affected and also prohibits trade with US companies.
But while the West frets about Iran's nuclear activities, worrying the
country is striving to build nuclear weapons, Iran remains defiant,
ignoring UN sanctions and insisting its nuclear programme exists
exclusively for electricity generation.
Over in France, one of that country's biggest nuclear plants
experienced an accidental spill of uranium waste on Tuesday. According
to Agence France-Presse, authorities said the health risks were
negligible, despite some 30 cubic meters of uranium-contaminated
effluent spilling out at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Centre. This was
the first incident of its kind at the facility, but worried
radioactivity researchers, who felt that similar spills have occurred
in the past, exposing weaknesses in the handling of nuclear waste
materials.
On the TSX, Cline Mining Corp. continues to drop. Company stock has
fallen for seven of the last ten trading days, which included
Tuesday's slide of 23 cents, or 13 per cent, to $1.53, which came hot
on the heels of Cline investor Mutsui Matsushima International
increasing its Cline holdings by 4.4 million common shares.
Blue Sky Uranium Corp. gained three cents, or 11.5 per cent, to close
Tuesday at 29 cents, after announcing the acquisition of Argentina
Uranium; Eagle Plains Resources gained three cents, or 11.1 per cent,
to 30 cents, with no activity in its newsroom; and Melkior Resources,
a mineral explorer with uranium properties in Quebe'c Otish region,
was up 2.5 cents, or 11.1 per cent, to 25 cents, after announcing the
start of an airborne survey of a nickel property around James Bay.
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