Uranium prices rebounded to $106 per pound, equalling the 16-year high from mid-January as supply concerns returned to the market’s forefront.
Kazakhstan’s state-owned Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, cut its 2024 uranium production guidance by 13% due to challenges with sulphuric acid inputs and wellfield developments, and stated that the issues also risked production in 2025.
This added to Canadian Cameco’s outlook downgrade in September due to challenges in key mines and uncertainty over French Orano’s output due to Niger’s military coup.
Bullish demand also continued to support asking prices, as ambitious decarbonization goals drove the US and 20 other countries to announce that their nuclear power will be tripled by 2050.
The large bets on nuclear energy are led by China, which is building 22 of 58 global reactors, while Japan restarted projects to increase nuclear power output.