U3 +3$ .... 75$Breaking News from The Globe and Mail
Uranium warms up again
Globe and Mail Update
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Uranium prices have resumed their upward climb after an apparent five-week lull.
The spot price for the fissile metal, the key component of atomic fuel, rose to $75 (U.S.) a pound in the week ended Monday, up $3, Ux Consulting Co. LLC of Roswell, Ga., said in a weekly report.
Uranium has been one of the hottest performers among commodities in the past several years. Its spot price has more than tripled since 2004, and a number of analysts expect it to approach the $100-a-pound mark this year.
The metal does not trade on any public market, and Ux Consulting tracks prices by keeping tabs on private deals.
Buyers have been reluctant to make firm-price offers in recent weeks, but the firm said there has been enough activity “to discern firm offer prices.”
A key recent impetus for the upward climb was the flooding late last October of a massive planned Cameco Inc. mine at Cigar Lake, Sask., that, assuming it can be saved and brought on stream down the road ,could churn out as much as 17 per cent of annual world production.
As well, hedge funds and other financial players have become substantial buyers of the radioactive metal.
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