Spot wags his tailSpot uranium price jumps on weekend deals, regains last week's lossesBoston (Platts)--21Mar2011/720 pm EDT/2320 GMT
The spot price of uranium performed a u-turn over the weekend and is nowback to around $60 a pound U3O8, after falling to $50/lb last week, sourcessaid Monday.
TradeTech, which is now publishing a daily price, said the price Mondayis $60/lb, up $10/lb from its March 17 price and up $7/lb from its weeklyprice, published late March 18.
Ux Consulting's broker average price was $59.50/lb Monday, up $3.75/lbfrom its March 18 level.
After about 4-million lb was sold last week -- with the news beingdominated by the events at Japan's Fukushima I nuclear plant -- supply becamescarcer late in the week, analysts said.
One trader, who was short uranium, ended up doing several deals over theweekend at prices at and slightly above $60/lb, sources said.
But it is unclear if the price will continue to rise in the near term,said one analyst. At $60/lb or higher, there will be fewer buyers, at leastuntil it is clear that the situation at Fukushima I has stabilized, theanalyst said.
--Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com