China stockpilesUranium = base electrical load. Heavy industry needs base. Spot price will tell. China stockpiles cheap uranium as severe shortage is anticipated ROBIN BROMBYTHE AUSTRALIANFEBRUARY 17, 2014 12:00AMCHINA imported historically high quantities of uranium last year, apparently pre-purchasing at low prices before the commissioning of new nuclear plants.The spot price rose just US25c a pound last week, to $US35.75/lb, insufficient to encourage a uranium explorer to get out of bed in the morning, let alone contemplate starting a new mine. Yet it was reported that this slight upward movement was triggered by news that an "institutional investor" was in the market for one million pounds of the stuff.So it seems stockpiles are quietly being worked on, especially by people who have read the graphs showing a severe world shortage later this decade. The rest of the world, meanwhile, continues to sleepwalk towards that impending crisis.The Chinese imports are contained in the latest China Resources Quarterly from Westpac and the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics. Last year, China imported $US2.39 billion worth of uranium."">The Chinese figures for nuclear power are a little misleading, it seems. As the report says, investment in new plants fell by 23 per cent (year on year) in the December quarter due to a delay in commissioning new plants in 2012 (presumably the stand-still period when China was reassessing its plans in light of Fukushima).But then look at what lies ahead. Somewhere north of 37,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity is under construction, but projects now on the drawing board exceed a further 60,000MW.No wonder Chinese buyers are quietly buying up while yellowcake is available at clearance-sale prices.Christopher Ecclestone, mining strategist at London's Hallgarten & Co, says Argentina is also an interesting country to watch. It is building a third power reactor. The country is also in the forefront of developing new technologies, having designed a small modular reactor to be used in Saudi Arabia to power desalination plants.Ecclestone's argument is that Argentina has no uranium production, so there's a certain logic in looking to fill that gap.The one Australian company there is Tony Sage's Cauldron Energy (CXU), which has four projects, including ground containing the Los Colorados uranium mine, which operated from 1992-96.Ecclestone seems curious as to why the company is not doing more work there.Perhaps because its hands are full here. As reported by this newspaper on Saturday, the mining warden expressed doubts that Cauldron had the financial capability to explore for uranium on pastoral ground owned by Andrew Forrest, who fought the application. The junior is now asking WA Mining Minister Bill Marmion not to accept the warden's recommendation.Meanwhile, Mike Young has moved into the MD's office at Energy & Minerals Australia (EMA), which has the very large Mulga Rock uranium project northeast of Kalgoorlie, discovered by the Japanese in 1979 but relinquished when uranium prices collapsed a few years later.EMA will no doubt be looking for Young to repeat his company-building success, which saw BC Iron (BCI) get into iron ore production. The company is targeting 1400 tonnes a year of uranium production.Young has uranium experience, having worked at the Beaverlodge uranium mine in Saskatchewan and was part of the exploration team that discovered the McArthur River mine in that province, the world's largest high-grade uranium deposit, now mined by Canada's Cameco.