Uranium spot prices climbed to their highest point since the Fukushima nuclear disaster rocked the industry in 2011 on Friday, as worries begin to build that potential sanctions on Russia’s output could destabilize the market.
Uranium jumped to $59.75 per pound on Thursday, after news came out that the White House is considering putting sanctions on Rosatom Corp., Russia’s state-owned uranium behemoth which accounts for 35 percent of global uranium enrichment. The country was responsible for 16.5 percent of the uranium imported into the U.S. in 2020, so it’s easy to see how sanctions could cause significant disruption to the global uranium economy.
Meanwhile, the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust has continued to amass physical supply, adding 10 percent to its already significant holdings over the past month.
If prices rise enough, it may be that western producers like Cameco Corp. will be spurred to increase production in the long-term—experts like Jonathan Cobb at the World Nuclear Association say that there is “significant potential to increase uranium production outside of Russia.”