Kazakhstan will boost production 14 percent to 9,700 metric tons of the nuclear fuel this year, Macquarie said. Global uranium supply will exceed demand by 1,914 tons, it said.By Thomas Biesheuvel
Last Updated: January 12, 2009 19:01 EST
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Uranium prices may add to the biggest drop on record as Kazakhstan, the world’s third-largest supplier, boosts production of the metal used to make nuclear fuel, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.
“Kazakhstan has been the driver of global uranium production over the past five years,” analyst Jim Lennon said in a note yesterday. “We continue to believe that the uranium spot price will remain under pressure.”
The CHART OF THE DAY shows mining and processing companies gauged by the World Uranium Index of global stocks, which includes BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto Group and Cameco Corp., tracked the metal lower since peaking in mid-2007. Uranium prices slumped 40 percent last year, the biggest annual drop since at least 1996, according to prices compiled by Metal Bulletin.
Kazakhstan will boost production 14 percent to 9,700 metric tons of the nuclear fuel this year, Macquarie said. Global uranium supply will exceed demand by 1,914 tons, it said.
Uranium prices rose to $138 a pound in June 2007 before declining on signs of slowing world economic growth. Cameco is among companies that have cut output and spending on new mines because of the global credit crunch and declining prices.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net.
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