Specialist
Consultant at CRU International Ltd
Agenda
- Supply outlook for uranium resources in Kazakhstan and Russia, including sanctions’ potential impact on enrichment capacity and the market
- Logistics of moving uranium from mines to global customers
- Production cost trends and producers’ ability to increase supply or respond to market disruption
- Uranium price outlook and reserve development opportunities
Questions
1.
What are your thoughts on global uranium supply-demand dynamics?
2.
What’s your outlook for uranium demand and drivers in the coming years? France, Belgium and the UK have indicated interest in extending or increasing nuclear energy.
3.
What does the momentum behind nuclear energy in Europe mean for uranium volumes? How do you expect global or European demand for uranium to grow or trend in the coming years?
4.
Could you outline the European market’s typical uranium sourcing? How do you see the supply chain developing in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
5.
Russia recently indicated it might look to ban uranium exports as retaliation against sanctions, and there’s the threat of additional sanctions from the EU and US. How might potential sanctions or supply restrictions impact the market, and how likely are these scenarios?
6.
Where do global uranium inventories stand today and how does that play into your view of supply balancing out?
7.
You said Russia had most of the enrichment capacity oversupply. If we do see sanctions on Russian uranium supply, how might the enrichment capacity loss impact the market? Would you expect the US or others to look to expand their own enrichment capacity in response?
8.
How difficult is it to expand enrichment capacity, perhaps from an investment perspective? What are the challenges?
9.
What’s your view on uranium ore production from Kazakhstan? Were mining operations affected by the unrest earlier in 2022, and if so, how?
10.
Could you expand on how production costs have trended in recent years? How much of a difference is there between different mines or regions, comparing Kazakhstan to other producing areas?
11.
What is uranium ore producers’ ability to increase supply or address disruption from Russian sources in the near term?
12.
What’s your view and outlook on uranium pricing? We’ve seen prices rise to around USD 57 per pound recently.
13.
Have you seen any buyer behaviour changes in the market in terms of contract structures or the length of deals being signed or negotiated?
