Uranium's "Third Bull Market" Set to Shine in 2024

So far this week, spot prices for yellowcake - uranium concentrate used in nuclear power generation - reached a new 16-year high, climbing to $92.45 per pound. Reflecting on our December 2020 note to readers in "Buy Uranium: Is This The Beginning Of The Next ESG Craze," yellowcake prices have risen 217%. 

The uranium market is only getting hotter, and continued tightness could push prices over $100, analysts from Bank of America and Berenberg Bank wrote in two separate notes. 

BofA's metals and mining team said tightness in uranium markets could extend well into 2025, indicating that prices could run higher through this year. The team of analysts has increased their uranium spot price price targets to $105 per pound in 2024 and $115 in 2025. 

They outlined three near-term catalysts that could propel prices higher:

1. Higher electricity prices make higher uranium prices more absorbable
2. Investment fund volumes continue to increase
3. Inventories are lower than previously thought while production slippages also remain a risk

The analysts pointed out: "Uanium's third bull market set up for a promising 2024." 

On a separate note, Berenberg analysts said the requirement for some uranium users to diversify away from Russian supply could be a major price driver. They said prices will likely normalize around $70 per pound for the long term. 

Soaring prices have buoyed stocks of mining companies like Cameco up nearly 300% since December 2020. The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM is also up almost 300%. And supplier Uranium Energy Corp is up 416%. 

According to uranium market data firm UxC, uranium demand is surging as contracts signed by utilities reached 160 million pounds last year - the highest annual volume since 2012. 

"The uranium market is only getting tighter," Jonathan Hinze, president of UxC, told The Wall Street Journal. 

It only took 13 years after the Fukushima disaster to put nuclear energy back into the spotlight as the world races to decarbonize power grids. 

By Zerohedge.com

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