World’s top uranium producer is gloomy about nuclear power
NEW YORK – Don’t expect an upswing in the global uranium market anytime soon.
“In our models, we don’t get excited on the demand side,” said Galymzhan Pirmatov, CEO of Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s State-owned mining company that’s the world’s biggest supplier.
With construction of nuclear power plants at a ten-year low, uranium demand remains weak. That’s holding prices so low that mining companies have been wary of increasing production. Kazatomprom’s output will increase about 5% this year, to as much as 22 800 t, and then will be flat in 2020, Pirmatov said Wednesday in an interview in New York. While he hasn’t yet made a decision on 2021, he doesn’t see much to get excited about, at least in the short term.
“I do believe prices are too low,” he said. Uranium has slumped 15% this year to $24.35/lb. Kazakhstan controls about 40% of the world’s supply of the metal, and Kazatomprom accounts for half of that, making it the biggest producer.
There were 55 nuclear plants under construction in the first quarter, the lowest number in a decade, according to BloombergNEF. While China is booming, with 11 of those projects, developed countries remain wary. That’s partly due to lingering concern from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan, and partly due to high costs, Pirmatov said.
Long-term prospects are better in developing nations, where access to electricity remains a key barrier to growth. Seven of the reactors under construction are in India.
US CLOSINGS
In the US, flush with abundant and cheap natural gas, utilities are closing nuclear plants. The US is also considering whether to impose tariffs on uranium, after two small domestic mining companies filed a trade case last year, arguing that imports are a threat to national security. The Commerce Department concluded its investigation in April, but the results haven’t been made public.
Kazatomprom doesn’t think tariffs would aid the global industry, but Pirmatov doesn’t have a sense of what the Trump administration is planning.
“There’s no logic” to imposing trade barriers, he said. “Everyone is aware with this White House, you can’t predict.”
While the next few years may remain turbulent, Pirmatov said that increasing interest in carbon-free nuclear power is going to be a key driver for demand.
“He’s planning for the long term,” said Chris Gadomski, BNEF’s nuclear analyst. “There’s definitely long-term interest because of increased concern about climate.”
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation