Economy
Uranium prices are at their highest since March. Will uranium prices go up?
Uranium prices today reached their highest since early March due to growing optimism among traders as to prospects for demand for nuclear fuel amid the energy crisis in Europe.
The cost of uranium since mid-August, rose by 7%, exceeding the mark of $50 per pound, and many market participants predicted a further rise in prices, writes the Financial Times. Experts at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) expect uranium to rise to $70 a pound next year.
Will uranium prices go up?
Not counting March, when many commodities jumped in price because of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the price of uranium futures last rose above $50 a pound more than 10 years ago, says consulting firm UxC.
The market is supported by increased demand for uranium in Europe, where the energy crisis is intensifying, as well as signals of changes in attitudes toward this type of fuel in other regions.
Japan, for example, signaled last month that it would accelerate the return of nuclear reactors and consider building new nuclear power plants for the first time since the Fukushima accident in 2011.
Authorities in California decided in early September to extend the life of the last operating nuclear power plant for another five years, while Germany is discussing the possibility of delaying the closure of the plant in case of energy shortages in the coming winter.
“Germany and California were the two jurisdictions most negative about nuclear power in the world, and now they are changing their minds,” said Per Jander, director of nuclear and renewable energy at WMC Energy. – It will have an immediate impact on the market.
Experts say the market remains vulnerable to a potential reduction in uranium supplies from Russia. The country accounts for 5% of global uranium production and about two-fifths of global uranium enrichment capacity. Berenberg data show.
“Excluding Russia from the global fuel supply chain could be a source of market destabilization and price volatility,” Berenberg’s experts warned.
Earlier, we reported that the drop underscores the growing risks of a global recession.
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.
With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.
China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.
The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.
“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.
The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.
($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
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