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Epoch Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Cameco CEO to Investors: Look Past Tariff ‘Noise' and Toward Long-Term Uranium Demand
The chief executive of Saskatchewan-based uranium miner Cameco Corp. is encouraging investors to tune out the 'noise' from global trade and geopolitical upheaval and instead focus on the strong outlook for nuclear power demand. 'There is no doubt that those distractions have created new and unexpected risks that must be carefully monitored and diligently managed,' Tim Gitzel told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company's first-quarter results. Canadian uranium is exempt from 10 percent U.S. tariffs on energy imports because it adheres to the free-trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. But on the conference call, Gitzel said 'we know that a lot can change overnight.' Separately, the U.S. administration is also investigating the national security implications of imported uranium and other minerals. After a similar probe during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term in 2019, which ultimately spared uranium, Cameco took steps to protect itself, such as looking at contract terms and delivery timelines. 'Those pre-emptive actions helped us prepare for the more recent threat of tariffs on Canadian nuclear fuel products, and we will continue to adapt accordingly and mitigate such risks in the future,' Gitzel said. 'I'm sure there will be more to come this year as negotiations continue and policies evolve, but two things are certain: There's no substitute for uranium in a nuclear fuel bundle and there's no elasticity to the demand for nuclear fuel. You need it to run your reactors and power your economy, regardless of tariffs or higher cost.' Related Stories 2/20/2025 4/5/2025 Gitzel pointed to a bevy of non-tariffs developments on the global stage that paint a rosier picture for the sector. Reactor operating licences are being extended in the United States, some to 80 years. China approved 10 new reactor builds for the fourth year in a row. And Poland signed an agreement for its first commercial nuclear plant. Yet Gitzel said 70 percent of the uranium supply that reactors around the world will need for the next two decades–more than three billion pounds–has not been purchased under long-term contracts due to the global trade uncertainty. He said Cameco is being patient. 'You can run, but you can't hide,' he said. 'People need uranium to make this whole thing work, and so you can defer and wait and hope for better times, but they have to come to the market.' The World Nuclear Association says Canada is the globe's second-biggest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan. Most of Canada's uranium reserves are in northern Saskatchewan. Earlier Thursday, Saskatoon-based Cameco said it earned a profit attributable to equity holders of $70 million or 16 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $7 million or two cents per diluted share a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Cameco says it earned 16 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 11 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter totalled $789 million, up from $634 million a year earlier. Uranium production totalled six million pounds for the quarter, up from 5.8 million pounds a year earlier, while sales volumes amounted to 6.9 million pounds, down from 7.3 million pounds. Cameco's average realized price for uranium was $89.12 per pound, up from $77.33 a year earlier. Cameco's fuel services business saw production of 3.9 million kilograms, up from 3.7 million a year earlier, while fuel services sales volumes totalled 2.4 million kilograms, up from 1.5 million kilograms. Fuel services reported an average realized price of $56.64 per kilogram, up from $48.36 in the first quarter of 2024.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boom in Uranium Stocks Fizzles as Ukraine Ceasefire Talks Build
(Bloomberg) -- Once-booming uranium stocks have been veering toward bust mode to start 2025. They Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying. Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck? Chicago Transit Faces 'Doomsday Scenario,' Regional Agency Says Trump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact. Paris Votes to Make 500 More Streets Car-Free Escalating trade tensions between the US and Canada, one of the world's key producers of the nuclear fuel, are playing a major part. Lately, so are talks toward a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine, which raise the prospect of looser sanctions on Russian production of the radioactive metal and the potential for more supply. The price of uranium is now down more than a third from early 2024, and has slumped roughly 11% this year alone. The widely followed $2.9 billion Global X Uranium ETF, which mostly tracks mining shares, has declined about 5% in 2025. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp., the largest uranium miner in North America, has dropped 11%, following five years of gains. It was just a little more than a year ago that uranium was booming after roughly a decade in the doldrums. More countries were moving to re-open nuclear reactors, and electricity demand was expected to surge with the growth of artificial intelligence and data centers. Russia's early 2022 invasion of its neighbor only tightened supplies. But for weeks now, the headwinds have been mounting. Investors are reluctant to bet that the stability seen in the shares in recent days will last until they get a better picture of what will happen in Ukraine. Meanwhile, questions around President Donald Trump's tariff proposals have caused utilities to delay signing long-term purchase agreements for the metal, says John Ciampaglia at Sprott Asset Management. 'They're just blowing so much smoke at the market and nobody knows what's what,' said Ciampaglia, CEO of the firm, which offers natural resource-focused ETFs. 'It just creates so much uncertainty that it's paralyzing people making decisions.' Investors, in the meantime, have 'just stepped to the sidelines.' On Monday, uranium shares rallied as part of a broad advance in the stock market on signs that US tariffs will be more targeted than anticipated, lifting the mood around the economic outlook, at least briefly. There's been some other supportive news lately as well. Uranium shares and the commodity price got a lift last week when the world's largest miner, Kazakhstan's NAC Kazatomprom JSC, said it was experiencing supply-chain issues that were making it hard to access the sulfuric acid needed to produce the nuclear fuel. However, that development didn't appear to be enough to sweep away all the doubts that have been building. Another drag on shares of uranium producers lately has come from China, where companies have produced approaches to training AI models that may require less energy, possibly diminishing the push for more nuclear power. In January, the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek sparked a selloff in energy stocks. Now comes news that Jack Ma's Ant Group had developed its own AI model using Chinese-sourced chips that would cut costs. 'There are going to be more DeepSeeks coming along,' said Brooke Thackray, a research analyst at Global X, an ETF division of Mirae Asset Financial Group. That offering 'changed the backdrop' for expected power demand, Thackray said. Add it all together and 'everybody is kind of in wait-and-see mode,' said Sprott's Ciampaglia. Google Is Searching for an Answer to ChatGPT The Richest Americans Kept the Economy Booming. What Happens When They Stop Spending? A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World Business Schools Are Back How TD Became America's Most Convenient Bank for Money Launderers ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
