Cameco Sees Japan Uranium Recovery: Commodities

Two years after the Fukushima disaster caused some countries to abandon atomic power generation, Cameco Corp. says Japan is stepping up uranium imports on speculation the government will allow more idled reactors to restart.
Japanese utilities are accepting consignments of uranium under long-term contracts after previously deferring some shipments, according to Cameco, the world’s third-largest miner of the radioactive metal. The Canadian company expects as many as eight reactors in Japan will come back online this year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Gitzel said.

“Japanese utilities are getting more clarity on what the future looks like,” Gitzel, 50, said Feb. 11 in a telephone interview from Cameco headquarters in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. “Clearly they are on a path to restart.”
A recovery in Japanese buying may help the uranium-mining industry, which has canceled or deferred billions of dollars of investments as the price of the commodity fell as much as 40 percent. The tsunami and earthquake that struck the country in 2011 damaged Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant and led to the meltdown of three reactors, the release of radiation and the evacuation of 160,000 people.
Japan subsequently suspended operations of its remaining reactors. Having accounted for about 20 million pounds of annual global uranium demand before the disaster, Japan now operates just two of its 50 functioning reactors. Current global demand is 177 million pounds, according to Rob Chang, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald LP in Toronto.


For more Information Plz log on to www.rpshares.com