Growth of prices for uranium will not be avalanche-like - the head of Tekhsnabexport

/INTERFAX, Moscow, November 2, 06/ - Growth of spot prices for uranium on the world market is conditioned by rush demand from the side of buyers, who do not have long-term contracts, had informed to journalists the head of Russian Tekhsnabexport Vladimir Smirnov. By his opinion the increase of spot prices can last for some time, but will not be avalanche-like. The uranium market is working mainly on the long contracts, form 5 to 10 years, noted the head of the company. Such contracts are composite about 95%, and the rest 5% are traded on spot market. "Today spot prices reflect the anxiety of buyers, who do not have long-term contracts. I think that if no serious cataclysms will not happen on the markets of oil and gas, so there will no avalanche-like growth of price for uranium", - V.Smirnov had stressed. He added that significant increase of spot price, observed on the market at the last weeks is conditioned also by problems on Canadian uranium mine Cigar Lake, which belongs to the company Cameco. "But the very serious buffer (for uranium prices - IF) is the presence of warehouse supplies of uranium", - stressed V.Smirnov. For the last two year the spot piece of uranium had increased 5 times, at that for the last two weeks - by 15%. By the data of Ux Consalting agency, as of Monday the spot price of protoxide- oxide of uranium (intermediate product of processing of natural uranium to the atomic fuel) totaled $150-160per 1 kg. The head of Tekhsnabexport considers, that the increase of prices for uranium had positively influenced on uranium extracting field, because the high price of stuff makes many difficult of access field profitable, including in Russia. The production of the primary uranium in the world in the nearest 10 years will be leaded to the necessary level and will let to cover the growing needs of the developing atomic energetic, added the head of Tekhsnabexport. Tekhsnabexport is one of the largest in the world exporters of the enriched uranium and other products of atomic field. The stake of company on the world company on the world market totals, by various valuations, about 35%. [2006-11-02]