Trump clears 18 months’ uranium uncertainty

NAMIBIAN uranium mines have expressed relief following the United States president’s announcement last Friday that he had rejected a call to source about 25% supplies from within their own borders.

USA uranium resident companies had called on the president to force US consuming operations to source at least 25% of needs from within the country, clouding it with the fear that yellow cake imports are, to an extent, a threat to national security.

President Donald Trump, however, shot down the idea, saying he did not observe concerns on threats to national security yet.

“At this time, I do not concur with the secretary’s finding that uranium imports threaten to impair the national security of the United States as defined under section 232 of the act,” he stated.

Reacting to the statement, Namibia Uranium Association executive director Gabi Schneider said the decision is good news for local mining companies.

“It is indeed good news for Namibia, as we have several projects in the pipeline which can come to fruition when the uranium price increases, and which will then need a market for their product,” she observed.

She added that since the US is the largest consumer of nuclear fuel, a 25% reduction in the market would have had a negative impact on the marketability of Namibian uranium in that country.

“However, it still remains to be seen what the recommendations of the working group on nuclear fuel, which Trump has put in place, will be. These recommendations are expected in three months. Hopefully, the recommendations will create a win-win situation for uranium-producing countries and the US,” Schneider said.

Barnerman Resources Limited’s chief executive officer Brandon Munro said the company is set to benefit from the opened US market.

“We welcome the strong and decisive resolution of the section 232 trade investigations, which has been a distraction to the uranium sector for 18 months,” he stated, adding that the decision maintains open access to the American uranium market, and is particularly positive for non-USA companies.

On behalf of Langer Heinrich, Paladin Energy released a statement welcoming Trump’s decision. Chief executive officer Scott Sullivan said it was good news for them, and they expect uranium prices to normalise.

“Since the petition was lodged early last year, we have seen a reluctance by both American and non-USA utilities to enter long-term off-take agreements with producers, and instead they have drawn down their inventories, which has contributed to suppressed uranium prices,” he added.

“Now that we have president Trump’s decision on the petition, and have finally removed the uncertainty that has prevailed in the market, we expect a normalisation of the market to follow and the strengthening of prices, moving forward,” he said.

According to the World Nuclear Association, Namibia has significant uranium mines capable of providing 10% of the world’s mining output.

Email: lazarus@namibian.com.na