Uranium futures in the US rose to $89 per pound in January, the highest in 20 months, on bets of high demand in the long term. The US cut regulations on the construction and permits for uranium converters and enrichers and announced deals for the construction of new power plants. These include a partnership with Cameco, which approved the development of Westinghouse reactors, and a fresh $2.7 billion in contracts to Centrus and two other reactors and enrichers to offset the shun of supply from Russia following sanctions on their nuclear fuel. In the meantime, US utilities secured contracts over enriched uranium from Western producers and drove European counterparts to maintain Russian supply chains, despite the EU’s call for lower dependency on Russian energy. Bets of higher investment in the sector due to governments aiming to increase energy security and pledges of expenditure on power-hungry datacenters supported buying from physical uranium funds.
