Global X Uranium ETF USD (ISIN: US37950E2752)

Detallados estudios realizados por la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico indican que la capacidad de generación nuclear crecerá en todo el Mundo desde los 375 GWe de 2.010 hasta los 745 GWe de 2.035, y que la demanda de Uranio aumentará en un 115%, lo que impulsará sus precios al alza. Su principal ventaja como combustible nuclear es que tan sólo 5 gramos de Uranio producen la misma electricidad que 810 kilos de carbón, 585 litros de petróleo ó 480 metros cúbicos de gas natural. De hecho, según Bureau of Resources & Energy Economics, existen 438 reactores nucleares operativos en todo el Mundo, con las previsiones de que se construyan 559 nuevos reactores hasta el año 2.030. Y según la consultora UxC, una de las mejor consideradas de la industria nuclear, un reactor nuclear nuevo necesita tres veces más Uranio que un reactor en funcionamiento. Sin irnos tan lejos, se espera que el consumo mundial de Uranio pase de 77.000 toneladas en 2.012 hasta las 110.000 toneladas en 2.017.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- El mercado del Uranio se encuentra en una situación deficitaria desde el año 1.990, déficit que se ha estado supliendo con la utilización de Uranio procedente de armas nucleares que se encuentran fuera de servicio, según el tratado Highly Enriched Uranium firmado entre Rusia y Estados Unidos y que finalizó en 2.013. Tras la finalización del tratado, se espera que en 2.014 la oferta mundial de Uranio se reduzca en un 15%. En el año 2.015 se producirán alrededor de 50.000 toneladas y se necesitarán cerca de 80.000 toneladas de Uranio. No obstante, la extracción es un trabajo costoso económicamente, y hay que evaluar si es rentable: los estudios deben revelar, como mínimo, concentraciones de 1 gramo de Uranio por cada 5 kg. de tierra. Su principal problema es que está muy profundo, suele encontrarse muy disperso y no es sencillo seleccionarlo. Además, aumentar la producción de Uranio es muy complicado, ya que debido a la complejidad de la extracción pueden pasar hasta 10 años entre el descubrimiento de reservas de Uranio y su extracción.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hay que tener en cuenta que las posibilidades de revalorización del Uranio son casi infinitas, al contrario que otras materias primas como el petróleo, que si duplica su precio pone al Mundo contra las cuerdas. Actualmente sólo hay 117 minas repartidas por 15 países de todo el Mundo en las que se extraiga Uranio. En el caso del Uranio no es así, ya que tiene tal capacidad energética que aunque triplique su precio, la repercusión final en el precio energético sería mínimo. Al mismo tiempo, hay que tener en cuenta que, según la World Nuclear Association, el 63% de la producción mundial de Uranio proviene únicamente de 10 minas, con el riesgo que ésto supone en el caso de que hubiera algún problema en alguna de éstas minas, y que los diez principales productores de Uranio del Mundo acaparan un 87% de la producción mundial. Con todo ello, el consenso de los 13 analistas consultados por Bloomberg indica que el precio del Uranio podría alcanzar los 70.90 dólares/libra en el año 2.016, frente a los 35 dólares/libra actuales.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Invertir en Uranio es extremadamente complicado. No se negocia en un mercado abierto, las transacciones son privadas, y su posesión física es imposible. Además, a diferencia de otras materias primas, su venta es restringida y registrada, y los compradores son siempre conocidos. De hecho, de los 23.532 fondos de inversión y 5.090 ETF´s listados por Morningstar en España, el único producto cotizado que proporciona una exposición directa a éste metal estratégico es el Global X Uranium ETF, que invierte su patrimonio en acciones de empresas mineras de todo el Mundo dedicadas básicamente a la extracción de Uranio. Personalmente, he adquirido 250 títulos del Global X Uranium ETF a un precio de 16 dólares con visión de permanencia estable y un horizonte temporal de muy largo plazo, lo que me da margen para asumir más riesgos en la toma de decisiones. Aunque el mercado normalmente tiende a sobrereaccionar ante ciertos acontecimientos negativos, por lo que desde el terremoto y posterior tsunami que afectó a la central de Fukushima el precio del Global X Uranium ETF ha caído considerablemente, los fundamentales siempre terminan por imponerse en Bolsa.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Por Análisis Técnico, el pasado día 25 de Febrero el Global X Uranium ETF superó la media móvil de 40 semanas, cruzando la media móvil de 10 semanas por encima de la media móvil de 40 semanas, todo ello con un volumen de negociación superior al 400% del volumen medio de los últimos tres meses, lo que confirma la presencia de inversores institucionales. Actualmente el MACD se ha colocado sobre cero y hay divergencias alcistas. De hecho, en éste gráfico se ve perfecto que ha dibujado una amplia formación de vuelta redondeada, formando una buena base para desarrollar la nueva tendencia alcista, cuyo objetivo a largo plazo podríamos marcar en el máximo relativo anterior de los 65 dólares.

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Uranium stocks have rebounded in 2014 as prices for the commodity are expected to rise as China and Japan bring reactors online. The Global X Uranium ETF (NYSEARCA: URA) has gained 12.38 percent year-to-date. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Rob Chang forecasts uranium prices to average $43.25 this year before rising to $62.50 in 2015 and then $70.00 in 2016. China currently has 28 nuclear reactors under construction, while Japan has submitted applications to restart 17 reactors: http://www.baystreet.ca/viewarticle.aspx?id=414207

It has been 3 years since the once in a millennium Fukushima Disaster in Japan and nuclear power is still alive.

There are more nuclear reactors being built now than before the catastrophe.

With rising Russian nationalism, the EU may need to rely more on nuclear power rather than imported Russian Gas.

URA has been in a six-month uptrend, making higher lows and bouncing off of the 50-day moving average on high volume.

The EU, US and Japan will need to look for additional secure uranium supplies rather than relying on cheap recycled uranium or natural gas from Russia.

Link: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2121253-7-reasons-why-the-uranium-mining-etf-is-in-a-6-month-uptrend

3 major catalysts are slated to push uranium prices skyward…learn why investors need to act now before the ship leaves the dock…

As we head into the final quarter of 2013, the uranium resurgence that many anticipated (myself included) still has yet to materialize. For the past year, uranium prices as well as most other metals have remained depressed – and as of last week, uranium has dropped to a low of $35 per pound. Yet despite sinking to a fraction of its 2007 peak, I still firmly believe that a major uranium rebound is imminent… and for 3 very bullish reasons.
Here’s why…

If you recall, the US-Russia Megatons to Megawatts program headed into its 20th and final year in 2013.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early nineties, Megatons to Megawatts was devised to inject money into a crippled Russian economy and to help draw down the country’s vast nuclear weapon arsenal. To date, over 19,000 Russian nuclear warheads have been safely dismantled, which has equated to over 475 tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) recycled in the past two decades.

In turn, the HEU has been converted into 13,723 tons of low enriched uranium for use in US nuclear reactors to generate electricity. The amount of uranium extracted from the weapons each year has helped to supply 10% of our country’s electricity annually, which equates to power for roughly 31 million Americans. The goal of the program is to recycle 500 tons of uranium by the end of the 20-year agreement, or around 20,000 nuclear warheads.

Where I had previously written that the program was set to expire this past June, more accurate recycling numbers now indicate a December 2013 wrap up date. That means that by the end of this year, US reactors have little choice but to source out new uranium supplies to make up for the looming shortfall, which will have a bullish impact on uranium prices.

That said, replenishing domestic demand alone isn’t likely to push uranium prices back up to pre-recession levels. With an energy mix as diverse as what we have here in America, uranium isn’t garnering the same cache as it used to — despite the fact that there are still over 100 active commercial reactors powering our great country. Construction of new plants here has flat-lined since the 1980s and aging reactors are gradually being shutdown.

Link: http://topstockmillionaire.com/todays-best-stocks-to-buy/2014-will-be-the-year-of-uranium/

Welcome to the Uranium Resources’ Full Year 2013 Financial Results and Company Update Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Wendy Yang, Investor Relations for Uranium Resources. Please go ahead.

Wendy Yang - IR
Thank you, Saatchi. Welcome everyone to Uranium Resources’ full year 2013 financial results conference call. I’m Wendy Yang, Investor Relations for Uranium Resources. You will find our Company listed as URRE on the NASDAQ. This call is being webcast on our Web site at www.uraniumresources.com where we have posted slides to accompany our remarks. Telephonic replay of the call will be available from our Web site for three weeks following today’s call. We will be discussing some forward-looking information today and we caution our audience that such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Please review our Cautionary Statement on Slide 2 and review the risk factors including some that are specific to our industry described in our latest Annual and Quarterly Financial Reports filed with the U.S. SEC.

We have a brief presentation before the Q&A portion of today’s call. Our presenters are Chris Jones, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director; and Jeff Vigil, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance. We also have on the call Mark Pelizza, Senior Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment Affairs; Ted Wilton, Vice President and Chief Geologist; and Dain McCoig, Vice President of South Texas Operations. Chris, please go head.

Link: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2111193-uranium-resources-ceo-discusses-q4-2013-results-earnings-call-transcript

RANGER uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia faces the prospect of having to buy in uranium to meet supply contracts because of the prolonged closure of the operation’s processing facilities.

Processing was stopped in December following the collapse of a leach tank at the site.

The listed Rio Tinto subsidiary has completed the clean-up, as well as an investigation into the tank failure, and says ongoing monitoring has confirmed there has been no impact on Kakadu National Park, which surrounds the operation.

But restarting the processing plant remains dependent on government and regulatory approvals, with no timeline on when that might happen, raising the prospect of ERA having to secure external uranium supplies.

There was no production from the processing plant in the March quarter.

ERA has said previously that it built up a large inventory of uranium sufficient to meet all of its sales commitments in the first half of this year.

A prolonged closure would make meeting sales commitments in the second half of the year more problematic.

The company’s options include borrowing third-party uranium, purchasing uranium on the spot market, or altering shipping schedules with the agreement of customers.

The fall in uranium prices since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan would make the cost of finding replacement uranium on the spot market cheaper than it otherwise would have been.

Spot uranium prices were last quoted at less than $US34 a pound, or less than half the $US70 a pound price before the tsunami hit Fukushima.

ERA is expected to provide an update on restarting the processing plant at today’s annual meeting in Darwin.

The group’s March quarter report, released yesterday, showed backfilling of the exhausted open-cuts at Ranger was the main activity in the period. Development work on the decline to access an underground uranium resource in the Ranger 3 Deeps continues.

The ERA-commissioned investigation into the collapse of the leach tank found the root cause was a damaged rubber lining inside the tank. The damage was caused by a failed baffle on an agitator inside the tank.

The damage to the rubber lining allowed the acidic slurry mixture to come into contact with the tank’s steel wall, which corroded and led to its failure.

Part of ERA’s response was an “integrity’’ review of more than 8800 individual “assets’’ within the treatment plant.

Link: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/ranger-may-have-to-buy-in-uranium/story-e6frg9df-1226878250504#

Ephraim Kwamuntu, Ugandan minister of water and environment, said his country was keen on mutually beneficial cooperation with India to develop energy resources.

“Uganda is sitting on a pile of uranium, for instance, and Indian knowhow would be very useful in accessing this,” Kwamuntu told IANS in an interview. “We have uranium, oil and gas. Here, India with its knowhow and expertise can help,” he added.

Explaining that Uganda had to increase manifold its energy generation capacity to achieve the status of a middle-income country, Kwamuntu said India had a lot to offer in this regard.
“The sun is directly overhead in equatorial Africa, yet in Uganda only 14 percent of the population has access to electricity. The remaining 86 percent go to bed with sunset. What would you expect about this population,” the minister asked rhetorically.

Uganda has been in talks with India about accessing its uranium reserves and for India training its engineers in this area. Uganda’s planning minister had earlier led a business delegation to India that held talks with the Confederation of Indian Industry on developing Uganda’s uranium sector, among others.

With nuclear energy becoming an important source in India’s potential energy mix, and with its own comparatively modest reserves, India has been discussing uranium purchase from various African countries.

On the other hand, with Africa emerging as an important supplier of uranium, many countries of the continent have shown interest in doing business with India. These include South Africa, the only African member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Namibia, which produced 4,000 tonnes of uranium in 2012. India has signed a uranium agreement with Namibia as well as a protocol in 2011 for supplying the mineral.

Other uranium-rich African countries keen to cooperate with India include Tanzania, Malawi, Mali and Niger.

Link: http://odishasuntimes.com/46476/uganda-uranium-oil-gas-seeks-indias-help/

Buenas noches DIEGORB1999

Casi todas las noticias sobre el Uranio son en inglés. Y como sé que sigues éste mercado me gustaría saber si deseas que ponga las noticias que considere interesantes, aunque sean en inglés, ó mejor sólo las que se publiquen en español.

Saludos.