Washington (Platts)--16Oct2012/140 pm EDT/1740 GMT

The spot price of uranium fell by more than $2 over the past week to $43.50/lb U3O8, price reporting companies TradeTech and Ux Consulting.

The decline represents the biggest weekly drop since April 2011 right after the accident at Japan's Fukushima 1 nuclear plant, UxC said.

TradeTech on Friday cut its weekly price to $43.50/lb U3O8, $2.25 below its October 5 price. The company said "driving force" in the decline was "a clearly pessimistic view about near-term spot demand from both discretionary and 'have- to' buyers."

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TradeTech said each drop in price over the week actually caused buyers to pull away from the market "in anticipation of further price declines."

TradeTech's daily price Monday remained at $43.50/lb.

UxC on Monday cut its weekly price to $43.50/lb, down $2.25 from October 8. UxC said that over the past several weeks, a number of sellers have been trying to place uranium before the end of the year. "If this activity continues against a backdrop of very limited spot demand," the spot price "is likely to remain under downward pressure until the year-end selling (which has come early this year) dies down," UxC said.

UxC"s broker average price on Monday was $43.50/lb, down 13 cents from the October 12 BAP. The BAP bid-offer spread October 15 was $43-$44/lb. The BAP is based on the price information from Evolution Markets and Armajaro Securities.

The Platts NuclearFuel range for the week was $41-$45/lb U3O8.

--Michael Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Jeff Barber, jeff_barber@platts.com

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