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Shares of Canada uranium miners rallied in recent weeks

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Russia restricts uranium supply to US

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Cameco ( CCJ ) hopes for unencumbered trade between Canada and US

By Divya Rajagopal

Toronto, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Canada's uranium miners,

confident that only they can meet U.S. demand for the element

after Russian supply curbs, have accelerated output and forward

contracts to supply U.S energy companies, but they are now

worried about possible tariffs from U.S. President-elect Donald

Trump.

Shares of uranium companies rallied in Toronto and New York

over the last two weeks on news that Russia was planning to

restrict the sale of enriched uranium to the U.S.

This week, Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on all

goods from Canada and Mexico. This could inflate prices of the

radioactive material unless uranium receives exemptions.

Canada is the world's No. 2 producer of uranium after

Russia. About 85% of its production is exported. Companies say

the commodity is in acute shortage.

Vancouver-based uranium exploration company NexGen Energy ( NXE ) is

still at least four years away from producing in Canada. Company

officials told Reuters they were in advanced discussions about

possible off-take agreements with U.S. utility companies that

are gearing up to produce more nuclear power to meet growing

electricity demand.

"We've never been busier on that front, and it has

dramatically picked up after the Russian announcement and I

would say that the utilities are very keen to see a new Canadian

uranium miner to diversify the risk," said Travis McPherson,

Chief Commercial Officer.

Jason Barnard, CEO of Foremost Clean Energy, a uranium

exploration company, said further upward pressure on uranium

prices was inevitable, adding the U.S. may not be ready for the

inflationary impact.

McPherson said Canada and NextGen in particular are in a

good position to negotiate any tariff proposals.

"Given the dire need of US nuclear reactors for uranium that

powers nearly 20% of their power demand combined with the fact

they must rely heavily on imports, Canada (and NexGen in

particular) is in a strong position to leverage this reality in

any potential negotiations/discussions."

"The potential tariffs on Canada demonstrate the need for

Canada to have indispensable goods that the U.S. industry needs

and cannot get elsewhere or domestically. Uranium is one of

those very unique goods," he said.

The U.S. imports a quarter of its uranium from Russia and

the rest mainly from Canada followed by Kazakhstan, though it

has some domestic production.

Russia said on Nov. 15 it had imposed restrictions on the

export of enriched uranium to the U.S., in response to

Washington's ban on imports of Russian pre-enriched uranium.

President Joe Biden's administration had offered waivers

allowing for shipments to continue through 2027.

This month US nuclear fuel supplier Centrus Energy ( LEU ) announced

that its main Russian supplier had canceled exports to the

company, adding this loss of Russian supply would affect the

company's ability to meet delivery obligations.

Bids for uranium November 2025 delivery jumped from $4 to

$84 a pound after Russia announced its restrictions, market

research firm and consultancy UxC said.

Canadian miner Cameco ( CCJ ), one of the world's biggest publicly

listed uranium miners, told Reuters it hopes there is

"unencumbered" trade in nuclear goods and services between

Canada and the U.S. as the country needs a secure western supply

of uranium fuel to address its increasing electricity demands.

"The announcement from Russia highlights what we have been

saying for some time, that the cumulative risks to the supply of

nuclear fuel are significant and that to break the dependence on

Russia and other state-owned enterprises, coordinated western

responses are required ensuring an industry-led, government

enabled secure western fuel supply."