Kazakhstan announced export restrictions on uranium oxide that immediately tightened the spot market. Kazakhstan supplies approximately 45 percent of global uranium. Any supply restriction from this geography is material and the market reacted accordingly. Uranium spot moved to 106 dollars per pound. Domestic producers surged.
Uranium supply concentration is the fundamental risk factor that has been sitting in the background of the uranium bull thesis since it began. Kazakhstan is not a marginal producer -- it is the largest producer in the world, responsible for nearly half of global output. An export restriction of any meaningful duration changes the supply-demand calculation for utilities that need to fuel reactors and have long-term procurement commitments to meet. The domestic ISR producers -- companies with in-ground reserves and licensed processing facilities in the United States -- are the highest-leverage…