Uranium stocks soar as Putin considers export caps
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The news: Uranium miners surged at market open on the ASX as Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his government to consider limits on exports of commodities such as uranium, titanium and nickel in retaliation to western sanctions.
The numbers: Uranium majors Deep Yellow (9.2%), Paladin Energy (9%), and Boss Energy (8.8%) were the three best performing stocks across the ASX 200 by 10:50am AEST.
Nickel producer Nickel Industries (6.2%) saw the fifth highest percentage gain by ASX 200 companies.
The context: Putin has asked the Russian government to consider if it makes sense to limit exports of some commodities such as uranium, titanium and nickel, Bloomberg reported, in response to multiple sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Russia's metals and mining companies since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia is the world's top exporter of nuclear fuel and technology. It holds uranium mining assets in Russia and Kazakhstan, while the Kremlin-controlled nuclear giant Rosatom Corp controls almost half of the global enrichment capacity needed to convert the ore into energy.
Meanwhile, Paladin, the sharemarket's biggest uranium stock by market capitalisation, saw its price target slashed from $16.65 to $12 by Morgan Stanley, driven by cost escalations at the company's Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. However, analysts noted that Paladin is placed to benefit from a potential "nuclear renaissance", with its acquisition of Toronto-listed Fission Uranium set to accelerate its expansion into Canada.
What they said: "Russia is the leader in strategic raw materials reserves like uranium, titanium, nickel," Putin said during a televised government meeting.
"I am not saying that this needs to be done tomorrow, but we could think about certain restrictions on supplies to the foreign market not only of the goods I mentioned, but also of some others," he said.
The sources: Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley research
