Uranium prices plunged after the Japan earthquake and nuclear disaster sidelined nuclear power plant projects. Nevertheless, the uranium-related exchange traded fund (ETF) is still backed by the fundamentals.
The Global X Uranium ETF (NYSEArca: URA) is down sharply year to date.
Uranium prices have dropped 8.7% this year after plummeting almost 27% following the Japanese nuclear crisis in March, reports Moming Zhouh for Bloomberg. However, this trend is set to change as China and India begin a 46% increase in consumption of uranium to fuel five of the world’s largest atomic-power projects.
China’s Nuclear Energy Association has stated that it will increase atomic capacity by eightfold by 2020, and India’s Atomic Energy Commission has commented it will raise its production as much as 13 times by 2030.
“China recognizes they can’t satisfy the growth in electricity demand in a single dimension and they really need a diverse group of sources,” comments Spencer Abraham, a former U.S. energy secretary and current non-executive chairman of Areva SA.