NEW YORK, January 6. /TASS/. Uranium prices gained almost 8% on international trading platforms on the back of continuing protests in Kazakhstan, Bloomberg said, citing data of UxC, a leading nuclear fuel market research and analysis firm.
Uranium prices on international markets had an uptick by about 8% over the day from $42 to $45.25 per pound, according to UxC. Kazakhstan accounts for about 40% of global uranium supplies, Bloomberg said.
It was reported earlier that stocks of Kazatomprom, a Kazakh producer of natural uranium, lost 8.8% on the London Stock Exchange
"If there’s any uncertainty over supply, even near-term changes, then the holders of the uranium tend to be unwilling to sell it, so they hold onto it," President of UxC Jonathan Hinze said, cited by Bloomberg. "Even if there isn’t a shortage right now, the potential for this to create a shortage is what people now are trading on," he added.
Protest actions against high fuel prices erupted on January 2 in Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau Region, in southwestern Kazakhstan. Two days later, the protests broke out in Almaty, in the country’s southeast, and other cities. The CSTO Collective Security Council made the decision to send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan in order to stabilize the situation.