COP That.

It’s hard to keep focused on the tightly sequined festive run in to Strictly Come Dancing what with everything going on. Or off. With geopolitical tensions seemingly flaring up everywhere the fud-fud of rockets offers a sober backdrop to weekend dinner-time TV. Financial asset prices, as a result, swing about like Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin’s 40-point paso doble. All while the movers and shakers move and shake their way to the great climate jamboree in the desert. Or not. It was reported that many of the private jets en-route to COP28 in Dubai were grounded in Munich this weekend due to some of the coldest weather to hit Northern Europe in decades. Hmm. Apart from the news that this summit will be attended by nigh on 100,000 lanyard-clad people, there was also the game changing announcement this weekend that more than 20 countries had gone all in on nuclear energy, with heads of state shuffling together for the sweaty photo-op that came with launching the ‘Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy’. With everything capitalised just to make sure the assembled press corps knew they meant it. Tripling nuclear energy capacity is apparently now seen as a necessity if the ambitious net-zero goals are to be achieved. That said the announcement comes just as the uranium market slips into a structural deficit; and a deficit that is based off current demand. Not future. Current. Watch the share prices of the producers to see what’s priced in. Those involved in prospecting and developing will likely see even higher torque. The announcement perhaps explains why the US government appears to have moved the goalposts on how they see the military junta out in Niger. Less ‘no speaks’, more ‘constructive engagement’. Niger holds substantial low-cost, high-grade uranium deposits. With many producing mines globally seeing lower and lower grades and no new supply coming through for several years, such deposits are clearly sharpening the eyes of governments. The question is whether they go West, or East. Either way, given the slew of recent announcements, prices through the uranium complex are likely marching higher.