Uranium has hit new sixteen year highs on increasing demand.
Spot uranium price
Future demand
While nuclear power might still attract controversy, future demand is unlikely to drop. According to the World Nuclear Association, about 60 nuclear power reactors are currently being constructed in 17 countries with almost all of them scheduled to be operational by 2028. In addition, some of Japan’s decommissioned nuclear power plants are being brought back online.
The World Nuclear Association adds that “About 110 power reactors with a total gross capacity of about 110 GW are planned, and over 300 more are proposed.”
Most of these new plants are in fast growing economies such as India, China, Bangladesh and Korea. But France, USA and the UK also have four new plants coming on stream by 2028.
Despite this increasing demand uranium mining output has decreased from around 70k tonnes in 2013 to just under 50k tonnes in 2023, meeting only around 74% of global demand.
ETFs to watch
There are two ETFs that benefit from uranium mining, with details below.
Global X Uranium ETF focuses on uranium mining and the production of nuclear components.
Sprott Uranium Miners ETF focused on uranium miners and physical uranium.
| ETF name | Uranium ETF |
| NYSE code | URA |
| ETF issuer | Global X |
| Issue date | 11 April 2010 |
| Total investment cost | 0.69% |
| ETF methodology | “Provides investors access to a broad range of companies involved in uranium mining and the production of nuclear components, including those in extraction, refining, exploration, or manufacturing of equipment for the uranium and nuclear industries.” |
| Tax-free savings account | NO |
| Market cap | US$2.77billion |
| Performance 1 year (annualised) | +46.3% |
| Performance 3 years (annualised) | +27.2% |
| Performance 5 years (annualised) | +22.5% |
| Performance 10 years | +2.3% |
| Dividend yield | 5.3% |
| ETF name | Sprott Uranium Miners ETF |
| NYSE code | URNM |
| ETF issuer | Sprott ETFs |
| Issue date | 03 December 2019 |
| Total investment cost | 0.83% |
| ETF methodology | “A U.S.-listed Uranium ETF focused on uranium miners and physical uranium” |
| Tax-free savings account | NO |
| Market cap | US$1.9billion |
| Performance 1 year | +56.9% |
| Performance 3 years | +35.8% |
| Performance since listing | +43.5% |
| Dividend yield | 3.1% |
ETF blog
At Just One Lap, we are big fans of passive investment using ETFs. In this weekly blog, we discuss ETFs on the local market and the factors you need to consider when choosing an ETF. If you have wondered how one ETF differs from another, this is where you can find out. We explain which index each ETF tracks, what type of portfolio could benefit from holding each ETF, and how the costs will affect your bottom line.
