Cameco stocks fall as it disputes Tepco's supply contract cancellation

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s largest uranium producer Cameco on Wednesday said it would move quickly to enforce its rights under a uranium supply contract with Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco), after the utility issued a termination notice.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco said it saw no basis for terminating the contract and considers Tepco to be in default.

Tepco on Tuesday confirmed it would not accept a uranium delivery scheduled for Wednesday and that it would not withdraw the contract termination notice it provided to Cameco on January 24.

Tepco said an event of force majeure had occurred because it has been unable to operate its nuclear generating plants for 18 consecutive months owing to government regulations arising from the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.

“For the past six years, we have worked in good faith with Tepco to restructure this contract and would continue to do so if there was any basis for a commercial resolution. Now, we will vigorously pursue remedies to recover value for our shareholders and other stakeholders, as we have done successfully in the past,” Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel stated.

Under the contract, Tepco has already received and paid for 2.2-million pounds of uranium since 2014. The termination would affect about 9.3-million pounds of uranium deliveries through 2028, worth about $1.3-billion in revenue to Cameco. Revenue from the Tepco contract is forecast at $126-million in each of 2017, 2018 and 2019, based on the delivery of 855 000 lb/y of uranium.

Cameco has guided 2017 consolidated revenue, including the Tepco volume, to range between $2.1-billion to $2.2-billion.

The uranium supply contract provides for disputes to be resolved by binding arbitration after a period of good faith negotiations. The miner said it has enough financial capacity to manage any loss of revenue in 2017 because of the dispute.

Cameco plans to publish its full-year results on February 9.

The company’s stock fell as much as 13% in early trading Wednesday to C$14.40 apiece.