Contracting Framework

Building a balanced portfolio

The purpose of our contracting framework is to deliver value. Our approach is to secure a solid base of earnings and cash flow by maintaining a balanced contract portfolio that optimizes our realized price. 

Contracting decisions in all segments of our business need to consider the nuclear fuel market structure, the nature of our competitors, and the current market environment. The vast majority of run-rate fuel requirements are procured under long-term contracts. The spot market is thinly-traded, where certain utilities may buy small, discretionary volumes. This market structure is reflective of the baseload nature of nuclear power and the relatively small proportion of the overall operating costs the fuel represents compared to other sources of baseload electricity. Additionally, about half of the fuel supply typically comes from state-owned entities with production volume strategies or ambitions to serve state nuclear power ambitions with low-cost fuel supplies, or from diversified mining companies that produce uranium as a by-product. We evaluate our strategy in the context of our market environment and continue to adjust our actions in accordance with our contracting framework:

• First, we build a long-term contract portfolio by layering in volumes over time. In addition to our committed sales, we will compete for customer demand in the market where we think we can obtain value and, in general, as part of longer-term contracts. We will take advantage of opportunities the market provides, where it makes sense from an economic, logistical, diversification and strategic point of view. Those opportunities may come in the form of spot, mid-term or long-term demand, and will be additive to our current committed sales.
• Based on our portfolio of long-term contracts, we decide how to best source material to satisfy that demand, planning our production in accordance with our contract portfolio and other available sources of supply. We will not produce from our tier-one assets to sell into an oversupplied spot market.
• We do not intend to build an inventory of excess uranium. Excess inventory serves to contribute to the sense that uranium is abundant and creates an overhang on the market, and it ties up working capital on our balance sheet.
• Depending on the timing and volume of our production, purchase commitments, and our inventory volumes, we may be active buyers in the market in order to meet our annual delivery commitments. Historically, prior to the tier one supply curtailments that we undertook from 2016-2022, we have generally planned our annual delivery commitments to slightly exceed the annual supply we expect to come from our annual production and our long-term purchase commitments and have therefore relied on the spot market to meet a small portion of our delivery commitments. In general, if we choose to purchase material to meet demand, we expect the cost of that material will be more than offset by the volume of commitments in our sales portfolio that are exposed to market prices at the time of delivery over the long-term.

In addition to this framework, our contracting decisions always factor in who the customer is, our desire for regional diversification, the product form, and logistical factors.

Ultimately, our goal is to protect and extend the value of our contract portfolio on terms that recognize the value of our assets, including future development projects, and pricing mechanisms that provide adequate protection when prices go down and exposure to rising prices. We believe using this framework will allow us to create long-term value. Our focus will continue to be on ensuring we have the financial capacity to execute on our strategy and self-manage risk. 
 

Long-term contracting

Uranium is not traded in meaningful quantities on a commodity exchange. Utilities have historically bought the majority of their uranium and fuel services products under long-term contracts that are bilaterally negotiated with suppliers. The spot market is discretionary and typically used for one-time volumes, not to satisfy annual demand. We sell uranium and fuel products and services directly to nuclear utilities around the world as uranium concentrates, UO2 and UF6, conversion services, or fuel fabrication and reactor components for CANDU heavy water reactors. We have a solid portfolio of long-term sales contracts that reflect our reputation as a proven, reliable supplier of geographically stable supply, and the long-term relationships we have built with our customers.

In general, we are active in the market when it is beneficial for us and in support of our long-term contract portfolio. We undertake activity in the spot and term markets prudently, looking at the prices and other business factors to decide whether it is appropriate to purchase or sell into the spot or term market. Not only is this activity a source of profit, but it also gives us insight into underlying market fundamentals. 

We deliver the majority of our uranium under long-term contracts each year, some of which are tied to market-related pricing mechanisms quoted at time of delivery. Therefore, our net earnings and operating cash flows are generally affected by changes in the uranium price. Market prices are influenced by the fundamentals of supply and demand, market access and trade policy issues, geopolitical events, disruptions in planned supply and demand, and other market factors. 

The objectives of our contracting strategy are to:

• optimize realized price by balancing exposure to future market prices while providing some certainty for our future earnings and cash flow
• focus on meeting the nuclear industry’s growing annual uncovered requirements with our tier-one production
• establish and grow market share with strategic and regionally diverse customers

We have a portfolio of long-term contracts, each bilaterally negotiated with customers, that have a mix of base-escalated pricing and market-related pricing mechanisms, including provisions that provide exposure to rising market prices and also protect us when the market price is declining. This is a balanced and flexible approach that allows us to adapt to market conditions, put a floor on our average realized price and deliver the best value over the long term.

This approach has allowed our realized price to outperform the market during periods of weak uranium demand, and we expect it will enable us to realize increases linked to higher market prices in the future.

• Base-escalated contracts for uranium: use a pricing mechanism based on a term-price indicator at the time the contract is accepted and escalated to the time of each delivery over the term of the contract.
• Market-related contracts for uranium: are different from base-escalated contracts in that the pricing mechanism may be based on either the spot price or the long-term price, and that price is generally set a month or more prior to delivery rather than at the time the contract is accepted. These contracts may provide for discounts and typically include floor prices and/or ceiling prices, which are established at time of contract acceptance and usually escalate over the term of the contract.
• Fuel services contracts: the majority of our fuel services contracts use a base-escalated mechanism per kgU and reflect the market at the time the contract is accepted.

Optimizing our contract portfolio

We work with our customers to optimize the value of our contract portfolio. With respect to new contracting activity, there is often a lag from when contracting discussions begin and when contracts are executed. With our large pipeline of business under negotiation in our uranium segment, and a value driven strategy, we continue to be strategically patient in considering the commercial terms we are willing to accept. We layer in contracts over time, with higher commitments in the near term and declining over time in accordance with utilities growing uncovered requirements. Demand may come in the form of off-market negotiations or through on-market requests for proposals. We remain confident that we can add acceptable new sales commitments to our portfolio of long-term contracts to underpin the ongoing operation of our productive capacity and capture long-term value.

Given our view that additional long-term supply will need to be incented to meet the growing demand for safe, reliable, carbon-free nuclear energy, our preference today is to sign long-term contracts with market-related pricing mechanisms. However, we believe our customers expect prices to rise and prefer to lock-in today’s prices, with a fixed-price mechanism. Our goal is to balance all these factors, along with our desire for customer and regional diversification, with product form, and logistical factors to ensure we have adequate protection and will have exposure to rising market prices under our contract portfolio, while maintaining the benefits that come from having low-cost supply to deliver into a strengthening market. 

At times, we may also look for opportunities to optimize the value of our portfolio. In cases where there is a changing policy, operating, or economic environment, including the introduction of new taxes or tariffs in certain jurisdictions, we manage risk accordingly. We have taken actions such as positioning material ahead of expected deliveries, revising our contract terms to protect us from unexpected future implementation of taxes or tariffs, and adjusting our contracts to minimize potential negative impacts while maintaining strong customer relationships, and we will continue to consider additional mitigation in the future.