Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium From Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 68 (Monday, April 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15468-15469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8509]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-834-802, A-835-802, A-844-802]


Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium 
From Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of price determination on uranium from Kazakstan, 
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section IV.C.1. of the antidumping suspension 
agreement on uranium from Kazakstan, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) calculated a price for uranium of $12.25/lb. On the basis 
of this price, the export quota for uranium pursuant to Section IV.A. 
of the Kazakstani agreement, as amended on March 27, 1995, is 500,000 
lbs. for the period April 1, 1996, through September 30, 1996. Exports 
pursuant to other provisions of the Kazakstani agreement are not 
affected by this price. The export quota for uranium pursuant to 
Section IV.A. of the Uzbek agreement, as amended on October 13, 1995, 
was determined by the last price determination (60 FR 52368), so this 
notice does not affect them. The Kyrgyz have no Appendix A quota, so 
this notice does not affect them.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Braier or Yury Beyzarov, 
Office of Agreements Compliance, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street & 
Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1324 
or (202) 482-2243, respectively.

Price Calculation

Background

    Section IV.C.1. of the antidumping suspension agreement on uranium 
from Kazakstan specifies that the Department will issue its observed 
market price on April 1, 1996, and use it to determine the quota 
applicable to exports from Kazakstan during the period April 1, 1996, 
to September 30, 1996. Consistent with the Department's letter of 
interpretation dated February 22, 1993, we provided interested parties 
with our preliminary price determination on March 15, 1996.

Calculation Summary

    Section IV.C.1. of the Kazakstani agreement specifies how the 
components of the market price are reached. In order to determine the 
spot market price, the Department utilized the monthly average of the 
Uranium Price Information System Spot Price Indicator (UPIS SPI) and 
the weekly average of the Uranium Exchange Spot Price (Ux Spot). In 
order to determine the long-term market price, the Department utilized 
the weighted-average long-term price as determined by the Department on 
the basis of information provided by market participants and a simple 
average of the UPIS U.S. Base Price for the months in which there were 
new contracts reported. Our letters to market participants provided a 
contract summary sheet and directions requesting the submitter to 
report his/her best estimate of the future price of merchandise to be 
delivered in accordance with the contract delivery schedules (in U.S. 
dollars per pound U3O8 equivalent). Using the information 
reported in the proprietary summary sheets, the Department calculated 
the present value of the prices reported for any future deliveries 
assuming an annual inflation rate of 2.52 percent, which was derived 
from a rolling average of the annual GDP Implicit Price Deflator index 
from the past four years. The Department used the base quantities 
reported on the summary sheet for the purpose of weight-averaging the 
prices of the long-term contracts submitted by market participants. We 
then calculated a simple average of the UPIS U.S. Base Price and the 
long-term price determined by the Department.

Weighting

    The Department used the average spot and long-term volumes of U.S. 
utility and domestic supplier purchases, as reported by the Energy 
Information Administration (EIA), to weight the spot and long-term 
components of the observed price. In this instance, we have used 
purchase data from the period 1991-1994. During this period, the spot 
market accounted for 73.10 percent of total purchases, and the long-
term market for 26.90 percent.
    As in previous determinations, the Department used the Energy 
Information Administration's (EIA) Uranium Industry Annual to determine 
the available average spot- and long-term volumes of U.S. utility 
purchases. We have updated the data to reflect the period 1991 through 
1994. The EIA has withheld certain contracting data from the public 
versions of the Uranium Industry Annual 1993 and the Uranium Industry 
Annual 1994 because this data was business proprietary. The Department 
has used this data to update its weighting calculation. Accordingly, it 
may only be released under Administrative Protective Order.

Calculation Announcement

    The Department determined, using the methodology and information 
described above, that the observed market price is $12.25. This 
reflects an average spot market price of $12.46, weighted at 73.10 
percent, and an average long-term contract price of $11.67, weighted at 
26.90 percent. Since this price is above the $12.00/lb. minimum 
expressed in Appendix A of the amended Kazakstani agreement, Kazakstan 
receives a quota of 500,000 lbs. for the period April 1, 1996, to 
September 30, 1996.

Comment

    Consistent with the Department's letter of interpretation dated 
February 22, 1993, we provided interested parties our preliminary price 
determination on March 15, 1996. We received a comment from interested 
parties stating that the

[[Page 15469]]
Department should use the UPIS ``U.S. Base Price Indicator'' as one of 
the indicating variables for the long term price as opposed to the UPIS 
``Base Price Indicator,'' because the former represents U.S. utility 
purchases, while the latter represents purchases worldwide. As a result 
of the comment, we have used the UPIS ``U.S. Base Price Indicator'' in 
our calculation.
    After analysis of the above comment, we have determined that the 
observed market price for uranium is $12.25/lb. The Department invites 
parties to provide pricing information for use in the next price 
determination. Any such information should be provided for the record 
and should be submitted to the Department by September 5, 1996.

    Dated: April 1, 1996.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Compliance.
[FR Doc. 96-8509 Filed 4-5-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P