Video News/New Orleans Investment Conference 2026

(Kitco News) - Uranium equities have been sold off alongside AI stocks, but the metal’s supply deficit does not depend on data center demand, according to Scott Melbye, executive vice president of Uranium Energy Corp and CEO of Uranium Royalty Corp. Speaking with Kitco News anchor Jeremy Szafron at the New Orleans Investment Conference, Melbye called the gap between uranium fundamentals and share prices “an incredible dislocation.” He said that with 440 reactors operating worldwide and 70 under construction, the market faces a 1.7 billion pound deficit over the next 20 years, and that the inventories that once capped price spikes are gone, leaving new production to supply the marginal pound. Melbye said Russia now controls half of Kazakhstan’s production while China works to consolidate the rest, meaning the West may receive very little from the world’s largest producer. He said there is no chance the U.S. ban on Russian uranium, which takes full effect in 2028, will be waived, and noted that U.S. defense planners are seeking 4 million pounds a year of American-origin uranium starting in 2030. He added that nuclear power enjoys rare support from both parties.