[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 193 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53644-53645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26777]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION
[A-834-802, A-835-802, A-844-802]


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

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

ACTION: Notice of price determination on Uranium from Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section IV.C.1. of the agreements suspending the 
antidumping investigation on uranium from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and 
Uzbekistan, as amended, (antidumping suspension agreement on uranium 
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan), the Department of 
Commerce (the Department) calculated a price for uranium of $10.85/
pound of U3O8 for the relevant period, as 
appropriate. Under Section IV.A, exports from Kazakhstan to the United 
States are subject to quotas determined based on price levels as 
outlined in Appendix A. On the basis of this price and Appendix A of 
the suspension agreement with Kazakhstan, there is no quota for uranium 
from Kazakhstan for the period October 1, 1998, through March 30, 1999. 
This price will also be used, as appropriate, according to Section 
IV.A. of the Uzbek agreement. The quota for the current relevant period 
for Uzbekistan, October 13, 1998-October 12, 1999, has been announced 
in the Notice of Price Determination on Uranium from Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, separately, due to the fact that this quota 
is now based on a production-tied quota, in accordance with Section 
IV.A. of that agreement.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Letitia Kress, Office of Antidumping 
Countervailing Duty Enforcement--Group III, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street & Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 
482-6412.

Price Calculation

Background

    Section IV.C.1. of the antidumping suspension agreements on uranium 
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan specifies that the 
Department will issue its determined market price on October 1, 1998, 
and use it to determine the quota applicable to imports from Kazakhstan 
during the period October 1, 1998, to March 30, 1999, and Uzbekistan 
during the period of October 13, 1998 to October 12, 1999. Consistent 
with the February 22, 1993 letter of interpretation, the Department 
provided interested parties with the preliminary price determination on 
September 21, 1998.

Calculation Summary

    Section IV.C.1. of these agreements 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.
    The Department's 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 1.51 percent, which was derived 
from a rolling

[[Page 53645]]

average of the annual Gross Domestic Product Implicit Price Deflator 
index from the past four years. The Department then calculated weight-
averaged annual prices according to the specified nominal delivery 
volumes for each year to arrive at the long-term contract price. The 
Department then calculated a simple average of the UPIS U.S. Base Price 
and the long-term contract price as 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 1994-1997. During this period, the spot 
market accounted for 77.66 percent of total purchases, and the long-
term market for 22.34 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 1994 through 
1997. The EIA has withheld certain business proprietary contract data 
from the public versions of the Uranium Industry Annual 1994, Uranium 
Industry Annual 1995, Uranium Industry Annual 1996 and the Uranium 
Industry Annual 1997. The EIA, however, provided all business 
proprietary data to the Department and the Department has used it to 
update its weighting calculation.

Calculation Announcement

    The Department determined, using the methodology and information 
described above, that the observed market price is $10.85. This 
reflects an average spot market price of $10.71, weighted at 77.66 
percent, and an average long-term contract price of $11.30, weighted at 
22.34 percent. Since this price is below $12.00-$13.99 as defined in 
Appendix A of the suspension agreement with Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan does 
not receive an Appendix A quota for the period October 1, 1998, to 
March 30, 1999. This price will also be used, as appropriate, according 
to Section IV.A. of the Uzbek agreement.

Comments

    Consistent with the February 22, 1993, letter of interpretation, 
the Department provided interested parties the preliminary price 
determination for this period on September 21, 1998. No interested 
party submitted comments.

    Dated: September 29, 1998.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, for Antidumping Countervailing Duty--Group 
III.
[FR Doc. 98-26777 Filed 10-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P