[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19338-19339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9879]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-835-802, A-844-802]
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium
from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of price determination on uranium from Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section IV.C.1. of the agreements suspending the
antidumping investigation on uranium from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as
amended, (antidumping suspension agreement on uranium from Kyrgyzstan
and Uzbekistan), the Department of Commerce (the Department) calculated
a price for uranium of $10.05/pound of U3O8 for
the relevant period, as appropriate. This price will be used, as
appropriate, according to Section IV.A. of the Uzbek agreement.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1999.
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
Sections IV.C.1. of the antidumping suspension agreements on
uranium from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan prescribe that the Department
issue its determined market price on April 1, 1999, and use it to
determine the quota applicable to 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 applicable preliminary price determination on March
26, 1999. No interested party submited comments.
Calculation Summary
Sections IV.C.1. of these agreements specify how the components of
the market price are to be determined. 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 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 the
purchase data from the period 1994-1997 since the EIA information for
1998 is not available. During this
[[Page 19339]]
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 EIA's
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 $10.05. This
reflects an average spot market price of $9.58, weighted at 77.66
percent, and an average long-term contract price of $11.72, weighted at
22.34 percent. This price will be used, as appropriate, to determine
quota availability for purposes of Section IV.A. of the Uzbek
agreement.
Dated: April 1, 1999.
Roland L. MacDonald,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Enforcement Group III.
[FR Doc. 99-9879 Filed 4-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P