Spot uranium drifts to $92/lb in holiday lull

LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Spot uranium prices eased $1 to $92 per pound this week, according to the Ux Consulting (UxC) website, a leading publisher of uranium prices and forecasts.

"It is very quiet...so close to Christmas and the utilities haven't got any budget left," a European trader said.

The only thing that could turn the situation around would be some buying from utilities in the United States as Japanese and European firms were pretty well covered until 2010, he said.

"U.S. utilities will probably come out early next year and buy something of up to 10 percent of their demand," he said.

Speculative buying was another factor that could push the price back up, traders said.

"In the New Year I think we will see the re-enactment of considerable purchases by utilities and the uranium spot price going back over $100 a pound," said Robert Wallace, CEO of London-based investment vehicle Yellowcake.

Spot uranium UX-U3O8-SPT touched an all-time high of $136 at the end of June, but as Northern Hemisphere buyers withdrew over the summer it hit $75 in early October -- a level last seen in January.

Since October supply disruptions in Canada and Kazakhstan drove the price higher to above $90 over the past month.

(Reporting by Anna Stablum, editing by Michael Roddy)