April’s trades in China’s national carbon emissions allowance (CEA) market ended with a total monthly volume of 1,450,528 tons, more than doubling the all-time low of March. This volume, however, is still the second lowest on record, reflecting the lack of incentives for market participants to be actively engaged in the market.
Block trades were seen on 6 of the 19 trading days, accounting for 96.9% of the monthly total volume.
Market prices held up well amid low volumes, with open market transactions closing April at 58.80 yuan ($8.90) per ton, up 0.43% from a month earlier. Since the start of 2022, daily closing prices have remained over 56.00 yuan per ton, well above the 2021 average of 46.61 yuan per ton.
The March monthly volume-weighted average price for all trades was at 56.94 yuan per ton, up 0.94% from March, aided up by a 1.79% increase in the average block trade price.