Record volume of EUAs trade

Record volumes of EUAs traded on Tuesday as prices edged lower.

Some 19.22 million spot contracts changed hands on the Paris-based Bluenext exchange alone, its highest daily volume and more than twice its daily average this month.

Brokers handled another 16.77 million, which, coupled with another 6.7 million on the exchanges, pushed total volume to 42.69 million.

This is the highest daily trade since 18 and 19 February when 42.43 million and 42 million traded respectively.

Prices came under pressure, but remained within the trading range of the last two weeks.

By 17.30 CET, the 2009 EUA was trading at €14.84, down €0.37 on Monday’s close.

But this was just €0.03 lower than the 15-day moving average of the 2009 EUA closing price, which fell to €14.87.

“There was no spot trade yesterday because of the holidays, so I think the spot contract volume was just catching up today,” said a trader.

“We have seen high spot volumes recently, but the market has stayed fairly steady.”

Spreads also tightened throughout the day. The difference in price between the 2009 and 2012 EUA narrowed to €2.20 by the close, down €0.06 on the previous close.

But there was little change in oil or coal prices from last night.

“We don’t seem to be too influenced by other commodities at the moment,” said a trader.

Meanwhile, CER prices were more resilient which slightly narrowed the spread to the EUA market.

The 2009 contract closed at €12.62, down €0.15 on yesterday’s close, which left the spread to the 2009 EUA to €2.22, compared to €2.44 yesterday.