Isra-Mart srl:EU Carbon Trades Little Changed After Reaching 10-Day High on German Power

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European Union carbon-dioxide permits were little changed after reaching the highest price in 10 days as rising German power and U.K. natural gas prices boosted demand for emission rights.

Allowances for delivery in December increased less than 0.1 percent to 14.50 euros ($19.26) a metric ton as of 10:40 a.m. on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. They gained as much as 1 percent earlier today to 14.63 euros, the highest price since Jan. 7.

“Power and gas are up,” said Carine Hemery, an analyst in Paris for Orbeo, the emissions-trading venture of Societe Generale SA and Rhodia SA. Futures rose on Jan. 14 to close above a “strong resistance” level of 14.41 euros, Hemery said today in a phone interview.

Power utilities buy carbon permits to match forward sales of electricity, locking in profits on those deals. They require twice as many permits when they burn coal instead of cleaner- burning gas. The benchmark contract for carbon this year has advanced 2.3 percent in the past year.

German electricity for settlement next year rose 0.4 percent to 53 euros a megawatt-hour, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. Higher power prices can boost the incentive to sell power forward, stimulating purchases of emission permits. U.K. natural gas for the six months through September this year, the summer contract, rose 0.6 percent.