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Open Interest for 2012 Carbon Jumps as Bets on ECX's 2010 Drop
2010-08-04 13:01:54.374 GMT
By Mathew Carr and Catherine Airlie
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- European Union emission traders
increased their interest in 2012 futures as bets wane on the
European Climate Exchange's 2010 contract.
Open interest for the December 2012 future yesterday rose
0.5 percent to a record 209.2 million metric tons, according to
data published today by the European Climate Exchange in London.
Open interest in the ECX's December 2010 contract dropped 0.4
percent to 168.4 million tons. It's fallen 6.7 percent since
reaching 180.4 million tons on May 27, its highest-ever level.
The European Energy Exchange AG, based in Leipzig, Germany,
said it handled a record 20.7 million metric tons of EU carbon
allowances in July, including those it auctioned for the German
government. Open interest in its 2010 contract rose to a record
27.6 million tons on Aug. 2, the latest available data. Interest
was 12.8 million tons on May 27.
Open interest is a measure of bets that traders have not
yet closed. RWE AG, Europe's biggest emitter, said July 23 it
had shifted some of its carbon trading to EEX, trimming business
handled by ECX. The Brussels-based European Commission, which
regulates the market, is deciding how many free allowances it
will grant for the eight years through 2020, as well as the
timing and volume of auctions for the phase.
EEX volumes, excluding the German auctions, rose to 18.4
million tons, compared with 2.2 million tons a year earlier, EEX
said in an e-mailed statement today.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Rob Verdonck, Randall Hackley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
Catherine Airlie at +44-20-7073-3308 or
cairlie@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
