CHINA DATA: Carbon Emission Allowance price at $9.29/mtCO2e April 22

The daily weighted average price of a Carbon Emission Allowance, or CEA, under China's national carbon market was at Yuan 60/mtCO2e ($9.29/mtCO2e) on April 22, while weekly trade volume for April 18-22 totaled 160 mtCO2e, plummeting from 375,970 mtCO2e during the week to April 15, according to data from Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, or SEEE.

The CEA price remained stable week on week at Yuan 60/mtCO2e during April 18-22.

SEEE reported no block trades during the week, which was the key reason behind the record-low weekly trade volume. Block trades refer to CEA trades that exceed 100,000 mtCO2e in a single transaction, which often took place between power companies that are subsidiaries of the same power group, and accounted for majorities of trade volumes in present-day national carbon market.

The CEA price and volume data are published by SEEE, which currently hosts the online carbon trading platform for China. It does not provide information on bid, offers and counterparties.

In the voluntary carbon market, liquidity for China Certified Emission Reductions, or CCERs, saw improvement week on week.

The weekly CCER trade volume totaled 22,648 mtCO2e, increasing by 66.6% from last week's level at 13,597 mtCO2e. SEEE and Tianjin Climate Exchange contributed 90% of the volumes. Sichuan United Environment Exchange reported the highest weekly average CCER price at Yuan 70.60/mtCO2e ($10.93/mtCO2e), which exceeded the CEA price.

CCER price and trade volume data were from Singapore-based digital exchange Metaverse Green Exchange.

CCERs are considered eligible under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA. S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed CORSIA-eligible carbon credit price at $6.05/mtCO2e on April 22.

Meanwhile, in China's energy transition and carbon market, recent highlights included –

• Starting from the compliance period of 2023, China's national carbon market is expected to introduce more sectors like cement and electrolytic aluminum, as well as initiate auctioning for some CEAs, according to Zhang Xiliang, a professor with Tsinghua University, a leading architect of China's emission trading scheme, Chinese media outlet Jiemian recently reported.
• It is too early to introduce carbon emissions allowance futures and options in China due to the current limited level of liquidity and lack of a comprehensive legal framework, Zhang Xiliang told state-owned media China Central Television in another recent interview.

TABLE1: China Carbon Market Weekly Prices and Trade Volumes

TABLE 2: China Carbon Market Highest and Lowest Prices and Trade Volumes