Carbon prices in China's national carbon market rose sharply during the week ended December 26, with the highest price reaching 76 yuan/t. Most regions have completed their compliance tasks, approaching the end of the year.

Trading activity was divided, with the trading volume for listed contracts declining slightly while that for bulk contracts seeing a significant rebound. This, coupled with rising carbon prices, led to notable gains in trading value.

During the week, the highest carbon price reached 76.34 yuan/t, while the lowest was 61.72 yuan/t. The market closed at 72.35 yuan/t on December 26, up 15.95% compared to a week ago.

In the same period, the total trade volume of CEA in China's national market was 15.66 million tonnes, surging 60.92% week on week, with the total value reaching 1.12 billion yuan, soaring 93.63% on the week.

Specifically, trades of bulk contracts were 11.80 million tonnes, valued at 837.87 million yuan, while that of listed contracts reached 3.85 million tonnes, valuing 284.49 million yuan.

The lowest trading volume and value were registered on December 22, at 2.52 million tonnes and 153.90 million yuan, respectively. The highest trading volume and value were recorded on December 23, at 3.57 million tonnes and 249.96 million yuan, respectively.

In the year to December 26, China's CEA trades reached 227.67 million tonnes, with the value totaling 14.12 billion yuan. Total CEA trades since the market went online reached 857.94 million tonnes, valued at 57.16 billion yuan.

Policies in Focus

On December 23, China officially commenced full-capacity operation of its first million-tonne near-zero-carbon steel production line in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province by Baoshan Iron and Steel, the listed arm of China Baowu Steel Group. The production line is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 50-80%, cutting over 3.14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

On December 26, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Energy Administration jointly released a notice for the construction list of China's first batch of state-level zero-carbon parks.

The notice called on local authorities to actively support the construction of these parks, including capital arrangements, technical support, and financial services. Local authorities were also required to promote green power direct supply models and encourage them to foster innovation in technology, policies, and business models.

Although Chinese Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) prices fluctuated sharply last week, it posed a week-on-week growth, with the highest price reaching 87.85 yuan/t and the lowest at 63.00 yuan/t.