According to the latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report published weekly by Ice exchange, investment funds have switched from a net short (short – long) to a net long (long – short) for the week ending November 15.

This type of pivoting means that speculators had started buying more than selling. In this context, it is highly likely that funds have been one of the key drivers for the carbon price movements over the last week when EUAs climbed to 11 week high.

Commitment of Traders

Source: Commitment of Traders, May 2024-Nov 2024.

The number of positions for carbon allowances totalled 46,9 million EUAs for long term, adding more than 2,4 million EUAs from the prior week. Meanwhile, investors trimmed their short term positions by 1,7 million EUAs to around 45,4 million EUAs.

Investors have been betting on falling carbon prices since early August 2023 when the last net long position in carbon allowances was achieved. In the week ending 28 July last year, investors were holding net long positions of 11,6 million EUAs.