More than 200,000 NZUs – that’s domestic units for greenhouse gas emissions - are reported to have traded on the local market as participants gear up for July 1 when utilities, industrials and the transport sector are brought into trading market under the emissions trading scheme.

All trades went through within a $17-$18 price range, according to Point Carbon, a news website specialising in global carbon markets.

Mike McKensey, a carbon trader with Westpac, says trading activity in NZUs has been on the increase in the last month, with prices moving but stable.