NZ ETS auction history
Every New Zealand ETS auction since the first in March 2021 - clearing price, volume offered and sold, and the outcome. Figures are the official NZX-EEX results published on the ETS auction noticeboard.
NZU auction clearing price, 2021 to 2026
The solid line joins auctions that produced a clearing price. Where auctions in between failed, a dashed line carries the trend across the gap - it marks the distance between two real results and is not a price, because no price was set in those quarters. Hollow markers on the baseline show every auction that did not clear.
What the record shows
The first eight auctions all cleared, and the price climbed from $36.00 in March 2021 to $85.40 in September 2022. The cost containment reserve was triggered three times in that run, releasing extra units into the market.
From March 2023 the pattern reverses. Every 2023 auction was declined because bids did not meet the confidential reserve price. Two auctions cleared at the $64.00 price floor in March and December 2024. Since March 2025 every auction has failed, most of them with no bids at all.
The mechanism is straightforward: when units can be bought in the secondary market below the government's auction price floor, there is no reason to bid at auction. Unsold volume rolls into the next auction, which is why the volume offered has climbed while sales have stayed at zero. Confirmed settings put the floor at $75.00 in 2027, rising to $93.00 by 2031.
For anyone carrying a surrender obligation, the practical consequence is that the secondary market is where units are actually changing hands. That is the market Carbon Trader operates in.
Every auction, March 2021 to June 2026
| Auction | Date | Units offered | Units sold | Clearing price | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | 2026-06-09 | 9,100,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Mar 2026 | 2026-03-03 | 7,800,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Dec 2025 | 2025-12-03 | 13,100,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Sep 2025 | 2025-09-10 | 11,600,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Jun 2025 | 2025-06-18 | 10,100,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Mar 2025 | 2025-03-19 | 1,500,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Dec 2024 | 2024-12-04 | 3,525,000 | 4,032,500 | $64.00 | Cleared | Cleared at the price floor |
| Sep 2024 | 2024-09-04 | 15,300,700 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Jun 2024 | 2024-06-19 | 11,775,700 | 0 | — | No clearing price | No bids received |
| Mar 2024 | 2024-03-20 | 3,525,000 | 2,974,300 | $64.00 | Cleared | Partial clear at the price floor - first units sold since Dec 2022 |
| Dec 2023 | 2023-12-06 | 23,000,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | Bids did not meet the confidential reserve price |
| Sep 2023 | 2023-09-06 | 21,425,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | Bids did not meet the confidential reserve price |
| Jun 2023 | 2023-06-14 | 16,950,000 | 0 | — | No clearing price | Bids did not meet the confidential reserve price |
| Mar 2023 | 2023-03-15 | not published | 0 | — | No clearing price | Did not clear. Volumes published only in the NZX-EEX results PDF |
| Dec 2022 | 2022-12-07 | 4,825,000 | 4,825,000 | $79.00 | Cleared | Last auction to clear before the 2023 drought |
| Sep 2022 | 2022-09-07 | 4,825,000 | 4,825,000 | $85.40 | Cleared | Highest clearing price on record |
| Jun 2022 | 2022-06-15 | 4,825,000 | 6,131,700 | $76.00 | Cleared | Cost containment reserve partially released |
| Mar 2022 | 2022-03-16 | 4,825,000 | 10,518,300 | $70.00 | Cleared | Cost containment reserve triggered |
| Dec 2021 | 2021-12-01 | 4,750,000 | 4,750,000 | $68.00 | Cleared | |
| Sep 2021 | 2021-09-01 | 4,750,000 | 11,750,000 | $53.85 | Cleared | Cost containment reserve triggered (7.0M units released) |
| Jun 2021 | 2021-06-23 | 4,750,000 | 4,750,000 | $41.70 | Cleared | |
| Mar 2021 | 2021-03-17 | 4,750,000 | 4,750,000 | $36.00 | Cleared |
About this data
Every row is taken from the official auction results notices published on the NZ ETS auction noticeboard, operated by NZX and EEX on behalf of the Government. Volume offered is the volume announced for that auction, which includes units rolled over from earlier auctions that did not clear; where an auction cleared with the cost containment reserve triggered, units sold can exceed the base volume offered.
March 2023 is shown without volumes because that auction's figures were published only in the NZX-EEX results PDF rather than in the noticeboard notice itself. It did not clear.
This page reproduces published market data. It is not advice, a forecast, a quote or a valuation, and it is not a prediction of future auction outcomes or NZU prices.
NZ ETS auction noticeboard - official results
Ministry for the Environment - unit limits and price control settings