EU member states have handed out 500.5 million EUAs to industry and heat producers regulated under the EU ETS so far this year, or around 63% of the total 789.3 million set aside for them in 2015, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

In an update posted on its website, the EC listed the progress of countries in their annual allocation of free allowances to industry.

At current spot market prices, the EUAs are worth nearly €3.4 billion.

The status of the allocations is closely watched by traders because most industrial manufacturers receive more EUAs than they emit in CO2e, leading many to sell their surplus.

According to the update, Austrian and Lithuanian installations have already received virtually all of their 2015 allocations while Spain, Italy and Poland were the largest emitting nations yet to initiate the process.

The EC said it will publish another update on Mar. 17.

Click here to see the full list.

By Mike Szabo – mike@carbon-pulse.com