Many SME retail clients have to renew their contracts for April 09 starts. If they are used to renewing one year deals then it is around this time of the year that contracts are locked off. Perhaps the biggest influence on the market at this time is the government who tend to run a range of schemes for their internal clients and tend to be far more regimented on the way in which they buy energy. They consume about 22TWh and it is estimated that 70% of their volume is traded through the April sales round. This is therefore likely to affect the market from the buy side. read more ...