TOKYO, Sept 16 Reuters - A Japanese aluminum buyer agreed to pay a global producer a premium of $220 per tonne over the benchmark price for shipments in October to December, up 19% from the current quarter, two sources directly involved in the pricing talks said.
The figure is higher than the $185 per tonne set in July-September quarter and marks a fifth consecutive quarterly increase. However, it is lower than the initial offers of $230 - $250 made by producers.
Japan is the biggest importer of primary metal and the premiums for light metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the benchmark London Metal Exchange LME cash price set the benchmark for the region.