One global aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers premiums of $230 per tonne for October-December primary metal shipments, up 24% from the current quarter, three sources directly involved in quarterly pricing talks said on Monday.
Japan is Asia’s biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price CMAL0 set the benchmark for the region.
For the July-September quarter, Japanese buyers agreed to pay a premium of $185 per tonne PREM-ALUM-JP, up 24-25% from the prior quarter and the highest in more than six years as global demand picks up after a pandemic-induced slump.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Susan Fenton)