TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A major aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $95 per tonne for primary metal shipments in the January to March period, up 27 percent from the previous quarter, four sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Friday.
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 October-December quarter, Japanese aluminium buyers agreed to pay a premium of $75 a tonne for metal PREM-ALUM-JP , down 17 percent to 19 percent from the prior quarter, on softer spot premiums amid a supply glut. quarterly pricing negotiations are held between Japanese buyers and global miners including Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX
Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) AA.N and South32 Ltd S32.AX . Some negotiations have begun this week and are expected to continue until next month.