TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A major aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $82 per tonne for October-December primary metal shipments, down 9-12 percent from the previous quarter, three sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Tuesday.
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 $90-93 PREM-ALUM-JP , down 19-23 percent from the prior quarter, on weaker spot premiums. latest quarterly pricing negotiations began this week between Japanese buyers and miners, including Rio Tinto Ltd RIO.AX RIO.L , Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) AA.N and South32 Ltd S32.AX , and are expected to continue until next month.