TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - Some Japanese aluminium buyers have agreed to pay producers a premium of $128 per tonne for shipments in the April-June quarter, reflecting higher overseas spot premiums, two sources directly involved in the quarterly pricing talks said on Monday.
The deal, which marks a 35 percent rise from the $95 per tonne premiums PREM-ALUM-JP in the previous quarter, is the second quarterly increase in a row and the highest in two years.
Japan is Asia's biggest importer of aluminium 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.
The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began last month between Japanese buyers and global producers, including Rio Tinto RIO.L RIO.AX and South32 Ltd S32.AX , with initial offers at $135 a tonne. talks are expected to continue through this week.