Japan Buyers Seek Lower Primary Al Premium for July-September

Japanese primary aluminium buyers resist high premium offer by the suppliers for July-September shipment. Australian suppliers try to keep US$ 122-125 per tonne of premium as April-June citing high premium in Europe and USA and worldwide tight supply condition. However, Japanese buyers apparently seek US$ 6-7 down after lower premium at tender by South Korean government.

The premium in USA and Europe keeps high due to higher demand and shortage of the supply. The suppliers in Australia, Russia and South Africa seek the same level of premium to Japan for July-September as April-June.

Japanese buyers try to reduce the premium. The premium was US$ 117 per tonne at tender by Korean public procurement service. With the results, Japanese buyers try to reduce Japan premium to the level.

However, Japanese industry sources expect Japanese buyers won’t get wide premium down under tight supply. The inventory registered to London Metal Exchange increased to more than 4.5 million tonnes but a trading firm source said many of the ingots are to keep 1-3 years under long term agreement with warehouse companies and the tight supply condition will continue.

Some suppliers in Middle East and India offer cheaper ingot to Japanese buyers but the impact is expected to be limited. Japanese buyers use limited volume of ingot from Middle East and India due to quality problem for Indian ingot and higher freight cost for Middle East ingot.