Japanese Q1 premium negotiations to continue till late next month

The coming year’s quarterly prices negotiations between the Japanese aluminium buyers and the global aluminium miners have not yet reached a final premium price for the January-March shipments as the buyers are refusing to pay high rates.

The discussions are expected to continue till the next month as no decision can be reached between the two parties and a wide gap remains between the producers’ offers and the buyers’ bids.

The Japanese, who are the benchmark setters for aluminium premiums being the biggest importer of the metal, have already paid record high premiums of $420 for the October-December quarter up by 3-5% from the previous quarter.

Even earlier this month, there was news of premiums worth $435-$440 per tonne being paid by the Japanese creating a new record.

The U.S. producers are citing higher spot prices, strong demand and shorter supply for the high offers for premium while the Japanese buyers are citing the local low spot demand and built up inventories at Japanese ports for their reluctance to pay high premiums.

Japanese buyers say they have no problem to continue negotiations with miners like Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Alcoa till late January.