TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Japan's aluminium premiums for January-March shipments were set at $110 per tonne, up 22 percent from the previous quarter, on higher overseas rates, six sources directly involved in the talks said.
The deal, which marks the first increase in four quarters and a rise from a $90 per tonne premium PREM-ALUM-JP in the previous quarter, is in line with a climb in U.S. and European surcharges for physical aluminium amid tighter availability.
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.
Three end-user sources and two buyers at trading houses said all deals were done at $110, while a source at a producer said all shipments were booked at $110.
The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began in late November between Japanese buyers and global miners, including Rio Tinto Ltd RIO.AX RIO.L , Alcoa Inc (N:AA) AA.N and BHP Billiton (L:BLT) spin-off South32 Ltd S32.AX . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13M368