A western aluminium producer has concluded a deal for delivery throughout the fourth quarter to main Japanese ports (MJP) at a premium of $88 per tonne on a cif basis, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 2.
The sale is the first from a producer this quarter and comes after several trader sales were reported. Sources close to the matter also confirmed on Wednesday that a trader had sold more tonnage at $85 per tonne.
Producer offers were said to have
started above $90 per tonne.
The
first deals of the quarter were concluded between an international trader and a Japan-based trader at $83 per tonne.
The recent fourth-quarter deals are higher than the third quarter P1020A MJP quarterly premium benchmark settlement at $75-79 per tonne, but are still
lower than the fourth quarter of 2019, which settled at $97 per tonne.
The spot cif MJP premium has been concluding at higher levels this quarter, with demand for aluminium in the region slowly starting to tick higher compared with during the height of Covid-19 related lockdowns earlier this year.
The
aluminium P1020A (MJP) spot premium, cif Japan stood at $75-85 per tonne on September 1, compared with $65-75 per tonne on July 3.
Yet
market participants say an oversupply of metal continues to limit how much higher premiums can climb in Asia.