London 30/08/2016 - International aluminium producers and consumers in Japan have kicked off negotiations for fourth-quarter supply of metal this week with an initial premium offer of $82 per tonne, several sources confirmed to FastMarkets.
Rio Tinto Alcan offered customers in Japan ingot supply at $82 per tonne on a cost, insurance and freight basis to major Japanese ports (CIF MJP) today, several sources said - a 10-percent drop on the settled third-quarter benchmark of $90-93 per tonne.
Rio Tinto Alcan declined to comment when approached by FastMarkets.
Spot premiums for aluminium ingots in Japan dropped to lows of $65-75 per tonne last week - the lowest on FastMarkets' records - under the weight of low producer offers for large tonnages.
"In the Q3 negotiations the real market was never $91.5 - rather [it was the] low $80s - so now it's going to be very similar. It will probably settle around $75 or so and the real market is below there," a source in the aluminium market said.
(Additional reporting by Perrine Faye and Ian Walker, editing by Mark Shaw)