Platts Thursday assessed the premium for imported primary aluminum in the first quarter of 2017 at $95/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash, CIF main Japanese ports, up 27% from $75/mt plus LME cash, CIF, for Q4.
The Q1 assessment was on the basis of 10 settlements at $95/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan for seaborne P1020/P1020A ingot loading over January to March, for a volume higher than 500 mt/month.
The total volume for the 10 settlements was 8,500 mt/month or more. All of the settlements were under annual contracts in which the total volume was set for the year, but premiums are negotiated quarterly.
Platts specifications are for all quarterly settlements on a CIF main Japanese port basis, negotiated prior to Q1 between two unaffiliated counterparties, for P1020/P1020A 99.7% primary aluminum ingot, with payment in cash against documents, for volumes of 500 mt/month or more.
Five Q1 settlements were not taken into account for the assessment.
These five deals were also reported to have closed at $95/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan, but were determined to have fallen outside the Platts' specifications: three were between affiliated parties, one was for less than 500 mt/month, and one was for value-added products.
Around 20 companies, comprising Japanese trading houses, consumers and overseas suppliers, took part in the negotiations that began in November.
