South Korea's primary aluminum spot premiums were rangebound in the last week, leaving Platts weekly assessment unchanged at $105-$110/mt plus LME cash, CIF Busan Wednesday.
Market participants were monitoring Japan's term contract premium negotiations for the June quarter.
Trading volumes were generally low in the last week, although a western trader reported the sale of three to four 500 mt clips of duty-free origin at LME cash plus $105/mt CIF Busan and $110/mt CIF Incheon, for shipment over April to June.
Two producers put the market clearing range at $105-$110/mt CIF Busan. A third producer put the market at $108-$112/mt, while a fourth was higher at $110-$115/mt.
Four South Korean and western trader sources put the market at $105-$110/mt. A fifth trader put the market at a wider range of $105-$115/mt, while a sixth trader said he was aiming to sell at $115-$120/mt.
Local consumer Nam Sun Aluminium awarded on Monday a term buy tender for 7,100 mt to be supplied during the June quarter.
Trafigura was awarded 6,900 mt at $114/mt FCA Busan, with STX Corp supplying the balance at a substantially higher premium.
A number of trader and producer sources said they thought Trafigura had been especially competitive, and the premium may not be easily repeatable for a standard sized cargo comprising 200 mt to 2,000 mt.
Platts surveyed market participants earlier on how they would convert FCA Busan values to CIF, and a number indicated that CIF values would typically be $10-15/mt below FCA.
Platts South Korean aluminum spot assessment reflects the premium or discount to the LME cash price for P1020A ingots CIF Busan basis, duty-unpaid, for P1020 of any origin, with a typical trade volume of 200 mt to 2,000 mt for loading in the next 30 days.
The specifications are P1020A ingots to meet minimum LME specification, 99.7% Al min, max 0.1% Si, 0.2% Fe, 0.03% zinc, 0.04% gallium, 0.03% vanadium.
The assessment is normalized to reflect metal with a maximum iron content of 0.14%, reflecting dominant trading patterns in South Korea.
