Japan Q3 aluminium premiums mostly set at six-year low of $100/T -sources

TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - Japan's aluminium premiums for July-September shipments were mostly set at a six-year low of $100 per tonne, plunging 74 percent from the previous quarter due to a supply glut, five sources directly involved in the talks said.

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 set the benchmark for the region.

Three end-user sources and a buyer at one of the trading houses said most deals were done at $100. A source at one of the producers also quoted the same number.

But another end-user source said some deals were struck earlier in June at $90. Negotiations are still continuing between global miners and buyers.

The third-quarter premiums, against $380 per tonne (PREM-ALUM-JP) paid in the April-June quarter, marked the sharpest quarterly decline ever and the lowest since $75 in July-September in 2009.

The latest quarterly pricing talks began in late May between Japanese buyers and global miners including Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) , Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA - news) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) 's spin-off South32 (Berlin: 32Z.BE - news) .

The weak Japan aluminium premiums are in line with global premiums. In Europe, the premium for duty unpaid aluminium collapsed to $100 per tonne in May from over $400 at the start of January. In the United States, the Midwest delivery premium fell below 10 cents per lb for the first time since 2013.

Overseas premiums, however, recovered slightly in June. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, Editing by Himani Sarkar)