Asia Metals-Copper premiums firm in China, steady elsewhere

* Copper premiums steady in most of Asia, up in China * Aluminium "sticky", seen easing in 2010 Bt Nick Trevethan and Polly Yam SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Spot copper premiums in most of Asia remained low in early December as stockholders try to work off inventories before the year end, but levels in China picked up after Chile's Codelco raised 2010 term premiums. Copper in London Metal Exchange warehouses in Singapore attracted a premium of around $20 to $30 a tonne above the LME cash price, while material in South Korea went at $15 a tonne, traders said. Bonded stocks in Shanghai were offered at premiums of around $70 a tonne versus $50-$60 last month following premium hikes by Codelco for 2010 deliveries, traders said. "Some merchants holding cash have tried to get hold of the metal given the current premiums are lower (than Codelco's)," a sales manager at a large Chinese trading house said. But some traders reported copper being offered by non-traditional sellers at discounts to LME prices for cargoes of 50-100 tonnes a month if the buyer committed to an annual contract. "Sellers are emerging from the woodwork offering copper at discounts of 2 percent or more if you agree to an annual contract," a Singapore-based trader said. "I don't know who these guys are, they have names I have never heard of. Two percent off cash LME is about $140. Maybe it costs me $60 to get it warranted leaving me $80 profit. It looks too good to be true." He added that established trading houses were offering copper for term delivery through 2010 at premiums of $70 to $80 on a CIF Asia basis, in line with Codelco's $74-$85. Steady demand and lower imports in the past two months have cut bonded stocks, traders said. Some 200,000-250,000 tonnes of imported refined copper cathode were estimated to lie in Shanghai's bonded warehouses versus more than 250,000 tonnes a month earlier. They said merchants had re-exported some bonded copper on strong LME prices. "The general trend of weakening imports is still intact. I don't expect imports to rise much until January, or even after the Lunar New Year," said Peng Qiang, analyst at COFCO Futures. Imports have fallen for three of the past five months, having risen steadily since the middle of 2008. ALUMINIUM Aluminium was steady at premiums around $80 for material in Johor and was offered at premiums of $120-$130 to north Asian destinations, flat from last month. Metal for delivery in the first quarter of next year stood at premiums of $120-$135 depending on origin. "Aluminium is proving to be very sticky. People are still holding the material tightly and want to add to positions. Banks are still sweeping for warrants," the Singapore trader said. "But I suspect through 2010 premiums are likely to soften by 10-20 percent and my strategy is buy for now until February at which point we should see a correction." LME warehouses are groaning under the weight of 4.6 million tonnes of metal, but the majority of the material is tied up on long term financing deals and unavailable to the market. In other metals, lead premiums were $130-$140 a tonne for Western material CIF Asia, while Indian recyclers were offering secondary metal at a $150 discount free on truck. Zinc premiums varied from $35 for Indian material up to about $100 for sought after Japanese and South Korean brands. (Editing by Himani Sarkar)