South Korea Buys 4,000 Tons Aluminum, 300 Tons Nickel

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's Public Procurement Service, a state-run body that manages strategic commodities, bought 4,000 metric tons of aluminum ingots due for shipment by Oct. 31 from Donghyun Trading Corp. at a tender today. The procurement agency bought 2,000 tons of the high-grade primary aluminum from Western countries at a premium of $75 a ton over London Metal Exchange official cash settlement prices, an official at the agency said by phone, asking not to be identified because he's not authorized to talk to media. The agency paid a $55-per-ton premium for the remaining 2,000 tons from Russia, China, Egypt or India, he said. The Public Procurement Service also bought 300 tons of nickel ingots in another tender today from Glencore International AG at a premium of $395 per ton over LME official cash settlement prices, Lee Il Hyung, an official in charge of nickel purchases, said by phone. Source: Bloomberg