S.Korea revises up base metal stockpile plan by 6pct

SEOUL, June 26 (Reuters) - South Korea, Asia's third-largest base metal buyer, has increased its 2009 reserve stockpiling plan on six major metals by 6.2 percent to 199,800 tonnes, since it expects prices to rebound sharply next year. Aluminium stockpiling will increase by 6,000 tonnes from its previous plan to 120,000 tonnes and copper purchases will also rise by 3,000 tonnes to 58,000 tonnes, the state-run Public Procurement Service (PPS) said in a statement obtained by Reuters. The agency told Reuters in an interview in March that it planned to increase stockpiling by 39 percent this year as most metals have tumbled from record highs hit last year in the wake of a global financial crisis. [ID:nSEO184555] For a factbox on revised purchase plan, [ID:nSEO319839]