S.Korea halts aluminium buys, says prices high

SEOUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) - South Korea's state-run Public Procurement Service said on Thursday it will pause its stockpiling programme and has no plans to make any large purchases in the near term due to high metal prices. "We are taking a pause and not planning any massive purchases in the immediate future as we have almost reached our target reserve ... and also current prices are quite high," said a PPS official. The PPS, which in the first half of the year had been a very active buyer in the physical metals market, last bought metal at the end of July, when it picked up 3,000 tonnes of aluminium at $119 a tonne. Since mid-July, aluminium prices have rallied to peaks above $2,100 a tonne from around $1,650. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim, writing by Nick Trevethan; Editing by Ben Tan)