(Adds quotes, background) A Japanese aluminium buyer has agreed...

(Adds quotes, background)

A Japanese aluminium buyer has agreed to pay a global producer a premium of $220 per tonne over the benchmark price for shipments in October to December, up 19% from the current quarter to reflect higher overseas premiums, two sources directly involved in the pricing talks said.

The figure is higher than the $185 per tonne paid in the July-September quarter and marks a fifth consecutive quarterly increase and the highest since the April-June quarter in 2015. But it is lower than the initial offers of $230-$250 made by producers.

Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the light metal and the premiums PREM-ALUM-JP for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price CMAL0 set the benchmark for the region.

The rise reflected soaring premiums in Europe and the United States amid tight supply, a source at a producer said.

Prices of aluminium touched $3,000 a tonne for the first time since 2008 on Monday as restrictions on output in China, the biggest producer, fuelled fears that supply will run short.

Still, Japanese buyers were reluctant to pay above $230 a tonne as local supply was not as tight as in Europe or North America and falling automobile production amid a global chip shortage fuelled concerns over slower demand of the light metal, another source at an end-user said.

"But we have agreed at $220 a tonne as a producer lowered its offer from the initial level," the source said.

They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the talks.

The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began last month between Japanese buyers and global suppliers including Rio Tinto (RIO) RIO.L and South32 (S32) and are expected to continue until later this month.