SINGAPORE, May 7 -- South Korea's Public Procurement Service, a state agency that stockpiles strategic commodities, said Thursday that it has purchased 3,000 metric tons of Indian aluminum at a premium of $123 a metric ton to the prevailing London Metal Exchange price, which was $2,095/ton at the time of the bidding.

The seller was Metal Park, and the aluminum is for delivery to Incheon by July 9 on a cost-and-freight basis.

At 0755 GMT LME three-month aluminum was trading at $2,081/ton, down $39 since Wednesday's kerb.