July 21 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea, Asia's third-biggest buyer of base metals including copper and aluminum, bought 3,000 metric tons of copper cathodes in a tender today at a higher premium than last month, according to a state agency.

The Public Procurement Service, a state body that manages commodities, purchased the metal of Zambian origin from Glencore International AG at $146 a ton more than the London Metal Exchange official cash settlement price on a cost, insurance and freight basis, according to agency official Yang Young Ho.

The price is higher than the $110-a-ton premium over the same benchmark that the agency paid LS-Nikko Copper Inc. in the last such tender on June 28.

The LME-registered grade-A copper cathode, used in electrical wiring and pipes, is due for shipment by Sept. 15, with 2,500 tons to be delivered at the port of Incheon and the rest into Busan.

In a separate tender today, the agency purchased from Glencore 300 tons of Norwegian nickel due for shipment by Sept. 15, Yang said.

Of the total, the buyer paid $1,000 per ton more than the LME official cash settlement price for 200 tons with minimum purity of 99.8 percent, Yang said. It paid $1,225 a ton over the same benchmark for the remainder, with minimum purity of 99.95 percent, he said. The prices are on a cost, insurance and freight basis.

Copper for three-month delivery in London climbed 1.8 percent to $6,760 a ton at 6:13 p.m. Seoul time and three-month nickel advanced 1 percent to $19,320 a ton.