* Premiums rise for a second quarter in a row
* Rise reflects drop in local inventories
* Producers cut offers from initial $125-130/T proposals (Adds details and comments)
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, April 1 (Reuters) - Japanese aluminium buyers have agreed to pay producers a premium of $115-$117 per tonne for metal to be shipped over April-June, up about 5-6 percent from the prior quarter, on lower local inventories, five sources directly involved in the talks said.
Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange cash price set the benchmark for the region.
The latest deal marks a second straight quarterly increase. For January-March, buyers had paid a premium of $110 per tonne (PREM-ALUM-JP).
"We've agreed to accept the rise as domestic inventories have been declining due to lower purchases in the January-March quarter by Japanese buyers," a source at a trading house said.
The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began in late February between Japanese buyers and global miners, including Rio Tinto , Alcoa and South32 Ltd .
A source at a trading firm said deals were done at premiums of $115-$117, while another at one of the producers said most shipments were booked at $117. One end-user source said his company struck some deals at $116 this week.
Producers had initially offered $125-$130 premiums, versus the $110-$115 buyers were considering.
But miners agreed to lower their offer given flat demand, weaker spot premiums at around $110 and local inventories that, despite declining from record highs, are still above levels seen two years ago, the source added.
Aluminium stocks at three major Japanese ports hit a record high of 502,200 tonnes in May last year as buyers elsewhere in Asia bought cheaper semi-fabricated products from China, pushing more primary metal to Japan.
While stockpiles dropped 27 percent from May levels to 365,600 tonnes by end-February, according to trading house Marubeni Corp, they are still above the 230,000-270,000 tonnes held in early 2014.
Industry sources have forecast a rise in premiums over 2016 as supply tightens due to cutbacks and closures by producers.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)