TOKYO, March 6 (Reuters) - A global aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $260 per metric ton for April-June primary metal shipments, up 14% from the current quarter, two sources directly involved in pricing talks said this week.

Japan is a major Asian importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange $(LME.AU)$ cash price CMAL0 set the benchmark for the region.

For the January-March quarter, Japanese buyers agreed to pay a premium of $228 per ton PREM-ALUM-JP, up 30% from the prior quarter. It marked the highest level in about 10 years.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Kim Coghill)

((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))