Totaling 24,000 tons with a whopping jump of 175% from a year ago due to the merit of inexpensive price Purchase volume of aluminum ingot by domestic consumers at the Public Procurement Service (PPS) is increasing at a fast pace. According to the recent statistics from the Korea Nonferrous Metal Cooperative (KNMC), the accumulated aluminum ingot that the KNMC member companies purchased through the KNMCat the PPS from January through May this year reached 24,435 tons, up 175% from 8,835 tons in the same period last year. Of the aluminum ingot bought, European ingot was tallied at 10,679 tons, up 23.9% from the year-earlier period's 8,616 tons, while non-European ingot stood at 13,756 tons with a surprising year-on-year jump of 5,013% from 269 tons. The PPS is selling aluminum ingot three times a month within the monthly ceiling of 1,000 tons each for the sales of Western ingot and non-Western ingot (mainly Chinese products) at the prices set in consideration of the domestic market prices. Most of the consumers who buy aluminum ingot at the PPS are running small and mid-size businesses and are dong cooperative buying at regional offices of the KNMC. It is one of the merits in cooperative buying compared with individual purchase that they can buy the ingot at the price lower thanin individual buy by 15,000 won per ton. In addition, they can take aluminum ingot in the volume exceedingthe limit of 50 tons for single buyer. Such a fast rise in the purchase of aluminum ingot by those consumers has come mainly from the selling price of the ingot at the PPS that is lower than the domestic market prices that has continuously increased since the fourth quarter of 2003 in linewith the an increase in the international market price. Until last year, the domestic market price had been lower and therefore, the selling price at the PPS was not a matter of concern among consumers. Those who buy aluminum ingot at the PPS are very sensitive to the difference in price rather than quality of ingot betweenEuropean products and non-European ones. Accordingly, there are differences among consumers in purchase according to the gaps between the domestic market price and the PPS price. At first, they take non-European ingot which is usually quoted at a relatively lower level at the PPS, and then buy European one, if quoted lower than the market price. hogeun@snmnews.com