* Premiums steady after rising ahead on Lunar New Year
* Post holiday China buying yet to kick off
By Nick Trevethan
SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Base metals premiums were steady in Asia after the Lunar New Year holidays with little sign of the Chinese buying spree that many investors had expected.
Premiums for copper in London Metal Exchange warehouses were steady around $50-$55 a tonne above the LME cash price having rallied from $35 in the weeks leading up to the spring festival to as high as $70, physical traders said.
Most other metals were also steady.
"Copper went up from $35 to asking prices of $50 to $70. They rose on anticipation that the Chinese would come in and buy huge quantities," a Singapore-based merchant said.
"That hasn't really happened but copper is holding steady at $50-$55."
The physical market has tightened up in recent weeks, market watchers said, noting recent rises in cancelled warrants in Asia.
"There are a lot of canceled warrants in Asia. The rate of canceled warrants is a growing a lot faster than the headline moves which essentially points to tightening markets," Joel Crane, analyst at Morgan Stanley said.
For a graphic showing copper stocks and canceled warrants in Busan, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/NTrv_20102602163924.jpg
South Korea bought 1,000 tonnes of copper cathode for March 31 arrival at the port of Incheon, the state-run Public Procurement Service. The agency bought the metal from LS-Nikko Copper at a premium of $85 a tonne.
Shanghai warehouse data jumped 28 percent from two weeks earlier to 149,478 tonnes, the highest since September 2002, as large amount of copper was moved out of bonded warehouses after the last week's Lunar New Year holiday.
Stockholders shifted metal from unreported stocks held in Shanghai's free-trade zone through customs to warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange anticipating a surge in buying after the Lunar New Year.
Following is a graphic of global metal stocks:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/0210/GLB_MTLSTK.html
Premiums for aluminium were around $85-$90 in Singapore, while the lightweight metal commanded premiums of $110-120 in South Korea.
"In January, aluminium premiums came off in Japan. That makes sense given what we know about the wind down in financing," Crane said.
Aluminium term premium talks for the second quarter started this week, but no really worries about supply tightness, globally or domestically, and an uncertain outlook for demand, premiums were not likely to rise.
"There doesn't appear to be a strong incentive to raise the premiums," said one end-user. "There isn't a feeling that deals have to be made at higher premiums."
In other metals Singapore zinc premiums were little changed at $30-$40, while premiums for nickel ranged from $60 per tonne for full plate cathode and 4x4 cut at $150.
Tin in Singapore traded with a premium of around $30.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
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