KONTAN.CO.ID - LONDON. Copper prices hit their highest in almost two years on Friday while other base metals delivered strong growth as investment funds continued a buying spree driven by supply concerns.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 1% to $9,834 a metric ton by 0953 GMT after touching $9,843 for its highest since April 29, 2022.

The metal used in power and construction is up 16% over the past two months.

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"The major themes remain the same. April has seen broad money inflows into the commodity space," said Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist at broker Marex.

A Citi note said the bank's base case scenario now projects copper prices of up to $10,500 a ton while averaging $10,000 in the second and the third quarters.

"On the balance of risks, we now see the present rally continuing over the coming three months," it added.

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LME aluminium rose 1.7% to $2,659.50 a ton as the market adapted to moves by Washington and London to prohibit the LME and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) from accepting new Russia-made aluminium, copper and nickel to exchange warehouses.

LME daily data showed continued investor notifications of their desire to remove metal from LME-registered warehouses. This reduced available LME aluminium stocks to 171,200 tonnes, representing the weakest level since August 2022.

LME tin hit a 22-month high at $35,100 a ton and was last up 3.3% at $35,065. The price and spreads have registered sharp gains this week on a large position taken by one party, fund buying and worries about supply.

Nickel jumped 3.6% to $19,235 a ton after closing above the 200-day moving average in the previous session. It hit $19,355, a seven-month high, on Monday.

Zinc climbed 1.3% to $2,849 a ton and lead advanced 0.9% to $2,199.50.