The most-traded October aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.7 percent higher at 12,685 yuan ($1,909.41) a tonne, after peaking at 12,795 yuan overnight, the highest since May 2015. Shanghai copper rose 0.4 percent to end at 37,390 yuan a tonne. Copper was little changed in slow trade in Asia, but was still heading for its first weekly gain in five after minutes of the US Federal Reserve's July meeting, released this week, showed policymakers were in no rush to hike rates.
Aluminium production among restarted aluminium smelters in China following production curbs last year has been slow, causing supply to tighten, said Jackie Wang, analyst at CRU consultancy in Beijing.