Feb 19 (Reuters) - Industrial metals rose across the board in London and Shanghai on Friday, with benchmark LME copper scaling its highest level since February 2012 on tight supply concerns, a weak U.S. dollar and speculation about demand prospects.
Nickel soared to its strongest level since 2014 as a tropical storm headed for southern Philippines, China's biggest supplier, fuelling worries about declining port inventory of the stainless steel ingredient in the world's top metals consumer.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.9% to $8,715 a tonne by 0816 GMT, after hitting $8,737 earlier in the day, and was set for its third successive weekly advance.
Copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading 2.5% higher at 64,170 yuan ($9,929.90) a tonne, after touching 64,330 yuan, the highest level since 2011.
"The global copper inventory is generally at a low level," analysts at Huatai Futures in China said in a note, adding that China's demand was expected to remain robust after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday that ended on Wednesday.
"There may be a temporary shortage of supply" in China, the analysts said.
A weaker dollar also helped boost the appeal of greenback-priced metals.
Copper stocks in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped a hefty 43.5% to 112,788 tonnes as of Friday from pre-holiday levels, but remained below last year's peak of around 380,000 tonnes in March.
Copper inventories in LME-registered warehouses are near their lowest since 2005 at 76,025 tonnes while the premium for cash copper over three-month metal rose, suggesting tight nearby supply.
London nickel climbed as much as 2% to $19,535 a tonne, the highest since September 2014. Shanghai's most-active February nickel jumped 4% to 144,050 yuan a tonne.
In Shanghai, tin surged 6%, aluminium rose 0.8%, zinc jumped 2.2%, and lead added 0.6%.
In London, aluminium and zinc advanced 0.8%, lead gained 0.5%, and tin climbed 1.1%.