By Manolo Serapio Jr. MANILA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - London copper rose 1 percent to its best level in 13 months on Friday and is on course for its best week since early August, supported by firmer equities and hopes Chinese demand will remain strong. Other metals also marched higher, with zinc jumping to highs last seen in May 2008, defying a rebound in the dollar from near 14-month lows. [USD/] Data on Thursday showed China's production of refined copper and aluminium hit a fresh monthly record in September, suggesting that domestic smelters and miners in the world's top copper and aluminium consumer responded quickly to sustained higher prices. [ID:nPEK175104] Combined with strong import numbers released last week, the data means that "Chinese demand for some metals has been stronger than expected and apparent consumption was very, very strong," said Yingxi Yu, commodity analyst at Barclays Capital. "This is probably the key upside factor for the metals market." Also supporting sentiment, copper inventories in Shanghai warehouses dropped 4 percent from the previous week to 95,976 tonnes, according to data from the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Friday. <0#SGH-STOCKS> Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 rose $62 to $6,647 a tonne at 0707 GMT, on track for a 7 percent gain on the week. It touched a peak of $6,675, its loftiest since late September 2008. Shanghai's benchmark third month copper SCFc3 rallied 870 yuan to 51,330 ($7,515) yuan a tonne at the close, up 5.2 percent for the week in its best performance since the week ended Aug. 28. Shanghai metal touched a session-peak of 51,420 yuan, the highest since Aug. 31. But rising inventories on the LME are keeping a lid on price gains. At more than 367,000 tonnes, LME copper stocks are the biggest since mid-May. MCU-STOCKS For graphics on global copper, zinc and aluminium stocks, click on [ID:nSP471674] "That's why I think copper prices should pull back, because we're in a situation where the copper market is still in surplus and we're seeing continued increase in inventories," said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Moore said he is looking for a copper surplus of around 300,000 tonnes this year and 108,000 tonnes in 2010. Three-month LME zinc MZN3 rose $10 to $2,260 a tonne, after rising as high as $2,287.50, a level not seen since May 2008. Up around 10 percent this week, zinc is so far the best performer among base metals in what is shaping up to be its best week since mid-April, supported by supply disruptions. Inventories of zinc concentrate held by Australia's Century mine, the world's second largest zinc deposit, are down to half the level of early October, when a pipeline leak caused it to shut down its concentrator. [ID:nSYD452729] "Beyond the short term, the projected recovery in the global economy over the next 12 months remains firmly supportive for the metals markets, with potentially substantial upside for metals like copper and zinc," Barclays Capital said in a note. Base metals prices at 0707 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Pct chg 09 LME Cu 6647.00 62.00 +0.94 3060.00 117.22 SHFE Cu* 51330.00 870.00 +1.72 23840.00 115.31 LME Alum 1979.00 13.00 +0.66 1535.00 28.93 SHFE Alum* 15110.00 125.00 +0.83 11540.00 30.94 COMEX Cu** 298.80 0.00 +0.00 139.50 114.19 LME Zinc 2260.00 10.00 +0.44 1208.00 87.09 SHFE Zinc 16780.00 335.00 +2.04 10120.00 65.81 LME Nickel 19275.00 75.00 +0.39 11700.00 64.74 LME Lead 2438.00 33.00 +1.37 999.00 144.04 LME Tin 15200.00 200.00 +1.33 10700.00 42.06 LME/Shanghai arb^ 1768 Dollar/yuan 6.8276 \ 6.8278 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contact month for SHFE aluminium, copper and zinc ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month

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