* Aluminium hits highest since June 23 at $3,336.50 a ton

* Copper on course for highest ever close above $14,153

* Backwardation in copper spreads steepest since October

2025

(Adds broker comment, updates prices)

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Aluminium rose for a sixth straight

session on Monday, striking its highest in almost seven weeks,

as exchange inventories of the lightweight metal continue to be

depleted.

Benchmark three-month aluminium on the London Metal

Exchange was up 1.3% at $3,323 per metric ton as of 1600 GMT. It

earlier touched $3,336.50, its highest since June 23.

ING commodities strategist Ewa Manthey said the recent rally

in copper, which hit a six-month high last week, had reinforced

the broader bullish sentiment across industrial metals.

"Aluminium's own fundamentals remain supportive, with

exchange inventories still low and the market expected to remain

in deficit this year," she added.

Available or on-warrant LME aluminium stocks of 244,650 tons

are the lowest since April 2025. In top metals consumer China,

meanwhile, there was a 13,000-ton draw on Shanghai Futures

Exchange aluminium stocks last week.

Unlike with copper, there is no huge aluminium exchange

inventory cushion in the U.S., with just 5 tons sitting in

Owensboro, Kentucky on the COMEX.

Aluminium broke above its 55-day moving average but met

resistance around the $3,330-mark, broker Marex said in a note,

adding that its positioning data showed the largest speculative

long on the metal since August 2024.

LME copper, meanwhile, gained 0.7% to $14,170.50 a

ton, consolidating above $14,000 after posting its strongest

weekly gain since May last week, and was on course to close at

all-time high above the previous record of $14,153.

The forward curve in copper remained in steep backwardation,

with the cash to three-month spread last trading at

$171 a ton, the highest since October 2025.

"Copper continues to be supported by tight physical markets,

low inventories, and ongoing supply concerns," Manthey said.

Elsewhere, zinc added 0.9% to $3,740.50, lead

gained 0.8% to $1,902, nickel edged down 0.3% to

$16,945 and tin rose 0.7% to $55,830.