(Adds analyst comment and LONDON dateline, updates prices)

By Eric Onstad

LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices climbed to

the highest levels in 22 months on Thursday as funds extended

their buying spree, while the dollar weakened and inventories

tightened.

The rally that has fuelled gains of 13% in copper so far

this year contrasted, however, with lacklustre physical demand

for copper in the biggest consumer China, analysts said.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was

up 1.2% at $9,694.50 per metric ton by 1025 GMT, having touched

$9,739, the highest since June 2022.

The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures

Exchange closed up 2.8% at 78,780 yuan ($10,882.42) a

ton.

"The market is still digesting the real impact of the

sanctions on Russian materials, and in the near-term, inventory

cancellations on the LME are tightening stocks levels," said

Amelia Xiao Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of

China International.

Available inventories on the LME fell by 15,200 tons to a

one-month low of 90,400 tons after investors gave notice to the

exchange they wanted to remove inventories, data showed on

Thursday.

Data on speculative positions showed that there was still

more room for investors to increase bullish bets, but if LME

prices touched $10,000 a ton, they would run into profit taking,

Fu added.

"There are indications that on the ground in China that

demand is not that robust and downstream users are likely to

delay purchases if prices get too high," she said.

Also bolstering the market was a weaker dollar index,

which fell for a second day after a rare warning by the finance

chiefs of major nations.

A softer dollar makes greenback-priced metals cheaper for

buyers using other currencies.

A trader said the price rallies across base metals were also

exacerbated by short-covering.

LME tin climbed to $33,945, its highest since June

2022, before paring gains to $33,470, a rise of 2.1%.

The LME cash tin contract traded at a $350-a-ton premium to

the three-month contract, the biggest premium since July 2023,

after inventories in LME-approved warehouses have

slid 45% so far this year.

LME aluminium rose 0.8% to $2,606.50 a ton, nickel

advanced 1% to $18,420, lead gained 1.7% to

$2,191.50, while zinc slipped 0.4% to $2,827.50.

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($1 = 7.2392 yuan)