JOHANNESBURG - Aluminium prices rallied to a record high on Thursday as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine sparked fears of sanctions that could cut supplies from major producer Russia and disrupt energy supplies needed to produce the metal.

Moscow launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the West's worst fears. 

Russia is a major producer of gas used to make electricity, a major component of aluminium production.

Gas prices have spurred since tensions escalated and led to output cuts in Europe, leaving consumers scrambling to secure metal.

Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange hit a record high of $3 449 a tonne, and was up 4.3% at $3 437 by 11:10 GMT.

"Russia is one of the largest aluminium producers and much of its material goes to Europe. Broader sanctions could tighten up supply even further," said Amelia Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of China International.

"There is concern the impact of sanctions on Russia could feed high energy prices and that would raise production costs for aluminium and other base metals."

Shortages of the aluminium can be seen in the duty-paid physical premiums that consumers pay above the LME price, which is at record highs in Europe at $464 a tonne and $795 a tonne in the United States.

Inventories of aluminium in LME-registered warehouses are also running low, at 824 150 t, compared with about 1.3-million a year ago.

Russia produces around 6% of the world's aluminium and accounts for about 10% of global nickel supplies.

Benchmark prices for nickel CMNI3 climbed 3.4% to $25 220 a tonne having earlier touched $25 610 a tonne, the highest since May 2011.

Nickel prices have also been boosted by sliding stocks in LME warehouses.

The premium for the cash over the three-month nickel contract closed at $491 a tonne on Wednesday, close to Tuesday's $645 a tonne, the highest since 2007.

In other metals, copper CMCU3 gained 1.2% to $9 985 a tonne, zinc rose 2.1% to $3 646, lead was up 1.8% at $2 377 while tin  was 0.8% higher at $45 300 a tonne after touching a record high of $45 380.