Copper hit $7,000 a tonne for the first time since 2018 on Wednesday, as strong demand in China and hopes for a wave of “green” stimulus measures lift the price of the vital industrial metal. 

Benchmark copper prices trading on the London Metal Exchange reached as high as $7,034 in afternoon trading, their strongest level since June 2018. The metal, used in everything from air conditioning units to cars and power networks, has risen about 14 per cent this year, on the back of supply disruptions and China’s rapid recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s pledge last month that the world’s second-largest economy would be carbon neutral by 2060 is expected to lead to a focus on renewable energy in the country’s next five-year plan, which starts in 2021. In the US, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised a $2tn green energy and infrastructure plan if he wins the election next month.