Copper prices hit records on China, AI

Copper prices are surging world wide, and hitting records in China. A key Shanghai futures price closed at an all-time high. The industrial metal — Chile is the world’s top producer, China the world’s top consumer — is the key ingredient in the electrical wiring that increasingly threads its way through buildings, automobiles and virtually any product you plug in.

Its prices are sometimes seen as a barometer of global industrial activity, particularly in China. The Wall Street Journal suggests the excitement over AI investment, which will require a lot of wiring, could be playing a roll in the price run-up.