Copper up

Sydney : London copper was pushed higher on Tuesday on bets that demand in top consumer China will improve in 2018, keeping prices near four-year highs at the start of trading in the new year.

China is the world´s largest consumer of industrial metals and accounts for nearly half of global copper demand.

The metal has been supported by Beijing´s attack on polluting industries, supply reforms and robust demand growth.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged higher to $7,260 a tonne, as of 0713 GMT.

The contract ended 2017 with an annual 31 percent price gain, reaching prices last seen in January 2014, after peaking at $7,312.50 on Dec. 28, according to Reuters data. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.6 percent lower at 55,250 yuan ($8,506.94) a tonne.