Does The Continuous Rise in Copper Prices Bring Multiple Benefits To The Nanocrystalline Magnetic Core Industry?

 

Global copper prices remain fluctuating at historically high levels, becoming a core cost pain point plaguing downstream manufacturing industries. As of May 12, 2026, the price of Shanghai International Copper stood at 94,651 yuan per ton, hitting a recent stage high. In terms of industry trends, Wall Street investment banks and hedge funds are generally bullish on copper prices in the long run, forecasting that copper prices are expected to climb to $15,000-$16,000 per ton in the next 1 to 2 years, mainly driven by the intensifying global supply-demand imbalance. On the demand side, surging rigid demand for copper is fueled by the construction of AI data centers, expansion of new energy power grids, and robust production and sales of new energy vehicles. The continuous rally in copper prices has imposed enormous cost pressure on downstream sectors such as electrical engineering, new energy and power electronics, which heavily rely on copper materials as core winding components.

Against this market backdrop, nanocrystalline magnetic cores featuring copper-saving advantages are embracing historic development opportunities.

 

1. Production costs barely affected by copper price fluctuations

As one of the core additive elements in iron-based nanocrystalline alloy formulations, copper serves as a grain growth catalyst with a mass proportion of merely around 1%. Iron, whose price remains relatively stable, accounts for the dominant raw material composition. Hence, the manufacturing costs of nanocrystalline ribbons and magnetic cores are hardly pushed up by rising copper prices, meaning copper hikes exert negligible impact on the overall production costs of nanocrystalline ribbons.

 

2. Superior magnetic properties cut copper consumption

Nanocrystalline ribbons boast three core merits: high magnetic permeability, high saturation magnetic flux density and ultra-low high-frequency loss. Under the same power operating conditions, the adoption of nanocrystalline magnetic cores enables optimized magnetic circuit design, effectively reducing the number of coil winding turns and winding volume, so as to directly lower the copper wire consumption of electromagnetic components. The higher the copper price, the stronger the willingness of downstream power supply and electrical equipment manufacturers to adopt nanocrystalline solutions for copper conservation and cost reduction.

 

3. Accelerated market trend of "magnetic materials replacing copper"

Copper is an indispensable winding material for magnetic devices such as transformers and inductors, generally accounting for 30% to 50% of the total component cost. Since 2026, copper prices have stayed at record highs and once exceeded $13,000 per ton, driven by global supply-demand mismatches including booming demand from AI data centers and new energy power grids as well as restricted mineral supply. To control operational costs, downstream manufacturers are compelled to seek copper-saving alternatives. Characterized by extremely low core loss (only one-sixth of traditional ferrites at 100kHz) and high magnetic permeability, nanocrystalline magnetic cores can greatly optimize magnetic circuit structures and significantly reduce winding turns or copper wire cross-sectional areas while guaranteeing product performance. Higher copper prices further enhance the cost-effectiveness of replacing traditional solutions with nanocrystalline magnetic cores, boosting their penetration rate in photovoltaic energy storage, AI server power supplies, new energy vehicles and other fields.

 

4. Soaring copper prices highlight the cost-effectiveness of nanocrystalline magnetic cores

In past magnetic core selection, customers tended to choose traditional soft magnetic materials such as silicon steel and ferrite due to the relatively higher unit price of nanocrystalline magnetic cores. Nevertheless, the sharp surge in copper prices has led to a sharp rise in the overall cost of traditional magnetic material solutions which require large quantities of copper wire windings. In contrast, despite slightly higher standalone prices, nanocrystalline magnetic cores deliver superior overall comprehensive costs thanks to three major advantages: reduced copper consumption, compact structural design and lower operational power loss, greatly motivating enterprises to phase out conventional magnetic materials.

5.Robust market demand from downstream industries

High-growth sectors including photovoltaic energy storage inverters, on-board chargers and DC-DC converters for new energy vehicles, industrial high-frequency switching power supplies, common-mode chokes and precision current transformers are major consumers of copper windings. Faced with high copper prices, terminal manufacturers take the initiative to accelerate the shift to nanocrystalline magnetic core solutions to curb costs and maintain market competitiveness, which directly drives rapid market penetration and sustained order growth of nanocrystalline magnetic cores.

Long-term development prospects of nanocrystalline magnetic cores

Nanocrystalline magnetic cores feature ultra-low high-frequency loss, capable of cutting both copper loss and core loss during equipment operation. Given the current high prices of both copper and electricity, nanocrystalline solutions not only reduce one-time copper wire procurement costs, but also slash long-term power consumption losses, further amplifying their whole-life cycle cost advantages. This accelerates the replacement of traditional magnetic materials and consolidates the medium and long-term growth logic of the industry.

In conclusion, persistently high copper prices bring definite positive impacts on the nanocrystalline magnetic core industry. In terms of raw materials, copper is only used in trace amounts, ensuring stable production costs and strong cost resistance of the industry. In terms of performance and market demand, leveraging high saturation magnetic flux density, high magnetic permeability and low loss properties, nanocrystalline products drastically reduce copper usage for downstream clients, perfectly meeting enterprises' cost reduction needs and facilitating the widespread trend of magnetic materials replacing copper. From the perspective of cost performance and market layout, copper rallies have completely reshaped the price advantage pattern between nanocrystalline magnetic cores and traditional magnetic materials, promoting their popularization in photovoltaic energy storage, new energy vehicles, AI data centers and other scenarios. In the long run, coupled with outstanding energy-saving properties, nanocrystalline products gain increasingly prominent whole-life cycle advantages, speeding up the replacement process and expanding vast market growth space. Sustained high copper prices will continue to fuel the vigorous development of the nanocrystalline magnetic core industry.