Surging 158%! Why does the "Periodic Table" remain a hot trend?

Since last year, the accelerated development of global AI computing infrastructure has triggered a surge in demand for non-ferrous metals—such as copper, aluminum, tin, tantalum, indium, and molybdenum—driving up their prices and ushering in a market trend centered on "computing power metals."

Statistics from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association show that in the first half of this year, the prices of tin, tantalum, and indium rose by 40%, 158%, and 60%, respectively, while copper and aluminum prices increased by 31.4% and 18.8% year-on-year.

Industry insiders categorize "computing power metals" into two main groups:
The first consists of core bulk metals—copper and aluminum—which serve as fundamental materials for power supply and heat dissipation in data centers, forming the backbone of computing power networks.

The second comprises minor metals such as molybdenum, tin, indium, germanium, and gallium; these are widely used in advanced packaging, optical communications, and memory chip manufacturing, acting as indispensable "industrial vitamins" for the computing power supply chain.

This price rally is the result of the interplay between rigid supply constraints and expanding demand from emerging industries. On the demand side, sectors such as AI servers, high-speed optical modules, and advanced packaging drive substantial, irreplaceable physical consumption of these "computing power metals."