(Credit: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
We've been hearing a lot about memory shortages and price hikes for consumer electronics, but another crucial raw material is also in short supply: copper.
Copper is now more expensive and harder to find, with orders taking months to arrive, according to Roman Hartung, CEO of Thermal Grizzly, which sells high-performance cooling solutions. As VideoCardz reports, Hartung posted a YouTube video recently detailing the trouble he's had sourcing copper at affordable prices.
In October, Hartung tried to order 12mm copper plates, which would normally cost around 190 euros ($225) and arrive in one to two weeks. However, his supplier quoted him 280 euros ($330) and delivery in four months.
Copper prices have increased from $9,000 per ton to $13,000 per ton year-over-year, Hartung says, or about 50%. It's slightly less in euros at 30%, but that's still "absolutely massive for one year," Hartung says. Tin is also up 60% in euros and 80% in US dollars. He looked at other raw materials and found that aluminum and nickel are only up about 5% while steel prices are down.
Copper is used in just about everything electronic. "If you make your PCBs or if you make cooling components for data centers, for servers or like power supply units, often you need copper for wires and then tin for soldering and these kind of things," Hartung says.
So, it's no surprise that all the increased demand for new AI compute and components to power it, has lead to a copper shortage. Hartung, who is based in Europe, also pointed to President Trump's tariffs, which prompted companies to stockpile materials in the US in case he raised tariffs further.
"They drained warehouses in China and Europe," Hartung says. "So the global copper supply is actually not that bad. But a lot of copper was shifted from Europe and Asia towards the US, which then led to very bad availability in Europe and Asia. And just because you have globally a lot of copper, [that] doesn't really help if you have local shortages. It will still drive up the copper price."
He also noted that the value of the US dollar has dipped, "caused by Trump's politics."
Price Hikes on the Horizon
Hartung says Thermal Grizzly will probably have to to increase GPU block pricing from around 500 euros to 550 euros. He also spoke with the CEOs of Be Quiet! and Alphacool, who are facing similar challenges.
"Unfortunately we are compelled to adjust prices by the end of February by approximately 5-10% across all products," says Alphacool CEO Andreas Rutnicki. "The impact is particularly severe for all copper-based products, as the increase in raw material prices has been immense." It's also "facing an even greater challenge with radiators, as the prices of RoHS-compliant solder has nearly tripled."
Looking to China for cheap labor and products, meanwhile, is no longer feasible, Rutnicki says. "Production in Eastern Europe could be more cost-effective, but the necessary infrastructure is not available there."
Be Quiet! CEO Aaron Licht says his company is "currently able to maintain stable pricing," but might have to re-evaluate if "elevated raw material prices persist over a longer period or intensify further."