A concept photo of digital city Illustration: VCG

In a copper workshop in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, thick copper ingots are rolled, cleaned and pressed into copper strip coils. These materials will eventually become high-speed connectors and other components used in artificial intelligence (AI) servers, data centers, and high-end telecommunications equipment, according to a representative from the company.

As China's intelligent computing centers, data centers and new energy-related industries heat up, orders for such products are rising sharply, with some companies reportedly seeing demand outpacing supply, the CCTV Finance News reported.

A group of nonferrous metals that once served traditional manufacturing - including copper, aluminum, tin, tantalum, indium, germanium and gallium - have recently been given a new market label: "compute metals." Driven by the accelerated build-out of AI computing infrastructure, market demand for these nonferrous metals has surged, pushing prices broadly higher.

According to a report by the People's Daily on Tuesday, prices for tin, tantalum and indium rose more than 40 percent, 158 percent and 60 percent, respectively, during the first half of 2026, while copper and aluminum remained elevated. 

Chinese industry experts call them "compute metals" - not a scientific classification, but a market label for materials increasingly consumed by AI servers, data centers, advanced semiconductor packaging, optical communications, power systems and cooling infrastructure.

AI model operations require massive amounts of electricity, and the electricity generating and transmitting systems also heavily rely on metal materials. 

What are 'compute metals'?

"Compute metals" refer to key metal materials that support intelligent computing centers, AI servers, high-speed optical modules, advanced semiconductor packaging, and liquid-cooling systems. They are widely distributed across the power, electronics and new energy sectors and form the material foundation of the computing industry chain.

And, common industry practice generally divides the metals into two categories. 

The first is bulk compute metals, represented by copper and aluminum, which mainly serve conductive, heat-dissipating and structural-support functions. 

The second category is rare small metals, including tin, tantalum, indium, germanium, gallium and molybdenum. Although used in small quantities, they are indispensable in advanced packaging, optical communications and semiconductor manufacturing, and are very difficult to replace. 

Copper is one of the most critical consumables in computing infrastructure. From copper-cable interconnects and printed circuit board substrates to heat-dissipation modules and power systems, the higher the server's computing power, the more copper it generally consumes. 

It is estimated that a high-performance AI training server would consume 15-30 kilograms of copper, three to six times as much as a conventional server. Liquid-cooling systems would require another 20-30 kilograms of aluminum per server. Tin enables soldering and advanced packaging; tantalum supports high-performance capacitors; indium phosphide is important for high-speed optical communications; and gallium nitride supports the operation of efficient electronics.

China holds unique advantages in "compute metals," due to its strong reserves, high production shares and the globally leading refining capabilities for major strategic minerals that are widely used in AI semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.

According to a report by Xinda Securities, China accounted for 23.91 percent of global tin reserves, and 52.4 percent of global tin output in 2024, making it the world's largest tin producer.

China's germanium reserves, while second only to the US, represented 41 percent of the world's total, the Xinda report said. The country is the world's largest producer of germanium, accounting for about 70 percent to 83 percent of global primary germanium output.

In addition, China is one of the world's largest bauxite producers, and holds abundant gallium resources, with gallium reserves accounting for 68 percent of the global output.

Data from the Ministry of Natural Resources showed that, by the end of 2025, China's reserves of 14 minerals, including tungsten and tin, ranked first in the world. Among them, tungsten is regarded as an irreplaceable mineral in the AI computing, with China accounting for 79 percent of global total output.

Industry analysts said that China's strength in these strategic minerals reflects not only its resource endowment, but also its mature industrial chain and advanced refining technology.

In particular, China has mastered purification technologies for a number of "compute metals," giving the country a competitive edge in global supply chains for AI hardware and other advanced technologies. 

As the global race for AI infrastructure accelerates, the importance of these materials is expected to rise further. Access to stable supplies of major "compute metals" will remain a crucial factor underpinning the development of computing power, semiconductor production, and next-generation industrial systems, Tian Feng, former dean of SenseTime's Intelligence Industry Research Institute, told the Global Times.

Behind the price hikes

Industry observers said that the price rallying in "compute metals" is the result of a combination of supply constraints and surging market demand.

Duan Shaofu, deputy secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, told the Global Times that, on the one hand, the output of some key mineral products is falling rather than rising due to resource conditions, environmental restrictions and approval cycles. For aluminum, the ceiling on production capacity remains rigid, leaving little room for any supply expansion on the market in the short term. 

On the other hand, several countries have included related metals in their lists of critical minerals, while disruptions to mine investment, export controls and geopolitics continue to increase. This has reduced the stability of global supply chains.

And, geopolitical conflicts have also disrupted raw material transportation in the world.

Therefore, the price hike of the metals is the result of restrained supply and steadily expanding demand on the global market. 

Analysts say the growing attention toward "compute metals" reflects structural changes in the global industrial development landscape. At the macro level, emerging sectors such as AI, energy storage, new-energy vehicles, power-grid upgrades and advanced manufacturing are reshaping market demand for metals.

Facing the opportunities and cost challenges caused by surging demand for "compute metals," China should continue to leverage its advantages in rare metals refining, computing infrastructure, and industrial applications, while doing it best to improve the supply assurance system for critical minerals, promote coordination across upstream and downstream sectors, and strengthen the foundation of China's AI industry, Tian said.