Copper remains a key material for manufacturing HVAC equipment, including:
- air conditioners
- heat pumps
- VRF/VRV systems
as well as for electrical wiring, factories, and data centers. 🏭⚡
Over the past year, prices for copper wire and cables have risen by 27.2%, and since 2020 — by 104.9%. In August alone, the increase was 4.2%.
This week, copper quotes fell sharply following reports of a possible tariff review by the Trump administration.
- Three-month futures on the London Metal Exchange fell by 3.1%
- U.S. contracts also posted a noticeable decline
However, market movements do not mean an automatic drop in prices for finished products for contractors.
Tariffs can instantly affect the cost of exchange-traded metal, but they cannot quickly increase mining and processing volumes.
- The U.S. imports about half of the copper it consumes each year
- The country has only 2 operating copper smelters
New mining and refining capacity takes several years to come online, so a decline in spot prices will not lead to a proportional reduction in the cost of equipment and components in the near term.
Global demand continues to outpace supply, and the 50% tariffs on copper semi-finished products introduced earlier in 2025 remain in force. Experts note that even a possible delay of new tariffs does not eliminate the structural deficit caused by declining metal content in ore and insufficient investment in new projects.
Contractors continue to face rising material and labor costs, leading to project cancellations or delays. 📉