AC transmission and Copper

AC transmission needs copper; their prices have moved together.

AC transmission (energy) and Copper (commodity): 2 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Material need

Physical flow · Direct · Copper → AC transmission

Building or running AC transmission needs copper.

2. Price link: windings

Cost and price · Moderate · Both ways

Transformer windings are mostly copper. Copper's swings pass into transformer prices slowly through tenders and price adjustment clauses, so the link is weak, at 0.22 for monthly moves and only 0.31 for yearly moves, with copper leading by about one month.

• 0.22 monthly change correlation
• 0.31 12-month change correlation
• 0.70 fitted elasticity

Built from the site data on production routes, energy flows, industry value chains, input-output tables and prices.