Copper prices soar 60% in 2025: Four key sectors that could face the heat of price rise; check details

Copper price: Shares of copper mining companies such as Hindustan Copper and Hindustan Zinc are witnessing a strong rally after global copper and silver prices touched the roof.

However, as producers and miners get to benefit most from the metals rally, some consumers now stand to face margin pressure due to a sharp rise in metal prices.

Copper, in particular, has a much wider industrial application across sectors and industries. Here are key sectors that could face heat on the margins amid a sharp rise in copper prices.

Wires & Cables

Companies like Polycab India, Finolex Cables, KEI Industries and Havells India are primary consumers of copper as a raw material.

International copper prices are up almost 17% in Q3FY26, which is expected to adversely affect the companies. However, management commentary across the wires and cable companies indicates that the price hike impact is usually passed on to the distributors or consumers on a fortnightly or monthly basis.

The sharp rally also leads to higher stocking of inventory at distributor levels to mitigate the price rise impact, which in turn could positively affect the wires and cables companies through higher volume growth.

Analysts and market participants are now focusing on the management commentary in the Q3 FY26 earnings call and price outlook.

Consumer Durables

After wires and cables, the consumer durable segment is the second most important sector where copper remains a crucial raw material for their products. Products like air conditioners, fans, pumps and more all include copper as a raw material.

Hence, companies like Voltas, Blue Star and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical would also remain in focus ahead of Q3 earnings as they highlight the impact of commodity inflation in the quarterly earnings.

In the Q2 FY26 earnings call, companies like Crompton Greaves Electrical indicated margin pressure owing to commodity inflation and how the price changes could impact higher inventory stocking.

Specialised winding wires & industrial components

Copper also remains a key raw material for major industrial machines and components, like winding wires, transformers, and motors. Companies like Precision Wires India have copper as a major raw material, constituting 80% of the raw material cost.

Similarly, Bhagyanagar Industries, which manufactures copper foils, pipes, busbars and other auto components for OEMs, will remain in focus ahead of their Q3 earnings.

In tandem with other companies, the impact of higher copper prices is already passed on to their customers. The exact impact on margins and volumes can be ascertained in the upcoming earnings call only.

Apart from the above key sectors, solar panel manufacturers, OEMs, auto companies, and battery manufacturers also will likely get impacted adversely due to the sharp rally in copper prices. In summary, the majority of the price hike is passed on to customers and distributors.

However, a sharp rise in prices could adversely impact the volumes by keeping the margins intact. The clear picture and outlook on the pricing graph can be ascertained only in the upcoming Q3 earnings.

That said, copper demand is expected to remain strong, and prices are also expected to remain steady, as new applications in solar panels as replacements for silver, higher EV adoption and AI's power consumption could continue to drive the copper demand higher in coming years.