Zheshang: The trend of liquid cooling and high pressure is driving the demand for high-end copper materials, while recycled copper materials are becoming a high-end incremental market.

Zheshang has released a research report stating that the power of AI computing chips and cabinets is climbing at an unprecedented pace. The feasibility of traditional air cooling has significantly shrunk, and liquid cooling may become the choice to support ultra-high-density computing. The trends of liquid cooling and high-voltage systems are jointly driving changes in power supply architecture and a surge in demand for high-end copper materials. High-end computing copper materials have established substantial technological and process barriers, with the industry upgrading from "copper is enough" to "high-end copper determines system limits." Global leaders have imposed stringent requirements for carbon footprint tracing and carbon tax savings on recycled copper, driving the technical difficulty, value, and profit margins of recycled copper products to be significantly higher than those of primary copper, offering greater added value and broader market prospects. Zheshang's main points are as follows: The power of AI computing chips and cabinets is climbing at an unprecedented pace. NVIDIA's GPU has skyrocketed from the A100's 400W to the GB200's 1000W, and the next-generation Rubin architecture will exceed 2300W; the TDP of Intel's CPUs has also increased from 150W to 385W. At the cabinet level, the power of the GB200 NVL72 single cabinet has reached 132kW, and the GB300 has risen to 154kW, with expectations that post-2027, the Vera Rubin architecture single cabinet will exceed 600kW. As single cabinet power surpasses 100kW, the feasibility of traditional air cooling has significantly diminished, and liquid cooling may become the choice for supporting ultra-high-density computing. TrendForce predicts that the penetration rate of liquid cooling in AI data centers will rapidly increase from 14% in 2024 to 33% in 2025 and 40% in 2026, with "chip liquid cooling" accelerating towards "full liquid cooling." The trends of liquid cooling and high-voltage systems are jointly driving changes in power supply architecture and a surge in demand for high-end copper materials. After undergoing two generations of evolutioncable harness and PDUthe third generation of rack busbars, with advantages of low impedance and small volume, has become the optimal solution under high-load scenarios; liquid-cooling rack busbars, by internally integrating liquid cooling flow channels, can transport currents several times greater than that of air-cooled busbars at the same volume, gradually replacing traditional air-cooled busbars as the standard. Meanwhile, the 800V DC power distribution architecture, which can significantly reduce current, copper usage, and end-to-end conversion losses, has been established by NVIDIA as the best solution for the next generation. Demand estimates show that a single computing cabinet's liquid cooling plate consumes as much as 8001000kg of pure copper, with liquid cooling rack busbars around 120kg, and 800V DC busbars about 220kg, leading to a substantial increase in copper usage. More critically, high-end computing copper materials have established significant technological and process barriersoxygen content must be 5 PPM, withstand temperatures up to 900C, straightness must be 0.2 mm/2m, and roughness must be below RA 0.8. The industry is evolving from "copper is enough" to "high-end copper determines system limits." In the context of global AIDC construction facing environmental resistance, recycled copper has become a high-end incremental market that meets ESG demands. Data centers in Europe and the United States face tightening policies and public opposition due to their high energy consumption and water usage, making ESG compliance a prerequisite for obtaining construction permits and attracting capital. Recycled copper not only has a carbon emission level of only 20% compared to primary copper but can achieve a purity of 99.997% through refining processes, with heat dissipation performance comparable to or even surpassing primary copper. Processing one ton of recycled copper can save approximately 1,054 kilograms of standard coal, 395 kilograms of water, and reduce carbon emissions by over 70%. Global leaders, represented by Apple, have imposed stringent requirements for carbon footprint tracing and carbon tax savings on recycled copper, driving the technical difficulty, value, and profit margins of recycled copper products to be significantly higher than those of primary copper, thus offering greater added value and broader market prospects. Risk Warning Risks of computing demand not meeting expectations; risks of technology route iteration; intensified market competition and raw material price volatility risks; customer concentration and certification barrier risks.