Key Materials in the Fusion Industry: The "Strategic Reassessment" Cycle of Magnets like Tantalum and Niobium

The fusion industry is undergoing a historic transition from “laboratory research and development” to “commercial deployment.” As the most valuable core component of fusion devices, the magnet system (accounting for 28% of ITER and 46% of the ARC project) is at a critical window for technological iteration from low-temperature superconductors (NbTi/Nb₃Sn) to high-temperature superconductors (REBCO). This industry shift is not an isolated material replacement but a systematic reshaping of the supply and demand landscape and pricing system for key materials such as tantalum and niobium along the value chain of “upstream mineral resources—midstream superconducting materials—downstream magnet integration.”