Raw materials for producing wire are mainly iron and copper. The chemical compositions of these two metals are good conductors of electricity because their electrons move easily from atom to atom when exposed to an external electric field. This property makes them superior materials for electromagnetism applications such as appliances, tools, etc.
Moreover, iron has almost ten times higher weight than copper per given volume, this means that more pieces of iron are required to make a given amount of wire compared with copper. As a result, the electric power consumption per unit length is lower for an iron conductor than for a copper one. For electrification purposes, common commercially available wires are made from carbon steel or rubber plastic coatings on copper or aluminium cores.