The synthesis of cuprate superconductor powders, required for the manufacture of bulk material or wires and tapes by the powder-in-tube (PIT) method, is briefly described. The PIT method has been successfully used for the manufacture of Bi-2212, Bi-2223, MgB2 and iron-based superconductor (IBS) wires and tapes. In case of MgB2, fully reacted MgB2 (ex-situ PIT) or a mixture of Mg and B powders (in-situ PIT) can be used as starting materials. A further processing route for MgB2 wires is the internal magnesium diffusion (IMD) method. The manufacture of RE-123 coated conductors is based on the deposition of biaxially textured RE-123 films on long and flexible metallic substrates, which are buffered with suitable oxides to provide a template for epitaxial growth and to avoid undesirable chemical reactions with the metallic substrate. The rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS) process, ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD), and inclined substrate deposition (ISD) are used to deposit biaxially textured RE-123 films on metallic substrates of long length. The routes used for the manufacture of MgB2, IBS, Bi-2212, Bi-2223, and RE-123 wires and tapes are briefly reviewed.