Copper-clad laminate (PCB) prices surged synchronously across China, Japan, and Taiwan—cumulative increases of 50% year-to-date in China, 30% in Japan (4 months), and 20–40% in Taiwan—driven by AI server production boom.
China's and Japan's copper clad laminate (CCL) markets are experiencing synchronized price increases, driven by what analysts characterize as an AI supercycle that has sealed supply-demand gaps. According to Guojin Securities data, domestic CCL prices have risen five times year-to-date as of June 23, with cumulative increases exceeding 50 percent. Japan's Resonac has executed a 30 percent price hike over four months; Mitsubishi Gas Chemical's 30 percent increase has been in effect for three months; and Taiwan-based Taiwan Yellow's 20–40 percent price increases have been in place for roughly two and a half months. This represents a synchronized price round spanning China, Japan, and Taiwan, covering products from standard FR-4 to high-end M9/M10 materials across all categories.
Viewed through supply and demand dynamics, this price round departs from the traditional "cost-driven increase → price rise → expanded production → oversupply" cycle. On the upstream side, electronic fiberglass cloth 7628 has risen nearly 100 percent from its 2025 Q3 low; ultra-fine electronic yarn D450 has doubled from 25 yuan per kilogram to 50 yuan per kilogram; Toyota's fiberglass weaving loom global monthly output stands at just 100 units with delivery cycles exceeding one year; and high-voltage low-pressure (HVLP) copper foil domestic expansion orders queue through 2027. Shanxi Securities assesses this as an AI-driven supercycle with strong persistence, with CCL supply-demand tensions likely persisting through 2027 and beyond.
On the downstream side, AI server CCL usage is three to five times that of traditional equipment. NVIDIA's upgrade from H100's M7 material to GB200's M8, with M9 entering mass production in 2026, represents potential CCL demand; 224G high-speed interconnect demands extreme performance from CCL's dielectric properties. Dongguan Securities reports that downstream customers this year are adopting M8.5+ materials, with certain segments potentially moving to higher-end M9 materials, dramatically elevating CCL value per unit.
However, China currently depends on overseas suppliers for high-end CCL, creating import-export price disparities. Caixin Securities data shows that in April, CCL import prices averaged 44,400 US dollars per ton, up 9 percent year-on-year, while export prices averaged 12,100 US dollars per ton, up 67 percent year-on-year. The import price is 3.7 times the export price—a quantified gap reflecting not merely price difference but China's continued technical dependence on imports for high-end CCL. In the same period, Taiwan PCB raw material manufacturers reported April revenue growth of 31 percent year-on-year, far outpacing PCB makers' 18 percent growth. According to Northeast Securities, three companies—Tailight, Doosan, and Taiwan Yellow—collectively hold 81.4 percent market share in the global high-frequency CCL market, though China's emerging enterprises are beginning to crack this monopoly.
This round covers not just Kingboard but suppliers across China, Japan, and Taiwan. According to Everbright Securities, Japan's Resonac led the way, raising CCL and adhesive sheet prices 30 percent effective March 1. A month later, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical announced 30 percent increases across its entire CCL, prepreg, and CRS product lines effective April 1, citing surging raw material costs and rising labor and transportation expenses. In Taiwan, Taiwan Yellow increased certain product lines by 20–40 percent starting April 25; Tailight and Unimicron raised high-end material prices by 10 percent from Q2; all three Taiwanese manufacturers have locked focus on high-end applications including AI servers and switches.
CCL is not alone in rising prices; other AI supply chain components are rising synchronously. Dongguan Securities notes that on the same day as Kingboard's first price increase, KEMET—under parent company Yageo—raised tantalum capacitor T523 series prices, marking the third such increase since late last year. Though tantalum capacitors and CCL appear unrelated electronic components, their synchronized increases point to the same underlying driver: AI data center construction triggering broad-based component demand surges. The resonance logic stems from raw materials remaining at elevated prices, elevated downstream PCB utilization rates, and AI CCL products crowding out conventional capacity. By the fifth price round three and a half months later, these three factors had not receded but compounded with Q3 seasonal demand and ASIC proliferation.
High-speed interconnect requirements drive component upgrades and dramatically lift CCL value. Western Securities notes that 224G high-speed interconnect demands CCL's dielectric constant (Dk) and dissipation factor (Df) move from 3.2/0.0012 to the tighter 3.0/0.0009, substantially reducing signal attenuation and delay in ultra-high-frequency environments—but this upgrade represents a physical threshold rather than performance advancement. Thus 224G high-speed interconnect demand defines the forced upgrade cadence from M7 to M8 to M9 CCL. Dongguan Securities judges that downstream customers this year will adopt M8.5+ materials, with certain segments potentially using higher-end M9, substantially elevating product value.
On technology trajectory, NVIDIA's compute node iteration defines the entire supply chain's upgrade pace, with high-end capacity concentrated overseas. Western Securities analysis shows H100 uses M7-grade CCL, GB200 upgrades to M8, and 2026 should see M9-grade CCL entering large-scale mass production. Tailight, as the global high-end CCL leader, projects 40 percent compound annual growth in high-end CCL between 2024 and 2027. However, the supply side remains highly concentrated: in 2024's global high-performance CCL market, Tailight, Doosan, and Taiwan Yellow collectively held 81.4 percent market share.
Demand-side figures convey equal urgency. According to Dongguan Securities, Oracle projects 2026 fiscal capital expenditures of 50 billion US dollars and raised 2027 revenue guidance to 90 billion US dollars, with Q3 cloud infrastructure revenue of 4.9 billion US dollars exceeding analyst expectations of 4.74 billion US dollars. Guojin Securities identifies four demand engines for CCL: First, AI servers—NVIDIA's Rubin single-rack PCB value rises 233 percent versus GB300, with orders beginning in Q2 and entering peak season in Q3; Google's TPU V8 single-TPU PCB value increases significantly versus V7; Amazon's Trainium 3 begins pulling orders in Q3.
Second, switches—800G volumes are growing substantially, 1.6T entering mass production in the second half, requiring substantial high-layer PCB capacity and driving CCL demand.
Third, ASIC chips—Google, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft ASIC volumes experience explosive growth between 2026 and 2027.
Fourth, optical modules and networking—1.6T optical modules and NPO mSAP-process PCB face difficult yield improvement, longer expansion cycles, and are expected to remain supply-constrained for 1–2 years with continued price increases.
Kingboard Laminates represents the CCL market's "foundation." Guotai Securities' financial analysis shows 2025 revenue of 20.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 10 percent year-on-year; net profit attributable to equity holders of 2.44 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 84 percent year-on-year. Its rigid CCL sales account for 14.7 percent market share, holding first place globally for 20 consecutive years. The company operates over 20 facilities across South China, East China, and Thailand. Price increases are expected to drive 2026 revenue to 35.55 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 69.4 percent year-on-year, with net profit of 5.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 141.6 percent year-on-year. These figures rest on three-line capacity expansion. Electronic fabric capacity expands from 720 million meters per year at end-2025 to 1.15 billion meters per year by end-2028, a 60 percent three-year increase. AI material capacity includes Kingboard's first 500-ton low-Dk electronic yarn kiln, which came online in the first half of 2025; three additional kilns planned for the first half of 2026, with 12 kilns in the long-term plan. Low-CTE electronic yarn has entered the high-end substrate supply chain. A new Shaoguan facility producing 70,000 tons of electronic yarn and 96 million meters of electronic fabric is expected to go online in the second half of 2026. Copper foil capacity expands from 100,000 tons to 130,000 tons. High-end copper foil (21,000 tons RTF corresponding to M4–M6 grades, and HVLP corresponding to M7–M9 grades) is scheduled for mid-2027 startup. Kingboard's unique advantage lies in simultaneous possession of price-margin capture capability and AI material positioning, with vertical integration of self-supplied glass yarn, fabric, copper foil, and epoxy resin. During price cycles, the company neither faces supplier constraints nor must surrender margin—instead it captures price gains in its financial statements.
Nanya New Materials exemplifies the technology breakthrough path. Having been first to achieve Huawei certification across its full dielectric-loss-grade high-speed product series, Western Securities positions it as the "technology benchmark" among domestic CCL makers. Its M6–M8 products are in batch application at leading domestic compute customers; in Q4 2025, it became the first globally to launch M10-grade material. M10 represents the highest-tier commercially available CCL material currently known; not a Japanese manufacturer but a Chinese enterprise brought M10 to market, signaling that at the highest-end tier, China's CCL stands on equal footing with Japanese giants. However, M10 is currently undergoing certification at overseas core compute endpoints, with batch shipments still ahead in time.
Yanjiang New Materials provides a third path—"positioned entry" through acquisition of high-end assets. Northeast Securities reports the company's nonwoven base business maintains steady growth: pore-punch nonwoven revenue rose 15.6 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025; hot-melt nonwoven rose 58.4 percent year-on-year, with overseas bases established in Egypt, the US, and India. In January 2026, the company acquired 98.54 percent of Ningbo Yongqiang Technology through share issuance and cash payment, entering the CCL segment. Yongqiang's core products are high-performance CCL and semi-cured sheets for applications in AI compute, 5G/6G communications, and data centers. Its core competitive advantage is pricing: relative to comparable foreign products, it achieves 30 percent lower prices while maintaining equivalent performance.
The three companies' paths converge on a single trajectory. Kingboard, through vertical integration, captures price premiums while three-line AI material expansion defines production scale ceiling; Nanya, by pioneering M10 launch, defines the speed of technological catch-up; Yanjiang, through 30 percent cheaper pricing than foreign competitors and lead-customer certification, defines cross-border positioning efficiency. Dongguan Securities emphasizes that CCL upgrades will drive raw material upgrades in copper foil and electronic fabric as well: price increases are not the endpoint—upgrades are. And the AI-compute-driven upgrade window is precisely the moment when domestic brands redraw starting lines.