On March 10, Kingboard Group, a giant in the copper clad laminate industry, issued a price increase notice, which quickly attracted high attention from the electronics industry chain.
 
According to the notice, affected by the situation in the Middle East, prices of chemical products such as epoxy resin, natural gas and TBBA have soared with tight supply. Coupled with the long-term high copper prices, the sharp rise in raw material and processing costs of copper clad laminates has created huge cost pressure. Starting from the same day's orders, prices of all thickness specifications including sheets, PP (prepreg) and copper foil processing fees will be increased by 10% simultaneously.
 
As a global leader in the copper clad laminate industry, Kingboard's price hike will have a direct impact on cost transmission across the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) industry chain. Industry analysts believe that the combination of raw material price fluctuations and geopolitical risks is pushing the electronic substrate industry into a new round of price adjustment cycle, and downstream electronics manufacturers may face rising cost pressure.
 
As the core substrate for PCBs, price fluctuations of copper clad laminates are directly transmitted to end-use sectors such as consumer electronics and communication equipment. Kingboard's price increase is not only a release of the company's own cost pressure, but also regarded as a landmark signal of concentrated upstream pressure in the industry. The market generally expects other copper clad laminate manufacturers to follow suit, further intensifying cost pressure on the industry chain.