The Third Wave of Price Increases for Copper Clad Laminates has Come.
According to industry media reports recently, some copper clad laminate (CCL) manufacturers have recently raised prices (or prepared for price increases), with a price increase of 10-20%.
Recently, the foreign epidemic situation has become more and more serious, while the domestic epidemic situation is still under control.
The localization of high-end, special copper-clad laminates and their raw materials is accelerating.
Under the background of limited capacity expansion, copper-clad laminate manufacturers are more confident in raising prices.
Copper-clad laminate is the core material of PCB circuit board, and it accounts for the highest proportion of PCB raw material cost.
At the beginning of May this year, copper clad laminate manufacturers started the first wave of price increases this year, and this is the third price increase. The reasons for the price increase can be analyzed from the following two aspects:
On the one hand, the rising prices of various raw materials in the upstream have pushed up the price of copper-clad laminates.
Among the raw materials of copper-clad laminates, copper foil accounts for 30%-50%, glass fiber accounts for 25%-40%, and resin accounts for 25%-30% of the total cost.
Among them, the price of resin has risen by more than 20%, and the price is still in an upward channel; the price of glass fiber has continued to rise this year, reaching a new high in recent years; the price of LME copper has risen nearly 50% since its lowest point in March.
The main reason is that several major producing countries, such as Chile, the United States, Canada, and Zambia, are all under the envelope of the epidemic, and the supply of copper on the market is limited.
On the other hand, from the downstream demand side, the demand for automobiles and home appliances has soared, which has really given more confidence to the price increase of copper-clad laminates.
At present, demand in the automotive industry is gradually picking up. In the fourth quarter, commercial vehicles will continue to grow due to policies and investment; for passenger vehicles, the Beijing International Auto Show opened in late September promoted the full launch of new products by the company, superimposing localities to promote consumption.
The continuation of the policy will have a positive impact on the market.
According to statistics from the China Automobile Association, the auto industry’s sales volume in October 2020 is estimated to be 2.544 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. Among them, from the perspective of segmented models, passenger vehicle sales increased by 7.3% year on year, and commercial vehicle sales increased by 27.5% year on year.
It is worth noting that new energy vehicles have greater demand for automotive electronics than traditional vehicles, so the quantity and quality of copper-clad laminates used are higher.
The high prosperity of new energy vehicles directly drives the increase in the demand for copper-clad laminates.
In addition, the home appliance sector finally ushered in an inflection point in the third quarter after a two-year downward cycle, with revenue of 328.77 billion RMB in the third quarter, an increase both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.
Recently, there has been an explosion of export orders for home appliances.
Many people in the industry believe that overseas demand for home appliances may remain high during the year.