① Some industry practitioners said that in addition to being affected by global geographical factors, etc., the shortage of raw materials in the upstream copper-clad plate industry chain and price increases, demand for consumer electronics, semiconductors, etc. in the downstream industrial chain continues to pick up, which is the root cause of the increase in the price of copper clad plates. ② People from the Nanya New Materials Securities Department said that the company's large price increase was mainly for low-end products such as lead-free and halogen-free products; however, the price increase was not significant for high-end production lines such as high-frequency high-speed boards and automotive boards.
“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, May 24 (Reporter Wu Xuguang) Despite the current correction, copper prices are still high. However, the recent rise in copper prices has spurred copper clad plate manufacturers to start a new “wave of price increases.”
On Monday (May 20), the futures price of Luntong once broke through the $11,000 per ton mark, then declined somewhat over the next few days, but remained high. As of today (May 24), Lunqin traded at $10,396.95, down 0.19%.
Due to the high cost price of copper materials, following March of this year, Jiantao Laminate, a leading copper-clad plate company, recently issued another price increase letter, increasing the price by 5-10 yuan/sheet for products with a thickness of 18 μm copper foil and a thickness of 35 μm copper foil, respectively. Prices for copper foil sheets of other thicknesses will also be adjusted according to corresponding proportions.
Regarding the reason why the price of copper-clad sheets continues to rise, some industry practitioners told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter, “Apart from being affected by global geographical factors, etc., the shortage of raw materials in the upstream copper clad plate industry chain and price increases, demand for consumer electronics, semiconductors, etc. in the downstream industrial chain continues to pick up, which is the root cause of the increase in the price of copper clad plates.”
Meanwhile, the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter noticed that some manufacturers of copper clad plate materials in the industry have also announced price increases one after another.
The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter learned through interviews with copper clad plate manufacturers such as Nanya New Materials and Huazheng New Materials that the above companies have adjusted the prices of copper clad plate products to varying degrees.
Nanya New Materials specializes in the design, development, production and sale of composite materials and products such as copper-clad plates and adhesive sheets. The company's securities department personnel said that the company adopts different price strategies, and the specific price adjustments depend on customer needs. Among them, the biggest price increase is mainly for low- and mid-range products such as lead-free and halogen-free; however, there is little price increase for middle and high-end production lines such as high-frequency high-speed boards and automotive boards, because such products themselves have high gross margins, maintain price stability while continuing to increase market share.
“Comprehensively consider large customers, small customers, and different product models to adjust prices by varying degrees.” The director and secretary of Huazheng New Materials said that due to the rise in the price of copper, the company's copper-clad plate products are also being adjusted one after another, and the industry is linked. According to the director and secretary, product price adjustments are also made based on the downstream supply and demand relationship. Currently, the downstream consumer electronics industry and the like have strong demand for copper-clad plate products. Prices have been adjusted in a timely manner, but they will also maintain the procurement they just needed.
“At present, the company's on-hand order situation has improved markedly, the operating rate has increased month-on-month, and the company's overall production and operation situation is improving.” The director and secretary of Nanya New Materials added.
Meanwhile, recently, manufacturers in the copper-clad plate industry, including Shengyi Technology and Ultrasonic Electronics, have shown varying degrees of price increases against the backdrop of rising raw material prices and a recovery in market demand.
However, some manufacturers said that since the company's related copper-clad plate products are not mass-produced, the impact of the price increase of upstream copper materials on the company's operations is limited.
A person from the securities department of Fangbang Co., Ltd. told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter that the recent rise in commodity prices has had a certain impact on the company's copper foil business, but the impact is estimated to be limited. The reason for this is that at this stage, the company's ultra-thin flexible copper-clad products involved in the copper foil laminating business are only supplied in small batches to downstream PCB circuit board manufacturers, and it will take some time for new products to contribute to performance. Currently, the company's main source of revenue is mainly sales of electromagnetic shielding films.
The copper foil business is also a new growth pole for Yuanchen Technology. Regarding the impact of the rise in copper prices, Yuanchen Technology also stated that it had little impact on the company. The company said, “At this stage, the company's main business is environmentally friendly denitrification catalysts, filter bags, etc. In the copper foil business, related products are in the early testing cycle stage and have not yet reached the point of large-scale production.”
It is worth mentioning that copper clad plate is a key PCB material. Has the price increase affected the PCB industry?
In response, the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter called Shengyi Electronics, a leading company in the PCB field. Its director and secretary said, “In a short period of time, the company was not affected by the rise in upstream copper-clad plate prices. The main thing is that the company will adjust its price increase strategy based on a combination of factors such as inventory, in-hand orders, and raw material prices.”
“At present, the company has not received any notice of the PCB circuit board price increase. It is uncertain whether the price increase will follow, and further verification will take time.” Additional aspects of Shengyi Electronics.
Looking ahead to the future market performance of copper clad plates, the aforementioned industry practitioners believe that the current market demand release continues to rise. Supported by the cost pressure on copper prices, there may still be room for short-term copper clad plate prices to rise; in the medium to long term, with the gradual recovery of the relationship between supply and demand, prices are expected to return to stability.