Behind the Soaring CCL Prices: How Can PCB Manufacturers Survive, and Are Small-to-Mid-Sized Players Facing a Wave of Closures?

In 2026, the PCB industry is experiencing an unprecedented "tale of two cities."

On one side, there is a structural boom driven by AI computing demand—leading PCB companies have seen their net profits double year-on-year, with high-end production lines running at full capacity. On the other, CCL (Copper Clad Laminate) prices have already been raised five times this year, with cumulative increases exceeding 50%. Standard FR4 CCL sheets, which started the year at around RMB 160–170 per sheet, have continued their upward trajectory with no signs of slowing.

While upstream CCL suppliers wield pricing power and keep raising prices, downstream electronics customers refuse to accept price hikes. PCB manufacturers are caught squarely in the middle, fighting for survival. This raw material storm is accelerating an industry-wide shakeout.

I. Why Are CCL Prices Rising So Relentlessly? Three Pressures Converge

The current CCL price surge is unlike any before it—it is no longer a simple cost-pass-through, but rather the result of structural supply-demand imbalances.

Pressure #1: A "Hard Gap" in Upstream Electronic Glass Fabric. Prices for mainstream products like 7628 electronic glass fabric have doubled since the beginning of the year. The core bottleneck lies in high-end looms, which have delivery lead times of 1 to 1.5 years and a global monthly production capacity of only 100 units. The industry has fallen into a state of near-zero inventory. The shortage in conventional electronic glass fabric is estimated at 10%–15% for 2026, and is projected to widen further in 2027.

Pressure #2: The Crowding-Out Effect of AI Demand. The explosive growth of AI servers has forced manufacturers to allocate their limited loom capacity toward high-end specialty fabrics, directly squeezing the supply of conventional 7628 fabric. High-speed CCL grades such as M8 and M9 command prices 7 to 15 times higher than standard FR4. Manufacturers naturally prioritize high-margin products, further constricting the capacity available for conventional PCBs.

Pressure #3: Accelerating Price Hike Cadence. On June 16, KB Laminates announced another 15% price increase on all FR-4 CCL products, just three weeks after its previous adjustment. The hike—up from the prior single-round increase of 10%—significantly exceeded market expectations. As we enter the Q3 peak shipping season for AI computing, the CCL upward price cycle is conservatively expected to persist through at least the first half of 2027.

II. The PCB Manufacturer's Dilemma: Squeezed from Both Sides

Faced with relentless CCL price increases, PCB manufacturers find themselves in a classic "sandwich" position:

Upstream: CCL suppliers hold absolute pricing power—they not only impose steep price hikes but also allocate capacity through quota systems and extended lead times. "Plant shutdowns due to material shortages" have become a reality.

Downstream: Consumer electronics customers are highly price-sensitive and have strong bargaining power, making it extremely difficult for PCB manufacturers to pass through cost increases. In contrast, AI-related PCB manufacturers remain largely unaffected—high-speed CCL itself has seen relatively modest price increases, and AI downstream customers have a strong capacity to absorb costs, with profitability expected to hold steady.

The greatest pressure, however, falls squarely on small-to-mid-sized manufacturers focused on low-end conventional PCBs.

These companies produce low-tech, commoditized products and face fierce homogeneous competition. They are neither able to break into high-end supply chains nor resilient enough to withstand raw material price volatility. Industry data shows that gross margins for conventional PCBs have long hovered around 15%, while high-frequency, high-speed boards for AI servers consistently command gross margins above 30%. In 2025, the PCB industry already exhibited a distinct pattern of "strong growth at the top, mounting pressure at the bottom," with some smaller players even experiencing revenue declines and net losses.

III. Are Small-to-Mid-Sized PCB Manufacturers Facing a Wave of Closures?

The answer is likely: A structural wave of closures has already begun, but it does not spell doom for the entire industry.

Looking at industry trends, this shakeout has two defining characteristics:

Characteristic #1: Polarization Is Accelerating—the Strong Get Stronger. Leading companies have achieved explosive performance growth driven by high-end AI products. Shengyi Technology's 2025 net profit is estimated to reach RMB 4.312 billion, up 273% year-on-year; Shennan Circuits increased by 74.47%; and Wus Printed Circuit posted net profits of RMB 3.822 billion. Meanwhile, smaller manufacturers remain mired in the red ocean of low-end capacity, with market share steadily eroding.

Characteristic #2: Capital Barriers Have Reached Unprecedented Levels, Leaving Smaller Players Unable to Keep Pace. Leading PCB companies have launched wave after wave of multi-billion-yuan capacity expansion plans. As of March 2026, the total announced investment in new high-end capacity by domestic industry leaders had exceeded RMB 40 billion. High-end PCB expansion cycles stretch up to 18 months, with extremely long equipment delivery lead times. Smaller manufacturers lack both the financial resources and the technical expertise to compete.

Wanyuantong serves as a telling example—this mid-sized company, ranked among the top 50 in China's PCB industry, saw its revenue grow from RMB 984 million to RMB 1.18 billion between 2023 and 2025. However, its gross margin steadily declined from 23.8% to 19.7% over the same period, falling into a "volume-for-price" trap, while cash flow tightened and inventory turnover lengthened.

It is foreseeable that over the next 2 to 3 years, small-to-mid-sized manufacturers focused on conventional PCBs and lacking technological differentiation will face severe existential challenges. Only those that can break into AI computing, high-end communications, automotive electronics, and other high-growth segments—and successfully upgrade their product portfolios—will have a chance to weather the cycle.

IV. What Are the Pathways Forward for PCB Manufacturers?

Faced with this structural reshuffling, the survival logic for PCB manufacturers has fundamentally changed: The way out lies not in "fighting" upstream over prices, but in repositioning and migrating toward high-value-added segments.

Pathway #1: Abandon Low-End Involution and Proactively Optimize the Customer Portfolio. Against the backdrop of sustained material price increases and tight supply, continuing to accept a large volume of low-end, low-price, and low-margin orders not only yields meager profits but also squanders limited capacity on products that generate no future competitiveness. Proactively phasing out inefficient capacity and reallocating resources toward technologically sophisticated orders is a critical first step for smaller players to survive.

Pathway #2: Migrate Toward High-End Segments to Find "Structural Shelter." AI-related PCB manufacturers remain largely insulated from CCL price shocks. The PCB value per AI server unit is 5 to 10 times that of a conventional server, with extremely demanding requirements for layer count, precision, and high-frequency/high-speed performance. Order visibility has already extended into 2027. Customers in the automotive and industrial control sectors, who prioritize delivery stability and quality over price sensitivity, also provide relatively safe bargaining space.

Pathway #3: Deepen Strategic Collaboration with Upstream Suppliers. Leading PCB manufacturers have secured priority allocation during supply tightness by planning ahead and shortening material qualification cycles. Under the current supply-constrained landscape, building deep partnerships with core suppliers—using stable orders in exchange for supply assurance—is far more effective than scrambling for materials at the last minute.

Pathway #4: Embrace the Market's "Survival of the Fittest" Principle. The PCB industry is undergoing a transformation from traditional manufacturing to high-end intelligent manufacturing. Market dominance will increasingly concentrate among companies with strong R&D capabilities, premium customer relationships, financial strength, and full-industry-chain integration. This is no longer a cyclical fluctuation—it is structural industrial upgrading. Those unable to complete the technological leap will inevitably be left behind.

For PCB manufacturers, the CCL price surge is not a question of "whether to raise prices"—it is a matter of "adapt or die." The market is validating Darwin's law in the most brutal way possible: those that survive are not the most powerful, but those most responsive to change.