The demand for copper-clad laminates has skyrocketed! Double shipments in July within a month

The demand for high-speed copper-clad laminates can no longer be described as' growing '- starting from July, it is being eaten up by AI servers. With the new generation of AI server platforms entering mass production, the shipment volume of high-speed materials (M4/M7/M8) in July alone has doubled compared to the average level in the first half of the year; The visibility of industry orders has been ranked until October November 2026, and it is expected to increase by another 50% -70% on this base in 2027. On the supply side, the most scarce ordinary electronic fabric has had its safety stock reduced from three months to only one week. The supply-demand gap is not narrowing, but widening month by month.

・ The new generation AI platform entered mass production in July, and the monthly shipment of high-speed materials doubled compared to the average in the first half of the year; The visibility of orders is expected to reach October November 2026, and the demand for high-speed products is expected to increase by another 50% to 70% in 2027.・ Full production and sales across the entire industry: The utilization rate of mid to low end products has increased from 70% to 80% to full production, and prices have increased 4-5 times, with a single increase of 10% to 15%, by 2026; Downstream PCB inventory is basically zero, and the request for a 1-2 month backup order has been directly rejected.・ The shortage of raw materials across the board: the safety stock of ordinary electronic fabric has been reduced from 3 months to 1 week; Top manufacturers have issued price increase letters, and August will become the industry's collective price increase window; The expansion of production will not be released until 2028, and the short-term gap cannot be filled.

I、Double monthly shipments in July: AI eats up high-speed copper-clad laminates in one bite

In the first half of 2026, AI related demand will still be dominated by the previous generation platforms; In July, the new generation of AI server platforms began to enter the starting point of mass production. According to industry order forecasts, the shipment volume of M4, M7, and M8 grades of materials in July is expected to reach twice the average level of the first half of the year. Due to the use of a large number of design schemes combining M4+M7 or M4+M8, the demand trends for these three types of materials are basically the same, with only differences in absolute quantities. Looking ahead, the visibility of industry orders has been ranked until October November 2026, and the trend of tight supply and demand and rising prices will continue until at least the end of the year; Conservatively estimated, based on the second half of 2026, the shipment volume of high-speed products is expected to increase by more than 50% in 2027. Some opinions suggest that the growth rate could reach 50-70%。

II、Full production and sales of the entire line, orders scheduled until the end of 2026: seller's market confirmed

From upstream raw materials to midstream copper-clad laminates, and then to downstream PCBs, the entire chain has been fully produced and sold. The utilization rate of mid to low end copper-clad laminate manufacturers has increased from 70% to 80% in the past to full production, with order visibility reaching one to two months; By 2026, some products will have experienced four to five price increases, with each increase ranging from 10% to 15%. What further illustrates the level of tension is inventory: downstream PCB manufacturers currently have almost no inventory, and many manufacturers have tried to place one to two month stock orders with copper-clad laminate factories. However, copper-clad laminate factories currently do not accept such orders - they want to take more goods, but cannot.

III、Regular electronic fabric inventory reduced from 3 months to 1 week: material shortage across the board

The source of this round of tension lies in upstream materials. The most scarce among them are ordinary electronic fabrics (thick fabrics such as 7628) used for the mid to low end: with large quantities and low profits, fabric factories have squeezed their production capacity to high-end products, resulting in the safety stock of such fabrics dropping from the normal three months to about a week, and sometimes even requiring urgent procurement for temporary orders. Moving forward, it is expected that there will be a shortage of second-generation cloth in the second half of 2026, while the shortage of T-cloth will continue until 2027. The copper foil end is also tight: the supply of 2-ounce RTF thick copper foil is quite tight, and the gap of third-generation and fourth generation HVLP copper foil will further enlarge in the second half of the year with the increasing volume of the new generation platform. The carrier copper foil is also beginning to experience supply shortages, and downstream companies are turning to domestic alternatives.

IV、August collective price increase window opens: price surge continues to spread downstream

The price increase is progressing layer by layer along different product lines. Mid to low end products have undergone multiple price adjustments in 2026; Mid to high end consumer electronics boards will have two price adjustments within the year (approximately 15% in January and ranging from 15% to 30% for customers in May); In the AI high-speed board, products supplied to North American ASIC customers will experience at least two price increases in 2026. The more critical timing is that the top copper-clad laminate manufacturers have issued price increase letters and plan to implement new prices from August 1st. It is expected that August will become an industry wide collective price increase window. There is still room for improvement on the raw material side: ordinary electronic fabric is currently priced at 7-8 yuan, with an expected increase of 10% -20%; The price increase space for second-generation fabrics can reach 20% -30%. It is worth noting that the gross profit margin of ordinary FR-4 has been pulled to a level close to that of M4 grade materials.

V、Expanding production will wait until 2028: short-term gap cannot be filled

Demand increases month by month, but supply cannot keep up in the short term. The capacity expansion of top copper-clad laminate manufacturers is generally not gradually released until the first and third quarters of 2028: some manufacturers plan to increase their total production capacity to the level of 9-10 million sheets by the first quarter of 2027 (an increase of about 80-90% compared to the current level), while others will add about 5 million sheets of production capacity in both regions. But buying equipment, building factories, and verifying production already take time. Before the new production capacity is truly implemented, the tight supply and demand will be difficult to ease in the short term - this is also the confidence that many top manufacturers have set their medium - and long-term sales growth plans at 40% -50% per year.