Kingboard Laminates Raises Board Prices 10% and PP Material 20% as Copper and Fiberglass Costs Surge

Guangdong Kingboard Laminate Sales Co., Ltd., one of the largest copper-clad laminate (CCL) producers in the world, has issued a fresh price increase notice to all of its customers. The new pricing system takes effect immediately and raises board material prices by 10 percent and prepreg (PP) material prices by 20 percent. The company cited persistently high copper prices, the continued rise of fiberglass cloth costs, and tight upstream supply as the main reasons behind the adjustment.

Kingboard occupies a strategic position in the global electronics supply chain. The group is headquartered in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, with major manufacturing sites in Shenzhen, Jiangmen, Fogang, and Shixing in Guangdong province, plus additional capacity in Jiangsu. It supplies the foundational substrate that goes into nearly every printed circuit board used in consumer electronics, AI servers, automotive ECUs, telecom equipment, and industrial controls. Because Kingboard operates across the full value chain from fiberglass yarn and copper foil to finished laminates, its pricing decisions tend to set the tone for the entire CCL industry and quickly ripple through downstream PCB manufacturing.

The current adjustment is part of a broader inflationary wave in the printed circuit board materials market. Industry trackers note that this is the fourth Kingboard price hike of 2026, following earlier rounds of increases announced in late 2025 and during the first quarter of 2026. South Korean customs data released earlier in May showed that CCL import prices reached 20,728 USD per ton in March 2026, a 74.5 percent jump year-on-year and the highest level on record since the agency began tracking the indicator in 2000.

Several structural factors are sustaining the cost pressure. Copper prices have remained elevated, with the London Metal Exchange contract trading at multi-year highs through the spring of 2026. Glass fiber cloth, especially the low-loss T-glass variety required for high-end PCB applications, is in short supply because of the surge in demand from AI server, advanced GPU, and high-speed networking customers. Epoxy resin and copper foil, which together account for the majority of CCL production costs, have also been trending upward.

Downstream impact is expected to be widespread. According to industry observers, Kingboard customers currently have no bargaining power and all cooperative partners are required to accept the new selling prices. PCB fabricators, electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers, and original equipment manufacturers across Asia, Europe, and North America will face higher input costs. Consumer electronics, automotive electronics, AI infrastructure hardware, and 5G networking gear are among the segments most exposed to the rising bill of materials.

The price increase notice arrives at a time when the global CCL market is already running near full capacity. NVIDIA's upcoming Rubin GPU platform, which uses larger substrates with higher layer counts than its predecessors, is expected to amplify demand for premium-grade laminates through the second half of 2026. Other major Asian producers including Nan Ya Plastics, Taiwan Union Technology, Iteq, and Elite Material have issued their own price hike notices in recent months, with some high-end CCL grades reportedly up 20 to 40 percent since the start of the year. Procurement teams therefore have few low-cost alternatives in the short term.

Kingboard Laminates Holdings reported strong financial momentum heading into this adjustment, with parent company Kingboard Holdings forecasting a 165 percent jump in 2025 net profit to more than HK$4.32 billion on the back of resurgent demand for AI-grade materials. The group is also investing close to 2 billion yuan in new electronic-grade fiberglass and yarn capacity at its Shixing Industrial Park site in Guangdong, with production lines expected to ramp from mid-2026.

Procurement managers and electronics buyers should plan for higher PCB input costs through at least the second half of 2026 and consider locking in long-term supply agreements with multiple qualified vendors where possible.