The pace of global 5G infrastructure has been continuously increasing while also advancing the demand for PCBs. In addition to the major PCB manufacturers that are expanding their investments to push production, the trend has also driven the upgrade of CCL (copper clad laminate foil) materials and has motivated the advanced preparation to acquire these materials. As a consequence, the performance of CCL manufacturing plants such as EMC, Iteq, Tuc, and Ventec has demonstrated a successful turnover in January, despite it being the slack season.
 

           Some major PCB manufacturers have recently strived for 5G-related construction orders, as noted by insiders of the trade. Also, since the related mid to high-level PCB production has carried out preparations in advance of the Chinese New Year, this has helped to generate further demands as these plants prepare to acquire CCL materials and have already placed orders for these products.

 

        EMC doesn’t consider the performance during the off-season in January to be weak since some orders for February have to be manufactured earlier and the applications of EMC in 5G-related infrastructure (servers and Netcom) also need to be fully compatible with the needs of HDI and high-end PCBs to ensure certification. In keeping to the demands for CCL materials driven by 5G, EMC has also mentioned that the requirements for halogen-free and environmentally-friendly materials have become more strict under the requirements of product upgrades since the EU is considered to have the highest demands for environmentally-friendly materials. Overall, EMC appears to be optimistic about market prospects in the future.

 

           As indicated by the data, the importance of 5G infrastructure is considered to be significantly greater in terms of CCL size, the number of layers, and the need for material upgrades when compared to the PCB factories. The main reasons are that the unit price and amount of use in production have significantly increased, regardless of the infrastructure design for Sub-6 or mmWave specification. As for the quality of CCL materials, the requirements would likely become more strict since the transmission of mmWave needs more antenna module designs, resulting in more requirements for the materials.

 

 

           Tuc has additionally stated to the institute investors that the demands for server applications in the United States are increasing, mainly for 5G-related applications. Iteq also considers that the demand for servers has become favorable, regardless of whether the demand is from the brand or the data center. Moreover, it is possible that the demands for base stations increase gradually with the completion of the subsequent terminal construction projects while encouraging the market momentum.

 

        Ventec believes that although the shipments in January are affected by the decrease in working days, the performance does not currently appear to be too problematic, with a follow-up momentum expected in the months to follow.

 

        As indicated from the data predictions of institutional research, since the 2.5-71GHz frequency band for transmission is required for 5G, each base station would have to include approximately three to six AAUs (active antenna units) and it is estimated the required size for PCB is approximately 2.1 to 2.3 square meters. So, the overall output value of PCB and CCL should approximately amount to US$1,600. Since there is a significant upgrade in size because the number of layers increases greatly, the output value has increased by US$300 compared to that of 4G applications. Overall, the output value of CCL materials has increased the most.

 

           Based on previous data analyses, the portion of CCL growth is the greatest, since the construction of every base station during the 5G period. High-frequency and high-speed CCL is also expected to account for 50% of PCB prices in the early stage of 5G, which is significantly higher than those in the initial and current stage of 4G that is estimated to reach its peak by 2022. (News source: Economic Daily News)