Resulting from their optimism about the market demand for copper-clad laminate (CCL), the Taiwanese CCL manufacturing plants such as EMCTW and Iteq are actively expanding their production capacity. For this quarter, the new production capacity will be strengthened in order to benefit from the expected business opportunities in the market. Furthermore, 5G applications are understood as being an important motivator in CCL market opportunities. In addition to 5G mobile phones, the infrastructure construction for 5G in China is creating a significant demand that has also been considered as a significant motivator for the CCL market. 

 

    As predicted by the relevant institutes, China has already planned to invest 350,000 units of 5G base-stations, which is approximately 1.3 to 1.5 times higher than that of 4G. In addition, the market size of CCL materials required for the 5G related applications worldwide is estimated to be approximately 13 times higher than that of 4G and the scale of high-frequency base stations of PCB is expected to reach up to five times higher. But, more importantly, the magnitude of growth for high frequency and high-speed CCL materials should be increased drastically. 

 

    Moreover, in terms of the expansion for the Taiwanese manufacturing plants, NPC, which is the business division with the top three CCL manufacturing plants globally, has planned to expand its production capacity in mainland China by 1.1 million pieces per month. If the company’s related targets can be achieved this year, its total capacity will be increased by approximately 18%.

    Furthermore, it is expected that the new production capacity of EMCTW at the Huangshi Plant will be released soon. After completing the trial production in September, the plant’s production capacity can be gradually increased. By the time that the production capacity is increased, the monthly capacity will reach 600,000 pieces. After the initial production capacity is released, an advance in the production capacity is like to be increased by more than 20%. However, when the addition of the Jiangxi capacity of Iteq has joined the manufacturing plant, the target production capacity should be able to increase by more than 18% annually. According to the manufacturing plant’s strategy, Iteq’s additional production capacity could start to contribute to the performance capacity by the end of the third quarter.

 

   According to the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPC), the production capacity of global PCB copper-clad laminate is expected to increase by 11.5%, with an increase of 269,100 tons in 2018 to 300,100 tons in 2019. The overall supplies will also experience a steady increase. (News source: Economic Daily News).