HK Stock Market Move | PCB concept stocks open higher across the board, PCB industry sets off a wave of capacity expansion. Citigroup says CCL expansion is slow and may become more scarce.

Concept stocks of PCB opened high across the board. As of the release of this article, KB LAMINATES (01888) rose 9.15% to HKD 73.35, KINGBOARD HLDG (00148) rose 6.72% to HKD 100, Victory Giant Technology (02476) rose 5.54% to HKD 399.8, and DELTON (01989) rose 4.19% to HKD 171.4. On the news front, according to Shanghai Securities News, as of June 11, 13 PCB manufacturing companies have announced expansion plans with total investment exceeding 60 billion yuan (including intentions) this year. Recently, interviews with executives of various listed companies in the industry chain revealed that this round of expansion is not simply about increasing scale, but more like a game of positioning around high-end capacity and global market share. Citigroup released a research report stating that this year, the capacity growth of major copper-clad laminates (CCL) manufacturers is only slightly above 20%, far lower than the speed of downstream PCB expansion. With the surge in AI demand in the third quarter, some PCB factories may start facing shortages of copper-clad laminates. Prices of M7 and below grade CCL have generally increased by at least 20%, while prices of lower-end M4 products have risen by 30% to 40%. As for high-end M8 materials related to AI, manufacturers have been more focused on long-term customer relationships, resulting in relatively moderate price increases.