On the afternoon of May 29th, the PCB concept briefly rebounded. Xingsen Technology hit the limit-up, though its gains later moderated to around 6%. By market close, Hefei Metalforming Intelligent Manufacturing Co.,Ltd. (603011.SH) had achieved three consecutive trading limit-ups, accumulating a gain of nearly 26% over five days. Baoding Technology and Shennan Circuits rose nearly 4%, while Shengyi Technology gained over 3%.
Following the market close, Hefei Metalforming Intelligent Manufacturing Co.,Ltd. issued a risk warning announcement. The company stated that its core business is high-end forming machine tools and intelligent photoelectric sorting equipment, and it is not involved in AI computing power operations. Regarding the nuclear fusion and PCB concepts, which have garnered significant market attention recently, the company clarified it has not generated any related business revenue.
Market news indicates that, according to a report from CCTV Finance, a senior executive at a global leading copper processing enterprise noted strong current market demand. Orders for high-voltage electromagnetic flat wire products used in new energy vehicles are reportedly scheduled through the second half of 2027, requiring substantial consumption of raw material copper. The company reportedly purchases approximately 1.9 million tons of primary and recycled copper annually. The report also highlighted that the global supply-demand gap for products like high-end copper strips, ultra-thin copper foil, and special copper alloys continues to widen, particularly in key sectors such as semiconductors and advanced electronics, with the localization rate of high-end copper materials in China steadily increasing.
Dongwu Securities stated that copper foil serves as the conductive layer in PCBs, functioning as the "road network" for electricity transmission. Its core role is that the circuits remaining after LDI and etching processes can transmit electrical signals.
Northeast Securities believes that on the demand side, driven by necessities such as AI server hardware upgrades, the proliferation of advanced packaging, and high-speed signal transmission, the AI sector is increasing its usage and upgrading specifications for PCB copper foil. The overall supply in the PCB copper foil industry is inelastic. High-end PCB copper foil has high technical barriers and production thresholds, resulting in an overall state of supply falling short of demand. Furthermore, the production of high-end PCB copper foil may, to some extent, compete for production capacity with products like lithium battery copper foil. The high prosperity of the AI industry is expected to persist long-term. The imminent explosion in AI inference demand will usher the industry into a new inference era, potentially leading to exponential growth in inference-side computing power. This is expected to drive a surge in demand for high-end PCB copper foil, with a strong overall industry trend and solid earnings visibility for PCB copper foil.
From the supply side, high-end PCB copper foil faces high technical and other barriers, long dominated by Japanese and Taiwanese manufacturers. Domestic manufacturers are actively advancing technological R&D and customer onboarding. It is anticipated that as industry demand expands and creates a supply-demand gap, domestic manufacturers are expected to enter the high-end PCB copper foil market. Additionally, producing high-end PCB copper foil requires equipment like surface treatment machines. The supply of high-end PCB copper foil surface treatment machines has long been dominated by Japan, with limited short-term progress in domestic substitution. Due to the relative supply inelasticity of core equipment, the production of high-end PCB copper foil, especially HVLP3-5 grade foil, may compete for capacity with other products, further widening the supply gap for lithium battery copper foil.
Regarding the market, according to statistics from Dongwu Securities, the global AI server PCB market size is projected to grow from $3 billion in 2024 to over $20 billion in 2027, with corresponding year-on-year growth rates exceeding 100% in 2026 and 70% in 2027. The industry trend of "volume and price rising together" is clear, with price increases potentially spreading from 2026 to 2027, and the supply-demand gap for high-end products expected to persist.
In terms of strategy, Northeast Securities believes that AI is driving demand growth for high-end PCB copper foil, indicating vast future growth potential. Related companies that may benefit include Tongguan Copper Foil, Defu Technology, Longyang Electronics, Jiayuan Technology, Nuode Shares, Zhongyi Technology, Hailiang Shares, Yihao New Materials, Taijin New Energy, Hongtian Shares, among others.