Shares of the Kingboard group saw broad gains in morning trading. At the time of writing, KB LAMINATES (01888) was up 5.57% to HK$23.5, while KINGBOARD HLDG (00148) advanced 3.7% to HK$39.2. The movement follows reports that since April, driven by rising downstream demand and increasing raw material costs, copper clad laminate (CCL) manufacturers, including KB LAMINATES, have successively initiated a new round of price hikes. According to media reports, after Japanese semiconductor materials giant Resonac announced price increases of over 30% for copper foil substrates and bonding sheets, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical also raised prices for its entire range of high-end PCB materials, including CCL and resin-coated copper foil, by 30% effective April 1. Kingboard recently increased prices for all its laminates and prepreg (PP) by 10%. Analysts at Guojin Securities pointed out that indicators such as TSMC's fully booked capacity, accelerated expansion, and rising GPU leasing prices suggest robust short- and medium-term demand for AI. They believe the strong AI demand is driving both prices and volumes higher for PCBs, with many AI-PCB companies currently seeing strong orders, operating at full capacity with sold-out inventory, and actively expanding production, indicating that high earnings growth is likely to continue. Demand for AI-related CCL is also strong. Due to slow capacity expansion among overseas CCL producers, leading mainland Chinese CCL manufacturers are expected to benefit significantly.