Shares of KB LAMINATES (01888) surged more than 9%. As of the time of writing, the stock was up 9.08%, trading at HK$13.46, with a turnover of HK$62.2097 million. The catalyst for the move is a reported price increase notice issued by KB LAMINATES on December 26. The company stated that due to soaring copper prices and tight glass cloth supply, it is compelled by cost pressures to uniformly raise all material prices by 10% effective from that date. It is noteworthy that this marks multiple price hikes initiated by KB LAMINATES this year. On August 15, the company announced a comprehensive price increase for its CCL products, raising the price per sheet by RMB 10. Subsequently, on December 1, citing significant price increases for copper, glass cloth, and chemical raw materials, KB LAMINATES issued another adjustment, raising prices for CEM-1/22F/V0/HB category products by 5% and for FR-4 and PP category products by 10%.

A research report from Guojin Securities points out that robust AI demand coupled with rising upstream raw material costs suggests that the price increases for copper-clad laminate (CCL) are likely to persist. Strong AI demand is driving both prices and volumes higher for PCBs. Currently, many AI-PCB companies are reporting robust order books, operating at full capacity with all production sold out, and are actively expanding production. This trend indicates that high earnings growth could continue into the fourth quarter and next year. AI-related CCL is also experiencing strong demand. Given the slow capacity expansion among overseas CCL manufacturers, leading mainland Chinese CCL producers are poised to benefit significantly.