KB LAMINATES (01888) saw its stock price soar 5.75% during intraday trading on Monday.
The surge follows a new wave of price increases in the copper clad laminate (CCL) industry, a key upstream component for printed circuit boards (PCBs). Driven by rising downstream demand and increasing raw material costs, major CCL manufacturers, including KB LAMINATES, have initiated price hikes. This trend was reinforced after industry giants like Resonac and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical announced significant price increases for their materials.
Analysts link the strong demand to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which is driving robust orders for AI-related PCBs and, consequently, for CCL. With many AI-PCB companies operating at full capacity and expanding production, demand for high-performance CCL remains strong. Furthermore, slow capacity expansion among overseas CCL producers is expected to benefit leading mainland Chinese manufacturers like KB LAMINATES significantly.