South Korea Expands AI Foil Capacity; CCL Prices Surge, Pressuring Global Supply Chain

 Seoul, May 9, 2026 — The explosive growth in global AI computing demand is reshaping the electronic materials supply chain profoundly. Recently, two major moves in South Korea have drawn industry attention: Lotte Energy Materials announced a 49 billion KRW investment to expand production capacity of copper foil dedicated to AI applications. Meanwhile, South Korean PCB manufacturers are rushing to lock in CCL inventory, triggering a full-blown shortage alert and intensifying the supply-demand imbalance of high-end electronic materials worldwide.

Lotte Energy Materials Invests 49 Billion KRW in Capacity Expansion to Target AI Copper Foil Market

On April 28, Lotte Energy Materials, a leading South Korean copper foil enterprise, officially unveiled a large-scale capacity expansion plan. The company will inject 49 billion KRW into its Iksan No.1 factory to upgrade production capacity for AI-specific circuit copper foil, with the construction period running from May 1, 2026 to November 30, 2027.

The expansion focuses on HVLP (Very Low Profile) copper foil, the core material for high-performance PCBs used in AI data centers and high-speed network equipment. Upon full completion, the factory’s annual production capacity of AI copper foil will rise to 16,000 tons. The products will primarily cater to material demands for NVIDIA GPUs, high-end servers and other core hardware, while ensuring stable inventory supply for key clients.

To strengthen industrial chain collaboration, Lotte Energy Materials is in-depth cooperation with Doosan Electronics BG to jointly advance R&D and mass supply of high-performance PCB copper foil, building an integrated supporting system covering copper foil, CCL and PCB. Kim Yeon-seop, Representative of Lotte Energy Materials, stated: "This investment is a strategic layout to embrace the AI computing revolution. Through technological upgrading of core materials and capacity expansion, we will further improve product quality and global supply stability, consolidate our core competitiveness in the high-end electronic materials sector, and drive sustained business performance growth."

CCL Shortage Crisis Erupts; South Korean Manufacturers Lock Supply with 10 Billion KRW Pre-orders

Amid accelerated expansion of copper foil capacity, the downstream Copper Clad Laminate (CCL) market has fallen into severe supply-demand imbalance with a worsening shortage alert. A major PCB manufacturer in the Seoul Metropolitan Area recently placed pre-orders worth 10 billion KRW with two top Taiwanese CCL producers, EMC and TUC. The amount is more than five times its normal monthly procurement volume of 1.5 to 2 billion KRW, aiming solely to avoid supply disruption risks.

"I have been in the industry for over 20 years, and this is the first time we face production suspension due to CCL shortages," the company CEO admitted. The current raw material supply situation remains severe with prices soaring continuously and delivery times uncertain, spreading panic across the industry. As the core substrate of PCB, CCL is composed of insulating base material bonded with copper foil, serving as the structural framework for electronic manufacturing. Its shortage has spread from individual segments to the entire semiconductor and electronics industrial chain.

Prices Hit Record Highs; AI Demand Acts as Core Driving Force

According to data released by South Korea Customs Service on May 3, South Korea’s average import price of CCL reached USD 20,728 per ton in March 2026, surging 74.5% year-on-year from USD 11,880, breaking the USD 20,000 threshold for the first time since relevant statistics began in 2000. Export prices also posted a sharp increase, with South Korea’s average CCL export price hitting USD 30,998 per ton last month, a 65.2% year-on-year rise.

The skyrocketing prices are primarily driven by booming demand in the AI semiconductor industry. High-spec CCL adopting E-glass fiber substrates is in surging demand for NVIDIA Blackwell series GPUs, high-end AI servers, data center switches and other devices. Meanwhile, rapid development of 5G/6G communication and autonomous driving in-vehicle systems has further widened the supply-demand gap for high-end CCL.

Profits and stock prices across the industrial chain have surged simultaneously. As the exclusive supplier of CCL for NVIDIA Blackwell chips, Doosan Group’s share price soared from 152,300 KRW at the end of April 2024 to 1,596,000 KRW by the end of last month, a rise of more than ten times. Over the same period, Samsung Electro-Mechanics saw its stock price jump 5.3 times and Daedong Electronics 4.8 times, reflecting the sustained prosperity transmitted throughout the industry.

SMEs Caught in Survival Crisis; Global Supply Chain Restructuring Accelerates

Behind the industry boom, structural differentiation has intensified. Within South Korea’s CCL supply chain, upstream copper foil producers including Lotte Energy Materials and SK Nexilis, as well as midstream high-end CCL manufacturers such as Doosan and LG Chem, are prioritizing limited production lines for high-value-added products to supply AI clients. A large number of small and medium-sized PCB enterprises relying on ordinary E-glass fiber based CCL face heightened risks of production suspension due to squeezed production capacity and unstable supply.

The supply chain crisis continues to escalate, with some major South Korean semiconductor equipment manufacturers also suffering from CCL shortages. To shorten delivery cycles, enterprises are opting for air freight instead of sea freight, pushing logistics costs sharply higher. Industry insiders revealed: "Previously, orders could be fulfilled within one month; now even immediate orders require at least six months for delivery, marking an all-time high in supply chain uncertainty."

Currently, the global electronic materials industrial chain is undergoing profound restructuring. South Korean enterprises are accelerating layout of high-end production capacity; Taiwanese CCL manufacturers hold dominant bargaining power in core supply; mainland Chinese copper foil enterprises such as Jiayuan Technology and Tongguan Copper Foil are rapidly capturing market share with technological breakthroughs in HVLP products.

With the sustained release of AI computing demand, the tight supply of CCL and high-end copper foil will persist in the short term. The global supply chain will accelerate restructuring amid market competition, and enterprises with advantages in technology, production capacity and industrial chain collaboration will lead the new round of industry growth cycle.