Copper foil, aluminum and light guides have risen all over, and LED raw materials ushered in a new round of "price surge"

In 2016, the market reversed, and the LED industry's â€œprice hikeâ€ came one after another. From the global LED chip products in May this year, by the end of August, China's LED chips and packaging companies have increased by 5%-15%.

At the end of September, two major LED aluminum substrate suppliers announced price increases.

Over the years, substrate materials have been very low in price due to overcapacity. However, with the explosive growth of the demand for new energy vehicles, it is necessary to use a large amount of electrolytic copper foil. Copper foil manufacturers have transferred most of their orders to the field of new energy vehicles. At one time, there has been a shortage of supply of upstream copper foil, and the market gap is very large.

â€œThe price of raw material suppliers of circuit boards has actually started to increase since June, and has risen by three rounds so far, which has increased by 10%-30%.â€ According to industry insiders.

Recently, some insiders revealed that due to the continuous supply and demand of upstream copper foil production capacity, LED related circuit board products will usher in a new round of price increases.

At the same time, since October, the price of aluminum has skyrocketed. Since the supply-side reform since last year, the aluminum industry, which was once â€œhigh energy consumption, high surplus and high pollutionâ€, has been shuffled, backward production capacity has been phased out, and domestic aluminum production has increased. The speed dropped significantly.

According to industry insiders, aluminum has risen by about 40%, steel has risen by 20%, aluminum substrates have risen by 40%, and almost all raw materials for lamps are rising. Among them, the most affected are the spotlights and panel lights, and the aluminum material accounts for a relatively high cost.

Behind the recovery of the overall market, the cost space of all links in the industry chain is almost close to the â€œlifelineâ€.

Faced with the rising price of aluminum substrates, the relevant person in charge of Liyang Optoelectronics revealed that this price increase will have certain impact on the packaging industry, but it will not be too big, because the proportion of aluminum substrates in packaged devices is less than 20%, so the price of light source It will not be adjusted for the time being.

"This price increase is mainly for aluminum substrates, and the price is raised by an average of 10%." Lidaxin related person in charge said. The person in charge of the same party's optoelectronics admitted that the price adjustment will have a much greater impact on downstream lighting companies.

"For this price increase, we are still in a wait-and-see attitude." Zhou Shui-ming, general manager of Jiamei Times Lighting, stressed that as a LED lighting brand, enterprises will not easily adjust prices. If it is a phased price increase, it will have little impact on us. Two months to the end of the year; if it is a long-term price increase, the product sales structure will be adjusted first. We are also expected to be forced to adjust prices in 2017.

Zhou Shui-ming revealed, "In addition to the aluminum substrate, the light guide plate (diffusion plate) will follow the price increase."

Price increases are common to business operations and are generally handled in two ways. First, negotiate with suppliers; second, use existing channels to digest themselves.

At present, the application of aluminum substrates in the LED industry is mainly in the fields of packaging, power supply, lighting, etc., especially the rapid growth of demand for LED displays this year, and the growth of the packaging market such as COB is generating demand for the PCB market.

According to the latest news, in addition to the price increase of copper foil as high as 35%-40%, the electronic fiberglass cloth is affected by the price increase of copper foil, the demand has increased, the destocking amount is obvious, and the price is 3.2 yuan per meter before July. The market price increased to 4.6 yuan in October.

With the rise of international oil prices and the favorable demand for copper foil and fiberglass cloth, the price of resin has also risen with the wind. In September 2016, the price rose by 0.6-0.8 yuan/KG.

Behind the general growth of raw materials, some companies are not allowed to sit on the ground.

"The price of copper foil has risen, and the price of sheet metal manufacturers has also increased. As you rise, I have also risen. As a result, the whole industry is rising. The more you buy, the more you buy, which leads to the illusion of out of stock." Ward Technology Sales Director Hu Yong believes.

As we all know, the low-cost competition in the LED industry has always been a cancer of the whole industry. It has not played a key role in stimulating market consumption with continuous price reduction sales. On the contrary, many small and medium-sized enterprises have used up the last price competition. A little effort is struggling to go to mergers or bankruptcies.