The Zhitong Finance App learned that CITIC Securities released a research report stating that the electrical performance requirements for core materials continue to increase under the iterative path of copper-clad plates, and the amount and value of chemical-based silicon powder added to high-end copper-clad plates above M8 grade has increased significantly. Furthermore, to further break through the extreme dielectric properties of resins, etc., the structure of chemical silicon powder requires further iteration. The agency believes that chemical-based silicon powder will become the core material in the iterative path of high-end copper-clad plates, and its importance will increase as the grade of copper-clad plates increases.
A leading company focusing on the layout of chemical-based silicon powder. At this stage, customer relationships, production capacity, and technical strength are the core competitive factors. CITIC Securities suggests focusing on companies that have achieved breakthroughs in high-end chemical silicon powder for copper-clad plates, and companies that bind leading copper-clad plate customers and actively expand production of chemical-based silicon powder.
CITIC Securities's main views are as follows:
AI-related capital expenditure is high, and the server industry remains booming.
Global AI capital expenditure remains high and maintains a high growth rate, and related links in the industrial chain are expected to usher in development opportunities. Referring to the monthly revenue data of Taiwanese server foundries, the monthly revenue of server foundries such as Hon Hai and Weichuang continued to grow, and the overall server industry boom remained high.
Copper-clad panels are the core material for servers, and growing demand for high-end servers is driving the industry's prosperity.
Copper clad plate is the core material for high-end server PCBs. Take Taiguang Electronics, a leading high-end copper-clad plate company, as an example. Taiguang Electronics' revenue grew rapidly in the first half of 2026, reaching NT$80.6 billion, an increase of 81% over the previous year. Net profit to mother reached NT$15.2 billion, an increase of 111% over the previous year, and the profit level has surpassed the full year of 2025. According to Shengyi Technology's 2026 interim report, servers, AI servers and data centers have become the core driving forces for market growth in the downstream PCB segment. CITIC Securities believes that demand for high-end servers is growing rapidly, and the prosperity of the PCB and copper-clad plate industry continues to rise.
Silicon powder is the core material for copper-clad plates, and the volume and price have risen sharply as technology continues to iterate.
Silicon micro powder is the key raw material for copper clad plates. High-end copper clad plates use spherical silicon powder, which can improve the dielectric properties of the copper clad plate insulation layer. Chemical silicon powder has excellent performance and conforms to the high-end trend. The agency believes that in copper clad plates above M8 grade, chemical silicon powder is an essential option, and the amount added increases as the copper clad plate grade increases. According to estimates in the text, the global demand for chemical silicon powder is estimated to be 0.9, 1.9, and 34,000 tons in 2026-2028, with a market space of 1.9, 41, and 8.2 billion yuan.
Leading overseas silicon powder companies are expanding production slowly, domestic companies are expanding production capacity faster, have strong technical strength, and have an advantage in competition.
Overseas silicon powder companies are mainly concentrated in Japan, and production capacity expansion is slow. Leading domestic companies such as Lianrui New Materials and Ling Wei Technology are expanding their production capacity rapidly, and their technical strength in chemical silicon powder is strong. CITIC Securities believes that the high growth rate of CapEx in the AI field is driving rapid growth in demand for AI servers and high-end copper-clad plates, which in turn has led to a marked increase in demand for chemical-based silicon powder. Leading overseas silicon powder companies are expanding production slowly. Leading domestic companies will take on incremental shares, and the chemical silicon powder technology route will catch up, and it is expected that profit growth higher than the industry's growth rate will be achieved.
Risk factors:
The impact of macro-environmental disturbances on the supply chain; the risk of capital expenditure of cloud vendors slowing down; the risk of material system iteration; the product verification of related silicon powder companies falling short of expectations; the risk of increased competition in the industry, etc.