Current Status of the High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminate Industry

Overview

High-frequency copper clad laminates (HF CCLs) refer to plate-like materials made by impregnating reinforcing materials (such as glass fiber cloth, paper base, etc.) with resin, covering one or both sides with copper foil, and pressing them after heating. They are specifically used in the manufacturing of high-frequency PCBs. Currently, China's HF CCL industry is in a stage of rapid development. As a core basic material in fields such as 5G base station construction, unmanned driving millimeter-wave radar, and satellite navigation, its market demand continues to grow.

In the 5G communication field, HF CCLs, with their excellent low dielectric constant (Dk) and low dissipation factor (Df) properties, have become key materials for base station antennas and radio frequency modules, supporting the high-frequency and high-speed transmission requirements of 5G networks. With the accelerated construction of 5G base stations and significantly improved coverage density, the market scale of HF CCLs continues to expand.

Meanwhile, the rapid popularization of new energy vehicles has further driven industry growth. Automotive electronic components such as vehicle controllers, motor controllers, and battery management systems have seen a surge in demand for high-performance PCBs. HF CCLs, with their advantages of heat resistance and low loss, have become an important choice for the upgrading of automotive electronics. In addition, under the trend of intelligence, the mature implementation of autonomous driving technology has opened up new application scenarios for HF CCLs.

Data shows that the market scale of China's HF CCL industry grew from RMB 950 million in 2017 to RMB 4.334 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.21%. In the future, with the in-depth coverage of 5G networks and the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the HF CCL industry will usher in broad development space.

Related Listed Companies

Shengyi Technology (600183), Zhongying Technology (300936), Huazheng New Materials (603186), Jin'anguoji (002636), Nanya New Materials (688519), Baoding Technology (002552), Tongguan Copper Foil (301217), Honghe Technology (603256), Dongfang Shenghong (000301), Lanxiao Technology (300487), etc.

Related Enterprises

Guangdong Longyu New Materials Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Yaohong Electronics Co., Ltd., Jiangxi Pusheng Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Nafluor Technology Co., Ltd., etc.

Keywords

High-frequency copper clad laminate, market scale, copper clad laminate, copper foil, output, production capacity, 5G base station

I. Overview of the High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminate Industry

Copper clad laminates (CCLs) are core substrates used in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in the electronics industry. They mainly play the roles of interconnection conduction, insulation, and support for PCBs, and have a significant impact on signal transmission speed, energy loss, and characteristic impedance in circuits. The basic structure of CCLs consists of a substrate, copper foil, and adhesive. The substrate is made of a composite of polymer synthetic resin and reinforcing materials, and the surface is covered with conductive copper foil. From the perspective of PCB cost composition, CCLs account for about 30% of PCB costs.

High-frequency copper clad laminates (High Frequency CCLs) refer to CCLs that operate at frequencies above 5GHz, are suitable for ultra-high frequency fields, and have ultra-low dielectric constants (Dk), while also requiring the dissipation factor (Df) to be as small as possible. PCBs made with CCLs as the core raw material can be regarded as a kind of capacitive device. When signals are transmitted in the wires, part of the energy will be stored by the PCB, causing transmission delays, which become more obvious at higher frequencies. Similar to high-speed CCLs, the main methods to reduce Dk are modifying the insulating resin, glass fiber, and overall structure used.

Currently, mainstream high-frequency CCLs on the market are mainly realized through processes using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and hydrocarbon resin materials. Among them, CCLs using PTFE are the most widely used, with advantages such as low dielectric loss, small dielectric constant (which changes little with temperature and frequency), and a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of metal copper foil. The preparation process of high-frequency CCLs is similar to that of ordinary CCLs, including glue mixing, gluing and drying, cutting adhesive slices and stacking into books, lamination, and board cutting.

II. Industrial Chain of the High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminate Industry

The upstream of the high-frequency CCL industrial chain mainly includes raw materials such as copper foil, resin, glass fiber cloth, and silica fume. Among them, copper foil, as the conductive material ofhigh-frequency CCLs, is attached to the surface of the substrate through electroplating processes, and its purity and thickness directly affect the transmission efficiency of high-frequency signals; glass fiber cloth is used to enhance the strength and stiffness of high-frequency CCLs; resin is the insulating material in high-frequency CCLs, and its main role is to bond the reinforcing materials and copper foil together. The midstream of the industrial chain is the production and manufacturing of high-frequency CCLs. The downstream is the application field. Due to their higher frequency response and signal transmission speed, high-frequency CCLs are widely used in high-frequency electronic fields such as 5G communication, wireless networks, and automotive radar.

As a core raw material of high-frequency CCLs, copper foil plays an irreplaceable role in the construction of conductive circuits and signal transmission. Its excellent conductivity not only provides a stable current path for electronic components but also ensures the integrity of high-frequency signal transmission quality. With the continuous development of China's electronic information technology in recent years, the output of PCBs in China has continued to grow. At the same time, driven by the "dual carbon" goal strategy, new energy industries including new energy vehicles, renewable energy power generation, and energy storage have received strong support from the state. Fields such as new energy vehicles, wind power generation, photovoltaics, and energy storage have developed rapidly, leading to a surge in demand for lithium-ion batteries, which in turn has driven the rapid growth in demand for power batteries and their negative electrode current collector material—copper foil, becoming a strong driving force for the development of China's copper foil industry.

Data shows that China's copper foil output in 2024 was 1.0581 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.66%. China's copper foil production capacity in 2024 was 1.94 million tons, accounting for 80% of the global total capacity. The continuous expansion of the domestic copper foil industry not only meets the needs of the new energy field but also provides sufficient raw material guarantees for the high-frequency CCL industry.

5G communication, as an important application field of high-frequency CCLs, its key components such as base station antennas and radio frequency modules are highly dependent on high-performance CCL materials. Such materials, with their excellent low dielectric loss properties, play an irreplaceable role in ensuring the transmission quality of 5G high-frequency signals and have become core elements supporting modern communication infrastructure. As the core equipment of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology, 5G base stations provide users with high-speed, low-latency, and large-capacity high-quality network services through advanced technologies such as high-frequency bands and large-scale antenna arrays.

In recent years, against the backdrop of the continuous consolidation of the foundation for the development of China's digital economy, the world's largest and most technologically advanced optical fiber and mobile communication network system has been built, achieving the coordinated development of network infrastructure, computing power resources, and artificial intelligence technology. As of the end of May 2025, the cumulative number of 5G base stations built in China was 4.486 million, a net increase of 235,000 compared with the end of 2024, accounting for 35.3% of the total number of mobile base stations, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared with the previous four months. In the future, with the continuous expansion of 5G base station construction scale, the high-frequency CCL industry will usher in a broader development space.

Against this promising industry backdrop, Bicheng is pleased to launch its new product, specifically designed to meet the rigorous demands of high-frequency applications. Our latest offering is a 2-layer rigid PCB stackup with the following specifications:

PCB Stackup: 2-layer rigid PCB

- Copper_layer_1: 35μm

- Rogers RO3006: 10mil (0.254mm)

- Copper_layer_2: 35μm

Introduction to RO3006

Rogers RO3006 laminates are ceramic-filled PTFE composites engineered to deliver exceptional electrical and mechanical stability, making them ideal for commercial microwave and RF applications. These advanced circuit materials maintain a stable dielectric constant (Dk) across a range of temperatures, eliminating the step change in Dk that occurs in PTFE glass materials near room temperature.

Features

-Rogers 3006 ceramic-filled PTFE composites

- Dielectric constant of 6.15±0.15 at 10 GHz/23°C

- Dissipation factor of 0.002 at 10 GHz/23°C

- Td > 500°C

- Thermal Conductivity of 0.79 W/mK

- Moisture Absorption of 0.02%

- Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (-55 to 288°C): X axis 17 ppm/°C, Y axis 17 ppm/°C, Z axis 24 ppm/°C

Benefits

- Uniform mechanical properties across a range of dielectric constants

* Ideal for multi-layer board designs with varying dielectric constants

* Suitable for hybrid designs with epoxy glass multi-layer boards

- Low in-plane expansion coefficient (matches copper)

* Enables more reliable surface-mounted assemblies

* Perfect for temperature-sensitive applications

* Excellent dimensional stability

- Volume manufacturing process

* Economical laminate pricing

Typical Applications

- Automotive radar systems

- Global positioning satellite antennas

- Cellular telecommunications systems (power amplifiers and antennas)

- Patch antennas for wireless communications

- Direct broadcast satellites

- Datalink on cable systems

- Remote meter readers

- Power backplanes

Note: This article is an excerpt from the industry analysis report *Judging 2025! China High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminate Industry: Preparation Technology, Industrial Chain, Market Scale, Key Enterprises and Future Prospects: Driven by Strong Downstream Demand, the Scale of High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminates Reaches 4.3 Billion Yuan* released by Zhiyan Consulting.