April 7, 2026 – The global glass fiber cloth industry is experiencing a profound transformation driven by the booming AI computing power infrastructure and the accelerating upgrading of downstream electronic products. Once a niche segment in the electronic industrial chain, glass fiber cloth, known as the "invisible backbone" of PCBs and copper-clad laminates, has stepped into a new high-boom cycle amid tight supply and surging demand, with high-end products becoming the core growth engine.
The outbreak of the AI industry has reshaped the pattern of the entire electronic industrial chain, directly spurring a surge in demand for AI servers and high-speed switches. This trend has drastically restructured the supply-demand pattern of the electronic glass fiber cloth industry, especially driving a sharp increase in the demand for high-end products with low dielectric constant (Low Dk) and low coefficient of thermal expansion (Low CTE). These high-end varieties are essential for ensuring signal transmission integrity and stability in high-performance computing devices, making them the standard configuration for high-end computing equipment.
Industry data shows that the demand for low dielectric glass fiber cloth has witnessed a phased explosion due to its advantage of low signal attenuation, while low CTE glass fiber cloth has become a key solution to the warpage problem in advanced packaging, with its market importance and penetration rate continuously rising. Additionally, as higher-end computing products such as 1.6T switches gradually gain traction, quartz cloth, which boasts superior dielectric properties, has entered a rapid growth channel, opening up new room for industry growth.
The tight supply of high-end glass fiber cloth has become a prominent issue in the global market. For a long time, the global high-end market has been highly monopolized by overseas manufacturers, with Japanese enterprises accounting for the majority of the Low Dk and Low CTE market. However, in the face of the surging high-end demand driven by AI, overseas major manufacturers have been cautious in expanding production, resulting in a structural shortage in the global market. It is expected that the supply-demand gap for Low CTE products will persist until 2027.
Against this backdrop, domestic leading manufacturers in China have seized the historical opportunity of import substitution. After years of R&D, they have achieved technological breakthroughs and mass production capabilities in high-end electronic glass fiber cloth, deeply cultivating fields such as Low Dk, Low CTE and quartz cloth, and effectively undertaking the spillover of overseas high-end orders. On March 18, 2026, the world's largest electronic-grade glass fiber production line with an annual capacity of 390 million meters was ignited in Huai'an, China, marking a key step in building the world's first zero-carbon intelligent manufacturing base in the glass fiber industry. The line, with fully independent intellectual property rights, will further enhance China's independent supply capacity of high-end electronic basic materials.
The surge in high-end demand has also triggered in-depth adjustments in the industry's production capacity structure, forming a pattern of "high-end squeezing low-end". Due to the far higher profitability of high-end electronic glass fiber cloth than mid-to-low-end products, domestic leading glass fiber manufacturers have successively shifted their production lines to high-end categories, leading to the accelerated contraction of mid-to-low-end production capacity. This structural adjustment has directly driven the stabilization and upward trend of glass fiber cloth prices. Since the second half of 2025, the industry has entered a clear price increase cycle, with prices of ordinary electronic cloth and upstream electronic yarn rising sharply, and the price increase trend spreading from high-end to all categories.
Major manufacturers at home and abroad have successively issued price increase notices. In early March 2026, Japanese material giants Risenoko and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical announced a significant price increase of 30% for copper-clad laminates and related materials. Meanwhile, domestic leading enterprises such as Guangyuan New Materials and International Composites also issued new price increase notices. Industry insiders predict that the price of glass fiber cloth may double by the end of 2026, and Citigroup analysts expect the price increase in 2026 to reach 25% or even higher.
Industry experts point out that the glass fiber cloth industry is currently in a critical period of supply-demand restructuring and industrial upgrading. Driven by AI computing power, import substitution and capacity structure optimization, the industry will maintain a high boom in the next 1-2 years. However, potential risks such as overcapacity due to the release of backlogged production capacity and uncertain growth in downstream market demand also need to be cautiously addressed. With the continuous advancement of technologies such as nanotechnology and advanced coating technologies, the performance of glass fiber cloth will be further improved, providing stronger support for the development of the electronic information industry, new energy and other fields.