Northeast: The opening amount and price of silicon micro-powder are rising together, and domestically-made products are expected to achieve comprehensive market dominance within the next 3 years.

Northeast released a research report stating that with the explosion of demand for AI servers and high-speed communication, the traditional cost structure of Copper Clad Laminate (CCL) has gradually approached its physical limit in terms of the three main materials - copper foil, resin, and glass fiber cloth. In the future, the proportion of high-performance spherical silicon powder fillers is expected to increase to 40% annually. The high-end product structure will drive a significant increase in net profit margins. With the gradual establishment of domestic chemical capacity, domestically produced silicon micro-powder is expected to transition from being a marginal filler to a core supplier within the next 3 years. Northeast's main points are as follows: As the performance of main materials approaches its limit, the importance of silicon micro-powder significantly increases. In the traditional cost structure of Copper Clad Laminate (CCL), copper foil, resin, and glass fiber cloth have been the three main materials for a long time. With the explosion of demand for AI servers and high-speed communication, base materials are evolving towards high-speed and high-frequency (M9 and above levels), and the physical modification space of the three main materials in terms of low dielectric (Low Dk/Df) and extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is gradually approaching its physical limits. In the pursuit of low dielectric loss (Low Df) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), silicon micro-powder (filler ratio of about 15%), which was previously seen as a cost-cutting filler, is now becoming a key variable in breaking through performance bottlenecks. When the performance of main materials approaches its limit, the purity, particle size, and morphology of silicon micro-powder directly determine the integrity of signal transmission. Its strategic position has shifted from a passive additive to a core material that determines the grade of the base material, with the proportion of high-performance spherical silicon powder fillers expected to increase annually to 40%. Technological upgrades drive significant increases in profitability. Silicon micro-powder is undergoing an upgrade from physical to chemical methods (VMC/sol-gel), leading to exponential growth in value per ton. Traditional angular powders are prepared through mechanical crushing with extremely low technical barriers and a selling price of only a few thousand yuan per ton. With the increasing demand for high-performance base materials, spherical silicon micro-powder prepared by physical flame methods has gradually risen to the level of tens of thousands of yuan per ton due to its high fluidity and high filling rate. For AI chip-compatible base materials and applications at the M8 level and above, chemical high-grade powders with extremely low alpha radiation and sub-micron particle sizes command significantly higher prices per ton. The high-end product structure will drive a significant increase in net profit margins. Monopoly by Japanese companies is broken, and domestic alternatives enter a period of high-volume production for high-grade products. The global high-end CCL silicon micro-powder market has long been dominated by Japanese companies such as Chisso and Nippon Steel, with Japanese companies holding the pricing power in the high-speed and high-frequency market due to their early development of chemical synthesis processes. Currently, domestic alternatives have shifted from a simple low-price strategy to focusing on supply chain security and synchronous development. Local leading enterprises represented by Novoray Corporation have made key breakthroughs in technology for spherical transformation and low-alpha radiation control, successfully entering the supply chain systems of global top CCL suppliers such as Shengyi Technology and Nanya New Material Technology. Leveraging the advantages of the domestic AI computing cluster construction and high-end PCB industry cluster, domestic manufacturers are accelerating penetration through customized R&D. Guangzhou Lingwe Technology, with years of experience in the field of fumed silica for light absorption, is using their Sol-Gel technology to capitalize on their early-mover advantage in liquid-phase synthesis processes, accelerating their expansion into the high-purity electronic-grade silicon micro-powder market. Guangzhou Lingwe Technology's chemical technology can precisely control the purity and particle size of the powders, meeting the stringent requirements of ultra-high-frequency base materials such as M8 and M9 for sub-micron fillers. With the gradual establishment of domestic chemical capacity, domestically produced silicon micro-powder is expected to transition from being a marginal filler to a core supplier within the next 3 years. Risk warning: Policy progress falling short of expectations; downstream demand falling short of expectations.