What can fiberglass do, and why is its price rising?

1️⃣ The fundamental driver of this round of price increases comes from the explosive growth of AI computing power.

Cutting-edge technology products such as AI servers, high-end chips, and 5G base stations are all experiencing a surge in demand for a special type of glass fiber called "high-end electronic fabric."

This material is the core framework for manufacturing chip substrates and PCBs, and is known as "chip armor." A single AI server can use 3-5 times more, or even more, than a regular server.

 

2️⃣ Currently, the global high-end electronic fabric market is monopolized by the Japanese company Nittobo.

Due to extremely high technological barriers, other manufacturers find it difficult to quickly enter the market. Nittobo itself also faces strict quality control requirements, preventing large-scale expansion in the short term; its new production capacity is not expected to be operational until 2027.

This has led to a severe shortage of high-end products, causing prices to skyrocket.

To pursue the high-profit high-end market, glass fiber manufacturers have adjusted their production strategies, which has become the key factor driving up prices.

Many manufacturers have shifted their production lines from ordinary fiberglass cloth to produce higher-profit high-end electronic fabrics.

However, this conversion is not a simple switch; it results in a 60%-70% reduction in production capacity. This means that for every additional unit produced of high-end products, the production capacity of ordinary products decreases significantly.

Moreover, this "capacity squeeze" effect rapidly depleted ordinary fiberglass inventory, bringing it down to a historical low of around 15 days.

For example, Taiwanese copper-clad laminate manufacturer Taiyao Technology was even forced to reduce production due to upstream suppliers halting their supply of ordinary electronic fabric, further exacerbating market panic regarding a shortage of ordinary products.

 

3️⃣ The costs of key raw materials for fiberglass production (such as quartz sand and pyrophyllite) and energy (natural gas and electricity) are rising, especially platinum prices, which are expected to increase dramatically from the beginning of 2025 to 2026. To cover costs, companies are forced to raise prices.

Meanwhile, in traditional application areas such as new energy vehicles, home appliances, and wind power, demand has maintained a compound annual growth rate of 6%-8%, benefiting from policies such as "trade-in" programs.

This has led to a passive contraction in supply while demand has steadily increased, further widening the supply-demand gap.

As an aside, another company worth noting is Resun Technology.

As we discussed previously, the fiberglass industry has entered a price increase cycle due to factors such as AI computing power and the recovery of traditional demand.

As a well-known company in the industry, Resun Technology's ordinary fiberglass products have also benefited from this round of price increases, driving improvements in the company's overall performance and boosting market sentiment.

Resun Technology's fiberglass is also a core reinforcing material for wind turbine blades. With the continued growth of global wind power installations (especially offshore wind power), the demand for high-performance fiberglass is also expanding simultaneously, providing the company with another stable growth point.

Previously, Resun Technology's stock price surged to its daily limit when the fiberglass concept emerged. Currently, it is approaching the average price of long-term holders, making it worth watching.

In addition to the more affordable fiberglass, there is also a price increase logic for high-end quartz fiber.

First, let's discuss the difference between quartz fiber and glass fiber: Simply put, quartz cloth is a "super-high-spec, super-expensive, and super-high-barrier" version of glass fiber cloth. If glass fiber cloth is a highway, then quartz cloth is a high-speed train.

 

1️⃣ In high-frequency, high-speed signal transmission, the lower the material's dielectric constant (Dk) and dielectric loss (Df), the faster and more complete the signal transmission, with less attenuation and distortion.

The dielectric constant (Dk) of quartz cloth is only 2.2-2.3, and its dielectric loss (Df) is as low as 0.0001-0.0007, far superior to ordinary glass fiber cloth (Dk approximately 4.8, Df approximately 0.006).

This makes quartz cloth the preferred material for AI servers, high-speed optical modules, and other devices that need to process massive amounts of data and have stringent requirements for signal integrity.

 

2️⃣ Electronic devices generate heat during operation, especially in high-power AI servers, where materials must remain stable.

Ordinary fiberglass cloth typically withstands temperatures around 300-400℃, while quartz cloth can withstand temperatures above 600℃ for extended periods, and even instantaneously exceed 1000℃.

This heat resistance ensures the structural stability and reliability of equipment under high load operation.

 

3️⃣ If materials expand when heated, and the degree of expansion is mismatched with the chip, it can lead to circuit board warping and chip cracking.

Quartz cloth has an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), approximately 0.5 ppm/℃, which closely matches that of silicon chips (0.55 ppm/℃). Ordinary fiberglass cloth has a much higher CTE.

 

This characteristic makes quartz cloth crucial in advanced chip packaging, effectively preventing structural problems caused by temperature changes.

According to the latest market data from early 2026 and assessments from multiple institutions (such as Huatai Securities, China Galaxy Securities, and Yuanta Securities), the price of domestically produced high-end quartz electronic cloth (Q cloth) is expected to range from 250-300 yuan/meter in 2026. Currently, it has already reached around 250 yuan, representing an overall increase of 25%-50% compared to the 2025 market price (approximately 200 yuan/meter). With increased investment in the AI ​​industry and growing demand for high-end products, this price is expected to rise further.

 

Furthermore, NVIDIA's GB200/Rubin series chips and Google's TPU V8 both have significant demand for it.

 

It's worth noting that Rubin is a complete platform including GPU, CPU, and network chips, not a single chip. It is already in mass production and is planned for delivery in the third quarter of this year.

 

Google's Rubin is not yet in mass production, but is expected to begin production as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

 

The amount of Q-cloth used per AI server is five times higher than that of traditional servers (approximately 24 meters per unit), leading to a surge in global demand to 15-18 million meters.

 

Furthermore, in high-speed transmission scenarios exceeding 224G, the low dielectric loss characteristics of quartz cloth are currently irreplaceable by any other material.