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APRIL 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 89 demand structure. e glass fiber industry has re- mained strong specifical- ly because of the demand from wind power and its infrastructure. Accord- ing to Tonghuashun, since September last year, three domestic glass fiber leaders have raised prices, which may indicate a rise in mate- rials is forthcoming. Rising raw material pric- es put pressure on CCL en- terprises in the third quar- ter of 2020, so price adjust- ments were necessary. Ac- cording to our research, gross profits of major CCL companies declined month-on-month in the third quarter of 2020. Among them, Chaohua Technology declined by more than 5%. Even without the impact of the epidemic, this is the lowest gross profit rate in a single quarter since 2019. Other enterprises have also declined by 2–5% in varying degrees. As of the fourth quarter of 2020, major manufacturers in the industry have started to raise prices. According to our research, the main manu- facturers in the industry have steadily raised prices. Shengyi Technology raised prices in both October and November 2020, with a cu- mulative rate of more than 10%. Kingboard has issued two consecutive rounds of price ad- justment notices since November 2020, and when compared with the first price increase on July 1, 2020, the cumulative price adjust- ment rate for ordinary FR-4 products has in- creased by more than 30%. In addition, WA- ZAM, NOUYA and other manufacturers have made price adjustments ranging from 5–10%. At present, Taiwan's major manufacturers such as ITEQ and EMC have increased their prices by 5–10%. Improving supply-demand structure builds the core support of the price increase. e recovery of communications, automo- bile, consumer electronics and other relat- ed industries is positive. Specifically, with the planned construction of 5G base stations this year, communications orders will be restart- ed soon. According to data released by China Automobile Association, automobile indus- try sales volume in November 2020 was esti- mated to be 2.733 million units, with a month- on-month growth of 6.2% and a year-on-year growth of 11.1%. e market trend shows a continuous recovery. Consumer electronics demand is recovering. IDC data shows that since the third quarter of 2020, global sales of smartphones has con- tinued to pick up, with the total sales of about 354 million units in the third quarter, basical- ly returning to the same period as previous years. ese strong sales result in a higher de- mand for CCL materials. According to our in- dustrial chain research results, the main manu- facturers in the industry are at full production and the supply-demand structure continues to improve. Figure 2: The gross profit margin of major companies in the industry generally declined in Q3 2020. (Source: Choice, compiled by Zhongtai Securities Research Institute)