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APRIL 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 93 Ta i w a n m a n u f a c - turers, the pr ice in- crease of thick plate is the highest. As of No- vember 30, 2020, the price increase of thick plate manufactured by mainstream manu- facturers is about 30– 40%, followed by the medium and high level Tg FR-4 series for au- tomobile, with a price increase of more than 20%. e third one is the lead-free and hal- ogen-free FR-4 series products, with a price increase of about 10– 20%. Due to the rela- tively small shipments of high-frequency and high-speed plates, and the competition for potential orders, the price increase is the lowest, less than 5%. In terms of Kingboard, as the products are concentrated in the low and medium-end fields, and are rela- tively in single structure, the price adjustment is stable. With the mainstream FR-4 series increase more than 30%. We believe that the current price increases are in line with the logic of market supply and demand, and the competition among enterprises. We see this will continue. Looking back, copper clad laminate raw materials also experienced a wave of price in- creases from mid-2016 to the end of 2017, and major manufacturers also conducted sever- al rounds of price adjustments, with the price adjustment range of 8–10%. Aer that last round of price increases, the profitability of major manufacturers includ- ing Shengyi Technology, Wazam, GDM and GOWORLD has improved significantly. In the first quarter of 2017, the revenue growth rates of Shengyi Technology, Wazam, GDM and GOWORLD were 25.60%, 47.61%, 35.57%, and 15.39%, respectively, while the corre- sponding operating profit growth rates were 86.45%, 56.39%, 307.30%, and 215.51%. e profit growth rates of CCL manufacturers were much higher than the revenue growth rates, and the performance elasticity increased significantly. Hu Yang is an analyst for the electronics industry, Zhongtai Securities Research Center, Yang holds a Master of Microelec- tronics, Peking University, with a focus on PCB, LED, semiconductor and other research directions. PCB007 Hu Yang is an electronic analyst at Zhongtai Securities and has a master's degree in microelec- tronics from Peking University. He currently focuses on PCB, LED, and semiconductor research. Figure 6: The gross profit margin of major CCL manufacturers increased significantly during the price boom. (Source: Wind, Zhongtai Securities Research Institute)