The global MLCC leader Murata of Japan has announced another price increase. Combined with demand exploding from AI computing power and new energy vehicles, the supply-demand balance for MLCC continues to tighten, and the industry is widely seen by the market as 'the next memory-chip-like boom'.
Major players trigger a global wave of MLCC price hikes
According to the Shanghai Securities News, a broker analyst told reporters that Murata Manufacturing, the world's largest MLCC supplier, has formally issued a price-increase notice.
It has launched across-the-board price hikes for AI server and high-end automotive-grade MLCC products, with increases of 10%-40%, and the new pricing takes effect on July 1.
Notably, Murata already raised prices by 15% to 35% in April for AI servers and automotive-grade MLCC. As the industry leader, the company holds more than 40% of the global MLCC market.
The price-hike wave then quickly spread worldwide. Taiyo Yuden in Japan followed in May, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics in South Korea also announced price increases for consumer-electronics MLCC starting June 1.
People in the supply chain said that the delivery lead time for high-end MLCCs has now stretched from 8-12 weeks to 16-24 weeks.
Structural demand boom is driving a revaluation
MLCC (multilayer ceramic capacitors) are known as 'the rice of the electronics industry' and are basic electronic components.
The component uses ceramic dielectric sheets printed with internal electrodes, stacked in alternating layers and sintered at high temperature to form a monolithic structure, with applications across a wide range of electronic products.
As AI computing infrastructure keeps expanding and new energy vehicles continue to penetrate the market, MLCC demand is growing exponentially.
At the same time, the product mix is moving upmarket, and the value per unit is rising sharply.
According to SemiAnalysis, the value of MLCCs per cabinet has risen from about $3,000 on the H100 platform to about $12,000 on the GB200 platform.
On the RubinVR200 platform, that may climb further to about $22,000, and after RubinUltra ramps in 2027, it could even reach $40,000.
The number of MLCCs used would rise from about 15,000 to more than 90,000.
Goldman Sachs analyst Nelson Armbrust recently noted in a report that within AI server bills of materials, MLCCs have already become the third-largest cost item, behind only GPUs and memory chips.
At present, the overall MLCC market is about $15 billion, of which the AI server segment is about $1.3 billion and is surging at a 80% compound annual growth rate.
MLCC may be entering a new growth cycle
Industry insiders believe attention on MLCC comes not only from demand growth, but also because AI is pushing the category toward higher-end, higher-value products.
A China Securities Construction Investment report says that with the electronics and semiconductor super cycle underway, the MLCC industry is seeing a 'breakout moment'.
Autonomous driving and AI are sharply raising both the quantity and performance requirements for passive components, pushing the industry into a new upcycle.
Huatai Securities said high-end MLCC capacity expansion is squeezing general-purpose product capacity, and the supply-demand logic is very similar to how HBM has crowded out traditional DRAM capacity, which supports sustained price increases in the industry.
Looking ahead, China Galaxy Securities expects AI servers to use more than 10 times as many MLCCs, and as AI penetration rises and domestic MLCC leaders keep improving their technology, they are likely to benefit.
Pure electric new-energy vehicles use six times as many MLCCs as gasoline cars, and with smart-driving upgrades, domestic MLCC leaders also have room to grow.
In addition, the high-end MLCC market chain is dominated by Japanese and Korean players, leaving substantial room for domestic substitution.
CITIC Securities also believes the MLCC industry is entering a new round of price increases and an upward cycle, benefiting from AI demand.
Institutions are bullish on local manufacturers, expecting them to accelerate breakthroughs in server-grade and automotive-grade products.
Margin traders are rushing into several institutionally watched names
According to Eastmoney's concept board, the A-share market currently has nearly 30 stocks related to the MLCC theme, with a combined market value of over 1.1 trillion yuan.
Sanhuan Group and Xiamen Tungsten rank among the largest by size, while Sunway Communication, Fenghua Advanced Technology, Sinocera and Dongcai Technology all have market caps above 60 billion yuan.
So far this year, aside from Zhenhua Technology, which is down slightly by 0.42%, all the other concept stocks have risen, and 12 have doubled.
Fenghua Advanced Technology, Shanluo Electronics, Chaojitech, and Yunzhong Technology have all gained more than 2x this year.
Since June began, most MLCC concept stocks have remained strong. Lihexing, Sinocera and Chaojitech are among five stocks that have risen more than 20% this month.
In terms of institutional attention, Eastmoney Choice data show that 12 MLCC concept stocks have received at least two institutional research visits this year.
Among them, Sidike drew the most attention, receiving 11 institutional visits this year. Chaojitech and Shenzhen Hq were visited 9 and 7 times, respectively.
Boqian New Materials, Elyon Information, Bojie Electronics and Shuangxing New Materials were each visited more than three times.
Notably, of the MLCC concept stocks most closely watched by institutions, seven have attracted heavy margin buying this month.
Sinocera and Fenghua Advanced Technology saw leveraged funds add 970 million yuan and 423 million yuan, respectively. Chaojitech and Sunway Communication both saw about 230 million yuan in net margin inflows.
Elyon Information, Xiamen Tungsten and Hongyuan Electronics saw net margin inflows ranging from 91 million yuan to 179 million yuan.
Sinocera is a global leader in MLCC dielectric powder production, with clients among leading domestic and international companies, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Yageo and Fenghua Advanced Technology.
In a recent institutional meeting, the company said it is accelerating capacity expansion for automotive-grade and AI server MLCC powder.
The company is also closely tracking industry developments and actively seizing opportunities from volume growth and price increases.
Chaojitech's release film products for MLCC applications are already in stable mass supply to major clients such as Yageo, Walsin Technology, Fenghua Advanced Technology and Sanhuan Group, and its self-made base film supporting supply is now largely in place.
The company has also successfully completed verification and mass supply for major Korean and Japanese customers Samsung and Murata, and overseas bases of Korean clients have already begun mass supply.
