Taiwan flexible-PCB companies form industry cluster in Eastern China

A group of specialized Taiwan-based makers and two suppliers of flexible copper-clad-laminate (CCL) materials, including ThinFlex Corp. and Taiflex Scientific Co., Ltd., in eastern China (especially Kunshan and Suzhou, Jiangsu Province) have formed a well-structured flexible-printed circuit board (PCB) industry cluster.

Companies in the eastern-China PCB cluster deem that they would soon expand by leaps in the huge China market with cost and price advantages. Most of them pointed out that such production plants in China enable them to directly ship products to downstream customers, cutting costs for better profitability all round.

Flexible CCL is the fundamental material for the PCB industry.

Industry sources explained that a group of Taiwan flexible-PCB makers had in turn set up their production plants in Kunshan and Suzhou between 2001 and 2004. Most of the flexible-PCB makers procured such key material from mainly Japanese and American suppliers few years ago but have been sizing up new options as Taiwan-based material suppliers have been setting up shop in eastern China, making available a direct material source at lower prices.

Microcosm Technology Co., Ltd. was the first Taiwan-based flexible CCL supplier to set up a plant in Suzhou and currently runs two production lines.


In mid-2005, Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. of Japan formed an alliance with ThinFlex Corp. of Taiwan, (the world`s fifth-largest flexible-PCB material manufacturer) and jointly set up a venture-the TopFlex Corp.-to develop and manufacture environmentally-friendly halogen-free cover-lays that feature a blend of the technical strengths of both companies in Kunshan. According ThinFlex, the Chinese venture has completed the plant construction and is scheduled to begin trial runs in late November. Once fully online, the Taiwan parent firm said, the Chinese subsidiary is expected to generate an annual revenue of US$100 million.


After setting up a warehouse in China, Taiflex is constructing its production plant in Kunshan. The company said that the new plant is being equipped and should begin volume production of mainly adhesive flexible CCLs in the second quarter of 2007. The monthly capacity at the new facility is about 400,000 square meters, Taiflex said, and the burgeoning China market is expected to create lucrative business opportunities.


In addition to the above-mentioned major suppliers, other smaller-scaled Taiwan-based flexible CCL material makers are also moving to eastern China. A group of PCB manufacturing and processing companies offering computer-numeric-control (CNC) hole-drilling, SMT assembly, and electro-plating services have also formed an integrated manufacturing cluster in the region.