Fire at Panasonic's Hukou Plant No. 3 Injures Five, Leaves Two Missing

An industry analyst outlined possible copper-clad laminate order shifts after a fire at Panasonic’s Hukou Plant No. 3 injured five employees and left two Taiwanese employees missing.

The fire began at 1 p.m. ET Nov. 3 (18:00 UTC). Firefighters continued searching for the two missing employees, and the cause remained under investigation.

The plant makes high-speed printed circuit boards (PCBs) and semiconductor packaging materials. Low-loss copper-clad laminate (CCL) is a key material for PCB supply chains serving applications such as AI servers and high-speed switches.

PCB industry analyst kokycpcb outlined a possible split: 台光電 (2383) for M8-grade and higher CCL, and 南亞塑膠 (1303) for M6 and M7. The analysis does not confirm that customers have transferred orders. Any shift would depend on supplier certification, available capacity and material compatibility.

The potential M6-M7 shift comes amid pressure on M6-M7 CCL supply from E-glass shortages and capacity constraints. M6, M7 and M8 generally refer to grades in Panasonic’s Megtron line, with higher grades associated with lower signal loss.