The application popularity rate of wet film photoresist in my country continues to increase, and the market localization rate is relatively high.

Among photoresists, PCB photoresist is one of the main product types. Its technical content is lower than that of semiconductor photoresist and panel photoresist. It is a photoresist product used in PCB manufacturing. Among PCB photoresists, wet film photoresists have a large application proportion, and the production technical barriers are lower than dry film photoresists. Wet film photoresist, also known as resist and photosensitive circuit ink, is a water-soluble, alkali-developing photoresist with a liquid appearance.

When wet film photoresist is used, it is directly coated on the surface of the copper-clad board. After drying, it is exposed and developed. The circuit pattern on the mask is copied and the copper-clad board is etched to prepare the PCB. Compared with solid dry film photoresist, liquid wet film photoresist has higher resolution, is cheaper, and has the advantages of fast development and etching speed. Because the product is in a liquid state, the wet film photoresist will immerse the holes in the copper clad board. In some special application scenarios, its use is not as convenient as the dry film photoresist. However, in other application scenarios, dry film photoresist can be etched. Glue forms a good substitute, so its application popularity in PCB manufacturing continues to increase.

Among photoresists, PCB photoresist has relatively low technical barriers, and wet film photoresist is a product type with lower technical difficulty among PCB photoresists. Therefore, wet film photoresist is a relatively easy breakthrough in my country’s technological bottleneck. One of the earliest and first photoresist products to realize import substitution. At present, in my country’s wet film photoresist market, domestic products account for more than 54% of the market share.

In the Chinese market, wet film photoresist manufacturers mainly include Rongda Photosensitive, Feikai Materials, etc.; in overseas markets, wet film photoresist manufacturers mainly include Japan’s Fuji Electronics, Japan’s Tokyo Yinghua, Japan’s JSR Corporation, Japan’s Shin-Etsu, Japan’s Sumitomo, South Korea’s LG Chemical, South Korea’s Dongjin Semiconductor, China’s Taiwan Changxing Chemical, China’s Taiwan Yongguang Chemical, the United States’ DuPont, Germany’s Merck, etc. Japan is highly competitive in the global photoresist market. Compared with it, my country’s wet film photoresist companies still have gaps in core technology.

According to the “In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report on Wet Film Photoresist Industry 2022-2026” released by the Industrial Research Center , in 2021, my country’s wet film photoresist market size will be approximately 1.8 billion yuan. As the product type with the highest application penetration rate and the highest localization rate among PCB photoresists, my country’s market demand for wet film photoresists will still be strong in the next five years. It is expected that by 2026, my country’s wet film photoresist market will reach more than 2.4 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 5.9% from 2021 to 2026.

Industry analysts According to sources, in 2021, the output value of my country’s PCB industry will exceed US$36 billion, with a year-on-year growth rate of 4.6%. my country is the world’s largest PCB producer. Benefiting from the continuous development of the electronic information industry and the continuous advancement of technology, the scale of my country’s PCB production continues to expand, which is good for the development of the PCB photoresist industry. As a product type with high resolution and low price among PCB photoresists, wet film photoresist has continued to increase in popularity and has good prospects for industry development.