The price of gold is up nearly 30 percent this year, hitting another all-time high this week.
As a consequence, PCB buyers should see a price bump in board pricing for both new and repeat orders.
The recent price gains are largely credited to ongoing economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and strong demand for the precious metal from central banks around the world.
The heightened concerns about inflation and economic stability continue to make gold a very attractive and popular “safe haven”. So don’t expect prices to drop anytime soon.
Board buyers should alert their customers and seriously consider alternative metal finishes for their PCBs. While ENIG is one of the most popular, do you need it on every board your company buys?
Assemblers should consider using metal finishes like HASL, LFHASL, OSP or tin. Silver is another possibility, but as a precious metal, its pricing–while much lower than gold–will see price fluctuations as well.
PCB buyers need to have a discussion with their production and process personnel to see which products may use a less costlier metal finish to offset any price increases. Once determined, buyers need to contact the PCB supplier to issue the appropriate engineering change notices to implement the new process.
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