Thailand PCB industry outlook 2026: demand at home, orders abroad

Thailand's PCB industry spent 2023 to 2025 building capacity, and trade figures for 2026 show that capacity beginning to ship. This outlook draws on three independent records: Thailand's customs returns to the UN Comtrade database, up to May 2026; the import records of the United States, the largest single market for electronics; and the MPBxChange register of PCB plants in Thailand.

Key points

• Thailand's bare-board exports rose 39.4% in January to May 2026 compared with the same months of 2025, from US$597.9 million to US$833.4 million.^[2] In July 2026 they reached US$232 million in a single month, 78.8% more than a year earlier.^[6]
• In 2025 Thailand became the third-largest supplier of bare boards to the United States, behind Taiwan and China, up from sixth in 2019. US imports from Thailand tripled over those six years, from US$69.3 million to US$210.7 million.^[3]
• Thailand's electronics assembly industry is a large domestic market for boards. Its exports of computers (HS 8471) rose from US$11.9 billion in 2019 to US$22.8 billion in 2025, and of telecom equipment (HS 8517) from US$4.1 billion to US$17.3 billion.^[4] Bare-board imports rose to US$3.54 billion in 2025 to supply them.^[1]
• The BOI received 222 applications for promotion of PCB and PCB materials projects from 2023 to 2025, worth THB 320,078 million in planned investment; these are applications, not money invested.^[8] The MPBxChange register lists 39 PCB plants, 33 of them operating or ramping.

Bare-board trade, January to May 2026

Monthly customs returns show exports and imports of bare boards (HS 8534) both rising through the first half of 2026.^[2]

Source: UN Comtrade, monthly, as reported by Thailand.^[2] Change: 2026 over 2025, less one. January to May totals are summed from unrounded monthly values, so they can differ by US$0.1 to 0.2 million from the sum of the rounded months.

The Office of Industrial Economics (OIE), which tracks the sector for the Ministry of Industry, reported July 2026 exports of printed circuits at US$232 million, up 78.8% on a year earlier, with growth in ASEAN, the United States and Japan.^[6] Its December 2025 report showed board assembly (PCBA) output 16.2% higher than a year earlier.^[7]

For three years the new plants appeared in investment approvals and construction but barely in trade: annual exports stayed between US$1.2 billion and US$1.7 billion from 2015 to 2025.^[1] The 2026 monthly figures are the first sustained rise above that range. Exports for January to May 2026 total US$833.4 million, half the 2021 record of US$1.65 billion, in five months.^[2][1] The full-year 2026 total will show how far the rise extends.

Domestic demand from assemblers

Thailand imports more bare boards than it exports, and the gap has widened: US$3.54 billion of imports against US$1.58 billion of exports in 2025.^[1] The gap reflects rapid growth in the electronics assembly industry that consumes those boards.

Source: UN Comtrade, as reported by Thailand.^[4][1] Change: 2025 over 2019, less one.

Each of these computers, servers and network products carries printed boards, and most of the bare boards they use are imported: China supplied 64.5% of Thailand's 2025 bare-board imports.^[1] This is the largest near-term opportunity for Thai board makers. A plant that qualifies with an assembler in the same country saves the customer freight, customs paperwork and lead time, and gives assemblers a second source inside Thailand. Substitution will be partial, but the import bill indicates the size of the domestic market.

Exports to the United States

US import records give an independent view of Thai boards abroad.^[3]

Source: UN Comtrade, as reported by the United States.^[3] The table shows the nine largest partners in 2025. Comtrade lists Taiwan as "Other Asia, not elsewhere specified". Change: 2025 over 2019, less one.

Counted across all 76 partner economies that shipped bare boards to the United States in 2025, Thailand ranked third, with 6.9% of US imports of US$3,046.0 million. In 2019 it ranked sixth, with 3.6% of US$1,929.5 million.^[3] US imports from Thailand rose 90% in 2025 alone, from US$110.9 million in 2024.

Direct shipments to the United States accounted for 15.5% of Thai board exports in 2025; most boards reach American customers inside products assembled elsewhere.^[1] The US record shows American buyers adding Thailand to their supplier lists as they diversify. Since 24 July 2026, Thai goods entering the United States carry a 12.5% Section 301 tariff, the same rate the notice sets for China and Vietnam, while Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Cambodia face 10%.^[11] Chinese goods also still carry the Section 301 duties imposed from 2018,^[15] so on our reading the new rate leaves Thai boards with a lower combined duty than Chinese boards. Among these sources, competition turns on qualification, lead time and service.

Regional position

Among Southeast Asian economies that have reported 2025 data, the three largest bare-board exporters all grew between 2019 and 2025.^[5]

Source: UN Comtrade, exports to the world as reported by each country.^[5] Change: 2025 over 2019, less one. Vietnam's 2024 and 2025 figures were not yet in the database in September 2026. In 2019 Vietnam and the Philippines both exported more than Singapore, so the ranking covers reporting economies only, and Vietnam could rank above Singapore or Thailand once its returns are published.

By output, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) ranks Thailand first in Southeast Asia, with US$5.06 billion in 2025, 5.4% of world output.^[10] Output exceeds exports because many Thai-made boards go to assembly lines in Thailand and leave the country inside finished products.

Capacity pipeline

The BOI received 222 applications for promotion of PCB and PCB raw-material projects from 2023 to 2025, worth THB 320,078 million in planned investment, according to its release of 15 May 2026 (no. 73/2569); these are applications, not money invested.^[8] Materials makers have followed: in 2026 the BOI approved a USD 189.2 million plant in Chon Buri for laminate and prepreg designed for AI servers.^[9]

The MPBxChange register lists 39 PCB plants in Thailand. 33 are reported operating or ramping, and 6 are under construction or announced. Of the 39 that publish a founding year, 28 were registered in 2022 or later.

Opportunities

Five opportunities follow from these records.

1. Import substitution for Thai assemblers. Bare-board imports of US$3.54 billion in 2025 represent orders that Thai plants can compete for at home.^[1]
2. US-bound programmes. US imports from Thailand tripled from 2019 to 2025.^[3] Plants with qualified lines for server, networking and automotive boards are best placed.
3. Materials. Laminate and prepreg projects are arriving.^[9] Copper foil and plating chemicals made in Thailand remain the clearest gap in the chain, and the next opening for investment.
4. Skills. In July 2024 Peng Shen said it would need more than 1,000 highly skilled staff by 2027 and signed agreements with five Thai educational institutions.^[12] In January 2026 the BOI put planned employment across its four promoted projects at about 5,600 Thai jobs; the first project has been producing since September 2025, so not all of these jobs are new.^[14] Colleges and training providers that teach PCB processes have employers ready to hire.
5. Supplier selection. With 39 plants in Thailand, buyers can shortlist by capability, certification and location from public records before requesting quotes.

Indicators to watch

• Annual 2026 trade totals, due in early 2027, to confirm the export rise.
• The OIE monthly production index for printed wiring boards (PWB), which reports the direction of output.^[7]
• BOI promotion certificates and capital actually invested, which the BOI now tracks alongside applications.^[13]

Data and method

UN Comtrade public database, accessed 24 and 25 September 2026: Thailand's annual and monthly returns for HS 8534; Thailand's returns for HS 8471, 8473, 8517 and 8542; US import returns for HS 8534; and the export returns of eleven other economies. Each query is linked from the source list; the database returns one period per query, so each link opens one year or month. Other sources: monthly reports of Thailand's Office of Industrial Economics, BOI releases, a TPCA release, USTR notices and a company release. Percentage changes and totals are calculated from the published figures. Plant counts and the plant chart come from the MPBxChange register of PCB plants in Thailand. Interpretation in the text is MPBxChange analysis.