If you feel like your electronics raw materials prices are rising, you’re not imagining it. We often talk about “market trends” in the abstract. However, the reality of 2026 is that upstream commodity volatility has finally hit the factory floor.
From copper-heavy printed circuit boards (PCBs) to metal-backed passives, rising raw material prices are filtering directly into your BOM. Chris Withers, Sales Director at Zel Components, spoke to us to help understand how leadership teams in the electronics sector can protect their raw materials margins.
The Surge in Electronics Raw Materials Prices: By the Numbers
The numbers coming off the London Metal Exchange (LME) are a wake-up call for any procurement lead:
Copper: Hit record territory in January 2026. Pushing above $13,300 per tonne. This is a 20% jump from late 2025.
Gold: Surged above $5,000 per ounce. So it’s impacting contact plating and high-reliability components.
Aluminium: Trading firmly above $3,000 per tonne.
“Copper isn’t just a metal you read about in commodity news,” explains Withers. “It’s the backbone of your internal connectors, wiring, and signal paths. When copper moves, the cost of your assemblies moves with it.”
The ‘Upstream’ Filter
This isn’t a theoretical price hike. In fact, Manufacturers of copper-clad laminate: the base for almost all FR-4 boards; are already issuing price adjustments of up to 30%.
“This movement doesn’t stay upstream,” Withers warns. “It filters through every layer of a PCB quotation, especially in complex multi-layer designs where copper and prepreg content is higher.”
We’re seeing similar double-digit percentage increases across capacitors, inductors, and ferrite beads for early 2026 deliveries.
The Fix: Move to Pin-for-Pin Flexibility
The old “wait-and-see” strategy is now a high-risk gamble. In fact, if you are dependent on a single branded source for key sections of your design, you are exposed.
The Strategy: Second Sourcing as Risk Management Instead of panic buying. Withers suggests a pivot toward pin-for-pin alternatives to traditional .
Maintain Compatibility: Use alternatives that maintain electrical and mechanical compatibility.
Focus on Discretes: This approach is most effective for widely used regulators, interface devices, and passives where functional equivalence is well-understood.
Map Before the Crisis: Having approved alternatives already mapped into your design significantly reduces disruption when prices spike or allocations appear.
The Bottom Line
Volatility isn’t going away in 2026. Instead, teams that will protect their growth are those that design and source with flexibility in mind. In a market of uncertain input costs, agility is now as valuable as the unit price itself.
