Ratnaveer Precision: With Copper Clad Laminate Prices Jumping 3X, Can It Stay Ahead of Wipro, Kaynes and Syrma?
Ratnaveer Precision Engineering is attempting to move beyond its established stainless-steel business and enter a segment that sits at the beginning of the electronics manufacturing chain. The company’s new copper-clad laminate (CCL) project is aimed at supplying the base material used to manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs), making it an important link in the broader electronics and semiconductor ecosystem.
The opportunity has become more interesting because of the reported shortage of CCL in the Indian market. Management says the company is preparing its first production line while competitors such as Wipro, Kaynes Technology and Syrma SGS are also expanding their presence across the electronics value chain. The key question is whether Ratnaveer can convert its early entry into a sustainable advantage as more capacity comes into the market.
With a market cap of Rs 2,800 crore, the shares of Ratnaveer Precision Engineering Ltd are trading at Rs 332 and are trading at a PE of 41 compared to their industry's PE of 23. The shares have given a return of more than 100% in the last year.
From Stainless Steel to Electronics
Ratnaveer has operated in its principal stainless steel business for more than two decades now, offering products such as washers, fasteners, tubes, pipes, sheet metal parts and others. The management spoke about the backward and forward integration capabilities that involve stainless steel scrap melting into final products, providing the company with a well-established manufacturing base as it diversifies into a new area.
Diversification involves moving into the copper-clad laminate or CCL market. Simply put, CCL refers to the copper-clad base material upon which PCB circuitry is constructed. Clearly, this implies a key foundational product for the PCB industry. According to management, the Indian market is highly import-dependent, and the new project aims at substituting domestic products in place of the imported variety. Ratnaveer has approval for Rs 338 crore in Capex for five CCL lines.
Why CCL Matters for PCBs
The significance of CCL comes from the fact that it forms part of the value chain in the electronics sector. Without the base laminate, there cannot be any PCB production. Therefore, constraints within the supply chain of CCL will eventually affect the production capacity for the PCBs. The management referred to CCL as the "mother" raw material in the PCB industry and noted the demand arising from applications within the areas of electronics, semiconductors, and data centres.
Management indicated that there exist challenges in obtaining sufficient supplies of CCL among the PCB manufacturers. In particular, they cited Chinese vendors who allegedly have delivery lead times ranging from nine to twelve months. Additionally, Ratnaveer mentioned efforts being undertaken by the PCB companies in response to the challenge of availability locally.
The 3X Price Trigger
A notable factor affecting the dynamics of the CCL opportunity relates to the changes in selling prices. Management indicated that when evaluating the project some two-and-a-half years back, the selling price for CCL sheets stood around Rs 1,250 per sheet. According to the management, current market prices now stand at around Rs 4,000 per sheet, which amounts to more than triple the original estimate.
What is critical about this development is that management indicated increases in raw material costs of around 30-40%, versus increases of around 250-300% in the final product cost. Assuming that such a difference in pricing holds steady, margins may work out to be higher than anticipated by the company. However, the company is yet to revise its estimates according to the new pricing structure, indicating its intention to wait until it starts delivering production orders.
Five Lines Could Change the Scale
Ratnaveer aims to have five lines for CCL, having a cumulative annual capacity of approximately 80 lakh sheets based on management guidance. The first line will go live by way of trial production around the end of November/December 2026, while the other four lines are slated phase-wise, with two lines each being launched around May-June 2027 and December 2027-January 2028, respectively.
Based on initial guidance from management, the company expects revenue from CCL to exceed Rs 100 crore in FY27 through one CCL line, while three operational lines will generate about Rs 350 crore in revenue in FY28. The FY29 guidance remains unchanged at Rs 750 crore in revenue from the entire five lines of CCL. The margins expected in CCL are a 20% EBITDA margin and a 13% PAT margin.
Financial Performance
Based on its quarterly results in June 2026, Ratnaveer has been consistently growing even prior to gaining any materiality out of CCL. Its revenues for Q1 FY27 were Rs 315 crore compared to Rs 265 crore reported in Q1 FY26, indicating revenue growth of around 19%. Its operating profit margin improved to Rs 32 crore from Rs 27 crore, whereas its net profit grew to Rs 18 crore from Rs 15 crore.
Its margin dynamics may require tracking by investors as it moves ahead in its expansion story. For instance, the operating margin was around 10% in Q1 FY27, similar to 10% last year. Hence, although it moves into CCL with some growth momentum in its legacy business, the real transformation would lie in achieving the margins that its management envisioned.
Can It Stay Ahead of Wipro?
Competitive dynamics become relevant since there is more than one company interested in domestic CCL manufacturing. Management mentioned Wipro as another competitor; both companies reportedly received government funding for setting up CCL plants via schemes such as ECMS and PLI.
Both plants reportedly have comparable capacities, but according to management, Ratnaveer plans to cater to the open market, whereas the intended usage of Wipro’s planned plant is primarily backward integration and captive demand.
The distinction might affect how the competition should be viewed by investors. In case Wipro consumes most of its production internally, then Ratnaveer will be directly competing against PCB makers who want domestic sourcing options.
On the other hand, considering that Wipro is a large electronics player, its sheer size alone makes it difficult to assess competitiveness purely based on capacity figures. Ratnaveer's edge seems to lie in targeting the open market and getting to the market faster than Wipro.
Kaynes and Syrma Add Another Layer
The two firms constitute yet another category of competitors owing to their presence within electronics manufacturing as well as their growth strategy. According to the management, based on what it understood about both firms' operations thus far, Kaynes Technology and Syrma SGS were concentrating on opportunities in flexible PCBs, while their CCL capacities would only materialise after 2030-31 at the earliest.
Ratnaveer benefits from an opportunity period if its timeline for commissioning is achieved as projected. Nevertheless, being first mover per se may not necessarily create an unbreachable moat either. With increasing amounts of capacity coming up domestically, quality, reliability, costs, timing, technical specifications and scalability would become important aspects of consideration. Ratnaveer must leverage this brief opportunity period for building relationships and establishing itself as a dependable domestic alternative.
Orders and Execution Hold the Key
Among others, another notable development is that the management claimed it has got multiple 'soft confirmations' on exclusivity, long-term contracts and the demand-supply equation from its potential clients. The plan of action is to initiate orders once the machine becomes operational, upon arrival of the first shipment.
But execution itself appears to be the immediate catalyst here. As per information made available to us, the construction work of the initial unit is almost over; shipments have begun, visa processing of the commissioning crew is complete, and trial production is targeted by mid-November/early December, followed by full-fledged production thereafter.
In essence, the success/failure of the CCL story will hinge critically on the company’s capacity to execute. within timelines and reach acceptable quality levels, which may translate into earnings over time.
The Margin Opportunity
Economics may get quite intriguing if prevailing CCL selling prices hold up at current levels. According to management estimates, copper foil constitutes approximately 27% of total raw material needs, glass fabric 32%, while filler, epoxy resins, glue, and chemical inputs comprise about 22%. At Rs 1,250 per sheet, management estimated material costs of Rs 868 per sheet and a gross margin percentage of 30%.
What makes matters complicated is the reality that investors should avoid making any automatic assumptions about persistently high current CCL pricing trends continuing into FY29. Even management does not have the answer; according to them, there is no way anyone could predict an optimal price level for the product. The Rs 750 crore FY29 guidance estimate itself had been calculated using a conservative base-case price scenario of Rs 1,250 per sheet.
Conclusion: Early Entry Is the Advantage
Will Ratnaveer be able to maintain an edge against Wipro, Kaynes and Syrma in CCLs? Currently, the timing edge seems to be Ratnaveer’s strength rather than any competitive moat. According to Ratnaveer’s disclosures, it is targeting first-time commercial production by the end of 2026 to early 2027. The company claims that both Kaynes and Syrma’s CCL projects are much further away, while Wipro intends to cater mostly to captive demand.
However, the real game-changer is that Ratnaveer will enter an environment where management believes domestic CCL availability will be restricted, driving up selling prices significantly. Ratnaveer has unveiled ambitious plans of setting up five production lines, reportedly witnessing customer interest, while aiming at a very healthy 20% EBITDA margin.
All these parameters indicate a significant potential earnings inflection point if execution proceeds according to plan. Nonetheless, the critical success factors continue to be commissioning, conversion of customers, capacity utilisation rates and maintenance of premium pricing levels in CCLs. From this point of view, Ratnaveer looks well-positioned to capitalise on its lead.