Anyone who has an evergreen tree in their garden probably knows the familiar feeling of putting your hand on the trunk and leaving a sticky film on your fingers. This sticky stuff is better known as resin. Under the right conditions, wood resin hardens. As with many natural substances, humans realized that they could synthesize resins using a soup of petrochemicals. The synthetic version is further cured to become a durable, heat-resistant material used in everything from adhesives and coatings to plastics and electronics. Resin is a key component in the production of printed circuit boards used in everything from smartphones to computers, home appliances, and cars.
When Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Petrochemical Industrial Park was attacked by Iranian missiles on April 6 and 7, it was the final blow from a confluence of geopolitical, financial, and physical factors that knocked out the world’s critical resin stores and left critical parts of circuit boards in short supply. The factory was already shut down at the end of March, as navigation through the Strait of Hormuz proved impossible during the conflict, and operations have not yet resumed.
There is currently little public information about the exact status of the Jubail complex, but Jim Fitterling, chief executive of Dow (Dow has a joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Jubail), said in an April 23 earnings call that the company continues to guide the process “over 275 days” toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz and normalizing supply chains. Based on his comments, the actual repairs needed at the complex appear to be less important than the broader logistics situation. “I think a lot of it can be repaired within that period of time. … Just from talking to our partners, I think they’re actively working on the restoration. And I haven’t heard anything from them that would make me think that these logistical constraints are going to last much longer than this period of time,” Fitterling said.
But experts say that if the suspension of resin production is extended into the fall within 275 days, prices for some electronic equipment will start to hurt.
According to April Producer Price Index data, plastic resins and materials were among the factors driving the 9.4% annual rise in manufactured goods prices, the largest increase in more than three years.
CNBC recently took a rare tour of U.S.-based PCB maker TTM’s facilities to highlight the fragile supply chain in manufacturing computer components. The report noted that in 2000, 30% of PCBs were manufactured in the United States, but today that figure has reached 4%, making China the world leader in production.
Whether the PCB is manufactured in the United States or China, the resin still comes from the same source.
Chinese NVIDIA supplier Victory Giant, one of the world’s largest PCB manufacturers, has warned that the Middle East conflict could increase prices for key raw materials copper and resin. Printed circuit board (PCB) prices rose as much as 40% from March to April, according to a Goldman Sachs memo cited by Reuters. TTMThe company, whose stock has risen more than 400% in the past year, told CNBC it is increasing prices by 5% to 25%.
Mark Vena, CEO and principal analyst at SmartTech Research, said consumers will soon feel the pain in pricing, but they won’t necessarily hear about resins at the mall.
“Consumers probably won’t hear about ‘PPE resin shortages’ in the Apple Store, but they might notice it in higher prices, longer repair times, tighter inventory at launch, and fewer discounts,” Vena said. Printed circuit boards are the nervous system of every modern device, and as board costs soar, the problem quickly spreads to phones, laptops, wearables, gaming consoles, routers, and AI servers.
“We expect to see upward pressure on prices across premium electronics, but it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a clean ‘resin surcharge’ on the next iPhone,” Vena said.
Apple and the economics of the internal smartphone supply chain
Apple has better defenses than most companies because it has enormous buying power, long-term supplier contracts, sophisticated forecasting, and the ability to work around constraints and redesign faster than smaller companies. “But isolated doesn’t mean immune, because every iPhone still relies on reliable circuit boards and the same global material web that everyone else uses,” Vena said. “Apple can avoid the pain, but it cannot eliminate the concentrated petrochemical bottleneck,” he added.
Manufacturers, led by Apple, could absorb some of the blow and make up for the cost increases elsewhere, such as through leaner promotions, higher storage costs, and even pushing consumers towards more expensive configurations, rather than focusing on large unit price hikes. But this is a niche market with Apple, Nvidia, Google, and other companies competing for PCB-grade glass cloth from a single supplier.
Vena said many companies have less room to take a hit than Apple in their economic models. “The bigger squeeze in the short term is likely to appear first in lower-margin devices such as PCs, accessories, gaming hardware, routers, and mid-range Android phones, where manufacturers have less room to tolerate a 40% PCB shock,” he said.
For all smartphone makers, the biggest increase in costs may be felt on foldable phones, Vena said. There are reports that Apple could enter that market later this year, but the release scheduled for September 2026 could be delayed.
Thad Hwang, founder and CEO of Goji Mobile, said he does not expect any smartphone price increases in the coming months, especially for flagship phones such as the iPhone 17 and Samsung Galaxy S26 series. “Retail prices for these phones are well known and inventories are usually plentiful,” he said, adding that the long-term impact of semiconductor manufacturing disruptions and supply chain instability could be felt in the fall.
Supply chain expert and Wichita State University professor Usha Haley said Saudi Arabia’s Jubail complex supplies about 70% of the world’s high-purity polyphenylene ether resins. “Production is currently halted and there are no alternative suppliers to fill the gap. PCB prices have increased 40% in one month and lead times for epoxy resin input have expanded from three weeks to 15 weeks,” Haley said.
There is no resin that can replace high-end technology.
Although there are no off-the-shelf alternatives to resin, the industry is exploring alternatives.
High-purity PPE resins are used to provide the electrical, thermal, and reliability properties needed for advanced PCBs, especially where signal integrity is critical. Substitutes may work for some low-end electronics, but for high-end smartphones, RF components, AI servers, and automotive electronics, changing materials means recertification, redesign, testing, and time.
“This is not like replacing one screw with another,” Vena says.
Engineers may be able to move to PTFE or epoxy-based laminates for low-frequency applications. But the shortage, along with rising memory prices and tariffs, will likely push electronics prices to their highest levels in a decade by the fall, supply chain experts say.
Advocates for resins and other plastics say supply disruptions will further push domestic production of plastics. The industry’s main trade group, the Plastics Industry Association, said it was closely monitoring the situation.
“What’s happening right now highlights the importance of building a resilient supply network that supports America’s manufacturers, businesses, and consumers who rely on plastic products every day,” said Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the trade group, while also noting that the current resin supply chain is undergoing upheaval. “Global supply disruptions impact every industry, and plastics are no exception. The United States has a strong domestic manufacturing and materials base that will help keep resin supply chains moving during uncertain times,” Seaholm said.
Shridhar Tayur, a business management professor and supply chain expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said the U.S. doesn’t have the manufacturing capacity to replace the lost resins, the technology has gone elsewhere, and leaders don’t pay attention until a crisis like the current one is already occurring.
He said that although large companies are in a better position, if the resin shortage is not eased soon, even large companies will start to feel the resin pinch. “All of a sudden, people will be selling off the inventory they have,” Tayul said.
If Saudi Arabia’s factories remain shut down for a few more months, that’s when the problems will begin. “This situation will impact data centers, routers, and high-end 5G mobile phones. The type of resin used here will be most important,” Tayul said. This impact will come as a surprise to most consumers, and those considering a high-end phone may postpone purchasing due to availability or price.
For Apple and other electronics manufacturers, “there’s not much you can do about a shortage if it just doesn’t exist,” Tayul said.
—CNBC’s Katie Tarasov contributed to this report.
