China does not accept payments from Russia. Where to order printed circuit boards in China in 2024

Six months ago, I wrote how I solved the problem with the departed JLCPCB. And since March, a new problem has arisen ahahaha (hysterical laughter) – Chinese banks began to block payments from Russian companies for components for assembling electronics. Payments do not go through even for those companies that have entered into long-term contracts with Chinese production sites.

Because of this, the deadlines increased, and a number of companies began to work through intermediaries, which greatly increased the price of the supply of electronic components.

I cut up my first review + added several new companies that now directly supply components and printed circuit boards from China. At the end there is a summary table with the results.

1.Service Devices

Website link→

The company has its own production site and office in China, therefore, as before the introduction of sanctions, printed circuit boards and components are delivered directly.

WHAT DO THEY BRING?

1. Electronic components: microcircuits, transistors, connectors with cables, connectors, lenses, LEDs.

2. Printed circuit boards: single-sided, double-layer, multilayer, microwave, HDI.

PROS

• They deliver quickly. On average, serial printed circuit boards are delivered in 3-4 weeks, prototypes in 2. The deadline has not changed in any way after the introduction of sanctions.

• Price. The company has its own office in China, so they work without intermediaries. The cost did not increase after the introduction of sanctions.

• Help solve complex cases. I once got burned with another company: they bought a batch of transistors, we agreed on express delivery, but as a result the goods were stuck in their warehouse – there were some problems with shipments (I don’t remember the reason). All the deadlines were coming to an end, and I just started calling the companies I worked with to try to somehow bring it through them. As a result, Service Devices helped, they accepted the goods at their warehouse and quickly sent them to Russia.

2. Grand group

Website link→

This is the former NCAB Group. In 2022, the company left the Russian market, and Gran Group became their successor, maintaining its capacity and staff.

WHAT DO THEY BRING?

Printed circuit boards: single-sided, double-layer, multilayer, microwave, HDI.

PROS

• The dates have not changed: Delivery of prototypes – up to 3 weeks, serial batches are delivered on average in 4-5 weeks.

• The price also remained unchanged.

• Excellent support from engineers. We had a case when we were working on a graphics card board project, and we did not notice a number of critical errors. Gran Group provided insurance.

3. NEC

Website link→

The largest contract manufacturer of printed circuit boards. NEK has several controlled production sites in China, and at the moment they bring orders to Russia without any problems.

WHAT DO THEY BRING?

Printed circuit boards: single-sided, double-layer, multilayer, microwave, flexible-rigid, flexible.

PROS

• They deliver quickly. Now delivery takes on average 4-5 weeks, the delivery time after the introduction of sanctions increased by 1 week. If you are starting a repeat order, then the deadline remains 3-4 weeks.

• They did not increase prices. NEK volumes make it possible to maintain prices at pre-sanction levels.

• There are discounts for board volumes over 1000 dm².

4. FINELINE

Link to article→

A large contract manufacturer of printed circuit boards, one of the top 5 companies in terms of volume. According to the latest data, they also bring boards to Russia without interruption.

WHAT DO THEY BRING?

Printed circuit boards: single-sided, double-layer, multilayer, microwave, flexible-rigid, flexible.

PROS

• Delivery speed. So far, the timing has not changed much: before the sanctions it took 3-4 weeks, now it takes about 5-6.

• I didn’t notice any difference in cost, they work at the same rate. Here you need to take into account that they have always been quite expensive, 1.5 times higher than other contract soldiers.

Important: Colleagues told me that FINELINE has been tricky with the material over the last year. If you order Rogers, they may add another one. For example, the material became more fluffy and the characteristics changed (losses increased). The manufacturer himself does not admit this.

SUMMARY TABLE