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April PCB Book-to-Bill Shows Glimpse of Recovery
May 27, 2009 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
BANNOCKBURN, IL IPC Association Connecting Electronics Industries announced today the April findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. "While sales and orders continued to decline in April, there was a marked improvement in the book-to-bill ratio," said IPC president Denny McGuirk. "It is still slightly below parity, but increased in April for the third straight month. Rigid PCB orders have exceeded sales for the first time in over a year. I believe we're seeing the first signs of recovery."
Rigid PCB shipments are down 37.1% and bookings are down 26.9% in April 2009 from April 2008. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 27.7% and bookings are down 33.7%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments declined 22.6% and rigid bookings decreased 5.5%. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 90% of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC's World PCB Production and Laminate Market Report. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in April 2009 increased to 0.98.
Flexible circuit shipments in April 2009 are down 2.1%, and bookings are down 0.3% compared to April 2008. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are up 3.9% and bookings are down 5.5%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments declined 14.9% and flex bookings are down 1.5%. In April, the flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC's survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for approximately 77% of their shipment value reported for the month. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in April 2009 improved to 0.94.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in April 2009 decreased 34.7% from April 2008 and orders booked decreased 25.1% from April 2008. Year to date, combined industry shipments are down 25.7% and bookings are down 32.0%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for April 2009 are down 21.8% and bookings are down 5.2%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in April 2009 climbed to 0.97.In April 2009, 89% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 89% of rigid PCB and 86% of flexible circuit shipments in April by IPC survey participants.
The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC's survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months. Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month may not be significant unless a trend of three consecutive months or more is apparent.
For more information, visit www.ipc.org.