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Q'02 Facing Soft Market; March PCB Book-to-Bill Released
April 27, 2009 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
BANNOCKBURN, IL IPC Association Connecting Electronics Industries released the March PCB industry book-to-bill ratios from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Rigid PCB orders saw slight improvement, but IPC president Denny McGuirk warned that the next quarter will see continued weakness in the PCB market.
Rigid PCB shipments are down 30.5% and bookings are down 39.8% in March 2009 from March 2008. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 24.6% and bookings are down 35.6%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 9.6% and rigid bookings increased 10.5%. 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 March 2009 remained below parity but moved up slightly to 0.92.
Flexible circuit shipments in March 2009 are up 1.0%, and bookings are down 12.0% compared to March 2008. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are up 6.0% and bookings are down 7.4%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments are up 22.3% and flex bookings are up 15.0%. In March, the flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC's survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for approximately 78% of their shipment value reported for the month. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in March 2009 dropped to 0.87.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in March 2009 decreased 28.3% from March 2008 and orders booked decreased 38.0% from March 2008. Year to date, combined industry shipments are down 22.7% and bookings are down 34.0%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for March 2009 are up 10.7% and bookings are up 10.9%. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in March 2009 was 0.91.
"Sales and orders improved in March over the first two months of the year due to seasonal effects, but year-on-year growth in rigid PCBs is still down significantly," said IPC President Denny McGuirk. "Orders are still lagging behind sales, suggesting that sales will continue to weaken for the next quarter."
In March 2009, 89% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 89% of rigid PCB and 84% of flexible circuit shipments in March 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.