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PCB Industry Steady in October
December 3, 2007 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. IPC Association Connecting Electronics Industries October book-to-bill findings reveal that shipments and orders were generally slightly depressed throughout the month, in flexible and rigid PCB sectors. However, the book-to-bill ratio remained at 1.08.
Rigid PCB shipments are down 0.8% and bookings are down 1.7% in October 2007 from October 2006. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 9.1% and bookings are down 9.6%. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments decreased 10.7% and rigid bookings decreased 16.4%. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 88% of the current PCB market in North America. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in October 2007 remained steady at 1.08.
Flexible circuit shipments in October 2007 are down 8.6% and bookings are up 0.2% compared to October 2006. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments are down 6.9% and bookings are up 4.8%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments decreased 0.3% and flex bookings were up 6.8%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.10 in October.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in October 2007 decreased 1.3% from the same month last year, and orders booked decreased 1.6%. Year to date, combined industry shipments are down 9.0% and bookings are down 8.7%. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments are down 10.1% and bookings fell 15.2%. The combined book-to-bill ratio in October 2007 remained at 1.08.
Monthly PCB industry sales in North America are just slightly under last year's sales for the same month, an improvement from earlier months of this year, said IPC President Denny McGuirk. "Year-to-date, the industry is about nine percent below 2006, but this could improve further in the last quarter," he added, saying that order backlogs are growing and inventory levels are declining for most of the companies in IPC's survey.
In October 2007, 84% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 84% of rigid PCBs and 83% of flexible circuit shipments. In October, the flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC's survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for about 78% of their shipment value. Assembly and other services make up a large and growing segment of flexible circuit producers' business.
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. The information in IPC's monthly PCB industry statistics is based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers in the USA and Canada. For more information, see www.ipc.org.