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July Book-to-Bill Remains Steady
August 31, 2006 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. IPCAssociation Connecting Electronics Industries book-to-bill results for the North American PCB industry remained positive at 1.02. The rigid PCB sector held at 1.02, while the flexible circuit industry's ratio was 1.01. A ratio of more than 1.00 signals probable near-term growth, as demand is ahead of supply. The 1.02 ratio suggests modest growth in sales in the coming months, said Denny McGuirk, IPC president.
Rigid PCB shipments rose 8.6% and bookings rose 21.1% from July 2005 to 2006. Flexible circuits shipments increased 5.5% year-to-year, though shipments for the month dropped 36.6%. The combined market saw shipments increase 8.4% from last year's numbers and orders booked rose 14.4%.
Year-to-date, shipments rose 11.0% in the rigid PCB industry, with a 14.8% rise in bookings. A 1.5% climb in shipments of flexible circuits is coupled with a year-to-date 12.7% drop in bookings. The combined numbers reflect a shipments increase of 10.3%, and a booking growth of 12.5%.
Analysis of the industry from June to July 2005 shows a 20.8% decrease in rigid PCB shipments and a 20.5% drop in bookings. Shipments of flexible circuits fell 22.3% from June; bookings dropped 44.9%. Combined analysis shows shipments decreasing 20.9% and a 22.7% decrease in bookings.
Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide a clear view of industry growth. Due to market divergence between rigid and flex circuits, analysis is presented as both separate and combined ratios. Rigid PCBs represent 85% of the North American PCB market. These ratios, based on monthly data collected from PCB producers that participate in IPC's monthly PCB Statistical Program, are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period.
The survey tracks U.S. and Canadian facilities' bookings and shipments, not production. July percentages for domestic production of reported shipments included 86% for the combined industry, 86% for rigid PCBs, and 87% for flex.