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Book-to-Bill Ratio for October '05 Shows Decline
November 29, 2005 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. — Based on monthly data collected from PCB producers that participate in IPC's monthly PCB Statistical Program, October 2005's North American rigid PCB industry book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.14, while the flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio declined sharply to 1.10. Combined, October's book-to-bill ratio declined slightly to 1.13.
Rigid PCB shipments are down 3.6% and bookings are up 31.5% in October 2005 from October 2004. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments are down 4.6% and bookings are up 1.5%. Rigid PCB shipments from the survey sample decreased 18.3% and rigid bookings decreased 12.8%, both from the previous month.
Flexible circuit shipments are up 49.1% and bookings are down 62.7% in October 2005 from the same period one year ago. So far this year, flexible circuits shipments are up 29.9% and bookings are up 17.0%. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments from the survey sample increased 14.7% and flex bookings decreased 77.3%.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry sales billed, or shipments in October 2005 increased 8.5% from October 2004, and orders booked decreased 0.4% from the same period. Year-to-date, combined industry shipments are up 1.9% and bookings are up 5.3%. October 2005's combined industry shipments are down 10.2% and bookings are down 35.9%, both over the previous month."Rigid PCB sales in October continued a bit below last year, but the increase in bookings suggests that this segment of the industry will have a solid fourth quarter," says Denny McGuirk, IPC's president. "It was not surprising to see the sizeable increase in flexible circuit sales in October, given the spike in September bookings. The sudden decrease in October bookings for flex was a surprise, but it is not a cause for alarm. Monthly bookings tend to be very volatile in the flex segment."In October 2005, 67% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced, accounting for 85% of rigid PCB and 29% of flexible circuit shipments. The flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC's survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for about 22% of their shipment value reported for the month.