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IPC Releases March 2005 Book-to-Bill Ratio, Business Report
April 29, 2005 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. — IPC—Association Connecting Electronics Industries announces the March 2005 findings from its monthly PCB Statistical Program. The North American rigid PCB industry book-to-bill ratio for March 2005 continued at 1.04, while the flexible-circuit ratio fell to 1.07. These ratios are based on monthly data collected from PCB producers that participate in the PCB Statistical Program. The combined industry book-to-bill ratio in March 2005 was 1.05.
Rigid PCB shipments are down 9.0%, and bookings are down 2.7% in March 2005, compared to the same period one year ago. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments are down 4.6%, and bookings are down 4.8%. Rigid PCB shipments from the survey sample increased 8.7% from the previous month, while rigid bookings increased 11.1%.
Flexible circuit shipments are up 21.3%, and bookings are down 35.9% in March 2005 from one year ago. Flexible circuits shipments are up 29.5%, and bookings are down 2.3% year-to-date. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments from the survey sample increased 0.6%, and flex bookings decreased 4.8%.
These growth rates reflect revised February flexible circuit bookings numbers. As originally reported, February bookings included some cancellations of prior months' orders. These cancellations are more appropriately deducted from the backlog and should not affect current-month bookings. The revised flexible circuit bookings growth rates for February 2005 are down 43.4% from February 2004, up 17.8% year-to-date, and down 47.7% from the prior month.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry sales billed (shipments) in March 2005 decreased 4.5% from the same period one year ago, and orders booked decreased 10.0%. Year-to-date, combined industry shipments are up 1.0%, and bookings are down 4.3%. Combined industry shipments for March 2005 are up 7.1% over the previous month, while bookings are up 8.3%.
In March 2005, 70% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 75% of rigid PCB shipments, and 47% of flexible circuit shipments. Also, flexible-circuit manufacturers in IPC's survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for about 45% of their shipment value reported for the month.