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IPC Releases Book-to-Bill Ratio and Business Report for November 2004
January 3, 2005 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced the findings from its monthly PCB Statistical Program. The North American PCB Industry Book-to-Bill Ratio for November 2004 dropped to 0.96. This is the first month that the ratio has fallen below parity (1.00) since April 2003. This ratio is based on monthly data collected from both rigid PCB and flexible circuit producers that participate in IPC's monthly PCB Statistical Program. Separately, the book-to-bill ratios in November 2004 were 0.88 for rigid PCBs and 1.28 for flexible circuits.
The 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 the companies in IPC's survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which indicates probable near-term growth.
Total Industry GrowthFor rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry sales billed (shipments) in November 2004 increased 4.1% from November 2003, and orders booked decreased 27.0% from November 2003. Compared to 2003, shipments of PCBs are up 28.5% year-to-date, while bookings of PCBs are up 24.8% year-to-date. Combined industry shipments for November 2004 are up 5.2% over the previous month, and bookings are down 23.3% over the previous month.
The book-to-bill ratios and growth rates for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined are heavily affected by the rigid PCB segment, which represents more than 80% of the current PCB market in North America. However, the influence of flexible circuits is growing, as flexible circuit shipments have shown stronger growth than rigid PCBs over the past year.
Rigid PCB GrowthRigid PCB shipments are down 9.6%, and bookings are down 27.9% in November 2004 from November 2003. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments have increased 17.8%and bookings have increased 8.0%, compared to the same period in 2003. Rigid PCB shipments from the survey sample increased 3.7% from the previous month and rigid bookings increased 1.8% from the previous month.
Flexible Circuit GrowthFlexible circuit shipments are up 58.8%, and bookings are down 37.2% in November 2004 from November 2003. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments have grown 72.5% and bookings have grown 88.7%, compared to the same period in 2003. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments from the survey sample increased 10.7% and flex bookings decreased 71.6%.