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IPC Releases New Book-to-Bill Ratios
Written by Tracy Heffner
Thursday, 29 September 2005
BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC
has reported that the North American rigid PCB industry book-to-bill
ratio in August returned to the positive range at 1.01, while the
flex circuit book-to-bill remained high, at 1.62.
The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in August
remained at 1.16.
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.
Rigid
PCB shipments are down 0.6% and bookings are up 3.5% from a year
ago. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 5.3% and bookings
are down 3.8%. Flexible circuit shipments are up 38.1% and
bookings are up 65.9% in August from last year. Year to
date, flexible circuits shipments are up 27.3% and bookings are up
20.7%.
For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits
combined, industry sales billed (shipments) in August 2005 increased
7.2% from last year, and orders booked increased 14.6% from August
2004. Year to date, combined industry shipments are up 0.7% and
bookings are up 1.9%. Combined industry shipments for August are up 14.1% and bookings are up 12.1% over July.
“The August numbers are back up after
a typically slow July,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “Overall
PCB sales are staying pretty flat, and rigid PCBs will probably end the
year a little below 2004. What is encouraging, though, is the
current growth in bookings. This is giving us positive
book-to-bill ratios in both segments, which is a good sign for
near-term business.”
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