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IPC Reports 2008 Shipments and Bookings Edge Ahead |
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Written by Kathy Nargi-Toth
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Monday, 29 September 2008 |
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BANNOCKBURN, IL – The IPC released the August 2008 North America PCB industry growth rates and book-to-bill figures.
Rigid PCB shipments were up 2.5% and bookings were down 14.9% in August compared to August 2007. Year-to-date, rigid PCB shipments were up 5.3% and bookings were up 1.7%. August showed a positive gain over July with PCB shipments up 5.8% and rigid bookings up 3.9%. Book-to-bill still remains negative at 0.95.
Flexible circuit shipments in August 2008 were up 18.9% and bookings were down 24.3% compared to August 2007. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments were up 9.0% and bookings were down 8.7%. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in August 2008 fell to 0.90. In the previous 3-month period the book-to-bill was over 1.00. The book-to-bill for flexible circuits has not been at 0.90 or below since December 2006.
The book-to-bill ratio for rigid PCBs has been below 1.00 for the past 4 consecutive months and only reached or exceeded 1.00 in 2008 during March and April. A ratio of less than 1.00 is a negative indicator, suggesting a contracting market.
These numbers however do not measure actual U.S. and Canadian PCB production. The numbers only track regional production trends. The numbers are based on a survey of selected companies. These companies report only shipments that were produced domestically (in the U.S. or Canada). In August 2008, 76% of the total PCB shipments from these surveyed companies were domestically produced. These numbers are significantly affected by the mix of companies in the IPC’s survey sample.
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