BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American PCB shipments in July were up 10.8% year-over-year, says IPC. Year to date, shipments were 10.5% above the same period last year. Sequentially, shipments decreased 19.1%.

July PCB orders increased 4.9% year-over-year. Year-to-date orders grew 11.7% compared to the same period in 2017. Sequentially, orders were down 12.3%.

The book-to-bill ratio for July held steady at 1.05. A ratio of more than one suggests current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to twelve months.

“Business growth continued in July for the North American PCB industry, although at a slightly slower pace than in the previous month,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “July was the 11th consecutive month of sales growth and the 14th month of continuous order growth. The month-to-month decreases in sales and orders in July follows a typical seasonal pattern in which business is strongest in the last month of the quarter and falls off in the first month of the next quarter, probably due to sales activity. The book-to-bill ratio in July remained above parity for the 18th consecutive month, which is a positive indicator of continued growth for the remainder of this year.”

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