BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments in July fell 12.1% year-over-year, says IPC. Orders decreased 16% compared to July 2010.

Year to date, industry shipments were up 2.4%, and orders were down 8.5%. Sequentially, board shipments for July dropped 24.2%, and orders decreased 20.8%.

The North American industry book-to-bill ratio for the month climbed to just above parity at 1.01.         

A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.

Rigid board shipments were down 10.2%, while orders were down 17% year-over-year.

Year to date, rigid shipments increased 2.3%, and orders declined 10%. On a sequential basis, rigid board shipments fell 24.8%, and orders decreased 19%.

The rigid book-to-bill ratio in July remained near parity at 0.99.          

Flexible circuit board shipments for the month were down 28.3%, and orders declined 4.5% compared to July 2010.

Year to date, flex board shipments increased 3.2%, and orders increased 8%. Sequentially, shipments decreased 17.8 %, and orders fell 34.9%.
The flex book-to-bill jumped to 1.20.         

“July is typically a slower month than June for the PCB industry,” said IPC president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “Negative year-on-year growth rates in North American PCB sales and orders for July reflect slowing growth compared to the height of the recovery one year ago,” he added. “The good news is the book-to-bill ratio remains just above parity, largely due to the continued strength of flexible circuit orders.”

Rigid PWBs represent an estimated 89% of the current industry in North America, says IPC. In July, 82% of total shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 82% of rigid and 82% of flex board shipments.