FRANKFURT -- Uncertainties over Brexit, a crisis in the automotive industry and trade conflicts among the US, China and Europe stifled orders and sales of printed circuit boards from manufacturers in German-speaking countries in 2019, according to ZVEI. 

Fourth quarter revenue fell 11.8% year-over-year, while sales for the year fell 11.1%. The book-to-bill ratio for the December period rose to 1.09, as the drop in sales outpaced smaller orders.

Bottlenecks brought about by copper foil in 2017 and component shortages in 2018, primarily in Asia, pushed orders back to Europe in those years. The myriad problems in 2019 erased those gains.

This was also noticeable in the order books, the trade group said. Order volume fell by almost 7% compared to the previous third quarter, and the value of new orders decreased 11.4% for the year.

The automotive sector played a particular role in the slowdown. Long-term order forecasts and production volumes went unrealized due to the diesel affair at VW and the switch to alternative drives. PCB manufacturers do not expect significant improvement in 2020 due to continued risks. As a result, the order portfolios were streamlined over the course of 2019, particularly in the fourth quarter. Although around 5% more vehicles were registered in Germany in 2019, the export market, which accounts for around 80% of car sales and is therefore more important, fell by 13%. Industrial electronics, especially mechanical engineering, also suffered, ZVEI added.

Despite the significant drop in sales, the number of employees only fell by 2.2% in the December quarter.

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