BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments in September increased 18.5% year-over-year, as orders rose 2.5%, says IPC.

Year to date, PWB shipments were up 19.3%, while orders were up 28%. Sequentially, September shipments increased 13.9% and orders went up 7.4%. The book-to-bill ratio remained positive, but declined to 1.03.

A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.

September rigid PWB shipments were up 18.3%, while orders increased 3% compared to the same month in 2009. Year to date, rigid shipments were up 20.2%, and orders grew 28.8%.

Sequentially, rigid shipments increased 14.3%, and orders increased 9.3%. The rigid PWB book-to-bill ratio for September slipped to 1.03.

Flex circuit shipments for the month were up 21%, but orders fell 2.9% year-over-year.

Year to date, flex PWB shipments increased 10.7%, and orders were up 18.8%. Sequentially, flex shipments increased 9.5%, but orders decreased 11.2%. The flex book-to-bill fell under parity to 0.97.

“The growth in orders over the past year has generated corresponding sales growth in the industry,” said IPC president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “The book-to-bill ratio has turned downward in the past few months primarily because of sales growth, which is a positive reason for the change,” he added. “The year-on-year sales growth rates for both rigid and flex are still in positive double digits.”

Rigid circuits represent an estimated 89% of the current North American industry, according to IPC. In September, 82% of total PWB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 82% of rigid and 82% of flex shipments.

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