BANNOCKBURN, IL – Ninety-day moving average North American circuit board shipments increased 4.4% in June, as orders decreased 4.2% compared to the same month in 2010, says IPC.

Year to date, rigid and flex board shipments combined were up 4.8%, and orders were down 7.3% year-over-year. Sequentially, shipments for June increased 14.4%, and orders went up 11.5%.

The book-to-bill ratio reached parity at 1.00.         

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 up 5.4%, while orders dropped 7.3% year-over-year. Year to date, rigid shipments increased 4.4%, and orders declined 8.9%. Sequentially, shipments increased 15.3%, and orders rose 10.4%.

The rigid book-to-bill in June was slightly below parity at 0.98.          

Flex circuit board shipments for the month were down 5.9%. Orders grew 30.8% compared to June 2010. Year to date, shipments increased 10.1%, and orders were up 10.1%. Sequentially, flex board shipments increased 4.7%, and orders climbed 21.9%.

The flex book-to-bill jumped to 1.13.         

“The industry’s book-to-bill ratio has returned to parity due to unusually high growth in flexible circuit orders in June,” said IPC president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “This indicates strong sales in the flex segment over the next several months. Rigid PCB sales growth is still positive, but trending downward due to weaker orders.”

Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 89% of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC.

In June, 78% of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 78% of rigid and 79% of flex shipments by IPC’s survey participants.