BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American rigid and flex printed circuit board shipments combined in September decreased 12% year-over-year. Orders dropped 18.4% from September 2010, says IPC.

Year to date, shipments were down 0.2%, and orders fell 9.6%. Sequentially, PCB shipments for September increased 4.9%, and orders decreased 7.3%. 

The book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.99. A ratio of more than 1.0 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 13.1%, while orders dropped 19.9% compared to the same month last year. The rigid book-to-bill dipped just below parity at 0.99.

Year to date, rigid PCB shipments decreased 0.4%, and orders declined 10.8%. Sequentially, rigid board shipments increased 3.5%, and orders decreased 8.9%.

Flex circuit board shipments for the month were down 0.7%, and orders declined 1.8% compared to September 2010. The flex book-to-bill fell to 0.97.         

Year to date, flex board shipments increased 1.6%, and orders were up 3%. Sequentially, shipments increased 20.1%, and orders were up 9.9%.

“Sales and orders were both under last year’s levels in September,” said IPC. “Bookings have been especially sluggish, and that has caused a drop in the book-to-bill ratio; although it is still very near parity, which suggests that flat sales are the likely near-term scenario.”

Rigid circuit boards represent an estimated 89% of the current industry in North America. In September, 85% of total shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 85% of rigid and 83% of flex shipments.