Pcb book-to-bill ratio falls but sales growth resumes

IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries announced the November 2016 findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (pcb) Statistical Program. The pcb book-to-bill ratio fell below parity, to 0.99, while sales resumed slow but positive growth in November.

Total North American pcb shipments in November 2016 were up 0.6 percent compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date as of November, shipment growth is up 2.6 percent. Compared to the preceding month, November shipments increased 1.0 percent.

Pcb bookings in November decreased 5.4 percent year-on-year, reducing year-to-date bookings growth to -0.6 percent. Compared to the previous month, orders in November 2016 were down by 3.8 percent.

Pcb orders have been more volatile than usual

“North American pcb orders have been more volatile than usual in the second half of 2016, causing volatility in the book-to-bill ratio,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Year-on-year growth in both orders and sales has been trending gradually downward since last spring’s minor recovery but, based on the mostly positive book-to-bill ratios of the last few months, modest sales growth seems likely to resume in early 2017,” she added.

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. 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 three to six months. A ratio of less than 1.00 indicates the reverse.