German PCB market increased 12.8% in February compared to last year

This is reported by the Association of the PCB Industry and the ZVEI Department for Electronic Components and Systems. Compared with the very good figures for January, decreased the turnover in February sightly. The industry reported a turnover increase of 12.8% compared to February 2007. Compared to the average of the past nine years, the turnover in February 2008 was even 25% higher. Similar figures can be reported for the order inflow. On year comparison, the order inflow increased by a similar percentage as the turnover. For the first two Months, 9% more orders were recorded than in the compariable period last year. Even the long-term comparision over the past nine years sees a positive result. February 2008 recorded 33% more incoming orders. Reasons for this positive development are the mostly supply bottleneck in Asia. As China recorded the worst winter period in over 50 years, the supply with electricity and water was interrupted and transports were also delayed. Additional to that, a good demand from the industry segment Industry-Electronics contributed to the good report. The Book-to-Bill-Ratio was 1.06. The number of employees declined slightly in February 2008. However, figures are at a similar level as for the comparable period last year. The cuts affected mostly temporary work places. Image Source: AT&S