North American PCB business growth continued in April

Total North American PCB shipments in April 2016 were 5.6 percent above the same month last year, causing year-to-date growth to remain at 5.5 percent for the first four months of the year. Compared to the preceding month, April shipments were down 16.8 percent. PCB bookings in April increased 6.4 percent year-on-year, boosting year-to-date bookings growth for the first quarter to 5.0 percent. Orders in April 2016 were down 19.3 percent from the previous month. “April was another good month for the North American PCB industry, with solid year-on-year growth in both sales and orders,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Bookings exceeded shipments for the sixth consecutive month, but only by a small margin in April. This brought the book-to-bill ratio down although it remains positive” she added. “Growth rates and book-to-bill ratios for the first quarter changed slightly from previously published reports, due to a re-tabulation necessitated by a change in the survey sample this month. The revised ratios are 1.05 in January, 1.04 in February and 1.05 in March. April’s 1.02 book-to-bill continues a positive trend indicating continued sales growth in the second and third quarters.”