PCB industry remains on track in September 2017

The third quarter of 2017 brought an increase of 10.0 percent, according to the German industry association ZVEI PCB and Electronic Systems. YTD, sales figures increased with 8.7 percent when compared with the same period of 2016. Order intake for September increased 10.5 percent when compared to September of 2016. After a very high increase in August, corrections were due in September. Order intake has returned to normal and remained one-third below that reported for August 2017. 3Q/2017 saw an increase in order intake with 18 percent YoY. YTD, order intake grew with 16.8 percent when compared to the same period of 2016. The book-to-bill ratio decreased to 0.88 - due to the normalisation in order intake. The number of employees fell slightly compared to the previous two months. Additional workers with fixed-term contracts are hired during the summer months. Compared to September 2016 however, employment numbers rose with 8.5 percent.