© Unimicron Germany (only for illustration purposes)
PCB |
PCB market consolidates in March 2018
Despite a sharp decline in order income in March, order backlog of printed circuit board manufacturers in the DACH region were well above the long-term average.
As a result, PCB manufacturers' sales figures remained on a growth path. Sales per working day in March 2018 exceeded the previous year by 6.7 percent. Cumulatively, the first quarter closed with a sales growth of 6.7 percent, reports the German trade association ZVEI PCB and Electronic Systems.
Order intake remained volatile. Compared to March 2017, it recorded a drop of 13.4 percent. Material shortages in Asia led to a shift of orders to Europe over the course of last year; resulting in unusually high order intake. Cumulatively, the first three months reported an order intake that was 1.2 percent lower (compared to the same period in 2017).
After four months of staying over 1.0, the book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.99.
The number of employees was 2.7 percent higher than in 2017, with smaller and medium-sized companies offering more jobs.