North American PCB industry keeps recording growth

Total North American PCB shipments in July 2018 were up 10.8 percent compared to the same month last year. This year to date, shipments are 10.5% above the same period last year. Compared to the preceding month, July shipments decreased 19.1%. PCB bookings in July increased 4.9% year-over-year. Year-to-date order growth was 11.7% above the same period last year. Bookings in July were down 12.3% from the previous month. “Business growth continued in July for the North American PCB industry although at a slightly slower pace than in the previous month,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research, in a press release. “July was the 11th consecutive month of sales growth and the 14th month of continuous order growth. The month-to-month decreases in sales and orders in July follows a typical seasonal pattern in which business is strongest in the last month of the quarter and falls off in the first month of the next quarter, probably due to sales activity. The book-to-bill ratio in July remained above parity (1.0) for the 18th consecutive month, which is a positive indicator of continued growth for the remainder of this year,” Starr continues.