Higher revenues for PCB<br>manufacturers in October

The German trade organizations VdL (Verband der Leiterplattenindustrie) and ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie) report that compared to September there was a revenue increase of three percent, compared to the same month one year ago even of 14 percent. The revenue of the first ten months was approximately twelve percent higher than in the previous year and with only two percent lower than in the top year 2001. The industry tried to reduce the high order backlogs by capacity enlargements and additional shifts. Orders decreased in the third month in order. According to VdL and ZVEI the buyers expect again shorter delivery times and preferred short-time orders. Also the strong and very short-run shift of orders from Asia to Europe experienced in the past ended. The achieved production level is held, however. In total incoming orders of the current year are just 15 percent above the previous year. Total orders reached the highest level since five years. The Book-to-Bill Ratio* reached a value of 0.82 due to the high revenues with simultaneously normal orders. The number of employees in the industry remained compared to the previous month almost unchanged.