BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American printed circuit board orders in June increased 18.6% year-over-year, driving year-to-date order growth up to 1.7% above the same period last year, says IPC. Orders were up 26.5% sequentially.

PCB shipments for the month were down 3.9% year-over-year. Year to date, shipments were down 4.2% compared to the same period last year. Sequentially, June shipments increased 12.3%.

Strong PCB order growth moved the book-to-bill ratio up to 1.08 in June, while sales remained sluggish. A ratio of more than one suggests current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to six months.

“June’s strong order growth and a five-month trend of book-to-bill ratios above parity are possible indications of an upturn in North American PCB sales in the second half of this year,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “A turnaround in sales is likely to be modest, however, as order growth in the first half of 2017 is still just 1.7% above the same period last year, while sales since the beginning of this year have been consistently below last year’s levels.”

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