BANNOCKBURN, IL — North American printed circuit board fabricators reported shipments rose 8.8% year-over-year in April on a 90-day moving average.

Bookings rose 2.9% year-over-year, said IPC, which compiles the data each month from participating manufacturers.

Compared to the preceding month, April bookings fell 16.2% and shipments decreased 14%.

Year to date, order are up 12.8% and shipments are up 9.6% from last year. The book-to-bill ratio decreased 40 basis points from March to 1.08. The ratio is calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests current demand is ahead of supply, and is considered a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to 12 months.

“The North American PCB industry’s slower sales and order growth in April is unsurprising, as the industry settles into a more normal pace of growth after the recovery of the last three quarters,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Also, business tends to peak in the last month of every quarter, often causing month-to-month decreases in the first month of the quarter, and this normal pattern can be seen in the April data. The outlook for this year remains encouraging, based on strong order growth in the past year and a book-to-bill ratio that has been above parity (1.0) for 15 consecutive months.”

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