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2016 year end Electronics Production and PCB stats
Strong B2B at end of 2016 but UK PCB production continues to decline even in a growth market.
2017 is expected to be a difficult year for PCB manufacturers, while 2016 ends on a relative high. Meanwhile, Electronics production shows growth, particularly in exports.
Electronics output improved in September through November with the 12mma growth curve moving firmly into positive. The value of electronics production in the UK in for the first eleven months of 2016 is showing 3% growth for exports, just under 1% growth in the domestic market and 1.9% growth overall compared with 2015.
The B2B ratio for PCB producers finished on a high of 1.16. The average B2B for the year in total was 1.04, the first time it has been positive in over five years. However, the relative high B2B for the domestic market was more a result of lower December billings rather than higher sales.
Total reported sales for PCB producers in 2016 were unchanged on 2015. Export sales increased by 25% while UK sales declined by 6.4%. However, if PCBs imported by fabricators for resale is excluded from these figures, then the trend in actual production of PCBs production in 2016 was 2.5% lower than in 2015. This continues the trend of UK PCB production declining even in a growth market.
Recently, techUK called on the Government to end tariffs on materials used to manufacture PCBs, since UK manufacturers are put at a disadvantage over importers of finished PCBs, which attract zero tariff. The PCB stats for this year continue to highlight the harm that this is having on UK manufacturing.
2017 is expected to be a difficult year for all PCB manufacturers, with material costs rising sharply and forecasted shortages in copper foil. Follow this link for more information on this and the call for tariff removal on PCB materials.
