Japan's PCB production suffered the biggest decline this year, with flexible boards reduced by nearly 40%

Statistics released by the Japan Electronic Packaging Circuits association (JPCA) on the 15th showed that Japan's printed circuit board (PCB, hard board + soft board + module substrate) output in August 2019 increased by 18.5% to 933,000 square meters compared with the same month last year. This is the ninth consecutive month of decline and the largest decrease this year; the output value shrank by 7.7% to 35.598 billion yen, the eighth consecutive month of decline.

First, Japan's rigid PCB production in August fell 14.6% from the same month last year to 704,000 square meters, shrinking for the ninth consecutive month and the largest decline this year; output fell 11.5% to 22.875 billion yen, falling for the sixth consecutive month.

Flexible PCB production fell by 37.1% to 154,000 square meters, shrinking for the 27th consecutive month and the seventh consecutive month of decline exceeding 30%; output value shrank by 23% to 3.055 billion yen, declining for the 13th consecutive month.

The output of module substrates increased by 2.1% to 75,000 square meters, declining for the third consecutive month; the output value increased by 10.5% to 9.668 billion yen, showing an upward trend for the fifth consecutive month.

From January to August 2019, Japan's PCB production fell 12.9% from the same period last year to 8.369 million square meters, and output fell 6.9% to 294.437 billion yen.

The main Japanese PCB suppliers include Ibiden, CMK, Nippon Mektron under NOK, Fujikura, Shinko, Meiko, etc.