Japanese equipment orders soar in March
================
Tuesday April 30, 3:56 am Eastern Time
Reuters Business
Japan March chip equipment orders rise 26.2 pct
TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Orders for semiconductor production equipment made by Japanese manufacturers, including exports, rose in March for the first time since December 2000, an industry group said on Tuesday.
The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said orders totaled 111.7 billion yen ($871.8 million) in March, a rise of 26.2 percent from a year earlier.
The rise in orders is a further sign of recovery from last year's semiconductor slump. Last week Japan's largest maker of chip making equipment, Tokyo Electron Ltd. (8035.T), said its new orders rose in January-March for the first time in six quarters.
But orders by Japanese purchasers, including imported equipment, slid 42.9 percent year-on-year in March to 33.8 billion yen.
Japanese chipmakers have curtailed capital investment more sharply than many of their foreign rivals during the semiconductor slump, with the five largest Japanese companies projecting a further 45.6 percent drop in chip-related spending for the business year that began on April 1.
The book-to-bill ratio for Japan-made equipment rose to 0.98 from the previous month's 0.74, while the ratio for equipment ordered by Japanese users slipped to 0.81 from 0.85.
A book-to-bill ratio below one indicates that new orders are not keeping pace with past shipments. ($1=128.11 Yen)
================
biz.yahoo.com |
