Global Printed Circuit Board Supply Shortages Causing Widespread Manufacturing Delays in Automotive, Electronics Sectors

In this week’s Report, we’re looking at the latest industrial sourcing trends for Printed Circuit Boards, also known as PCBs. Our data shows that sourcing activity for PCBs on the Thomasnet.com platform has grown by 70% year-over-year and is up 13% over Q4 2020 averages. While this figure may seem low compared to the major sourcing trends we typically cover week to week, we expect that activity in this category will grow quickly over the next few days and weeks. This anticipated spike will be driven by the current global shortage in Printed Circuit Board components as we quickly approach Q2. These issues were first identified in the automotive sector, where Ford, Toyota, Fiat, Nissan, VW, and other major car brands announced that they needed to reduce production expectations and acknowledged that they anticipate falling short of 2021 production targets.