The North American book-to-bill ratio rose to 0.73 for November, up from October’s revised ratio of 0.72, according to the November 2001 Express Report by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), San Jose, CA.

This means that $73 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product shipped in November.

According to SEMI, worldwide bookings in November were $612.3 million, 5% below the revised October level of $647.1 million, and 77% below the $2.71 billion in November 2000. Worldwide billings for November 2001 were $842.2 million, some 6% below the revised October level of $896.7 million, and 65% below the November 2000 level of $2.42 billion.

“North American suppliers of manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor industry continue to see orders drop on a monthly basis, reflecting the decline in global electronics production, the excessive amount of existing manufacturing capacity, and curtailed investment in the world’s chip makers,” said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “Billings have continued to slide to levels not seen since early 1995. However, the rates of decline for both billings and orders have lessened in recent months compared to the steeper decline earlier in the year.”