NEENAH, WI — Plexus is expanding in China and Romania, but the slow economy has put its planned addition here on hold.

WASHINGTON – The US, the EU and Japan have filed a World Trade Organization dispute settlement case against China’s export restraints on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum.

The Office of the US Trade Representative says China imposes a number of unfair export restraints on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, including export duties, export quotas, export pricing requirements, and related export procedures and requirements.

The USTR claims these restrictions artificially increase prices outside of China, while lowering prices in the country, creating pressure on US and other non-Chinese firms to move operations to China.

The two sides have 60 days to reach an agreement. If a solution is not reached, the US may request the establishment of a dispute settlement panel to examine the case.

OULU, FINLAND – PKC Group today reported 2011 net sales of 550.2 million euro, up 74% year-over-year.

Operating profit for the year reached 34.5 million euro, up 16.2% compared to 2010.

Profit before taxes was 29.4 million euro, up 17.6% year-over-year.

The electronics business accounted for 13.3% of consolidated net sales, while the wiring systems business accounted for 86.7%.

Demand for automotive electronics grew, the firm says, and new customers were acquired in industrial electronics and in environmental and measurement technology fields.

Ed: euro 1 = US$1.3062

SAN JOSE -- The global electronic connectors market is projected to reach $89.6 billion by 2018, primarily driven by technology developments, improving world GDP, growth in shipments of smartphones and other portable computing devices, and emerging opportunities from non-traditional end-user industries, such as medical and alternative energy.

LOUISVILLE -- Sypris Solutions today reported its Electronics Group saw fourth-quarter sales fall 41.5% to $11.4 million on continuing delays in funding for defense orders.

KAUNAS, LITHUANIA -- Kitron will invest a reported EUR 4.9 million ($6.4 million) to expand its electronics manufacturing facility here in response to new business from Germany, according to published reports.

MILPITAS, CA – Contract manufacturer Creation Technologies signed a lease for a research and development building here, according to published reports.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – Although global economic growth and electronics industry growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2011, signs that the recovery is resuming in the US are apparent, says IPC.

The sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone is acting as a strong headwind, holding back economic growth worldwide, the firm notes. China’s economic growth is decelerating, in part because of the bleak outlook for exports.

US economic indicators continued a slow and steady improvement that began in the fourth quarter of 2011. The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index has remained flat for a year, but has been inching up since last October, pointing to improved economic conditions in the next quarter. The US Purchasing Managers’ Index is also in positive territory and trending upward, says IPC.

EMS and assembly equipment sales growth in North America, although slower, remained positive, while most supply chain segments in the region, including the PCB and semiconductor industries, continued a downward trend. Similarly, at the global level, sales growth in the electronics supply chain continued its downward trend in the fourth quarter.

However, leading indicators in North America are trending gradually upward and point to a resumption of modest growth in 2012. IPC’s PCB book-to-bill ratio edged up to 1.01, just above parity, in January. Monthly growth rates for North American EMS and semiconductor sales, and US new orders for electronic end-products, improved in the last two months of 2011, returning to positive growth in December.

Manufacturing continues to lead US economic growth. Factory production grew a surprising 1.5% in December, the biggest one-month gain since December 2006, according to the Federal Reserve, and it continued to grow in January, says the firm. Electronic products figured prominently in these increases, especially in the automotive market.

MCLEAN, VA -- January US manufacturing technology orders totaled $401.69 million, up 8.4% year-over-year, according to a leading manufacturing association.

SAN JOSE -- Flextronics has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Stellar Microelectronics, a full-service electronics manufacturing services provider specializing in medical and military production.

WINFIELD, KS -- The husband and wife team of Adam and Jill Conaway, engineering technicians from S and Y Industries, won first and third place, respectively, in the IPC Apex Expo hand soldering competition last month.

LONDON -- ITRI and T.I.C. have extended their raw mineral tracking and traceability agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ministry of Mines to a larger area of the country.