BANGKA ISLAND, INDONESIA – Indonesian workers are dredging 33% less tin ore than in 2008, as consumption has surged and reserves are dwindling, say published reports.

Workers today are hauling no more than 88 lbs. of ore daily, Bloomberg reports, as sharp demand – up 14% in two years – has cut availability.

Nevertheless, tin pricing has followed a recent rollercoaster, having risen 51% on the London Metals Exchange in the past year, only to fall 22% sequentially in May. Still, prices are expected to rally 15% to $30,000 a metric ton by year-end, according to Bloomberg.

Solder for electronics and other uses constitutes 52% of demand, says ITRI, the trade group for tin producers. China is the largest consumer, with estimated demand for 157,000 tons this year.

Indonesian producers mined more than $1.7 billion worth of tin ore in 2010, or some 155,000 tons.

EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – PragmatIC Printing and Holst Centre are collaborating on flexible electronics research, development and use, with the goal to develop practical applications.

PragmatIC brings semiconductor device architecture and process IP, with experience prototyping integrated product concepts. Holst conducts research on oxide semiconductors, transistors and circuits, and has expertise in OLEDs-on-flex.

MORRISVILLE, NC – Juki Corp. has named Robert J. (Bob) Black, Jr. as executive operating officer, the first non-Japanese executive officer in Juki’s 73-year history.

Black currently serves as president and CEO of Juki Automation Systems, the firm’s US subsidiary, where he will continue his duties in addition to new responsibilities.

Black will report to the top management of Juki, where he will advise on the worldwide SMT market, strategies to continue the company’s growth in electronics assembly, and assistance to other subsidiary companies.

TEMPE, AZ -- The PMI index of US manufacturing growth rose 180 basis points sequentially to 55.3% in June, the 23d straight month of expansion in the sector.

URBANA, IL – University of Illinois research scientists have designed a roller ball pen using real silver ink to draw functioning circuit boards, say published reports.

The team says the ink is flexible in a way not previously seen; they are able to sketch electrical circuits on paper, wood and other flexible surfaces.

They have also been able to add components to a hand-drawn circuit, including LED lights and a battery.

When the ink dries, it leaves conductive silver pathways and maintains conductivity through multiple bends and folds.

Freestyle conductive pathways enable new low-cost possibilities in disposable electronics and folded 3-D devices.

The researchers expect to expand the inks to enable writing of other electronic and ionically conductive materials.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The revised EU RoHS Directive was published today in the EU Official Journal. The Directive now applies to all electrical and electronic equipment.

It is expected to go into effect on July 21. Member States will have 18 months to transpose the Directive into national law. Member States’ regulations are expected to take force no later than Jan. 2, 2013.

The methodology for evaluating substances for priority assessment is congruent with the EU REACH Regulation.

Category 8, medical devices, and Category 9, monitoring and control instruments, will come into scope by 2014. Category 11, all other EEE not covered by any other category, will come into scope by 2019.

Industry, instead of the EU government, will now have to prove the necessity of an exemption. Exemptions will also have expiration dates, and companies will need to submit renewal applications at least 18 months before the exemptions expire.

The council earlier this month revised the Directive: http://pcdandf.com/cms/fabnews/8069-eu-extends-rohs-coverage. 

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide spending on servers for public clouds will reach $3.6 billion in 2015 while private cloud server revenue will balloon to $5.8 billion, according to IDC.