WASHINGTON – Worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25 billion for May, up 1.8% sequentially and up 1.3% year-over-year, SIA said Tuesday.

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.