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HONG KONG – Electronics manufacturing services provider EC Electronics opened EC Supply Chain Solutions here.

The Hong Kong-based company will facilitate and develop EC’s existing supply chain for electronic components, products and assembly services available from Asian and Chinese-based suppliers.

Chris Brown will head the facility as Asia supply chain manager.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Global inventories held by semiconductor suppliers surged to a 30-month high during the fourth quarter, a development that could spell trouble if chip industry growth loses steam this year, IHS iSuppli warned today.

NOGALES, AZ – A new quarterly online newsletter provides news and information about manufacturing in Mexico.

The premiere issue highlights the latest high-tech manufacturing facility to open its doors in Mexico, and how maquiladoras are evolving. It is published by Collectron International, a shelter plan and maquiladora service provider.

The newsletter is available at www.collectron.com/newsletter.

TOYKO -- Shipments of surface mount production equipment rose 76% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, the Japan Robot Association said.

ST. PETERSBURG – Jabil Circuit said it would lay off about 90 staff at its manufacturing plant here.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Northrop Grumman said it would cut about 500 staff at its Maryland plants in the coming months, as a result of a drop in defense spending.

The firm said it would offer voluntary buyouts at its Linthicum and Bay Bridge facilities, as well as locations in other states.

Northrop Grumman bid to build the new Air Force refueling tanker, but Boeing recently won the KC-X contract, valued at $3.5 billion.

If retirements fall below planned job cuts, layoffs will be finished by May.

The firm said it would help employees find work at other facilities or outside the company.

Northrop’s electronics systems division earned $1 billion in 2010 on $7.6 billion in sales.

Register now for Virtual PCB, the industry's only live, fully interactive, Web-based conference and trade show for PCB engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers and managers worldwide, March 8-9. www.virtual-pcb.com

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Top 15 EMS firm Zollner reportedly recently came close to acquiring a factory here, multiple sources have told CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY.

LEWISVILLE, TX -- Top 15 EMS firm Elcoteq has acquired a local company that specializes in after market services. Terms were not disclosed.

SAN JOSE – Analysis of planned capital expenditures at over 200 semiconductor manufacturing facilities shows total semiconductor capex spending will grow 15% to 20% this year, SEMI says. A significant portion of this spending is promising to result in record investments in new and used fab equipment, says the trade group.

SEMI-compiled data from more than 200 facilities, including LED fabs, reveal a 28% increase year-over-year for fab equipment spending in 2011, followed by a 4% drop next year.

Spending on construction projects is expected to decline about 13% in 2011 and 9% in 2012.

Among the major investors, TSMC increased capex from a record $5.9 billion in 2010 to $7.8 billion in 2011. Intel increased capex from $5.2 billion in 2010 to $9 billion in 2011. Globalfoundries doubled capex to $5.4 billion in 2011, and Samsung increased total capex (including R&D) 18%.

In 2011, fab equipment spending for foundries is expected to reach the highest level in history. Foundries are expected to continue to spend at accelerated levels in 2012. Memory companies will spend much less aggressively in 2011 than in 2006 and 2007, with equipment spending approaching 2008 levels. A large segment of the pie is spending on MPU/logic, mainly driven by Intel, whose MPU investments will reach record levels in 2011.

SEMI predicts capacity growth of about 9% for 2011 and 7% for 2012. Foundries will have the strongest increase in capacity this year, followed by MPU/logic and memory. Foundries are also expected to lead capacity growth in 2012.

Based on 45 future fabs that will begin production from 2012 to 2016, annual capacity growth rates in 2013 and 2014 are expected to hover around 7%. Most spending is directed toward upgrading existing facilities.

In 2010, 34 new volume fabs began construction; in 2011, only seven have a high probability of being realized, and four more are likely to start in 2012, the firm says.

The largest segment for new fabs is the LED industry, with wafer sizes of 2" and 4". However, significantly fewer new LED fabs will begin construction in 2011 and 2012. Only five new LED fab projects are likely in 2011.

In 2010, SEMI counted seven 300 mm volume fabs (excluding R&Ds and pilots) beginning construction. However, in 2011, only Intel’s fab is predicted to start in mid-2011. In 2012, three 300 mm fabs will begin construction: one foundry and two integrated device manufacturers, two of which are potential candidates for 450 mm-ready cleanrooms.

SEMI has identified seven facilities (R&Ds, pilots and volume fabs) in the near future that are candidates for 450 mm readiness. The first facilities are expected to come on line in 2013.

The Advanced Technology Investment Company said it will spend $6 billion to $7 billion on a High Tech Center in Abu Dhabi. The center includes a plan for a 300 mm wafer fab, and production is expected to ramp up in 2014 or 2015. Also, Rusnano plans a project to produce telecommunication ICs at a fab in Siberia.

NORTH BILLERICA, MA – BTU International today reported fourth-quarter 2010 net income of $2.2 million, compared to a net loss of $3.9 million in the same quarter of 2009 and breakeven in the preceding quarter.

Net sales for the period were a record-breaking $27.4 million, up 127% year-over-year, and up 44% sequentially.

Net income for 2010 was $2.2 million, compared to a net loss of $14.6 million in 2009. Full-year net sales were $81.6 million, up 81% year-over-year.

“Our alternative energy business contributed 60% of our system sales in the fourth quarter. This marks the first time that our alternative energy – solar and nuclear – business exceeded our electronics assembly business to become the primary contributor of net sales. The growth of our solar business was driven by both our inline diffusion and metallization products,” said Paul J. van der Wansem, BTU chairman and CEO.

The firm expects first-quarter revenues to be in the $24 million to $26 million range because of a softer electronics business.

BTU supplies advanced thermal processing equipment and processes to the alternative energy and electronics manufacturing markets.

LONDON – A new publication by a electronics industry collaborative provides guidance to manufacturers and design engineers on recent RoHS changes.

The free RoHS eBook incorporates new rules invoked last September, and will eventually include a range of additional electronics and electrical products not previously covered by the European environmental legislation. It also outlines dates when medical devices and monitoring and control instruments (along with additional exemptions) will fall within scope.

The collaborative known as element14 also offers guidance on EU RoHS, China RoHS, Korea RoHS, REACH, ErP, WEEE, the Battery Directive plus state and provincial environmental laws in the US and Canada.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February for the 19th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI registered 61.4%, up 0.6 points, with new orders at 68%, up a slight 0.2 percentage points. Production was 66.3%, up 2.8 points. Inventories dropped 3.6 points to 48.8%, and customer inventories fell 5.5 points to 40%. Backlogs reached 59%, up 1 percentage point.