During the week of October 12, 2014, I attended the 55th General Assembly of the Tantalum–Niobium International Study Center held in bustling Times Square Manhattan. This year’s assembly was special for me as I was made a delegate and my firm became a “member company.”
What I enjoy most about the General Assembly meeting is the access to the complete tantalum supply chain; from miners to materials processors; component manufacturers to design engineers; lobbyists, financiers and government officials; and the ability to tap into each level of the supply chain to gather primary intelligence.
The general takeaway from the discussions I had at this event was one of general concern over the (1) global fears of contracting Ebola and the potential steps that might be taken to eradicate the virus; (2) the sudden and unexpected downturn in the German, UK and French economies; the (3) churn rate in the global high-tech economy, and (4) the recent forecasts for growth given by the collective Japanese vendors of passive components for FY 2015.
