Most Asian manufacturers ready for RoHS

According to a survey conducted by Singapore-based Global Sources, 93 percent of electronics manufacturers in Asia expect to comply with the RoHS directive by its July 1, 2006 deadline. The survey quizzed 359 manufacturers in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Tong and South Korea. The companies surveyed currently export or plan to export electronic products to the European Union (EU).

The report notes that 51 percent of surveyed companies are RoHS compliant now, while another 42 percent expect to be compliant by mid-year. Those companies with little EU business are still evaluating the impact of compliance on their production.

As for price increases to offset RoHS-related expenses, 35 percent of manufacturers will up their prices by less than 5 percent, while 23 percent expect to increase prices 5 to 10 percent, and 6 percent will push prices beyond 10 percent.

As for regional differences, Hong Kong – long a supplier of products to the EU – is already 84 percent compliant, while Taiwan is 63 percent compliant, mainland China is 50 percent compliant, and south Korea is only 9 percent compliant.

Original text is here