The companies have also have asked that CCLs be completely free of these materials by late 2009, according to industry reports.

Currently, the level of lead- and halogen-free CCLs used in the industry is only 3% to 5%, but electronics makers moving toward “green” technologies are expected to push the rate to 30% within the next 18 months, reports say.

Industry sources report that only Iteq, Hitachi, Nanya PCB and Panasonic are currently producing halogen-free CCLs, and that costs for the use of traditional materials such as FR-4 are rising, but some companies say that production for traditional CCL products will not likely decline soon due to demand from China-based customers.

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