Global consumption of tin/lead vs lead free Solder

Sharon Starr, Director of Market Research at US based electronics industry trade organization IPC, last week held a session at the annual IPC Apex Expo, which Evertiq attended. One of the key topics included the global consumption of tin-lead versus lead free electronics. The global solder industry has responded rapidly to the demand for lead free solder. Worldwide consumption of lead free solder was by the end of 2009 67%. China is the largest solder consumer in the world, followed by the United States. China is also the largest consumer of lead free solder. 81% of China's total solder consumption is lead free, while 19% still remains leaded. All Asian countries together consumes in total 76% lead free solder. Japan consumes 76% lead free and Europe consumes 54% lead free solder. The United States still only consumes 39% lead free solder. One of the main explanations for this is that a large proportion of electronics produced in the US is within the military segment. Lead free solder is less common in this segment.