Ritek’s Kunshan plant and CMC Magnetics’ Nantong plant, both based in Jiangsu Province, China, are expected to begin production next month, said the companies. Ritek, the world’s largest CD-R disc maker, said it will receive government approval for its Kunshan operations by the end of the month. It has begun recruiting an estimated 500 new employees, and expects initial monthly 48x CD-R production of 8 million units to reach as high as 20 million units, if all goes smoothly.

While CD-R prices have not yet warmed up, Ritek said it hopes to start production at Kunshan as soon as possible to accommodate large orders, and may consider expanding production capacity through to year-end.

In addition to attractively low costs, the two Taiwan-based CD-R disc makers have reportedly sought to set up in China to avoid tariffs on Taiwan CD-R products – 8.7% for Ritek and 39% for CMC – levied by the European Union.