Tinplate users in India

Tin mill products, principally developed as food packaging material, now serve many functional purposes.

Although steel for containers can trace its origins back to 14th century Bohemia, tinplate was first used to package preserved food in 1812 by the Appert process. Nicholas Appert devised a method of preserving food in cans for the French Navy. Appert's methods were further perfected after Louis Pasteur's discoveries concerning bacterial growth in 1864. These discoveries created a foundation for food packaging that continues to this day - more than 90% of all food cans are made from steel.Currently, tinplate is used for a variety of consumer and commercial applications, and steel cans are the most common use. In 1998, more than 31 billion steel cans were sipped for products ranging from fruits and vegetables to latex paints. But tin mill products are used for a wide variety of other applications. Tin mill products, principally developed as food packaging material, now serve many functional purposes. Tinplate consumption in India has grown from a level of 0.29 million tonnes in FY 2003 to around 0.41 million tonnes in FY 2007, registering an absolute growth of 0.12 million tonnes at a 5 year CAGR of 10.3%. Over the same period the production has grown at a slower pace from a level of 0.15 million tonnes in FY 2003 to 0.2 million tonnes in FY 2007, registering an absolute growth of 0.05 million tonnes at a CAGR of 8.3%. The level of imports in India during FY 2003 to FY 2007 has increased from 0.07 million tonnes to 0.25 million tonnes, registering an absolute growth of 0.08 million tonnes at a 5 year CAGR of 11.8%. Though the level of exports has also increased during this period, it is very low when compared to the growth registered by imports. Tinplate Exports have grown from 0.03 million tonnes in FY 2003 to 0.04 million tonnes in FY 2007, at a CAGR of 8.3%.