The Future of Metal Packaging Industry

The Future of Metal Packaging Industry

Metal packaging has the characteristics of capital intensive, technology intensive, mainly domestic demand oriented, supplemented by exports, high product substitutability, large seasonal market changes, and high market concentration.

Metal packaging products can be subdivided into printed iron products (cans, boxes), easy to pull cans (including aluminum two-piece cans, steel two-piece cans, and tinplate three piece cans), aerosol cans (exquisite medicinal cans, insecticide cans, cosmetic cans, etc. made of tinplate), food cans (canned, liquid or solid food cans, etc.), and various bottle caps (tinplate crown caps, screw open caps, aluminum anti-theft caps). There are also chemical drums made of 1-18 liters of tinplate and steel drums made of 20-200 liters of cold-rolled and zinc plates. In addition, the aluminum foil and steel strapping that should belong to metal containers have not been counted yet.

Metal packaging is an important component of China's packaging industry, accounting for about 10% of the total output value of China's packaging industry. It mainly provides packaging services for industries such as food, canned goods, beverages, oils, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The late 1980s to mid-1990s were a period of prosperous development for metal containers. In recent years, with the development of technology and the strengthening of industry management, the market order has been further improved and will gradually enter a stable and orderly period of benign development.

China's metal packaging industry

At present, the equipment of China's metal container manufacturing industry has strong capabilities. There are 26 production lines for two cans, with an annual production capacity of over 12 billion pieces (currently the market demand is about 7 billion pieces). The manufacturing equipment for tinplate three piece cans has more than 500 imported and domestically produced fully automatic resistance welding machines of various models. Its products supply about 4 billion units to the beverage industry and about 3.8 billion units to the food canning industry annually. The annual production of aerosol cans can reach 600 million units. There are currently over 200 crown cap production lines nationwide, with more than 90% of the equipment imported from abroad, and an annual market demand of 35 billion pieces. The annual processing production of steel drums is about 40-50 million pieces. The printing iron equipment has more than 400 production lines nationwide, with half imported and half domestic equipment, and prints over 15 billion times annually. The annual demand for tinplate in the entire industry is about 1.4 million tons. With the improvement of domestic production capacity of tinplate, imports of tinplate will gradually decrease and self-sufficiency will soon be achieved, but some high-end products still need to be imported in small quantities.

Market demand for metal packaging in China

From the perspective of per capita consumption, the Chinese metal packaging market still has great potential. Currently, approximately 410 billion metal cans are produced worldwide each year. There are about 320 billion beverage cans, 75 billion food cans and 10 billion spray cans; The annual sales volume of beverage cans and food cans in Europe is 33 billion and 27 billion respectively; The growth rates of sales of beverage cans and food cans in Asia over the past 10 years are: 250% for two piece beverage cans, 63% for three piece beverage cans, and 71% for food cans; The annual consumption of beverage cans in China is 11 billion cans (7 billion two piece cans and 4 billion three piece cans), with a per capita consumption of less than 8 cans, while Japan's annual consumption is 18 billion cans and South Korea's is 3.2 billion cans. If China's annual per capita consumption increases to 10 cans, it will require a supply capacity of 13 billion cans per year; In addition, the consumption level of canned food in China is relatively low, with an average annual consumption of less than 1.5 kilograms per person, while the average annual consumption level of canned food in Europe is 50 kilograms per person, and the average annual consumption level of Japanese people is 23 kilograms. At present, the Chinese metal packaging market is showing a trend of oversupply, but there is still significant room for development in terms of per capita consumption.

The largest user of metal packaging in China is the food industry, followed by chemical products. In addition, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals also account for a certain proportion. With the continuous development of China's national economy and the continued growth of people's consumption, the rapid development of upstream related industries will drive the metal packaging industry out of its slump. The current beverage industry is developing rapidly, with brands doubling. Although plastic bottles, glass bottles, composite paper packaging and other packaging have a certain share, two-piece cans and three piece cans still have an advantage. For example, the market share of beer packaged in metal cans continues to grow. The demand for metal drums and cans in industries such as petrochemicals, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics will grow exponentially. In 2001, the total output of metal packaging products reached 2.05 million tons (including hot and cold rolled plates), and it is expected to reach 2.88 million tons by 2005. At the beginning of the new century, China joined the World Trade Organization, and the metal packaging industry needs to improve its industrialization level, enhance its comprehensive strength, seize the opportunity of the Western Development, and jointly create a broad space for healthy development.

The Development Direction of China's Metal Packaging Industry

Firstly, establish domestic brands, promote strong alliances, and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.

Secondly, China's metal packaging empty can technology has approached the international level, and efforts are still needed to improve product quality by using ultra-thin tinplate and aluminum materials for technological transformation and the development of new products.

In addition, to address the most important issues of food and beverage cans, such as leaking cans, easy opening of lid rings, and damage.