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India's tinplate industry is investing in new plant and introducing new products. However, it faces a struggle against competitive materials and low-grade imports, reports Gilbert Lobo.
Tinplate is a versatile and ecofrienclly material for packaging many food and industrial products, and in India over 60% of tinplate consumed is used for processed foods and edible oils. 1 lowcver, per capita annual consumption of tinplate in India is low at 0.3 kg, compared with 10 kg in the developed world and 3 kg in China.
In India there are two tinplate producers: Steel Authority of India's (Sail) Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in Orissa has a capacity of 150,000 tpy and the Tinplatc Company of India, belonging to Tata Steel, started with a capacity of 90,000 tpy and is now around 145,000 tpy.
Kotirkela's tinplate facility has been working at low capacity, producing 40,000 tonnes in 2002-03 and 41,000 tonnes in 2003-04. Eut it is planning to produce 72,000 tonnes in 2004-05 to take advantage of India's growing tinplate market.
The Rourkcla Steel Plant started up in 1909 with a cold rolling mill and a continuous electrolytic tinning line. RSP mostly produces tinplate for edible oil containers but recently it has become more market conscious and hopes to produce more grades for other sectors.
The Tinplate Co of India (TCIl) has also been expanding to meet market needs. TCIL was started in 1920 and its first tinplate was produced in 1922 using the hot dip process. The hot dip process ceased in 1982 and its plant in Jamshedpur today has a dual line which can produce both electrolytic tinplate and tin-free steel (TFS).
Tin mill blackplate, the basic raw material for tinplatc, is produced for Rourkela Steel Plant by its Sail sister company Dokaro Steel Plant in Bihar state, while TCIL produces its own blackplate from hot rolled coil supplied by Tata Steel.
From its original capacity of 90,000 tpy TCIL has been expanding steadily to reach 145,000 tpy by...