May 20, 2021
The food processing industry is feeling a tweak due to the acute scarcity of tinplate/ tin-free steel material which is largely used to manufacture cans and containers to pack processed and fruits.
And because of this shortage small players who are into the trade of packaging of fruits and other processed food are not able to meet the demand of tin cans and containers.
This is the season to process and pack mango pulp, however, there is a shortage of cans and easy-open ends which is affecting the packing of mango pulp particularly for exports. The Maharashtra mango (Alphonso) pulp has a great demand worldwide. However, the shortage of tin can has impacted both the supply and packaging.
Another company that is into the packaging of processed cheese has criticized that there is unexpectedly surge in the price of steel and tin containers and availability is also a concern. Most of the companies that are manufacturing tin containers are small companies and could not meet the demand as we heard there is a shortage of raw material used in the manufacture of cans.
Not only the packed food industry but the other sectors which are the end-users of the tinplate/tin-free steel containers have also complained that they are not getting the required quantity of containers and whatever is available is expensive.
The government of India on July 17, 2020, imposed a standard for the import of tinplate/tin-free steel/ products like easy-open ends peel-off ends etc. The implementation of the same has now been extended up to July 17, 2021.
A few exporters of tinplate from other countries have applied to BIS for getting the registration and approval of their plant but due to Covid conditions, all such applications have been put on hold by BIS. This has resulted in virtual zero import of these essential materials thereby resulting in a shortage of tinplate containers.
Most of the suppliers from Japan, Korea have already indicated that no one wishes to travel to India for the BIS and BIS staff can’t move out of the country to go and inspect the plants of tinplate producers in those countries. On an average 2.5 lakh tons, demand is met by imports from Japan, Korea, China, and other countries that are the bulk producers of tinplate/ tin-free steel/ products like easy-open ends/peel-off ends etc. The industry is ready to abide by the BIS standard and ready to adopt, however, at this moment it is not feasible for the global suppliers and even the government to speed up the BIS process.
Although three leading international suppliers of tinplate/tin-free steel have applied for the BIS, however, it’s been more than 4 months that there is no action on their BIS application.
The industry which is the primary source of packaging for processed food, pesticides, paint, and other allied industries and provide employment to more than 100,000 people are stuck as neither the suppliers are ready to ship material to India without BIS certification nor there is enough domestic availability of tinplate/ tin free steel/products.