Metal packaging – Data 2014

Apr 20, 2015

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Numbers and figures of a sector that is unaffected by age: innovation and improvements in the performance of metal packaging. Plinio Iascone Plinio Iascone

Inviolability, robustness, absolute barrier to external agents (to guarantee perfect preservation of the product) and, not least, recyclability: these are the main strengths of steel and aluminum packaging. From the first appearance on the market at the beginning of the nineteenth century (specifically the first steel coated tin containers), over time they have come to be widely used in the food area and elsewhere. Aluminum costs more than steel and which is why is not used in the production of containers with a capacity higher than a half kilo; it dominates, by contrast, in many other applications (tubs, bottle capsules, wrapping film).
Steel: size and characteristics
of the Italian market
Because of the continuing economic crisis underway since 2011, the Italian production of steel packaging in 2013 marked a drop of 1.1% in terms of quantity (743,000 tons) with a resulting turnover of 1,470 million euros, an increase limited to 1%.
According to the first preliminary results in 2014 the segment is seen to have produced 745,000 tons, a slight increase over the previous year but significantly distant from figures prior to the global economic downturn. Turnover also rose slightly, limited to about 2%, but considering the only slight increase in steel prices, the result can be considered substantially positive.Packaging steel can be divided into two families: tinplate packaging and large drums.

Tinplate
In 2013, some 650,000 tons was produced, divided between different product categories according to the sectors of destination.
The most important area, in quantitative terms, is that of the open top, or packaging for food products that, in 2014, accounted for 43% of the total, down slightly on the previous year
Open tops are employed in canned food (vegetables and fish, petfood, olive and seed oil etc.).
Equally important is the general line area, namely packaging for the chemical sector for containing lacquers, lubricants, inks, etc.
The market share in 2013 was 27%, putting in a slight increase in 2014. Closures are the third sector in terms of quantities produced, with a share of 15%: crown caps and twist-off capsules are longstanding packaging complements, especially for products for export (60-70%).
Tinplate spraycans occupy a share of 4% of the total: their share of the market is basically stable, but production is increasingly dependent on exports, given that domestic demand is rather “aluminum” oriented, widely used in one of the main outlet sectors, namely cosmetics.
The remaining 11% of tinplate packaging is comprised of “fancy” tins (containers for cookies, chocolates, for tennis balls etc.) and the production of semi-finished products (lithographed sheets and covers for export). Figures for both the two areas for 2014 are seen to have dropped.

Large drums
In 2013 production reached the 93,000 tons, 11,000 of which are for export and 82,000 for the domestic market. There are virtually no imports.
2014 should have ended with a reaffirmation of the production figures collected in 2013, thanks to the growth in exports. Steel drums are used approx. 70% in the oil and chemical industry, the remaining 30%, are used for handling semi-finished food products or for the transport of products to industry, for example, food oil. The range of capacity goes from 100 to 300 kg, but the most common formats are comprised between 185 to 250 liters, with a prevalence of the 200 liter drum.
Drums are manufactured in thick sheet steel, more than 0.49 mm, without tin coating but protected by an adequate lacquer coating both internal and external.

Aluminium: size and characteristics of the Italian market
Aluminum used for the production of packaging includes can stock (for the production of beverage cans), foil stock (used to produce foils and capsules), can bodies (for food cans) and pads (used in the production of spraycans).
Numerous alloy are used in making the products and vary according to the types of production and different uses. According to the data shown on “Packaging in Figures”, 2013 ended with turnover up 4.6% and production, expressed in weight, up 4.4%.
Foreign trade, in terms of quantities, put in a growth of 6% in exports and 14% in imports. Domestic demand showed a + 6%.
According to preliminary results, the aluminum packaging segment should have ended 2014 with a growth in output of 1,5-1,6%, driven by a + 2% in exports, domestic demand being roughly around +1 % and also with a slight increase in imports. In the last decade, the sector average annual growthrate, in terms of total weight was 2%
However, considering the reduction in the average weight of various types of packaging, the growthrate would actually stand at 3% annually.

Alloys and containers
Over time the development of particular alloys has enabled very thin gauges to be obtained, which have allowed aluminum to advance in various fields of application, both regarding containers and in the field of flexible converter packaging.
The mix between the different families of aluminum laminates used in packaging production is the following: foil (below 200 microns), can stock and pads.
The current structure of production of aluminum packaging is provided below, with reference to production in tons:
- containers 19% (beverage cans, cans for food, aerosol cans and flexible tubes);
- closures 12%;
- food trays 9.5%;
- wrapping foil 14.6%;
- foil for converting 41%;
- other 3.9%.
Still in terms of production, the area of the containers is constituted 61% by beverage cans, 13% by cans for food products (ichthyic products, meat, petfood etc.), 12% by flexible tubes and to 14% by spraycans.

Recycling figures Steel packaging (source: Ricrea)
In 2013 435,149 tons of steel packaging was placed on the market for consumption, of which 368,570 tons were collected and 320,231 tons sent for recycling. The amount of packaging sent for recycling out of that placed on the market stands at 73.6%. The largest flows of steel packaging introduced onto the market, still referring to 2013, involved the open top (34%), drums and tanks (22%), general line (17%); the remaining 27% is divided between closures, aerosol cans, straps, wire and other steel accessories.
Among the objectives of Recreate - National Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Steel Containers - falls the task of educating and sensitizing the public, with the aim of creating and spreading an environmental culture focused on the importance of segregated collection, recycling and the recovery of packaging.

Aluminium packaging (source: CiAL)
In line with the trends of recent years, 2013 ended with a total recovery rate equal to 70.3% of steel packaging placed on the market, with recycling amounting to 65%.
Here follows the types of packaging placed on the market for consumption in 2013, and their relative recycling percentages:
- beverage cans, spraycans and various other can forms (57.0%);
- pans, trays, tubes and capsules (24.8%);
- flexible for food, foil and polylaminates (17.5%);
- miscellaneous unqualified (0.75).
On December 31, 2013, through the subscription of 445 conventions, the CiAl - Aluminium Packaging Consortium achieved a coverage of more than 5,400 municipalities, with an increase of 4% over the previous year, with about 46.2 million inhabitants served.