SURESH P IYENGARMumbai, September 7

Tin producers, including TataSteel and JSW Steel, have re-futed claims of short supplyof tinplate due to implement-ation of BIS standards for im-porters. They said there isenough capacity of over 7lakh tonne (lt) to cater the do-mestic need.

The Indian Tinplate Manu-facturers Association (ITMA)said that tinplate productioncapacity has increased to 7 ltfrom about 4 lt in last twoyears while tin packaging de-mand has fallen from about 6lt to 5 lt due to economic slow-down amid the pandemic.

BusinessLine had recentlyreported that many small andmedium-sized metal con-tainer makers are cuttingdown on their productiondue to shortage of tinplate.

RS Sodhi, Managing Dir-ector, Gujarat CooperativeMilk Marketing Federation(Amul), had also said the sup-ply chain disruptions will ac-

centuate further, especiallyfor those with limited rawmaterial bandwidth. Amuluses tin cans for packagingghee, cheese and other milk-based health drinks, whichsee good demand during thefestival season.

BIS standardsReacting to the Business Linereport on tinplate shortage,ITMA has shot off� a letter toSodhi, stating, “While we ap-preciate the current glitch ingetting BIS certifi�cation forimported prime productsdue to the ongoing pan-demic... implementation ofthe BIS standards for tin millproducts is the right step toensure that the right qualityis available to domestic canmakers.”

The ITMA has three mem-ber-companies – TinplateCompany of India (subsidiaryof Tata Steel), JSW Steel, and

its subsidiary VallabhTinplate.

Most of the tinplate manu-facturers had to shut shopdue to rampant import ofnon-prime and defective tin-plates for use in food pack-aging, said a steel companyoffi�cial.

However, Sanjay Bhatia,President, Metal ContainerManufacturers Association,said though the tin manufac-turers claim that they haveenough capacity, they operateat only 50-60 per cent capa-city utilisation and have notsupplied more than 4.5 lt inthe domestic market.

Packaging industry’s woes“MSMEs need non-prime fornon-critical items but that isnot available at all. Metalpackaging industry needs afair treatment,” he added.

Sodhi said being a home-grown brand Amul alwaysprefers domestic supply at areasonable price and if thereare diffi�culties it should besorted out amicably.

“Our intention is to servecustomers in best qualitypackaging. Amul’s ghee, con-densed milk, breverages andbaby food are best served intin packages,” he added.

Say productioncapacity is enoughto cater todomestic demand

Tinplate manufacturers refuteclaims of supply shortage