China's tin box prices rose by 15-20% in March and delivery is delayed

Reminder: In the first quarter of 2021, the price of tin-plated iron raw materials continues to rise. The media in China recently issued multiple reports that the price of tin boxes in March may increase by 15-20%, and delivery will be delayed.

   In the first quarter of 2021, the supply of tin-plated iron was in short supply, and the price rose rapidly. Relevant media have recently issued multiple reports that the price of tin boxes may increase by 15-20% in March, and delivery will be delayed. We have learned from various sources that there are two main reasons for this phenomenon. One is the rising demand, and the other is the shortage of workers and delivery drivers in tin box factories.

China's tin box raw material prices soar

   According to the "Business Times" news, Baosteel Group's online shopping business, product transportation and other industries, due to lack of sufficient raw materials, orders are difficult to ship. Especially in the tin box packaging industry, recently it has been rushing to rush for tin-plated iron and overstocking inventory. A food factory simply entered the factory to urge the goods for fear that there would be orders but the phenomenon of Wuxi box packaging.

   Panic orders have emerged, making the paper tin box factory too late to produce even if they work overtime. According to reports, many companies have recently made up to 10% of tin box orders too late to deliver; some tin box factories are facing an order outbreak and delayed delivery by 7-10 days; the "Business Statistics Bureau" estimates that tin box delivery is delayed. Possible relief before the third quarter.

    In the context of the sharp increase in raw material prices, the price of tin boxes in China has continued to rise. Starting from the fourth quarter of 2020, the tin box factory will work overtime to meet market demand, with a slight increase of 3%-5%. After the Spring Festival this year, the price of tin-plated iron has increased month by month, and the price of tin box packaging has increased by 15-20%.

   It is worth noting that even if the cost of tin box raw materials continues to rise, it is difficult for tin box factories to successfully increase prices when they encounter customers with a large number of purchase bargaining power. However, this situation improved in March, and many large local customers agreed to accept the increase plan, with an increase of 15-20%.

Demand for tin box market rises and companies expand production capacity

   Based on various financial media reports, it was found that one of the reasons for the increase in local tin box prices was the sharp increase in market demand. According to statistics from the Bureau of Statistics, last year there were more than 2.3 billion tin boxes, a substantial increase of nearly 10% from 2.1 billion the year before, which is several times the moderate annual growth of 2-3% tin boxes in recent years.

   The rising demand for tin boxes has greatly affected cold-rolled steel production enterprises. The local media said in a report that Xu Shubo, Chairman of the Prime Minister, learned from the Industrial Bureau that there is no shortage of pulp but tinplate. Although the three major enterprises of Yongfengyu, Zhenglong and Rongcheng are based on existing units and labor conditions, With full production capacity, the production of tin-plated iron plates is still in short supply.

  The Bureau of Industry stated that in the past, the production capacity of the tin box factory has always been stable, but because the export products were booming before the Lunar New Year, and the demand for a large number of foreign sales grew rapidly, this caused the tin box factory to place a large number of orders from tinplate factories and shipped the entire shipment. The delay is about three to five days. This wave of orders this year is expected to be fully digested when the new production capacity of the paper tin-plated iron sheet plant is put into production this year.

  To this end, local related companies have increased their investment and expansion of factories. Just take 2021 as an example, Zhenglong Tin Box's new plant will start to invest in May and increase its monthly production capacity by about 4 million at the end of the year; Rongcheng Yunlin Plant will expand equipment and Longtan Plant will replace old equipment with new equipment, each with a monthly increase of about 200 10,000 production capacity may be increased to 4 million production capacity by the end of the year.

Tin box factory lacks workers and delivery drivers

   In addition, I learned from another report that the lack of workers and delivery drivers in tin box factories is also an important reason for the serious shortage of tin boxes. It is reported that the tin box factory implements a two-shift system, and employees work eight hours a day. At night, there is no one to produce or deliver goods, causing the company to have no time to deliver to customers.

   At present, many tin box factories and carton factories in China have a history of 20 to 30 years. They are facing problems such as old machines, insufficient manpower, and reluctance to take over from the second generation. Moreover, tin box factories and carton factories are labor-intensive industries. The intensity is relatively high. Take the truck driver as an example. It is difficult to attract young people to join the truck.

   In order to solve this situation, Xu Shubo, the chairman of the board of directors of industry and commerce, proposed to solve the problem of container shortages and establish a total coordinated supply mechanism; to compare the mask production mode, the tin box production related companies can also be given the same extended working hours treatment; negotiate with the Environmental Protection Agency The feasible mechanism of "effective recycling and reuse" has solved the shortage of tin boxes.

The Industry Association also suggested that the tin box manufacturers should loosen the working hours restrictions and allow up to 50% of the space, and at the same time relax the proportion of foreign labor to increase the number of people, and allow foreign labor to increase the workload outside the factory, increasing the manpower supply by 10%-20%. Let the production line to the last mile transport sufficient manpower to balance the supply and demand of tin boxes and stabilize prices.