Chinese steel giant Baosteel Group has announced that it has inaugurated a manufacturing company named Baosteel Can-making Co. in Wuhan, China for the production of tin cans for food.
Meanwhile, another major Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (WISCO) has just set up a joint venture with Japanese steel company Nippon Steel Corporation in Wuhan to develop the same product. Accordingly, Baosteel's new subsidiary looks destined to compete with this joint venture for market shares in Wuhan and in the surrounding region.
Baosteel Can-making Co., the fifth can-making subsidiary of Baosteel, is expected to produce 480 million tin cans per year. With a total investment of RMB 252 million ($39.9 million), the new company will carry out its business in six provinces in the central region of China.
It is estimated that in China tinplate consumption has been increasing at an annual rate of around seven to eight percent.