Introduction of Tinplate steel

Tinplate steel, commonly known as tinplate (SPTE), refers to a cold-rolled thin steel plate coated with a thin layer of metallic tin on the surface. It has certain strength and hardness, good formability and easy welding. The tin layer is non-toxic and tasteless, and the surface is bright. Tin mainly plays the role of preventing corrosion and rust. Since the price of Tinplate steel is relatively cheap, it is widely used in the production and life of Saudi Arabians. The commonly used cans or beverage cans are made of tinplate.

Uses of Tinplate steel

Tinplate steel is a steel product with a stampable thin steel plate as the substrate, tin-plated on its surface, and multiple protective films (layers). It has corrosion resistance, non-toxic, odorless, glossy surface, light weight, high strength (compared to paper, wood, composite materials), easy to print, easy to weld and process, low processing cost, and adaptability to ambient temperature strong features. Therefore, in Saudi Arabia, more than 70% of the total output of Tinplate steel is used for food and beverage packaging. In addition, Tinplate steel is also used as packaging and raw materials for chemical and pharmaceutical, electromechanical, hardware, telecommunication instrumentation and other industries.

Features of Tinplate steel

The main feature of Tinplate steel is that the tin plating layer has dual properties of electrochemical cathodic and anodic protection, that is, in the inner wall of a food can with a complex mixture (or weak acid solution) and a certain vacuum, its potential is lower than that of the base material iron , tin is the anode, and its dissolution protects the iron. During the validity period of the food can, the dissolved amount of tin is basically harmless to the human body; while its outer wall is in the atmospheric solution, and the tin coating is in a state of cathodic protection, which has enough Chemical stability, which is unmatched by other can materials.

Production method of Tinplate steel

There are two production methods of Tinplate steel: hot dipping and electroplating. The thickness of the tin-plated layer of the hot-dip method is thick and uneven, and the thickness of the coating is difficult to control. The consumption of tin is large, the cost is high, and the efficiency is low. Its application is limited, so it is gradually eliminated by the electroplating method. The electroplating method uses an electroplating process to uniformly plate a tin film on the steel plate substrate. It has high productivity, low cost, thin and uniform coating, and can produce different coating thicknesses. It can also be single-sided or double-sided. The electroplating methods mainly include alkaline electroplating, sulfate electroplating, halogen electroplating and borofluoric acid electroplating. Basically what we see in Saudi Arabia is Electrolytic Tinplate (ETP).

Acid plating

In Saudi Arabia, the acid plating method is the most common application of the Frothstein type, accounting for about 70% of the total number of production lines. The current efficiency and current density of this method are high, and the operating temperature is moderate, which is easy to control. The operating line speed can reach up to about 450m/min.

Halogen Plating

The halogen electroplating method is a horizontal operation line. The current density can reach 40~60A/dm2, the cathode efficiency is high, the operation is low temperature, the electrolyte is highly corrosive, and the unit speed can reach up to 760m/min, which is characterized by high productivity. At present, there are more than 20 production lines with different speeds ranging from 300 to 760m/min in the world, most of which are concentrated in the United States. Saudi Arabia has some too.

Alkaline Plating

The alkaline electroplating method uses sodium stannate as the electrolyte, and the current density, production speed and current efficiency it bears are all low, but the corrosion is average and the process is outdated. At present, there is not much production in Saudi Arabia.

The production process will also directly affect the price. If the process is complex, the price will be high; on the contrary, if the process is simple and the production cycle is short, the price will be lower accordingly.

The development trend of Tinplate steel

In Saudi Arabia, the production process of Tinplate steel has been standardized, but the monomer process is still being improved and improved. At present, the development trend of tinplate production technology is: adopting steelmaking furnace refining and large-scale continuous casting technology to obtain steel with uniform composition and good quality, so as to meet the requirements of various can-making processing. The original plate of 0.15~0.18mm is produced by secondary cold rolling and continuous annealing technology, and its hardness is high. Pay attention to pre-plating and post-plating treatment, and adopt combined reflow treatment to produce A-grade and K-grade tin-plated steel sheets. Increase the counterpart supply of painted iron and special-shaped iron. High-speed operation line, automatic detection and control, the production speed can reach 600~760m/min.

As the production process continues to be standardized, the production technology is becoming more and more mature, and the production speed is getting faster and faster, tinplate steel has controlled the production cost to be lower and lower, which directly lowered the price.

Tinplate steel price in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the price of Tinplate steel starts from $1.35. Different width and thickness, the price is also different. The price is also proportional to the grade of Tinplate steel. The higher the grade, the higher the price. The thickness of Tinplate steel currently produced by our company varies from 0.15mm to 0.5mm; the width can be selected from 10mm to 1050mm. Coil weight is generally between 3MT and 10MT. The surface finish can be selected from "Bright, Stone, Silver, Matte". Both Coating and Temper can also be made according to the requirements of customers. The specific requirements are different, and the prices are also different. If you need a detailed price list, please contact our salesman. We are happy to serve customers in Saudi Arabia. Our Tinplate steel products are low in price, reliable in quality, and complete in specifications and models. We can provide detailed drawings of product parameters and customize them for customers.