The use of aluminum foil is very extensive, and experts have divided it into more than 20 varieties depending on the characteristics of its application. Due to the difference in the level of economic development in different countries, there is also a large gap in the aluminum foil consumption structure. In developed countries in Europe and America, the aluminum foil used for packaging accounts for 70% of the total demand. In the Chinese market, aluminum foil is mainly used as raw materials for industrial manufacturing, and packaging aluminum foil accounts for only 30% of total domestic demand. Although the development of aluminum foil packaging is relatively late, the current market is growing rapidly and the prospects are of concern.
Aluminum foil production and development of aluminum foil packaging
1.1 Development of aluminum foil production
China's aluminum foil production began in 1932, but it did not begin to develop until after the reform and opening up. Since the 1990s, aluminum foil production has entered an important period. Not only has a large amount of advanced equipment been introduced, but the level of production management and technology development has gradually become modernized and internationalized. Since the beginning of this century, aluminum foil production capacity has increased rapidly under the strong market demand. At present, there are more than 90 aluminum foil manufacturers in China, equipped with 66 modern aluminum foil mills and 39 multifunction cold rolling mills with a total aluminum foil production capacity of 500,000 tons/year.
Development of aluminum foil packaging
Aluminum foil packaging began in the early 20th century when aluminum foil was used as an expensive packaging material for high-end packaging only. In 1911, the Swiss confectionery company began packaging chocolate with aluminum foil, which gradually became popular instead of tin foil. In 1913, the United States began to produce aluminum foil based on the success of aluminum smelting, mainly used for high-grade goods, life-saving articles and chewing gum packaging. In 1921, the United States successfully developed composite aluminum foil paperboard, which was mainly used as a decorative board and high-grade folding carton. In 1938, heat-sealable aluminum foil came out. During World War II, aluminum foil was rapidly developed as a military packaging material. In 1948, aluminum foil containers were used to package foods. In the 1950s, aluminum paper and aluminum-plastic composites began to develop. By the 1970s, with the maturity of color printing technology, aluminum foil and aluminum-plastic composite packaging entered a period of rapid popularity.
In the 21st century, the trend of market competition and homogenization of products has stimulated the rapid development of product packaging. In 2002, the global packaging market has exceeded US$500 billion. The development of aluminum foil packaging is basically synchronized with the development of the entire industry. In the Chinese market, aluminum foil packaging develops faster, mainly for two reasons: at the front, the gap between the development of China's flexible packaging market and developed countries is obvious, and the proportion of flexible packaging for daily consumer goods and food products accounts for Small, developed countries have accounted for more than 65%, and some have exceeded 70%, while China accounts for about 15%, and the proportion has increased rapidly in the past two years. Second, the domestic aluminum-plastic composite and aluminum-paper composite technologies are maturing, and production costs are reduced. Promote the popularization and application of aluminum matrix composites in the Chinese packaging market.
Market status of aluminum foil packaging
After nearly a century of development, aluminum foil has become a major packaging material, and its market development is mature in the European and American countries. However, in the Chinese market, aluminum foil packaging has broad prospects. The following is an analysis of the major markets for aluminum foil in flexible packaging.
Aluminum foil for pharmaceutical packaging
In 2002, the value of the global pharmaceutical packaging industry was nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars, with an average growth rate of 4%. The output value of China's pharmaceutical packaging market is approximately US$1.8 billion, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10%. Aluminum foil is mainly used for blister packaging in pharmaceutical packaging. Blister packs are mainly made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets and 0.02 mm thick aluminum foil. Blister packs have become the main packaging method for western medicine tablets and capsules. China's traditional Chinese medicine tablets, powders, capsules, pills and other packaging are gradually changing from paper bags, simple plastic bags and glass bottles to aluminum-plastic blister packaging. Blister packs have the advantages of moisture resistance, portability, safety and health, etc. With the development of drug slow release technology, the market will be even broader. At present, the annual demand for blister packaging on aluminum foil is more than 7,000 tons, and it is expected to exceed 10,000 tons in 2005.
Another important aluminum foil market is the production of aluminum-plastic tearable film (SP). At present, there are more than 1,000 such production lines in China, and the demand for aluminum foil is 3,000 tons/year. In addition, aluminum-plastic composite hoses for ointment packaging, and aluminum-plastic composite bottle caps for water and injection packaging are also two potential markets for aluminum foil consumption. At present, the total demand for aluminum foil is over 1,000 tons.
There is also a potential market for the application of aluminum foil in the pharmaceutical industry, namely pharmaceutical aseptic packaging. At present, only a few companies in China produce health-care beverages such as aseptic herbal tea, and there has been no development of proprietary Chinese medicines for aseptic packaged liquids. This new area will be an important potential market for aluminum foil flexible packaging.
Food packaging aluminum foil
The Chinese food industry is in an important period of vigorous development. The emergence of food flexible packaging has greatly improved the level of mechanization and automation of food processing, and accelerated the modernization and socialization of people's dietary life. In developed countries, food and beverages mainly use flexible packaging, while China's flexible packaging has relatively slow development. There are two main applications of aluminum foil in food packaging: one is aluminum plastic or aluminum paper composite packaging; the other is aluminum, plastic, paper multi-layer composite packaging, that is, Tetra Pak packaging. The demand for aluminum foil for flexible food packaging in China is about 30,000 tons/year. The main areas of application of aluminum foil are: 1) Chocolate, candy packaging. At present, China's chocolate is basically packaged in aluminum foil, and its market demand is increasing with the expansion of China's chocolate consumption market. There are two types of candy packaging, one is aluminum plastic composite or aluminum paper composite packaging, and the other is the use of aluminized film or a single plastic packaging; 2) convenience food, cooked food packaging. Such as instant noodles, local food and other specialties. With the development of the food commercial market, the demand for such packaging is increasing and the development prospects are very optimistic; 3) Milk product packaging. At present, milk powder is basically made of aluminum-plastic composite packaging. Liquid milk products are mainly packaged in aluminum foil cartons. There are large geographical differences in China, and the distribution of production and sales areas of milk products is unreasonable. This provides a broad market for aluminum foil aseptic packaging. At the same time, there is huge room for the development of dairy products in China. It is estimated that by 2005, the per capita consumption of dairy products will reach 10 kilograms and the total output will reach 13.5 million tons. The demand for aluminum foil for dairy products packaging will reach 7,000 tons per year; 4) Tea, coffee, etc. A considerable part of the product is made of aluminum-plastic composite packaging, which is also an important market for aluminum foil packaging.
From the perspective of market development trends, fresh agricultural products and natural food (drinks) products will become an important development market for China's flexible packaging. Such as: fruit juice beverages and other beverages, in 2005 will reach 22.6 million tons, of which soft packaging demand for aluminum foil is more than 7,000 tons, vegetable juice drinks and condiment processing industry in the next five years, will also be greatly developed, the comparison of such products The best packaging will be aluminum foil aseptic packaging.
Toothpaste packaging composite hose
Aluminum-plastic composite hose has excellent barrier properties, strong anti-corrosion properties and good printability, so it is widely used in the packaging of toothpaste, cosmetics and some industrial products. For toothpaste packaging, in 2002 aluminum-plastic composite pipe has completely replaced the traditional aluminum tube packaging. The output of toothpaste in China was 3 billion pieces/year, and the demand for aluminum foil from toothpaste packaging was 3,000 tons. In addition, the demand for aluminum-plastic composite hoses in other areas has also increased to varying degrees, such as: medicines and health products, cosmetics, condiments, and industrial products.
Development prospects of aluminum foil packaging
The development of aluminum foil packaging is closely related to the progress of composite materials technology. The composite material is divided into base layer, functional layer and heat seal layer: the base layer mainly functions as aesthetics, printing, moisture resistance, etc.; the functional layer mainly functions as barrier, light protection, etc.; the heat seal layer is in direct contact with the packaged article, and is adaptive and resistant. Permeability, heat sealability and other functions. With the development of base materials and composite technologies, the function of aluminum foil packaging will continue to improve.
Development Trend of Packaging Materials
The development of the packaging industry is an important symbol of cultural development and technological progress. Since the 1950s, the rise of composite materials has caused a revolution in the packaging field, and the continuous development of composite materials technology. Various emerging composite materials have emerged, which have had an impact on the application of aluminum foil. For example: 1) Since aluminum foil-packed foods cannot be directly processed by microwaves, a high-barrier microwave food packaging material has recently emerged, namely, a thin layer of silicon oxide is coated on a substrate such as plastic, so that the material has high barrier property and high microwave intensity. Transparency and transparency, suitable for high temperature cooking, microwave processing and other food packaging, can also be used for beverage and edible oil packaging, but this material is expensive to produce, large-scale production technology is not perfect; 2) nano-packaging materials into Rapid development period. Nanotechnology is the younger science and technology in the 21st century and is also considered to be a promising packaging technology in the 21st century. At present, nano-packaging is still in the development stage, and its practical application is less.
In addition, various new concepts of packaging materials have emerged in the market. Due to the excellent performance and relatively low cost of aluminum foil packaging, these new materials have not yet formed a scale market and have a substantial impact on the packaging of aluminum foil. However, at present and in the next few years, the development of aluminized composites is an important trend. It will be used as an alternative to traditional rolled aluminum foils, replacing aluminium foil in some markets.
Development of aluminized packaging
The aluminized film has been used in the packaging industry since the 1960s, and has been rapidly developed in North America and Europe in the 1980s. China began to introduce aluminum-plated packaging since the early 1990s, but it has only recently developed rapidly. The development of aluminum plating in China's packaging industry is divided into three stages: the first stage is mainly aluminum plated stickers; the second stage is as product packaging and flexible packaging; and the third stage is as cigarette lining paper.
As a product packaging and flexible packaging. The application of aluminizing in flexible packaging is mainly to replace single plastic and paper, thereby increasing the isolation and visual impact of packaging products. At the same time, some aluminum foil packaging is replaced by aluminum plating materials. With the development of aluminum plating production, especially the maturity of multi-layer composite technology, aluminum-plated materials will have a greater impact on aluminum foil packaging.
in conclusion
Aluminum-based composites will replace single materials more and are widely used in various flexible packaging. The emergence of some new concept packaging materials will have an impact on aluminum foil applications, but aluminum matrix composites have a comparative advantage in cost and performance over a period of time. Composite flexible packaging will replace rigid and semi-rigid container packaging more, market space from paste, block, granular, powder products to liquid semi-liquid, gas-containing products; from consumer goods to military products. China currently has more than 4,000 flexible packaging companies and the annual production capacity of composite membranes is more than 1.5 million tons. With the economic development, China will become the world's major packaging demand side market. The development prospect of aluminum foil packaging is very broad.