Development Prospects of Aluminum Foil Packaging

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

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. 
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.

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
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 aluminium 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 capital 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.
Development of aluminium packaging.
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 aluminium 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.