The raw material used in the tin box is tinplate, which originated in Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic and Slovakia). The place has been rich in metal since ancient times, with advanced technology, and knows how to use water power for machine manufacturing, and has been producing tinplate since the 14th century. After the First World War, the armies of various countries made a large number of iron containers (cans) which have been extended to this day. Tinplate is an iron sheet plated with a layer of tin on the surface, which is not easy to rust, also known as tin-plated iron. This kind of plated steel plate has been called "tinplate" in China for a long time. Some people think that because the tinplate used for making cans at that time was imported from Macau (the English name Macau can be read as horse mouth), it is called "tinplate". There are also other sayings. For example, in the past, China used this tin-plated sheet to make the lamp cap of the kerosene lamp, which was shaped like a horse mouth, so it was called "tinplate". The name "tinplate" is not precise, therefore, the name was changed to tinplate at the China Tinplate Conference in 1973, and the name "tinplate" is no longer used in official documents.
In order to reduce production costs, not all tinplate surfaces are tinned, and the sheets without tinning are called substrates. Some substrates are galvanized or chrome-plated, unlike tinned iron, which is a thin steel sheet that is not tinned. Since tin is a precious metal, both chromium and zinc are cheaper than tin. If the surface of tinplate is not plated with tin foil, the most obvious thing is to reduce the production cost.
According to the different requirements of the packaging industry, the thickness of the tinplate material, the amount of tin plating, and the mechanical properties have different needs. Since its inception, tinplate has been developing in the direction of using less tin, or even not using tin, and reducing the thickness of the tinplate substrate. Its purpose is to adapt to changes in canned products and reduce the cost of canning.