Aluminium foil container is an essential item in the packaging industry. Establishing a modern comprehensive aluminium foil manufacturing business is a profitable venture for Indian entrepreneurs. Apart from rolls, aluminium foil containers are also hugely popular.
Aluminium is the most widely used non-ferrous metal and is extensively used in packaging materials. Specifically, aluminium provides an absolute barrier to protect foods, whether on the shelf, in the cooler, or in the freezer. Additionally, you can initiate aluminium foil manufacturing business on a medium and large-scale basis. Here in this article, we will explore how to start an aluminium foil and container manufacturing business with all relevant information.
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Advantages Of Aluminium Foil Container
Aluminium foil containers bring many advantages to the food industry. These unique advantages position aluminium foil containers among material choices for the food processing industry, the foodservice industry, and consumers alike. It qualifies as the “perfect package” for numerous food packaging applications. Some of the major advantages are:
- Because foil can withstand wide temperature changes better than other packaging materials, it can go from freezer to oven to the dinner table without changing containers.
- Aluminium foil containers are designed so that they nest very well, taking up little space
- These containers are leak-resistant and keep foods fresher whether in the refrigerator or in the freezer
- These containers are easy to clean up for re-use or for recycling. One of aluminum’s environmental advantages is its recyclability. Aluminium has an inherent value.
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Aluminium Foil Container – Market Potential
The aluminium foil is used for the packaging of many products. Some of which are pharmaceutical tablets, bulk & unitized packing of tea and coffee, prepared meals, bakery products, frozen meat, fish, milk bottle caps, wine, lube oil, greases, powdered milk, confectionery, biscuits, photographic film, gift wraps, household wraps, butter, margarine, cigarettes.
A a matter of fact, India is one of the key producers of aluminium foil in the region. Pharmaceutical packaging is one of the major consumers of this product.
Additionally, liquid packaging, laminated tubes, and a variety of food and non-food packaging applications use this item. Finstock is the major industrial application finding use in automotive air conditioners, heat exchangers, and domestic air conditioning.
The past production of foil shows an overall growth rate of about 8% only. The usage pattern, being very sensitive to price and availability, keeps on changing from time to time depending upon the economies of usage of aluminium foil compared to other products.
Aluminium Foil Container Unit Setup
A high-quality with modern technology aluminium foil container unit is financially a profitable venture. In this type of unit, manufacturing operation includes manufacturing foils, designing, printing, and aluminium foil container making.
Basically, you can obtain purified aluminum oxide from bauxite by the Bayer Process. And you can produce aluminum metal in the Hall reduction cell. In this process, Al2O3 is dissolved in a molten salt (cryolite—Na3AlF6) at temperatures of 900 to 1000 OC.
Generally, you will need to pass the electric current through the reduction cell. It releases oxygen at the carbon anodes and produces molten aluminum at the cathode, underneath the molten salt layer.
Aluminum is virtually pure metal. It has aluminum content of 99.5% or more. You can draw the molten aluminum from the reduction cell and cast it into billets, direct chill (DC) ingots, or continuously cast it into a sheet.
Aluminium Foil Container Manufacturing Process
When producing foil, you will need to alloy the pure metal to meet the desired foil specifications. Additionally, cold roll the sheet to the appropriate reroll stock gauge and ship it to a foil plant. At the foil plant, the metal passes through a series of rolling mills with a gauge reduction of 50% or more for each pass through each mill.
Aluminum rolling is not like rolling softer materials such as plastic or paper where a single pair of metal rolls can assure gauge control. In order to correct this problem, foil mills employ a number of means to control the rolling process. The rolls next to the metal are called “work rolls”.
The rolling mill employs a series of backup rolls to help ensure appropriate rolling pressure across the web via enhanced rigidity and reduction of roll deflection. This allows higher or variable loads to be absorbed while maintaining a given roll gap profile. Additionally, you can achieve gauge control by continuous computer monitoring of the gauge at each mill.
At about a 75% gauge reduction, the aluminum has work-hardened as it passed through to rolling mills. At this point, you will need to anneal the metal in coil form in an annealing oven. And here it is held at 600 – 1,000 OF for eight or more hours. Annealing accomplishes two things.
It softens the resulting metal and removes the rolling oils. In most cases, you can anneal the aluminum foil after it reaches the finished gauge. However, you can use oil-free metal when you want to convert aluminum into final products.
You can use coating and printing on the aluminum foil container stock to protect the container from corrosive food products. Additionally, you can add color for both aesthetic and functional purposes.
Aluminium Foil Container
The size of the aluminum foil containers varies greatly. Therefore, you will need to silt the coils at the foil plant to the appropriate width prior to transfer to the aluminum foil container manufacturer. The slitting stations also apply a food-grade texture to the foil. This texture acts as a lubricant. Basically, it is essential in the forming of a container. It remains on finished containers providing a release agent for the food contained within it.
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Aluminum foil containers are formed on presses that are fed from coils of feedstock. These presses can produce single or multiple containers with a single stroke. Then cut and form the blank into a container with the edges curled in a single operation. Finally, you will need to perform embossing and the formation of metal patterns for functional and decorative reasons by the presses.
Make your Aluminium Foil Manufacturing Business Legally Compliant
To start aluminium production business in India, you will need to obtain different registrations and licenses from Govt. authorities. Some of them are as follows:
- Firm registration with ROC
- Trade License from local Municipal authority
- MSME Udyog Aadhaar Registration
- GST registration
Apart from the large-scale operation, a small-scale aluminium foil container-making plant is also profitable.
Editorial Staff at NextWhatBusiness is a team of Business Consultants having years of experience in small and medium scale businesses.