The raw material used in the tin box is tinplate, which originated in Bohemia (in present-day Czech and Slovakia). The area has been rich in metal since ancient times, with advanced technology and know how to use water power to engage in machine manufacturing. Tinplate has been produced since the 14th century. After the First World War, the armies of various countries made a large number of iron containers (cans) and continue to use them today. Tinplate is an iron sheet with a layer of tin plated on the surface. It is not easy to rust and is also called tinplate. This kind of coated steel plate has been called "tinplate" in China for a long time. Some people think that because the tinplate used to make cans was imported from Macau (English name Macau can be read as horse mouth), it is called "tinplate". There are also other sayings. For example, China used this kind of tin-plated sheet to make kerosene lamp caps, which were shaped like horse horns, so they were called "tinplates." The name "tinplate" is not exact. Therefore, the name "tinplate" was no longer used in official documents at the China Tinplate Conference in 1973.
In order to reduce production costs, not all tinplates are tin-plated on the surface, and thin plates without tin are called substrates. Some substrates are galvanized or chrome-plated, unlike tin-plated iron, which is a thin steel plate that is not tin-plated. Since tin is a precious metal, the prices of chromium and zinc are both cheaper than tin. If the tinplate surface is not plated with tin foil, the most obvious thing is that the production cost is reduced. 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 no tin, to reduce the thickness of the tinplate substrate. Its purpose is to adapt to changes in canning products and reduce the cost of canning.