It’s incredible to think that 2015 marks 80 years of the humble beverage can. When Krueger Brewing Company sold its first beer in a can in Virginia (US) in 1935, the new packaging concept was met with immediate success.
Shortly after the introduction of canned beer, soft drinks became available in cans as well and, since the 1980s, the beverage can has taken on various new sizes, shapes and innovations in design and functionality. It has become synonymous with modern life and, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), around 300 billion beverage cans were manufactured globally in 2013. Further still, the market is growing at 3% per annum.
This is clearly a relatively non-cyclical niche in the metals sector. But there are positive signs that a new wave of growth is emerging in the wider metallurgy business, with both aluminium and steel seen as examples of the demand ahead.
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