Tata Steel subsidiary, Tinplate Company of India Ltd (TCIL), is evaluating its growth plan and will take another 6-12 months to finalize it, a company official said Tuesday.

“Tinplate is evaluating growth plans and there are two types of things that we are looking for. One is sustenance to improve the facility that we have to improve the productivity and second is to put a new unit.

“Both these are in the work in progress (mode),” said company’s Non-Executive Director Ananda Sen, who chaired its 99th Annual General Meeting here in absence of company’s Chairman Koushik Chatterjee.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, he also said: “It will take another six months to one year to come to a conclusion.”

The company was working closely with Tata Steel Europe for operational improvements.

“Since we are part of one group, we work together. We were having interactions and sharing experiences. This continues,” said company’s Managing Director Tarun Daga.

However, according to its latest annual report, TCIL is expecting continuous improvement in domestic tinplate demand but “competitive capacity additions may put margins under pressure going forward”.

The firm’s primary offerings include Electrolytic Tinplate (ETP) and tin-free steel (TFS) used for packaging processed foods.

“With the Indian economy continuing on the growth path, the demand for packaging materials will continue to improve. The company will continue to work towards increasing capacity, increasing customer centricity and improving competitiveness. With an increase in domestic competition and increasing growth levels of substitutes, the company’s margins may come under pressure in the near future,” it said.

During 2017-18, the company transitioned from the conversion arrangement with Tata Steel and it is now procuring its raw material needs on its own account, Sen said.

TCIL, which has a market share of 45 percent in India, has an installed capacity of 379,000 tonnes with 94 percent capacity utilization, officials said.

According to the report, the company’s exports contribute 20 percent to its revenue and of its total exports revenue, Asian countries have a share of 59 percent while Europe has 32 percent.

The report also pointed out that tinplate consumption in India grew by 6 percent year-on-year, primarily driven by edible oil end-use, the largest in volume, which grew at 7 percent.

The growth in the construction industry also supported the consumption of tinplate for paint cans which grew at 5 percent. The demand from the food, battery and aerosol industry grew in the range of 5 percent to 8 percent.

On the supply side, domestic production of tinplate was higher by 12 percent compared to the previous year and total import was lower by 5 percent, it added.