The raw material used in Iron Box is tinplate, which originated in Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia). The area has been rich in metal since ancient times, advanced technology, and know how to use water power to engage in machine manufacturing, from the 14th century onwards, the production of tinplate. Tin Boxes are iron sheets with a layer of tin plating on the surface, which is not easy to rust, also called tin-plated iron. This plated steel plate in China for a long time called "tinplate", some people believe that because of the manufacture of cans with tin-plated sheet from Macau (English name Macao can be pronounced as horse mouth) imported, so called "tinplate". There are other arguments, such as China used to use this tin-plated sheet to manufacture kerosene lamp heads, shaped like a horse's mouth, so called "horse mouth iron". The name "tinplate" is inaccurate, therefore, in 1973, the Chinese tin-plated sheet meeting has been named tin-plated sheet, the official document no longer use the name "tinplate".

In order to reduce the production cost, not all Tinplate Not all Tinplates have tin plating on the surface, and those without tin plating are called substrates. Some of the substrates are galvanized or chromium plated, unlike tin-plated iron, which is a thin steel sheet without tin plating. Since tin is a precious metal, both chromium and zinc are cheaper than tin. The most obvious thing about tinplate surfaces without tin foil plating is the lower production cost.

Depending on the different requirements of the packaging industry, the thickness, amount of tin plating and mechanical properties of the tinplate material are needed in different ways. Since its inception, tinplate has been toward the use of less tin, or even without tin, thinning the tin substrate thickness direction. The purpose is to adapt to the changes in the can product and reduce the cost of can making.