Peacegate Limited, a subsidiary of Hana Group and manufacturer of steel drums, has called for the use of steel drums for packaging of products in the oil and gas industry.
The call was made to the operators in the sector, during a press conference to celebrate the firms one year anniversary of pioneering Africa’s largest fully automated steel drum factory in Nigeria.
According to its Managing Director, Mr. Umesh Amarnani, the global industry standard in the oil and gas sector is steel drum, but most independent lubricant blenders are using plastic drums at the moment.
“Steel drums are superior to plastic drums. They perform well in extreme temperature, humidity and pressure variations, while also maintaining structural integrity irrespective of heat and flame, and without leakage or spillage. When paired with a proper fire suppression system, retrieving-style steel drums provide optimum protection in a high-temperature fire.”
Amarnani said Peacegate Limited is the first and the only United Nations (UN) certified steel drum factory in Nigeria, adding that the goal of the firm is to convert users of plastic drums to steel drums by educating them on the benefits of steel drums. He said there is increasing demand for cost-effective, yet efficient packaging solutions to overcome the bulk packaging challenges globally.
“As we celebrate one year of producing the highest quality drums with minimum lead times, we are determined to make steel drums a sustainable and affordable packaging solution in Nigeria.
Our steel drums are custom-made according to the customer’s needs, and we are dedicated to investing in improving our standards to reflect global best practices and ensure that we are well positioned to meet the challenges of increasing demand for steel drums,” he said.
Amarnani said its automated state-of-the-art steel drum factory can produce 5,000 steel drums daily, adding that each steel drum has the capacity of 210 liters.
He added that the firm works in line with UN and ISO standards which have been part of the Hana Group, a trusted company with interests across diverse industry sectors including Plastics Manufacturing, Household Products and Construction Material Trading.Peacegate Limited, Principal Officer/ General Manager, Mr. Ayodapo Keshinro said Peacegate has various clients in lubricant, paint, chemicals and agricultural sector. He added that the company supplies closed top steel drums to most of the Oil and Gas companies in the country.
Keshinro said the paint sector supplies open-top drums as it is easier to mix and apply thinners, styrene-acrylic and industrial paints.
“The chemical sector also has good potential for steel drums. At the moment, a huge amount of chemicals packaged in drums are shipped into Nigeria already packaged at source. Nonetheless, as Nigeria evolves and with local content policy implementation and awareness of the availability of UN certified steel drums at reasonable prices, more chemicals will be produced and packaged in Nigeria. The demand for steel drums in the agricultural sector is gradually increasing and this will allow Nigerians to use pulp processed locally instead of importing,” he said.
