Dear Colleague

Welcome to another edition of UBHI’s periodic newsletter “Tank Talk”. 

The tank industry has continued to evolve at a dramatic pace over recent months with more new manufacturing capacity coming on-stream in China.

Our licence partner CIMC, by far the most established Chinese manufacturer, has broadened its offering significantly to include tanks with baffles, wide-bodied tank containers and, most significantly, swap tanks built to proven UBHI designs.

Though hitherto considered a purely European style of tank, it seems very clear that the swap-tank has enormous potential as a general purpose transcontinental tank, offering obvious benefits in markets such as Australia, China itself, and on trans-Asian road and rail freight routes to Europe.

LESS IS MORE - BROADENING THE APPEAL OF THE INTERMODAL APPROACH

With the movement of most high volume tank manufacture to China, UBHI has successfully shifted its focus to the design and manufacture of smaller batches of bespoke tanks which are closely tailored to meet very specific customer requirements.  We see it as our mission to bring where possible the clear economic and environmental advantages of an intermodal solution to those customers who perhaps think their product is too difficult, too delicate or even too dangerous to be able to benefit from this safe and efficient form of packaging.

By working closely with customers and drawing on our wide experience of providing answers to a vast range of challenges, we are able to respond to the most demanding of requirements and provide an appropriate solution, where safety and security are always paramount considerations.

THE SMART ANSWER TO LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES

Recent examples of special tank containers which UBHI has supplied include four compartment tankcontainers for the transport of printing ink (separate compartments for each of the four colours used in the offset printing process). 

Tanks for high purity products have also been a feature of recent production - one series of tanks required internal surfaces polished to a mirror finish to afford an exceptional level of cleanliness for the transport of ultra-high purity ammonia.  

Another requirement was for 14,000-litre PFA-lined T14 tanks for supplying high purity sulphuric acid to the electronics/silicon chip industry. These tanks were equipped with remotely actuated, lined stainless steel valves, full actuated safety handrail, reefer/heating provision, top and bottom discharge, lined pipework, lined delivery hose and a removable sloped safety ladder.

High pressure gas tanks for LPG, refrigerated tanks for speciality chemicals and foodgrade products, lined tanks, electrically heated tanks – you name it UBHI can design and build it – and in a form that offers strength and resilience, ease of handling and repair and at a realistic price.

COOL RUNNING WITH CRYOGENIC TANKS FROM UBHI

In addition to the bulk liquid tanks long associated with UBHI, the cryogenic range of tanks developed by UBHI over recent years has continued to grow with tanks for the transport of refrigerated gases making up around a third of the total number of tanks built by UBHI.

Many of our cryogenic tanks are used in the oil and gas industry and here also UBHI supplies a specialist service to many well-service companies offering not only nitrogen tanks but a growing range of custom-built tanks for offshore chemical supply, chemical mixing and drill-cutting recovery operations.

BUY QUALITY SAVE MONEY

It is a fact of life in business that you can always find someone willing to offer you a product cheaper than the price a reputable supplier has quoted you.  But don’t forget that, particularly in our business, the company that has been around for a while has usually been around that long for a reason.

UBHI has a longer track record than almost anyone else in the manufacture of tankcontainers and has never had to recall or re-engineer its tank designs to cope with design problems encountered in service.

Our objective is to provide the best combination of quality and price, so our tanks are hardly ever the lowest priced.  On the other hand they are robust and resilient, whilst also being economical and easy to maintain and repair. We are confident that we offer the lowest "whole-life cost" of any tank containers on the market.

When you buy from us you also get the benefit, at no extra cost, of many years experience designing and building solutions to a vast range of bulk liquid logistics problems.

If you are considering any purchases of tank containers, there is no one better equipped than UBHI to offer you expert assistance and advice:

• Get in touch by e-mailing us at tanks@ubh.co.uk
• Take a look at our web-site www.ubh.co.uk
• Or phone us on +44 1704 898500

We welcome any comments or feedback you may wish to give to this newsletter, which is the first of a regular series we will be sending out in order keep you abreast of our products and capabilities.
Through your responses, we hope to gain a clearer insight into your needs and wishes.