What was the reason for your decision to buy the ASCO Dry Ice Pelletizer P28i?
We were contacted by an NGO which showed interest to buy dry ice for the preservation of Covid vaccines. On the basis of our discussion with the NGO, our management decided to acquire a pelletizer.
What is the importance of dry ice in Nigeria? What are the main areas of application?
Seems it is mostly used in the preservation of seafood during transport but there is now demand fueled by the Covid19-vaccine.
What are your core customers/industries for dry ice?
For the time being, we are only selling through a distributor who have direct contacts with end users. This distributor buys large quantities from us and they repack into smaller boxes.
How many hours per day is the P28i in use?
At the beginning, the pelletizer ran less than it was designed to. On average the pelletizer is in production for 2 hours per day, but witnessed a huge demand during the end of the year and the pelletizer needed to work at least ten hours per day during the 2nd half of December.
Does the COVID19 vaccine transportation have a big impact on the production of dry ice in Nigeria?
We are unable to say since we are selling to a distributor who does not fully disclose with us the application.
Are there any plans to promote the "business dry ice", e.g. by applying dry ice blasting as a cleaning method?
For the time being, application seems to be for food and perhaps vaccine. For any new applications, we would have to discuss with our customer.
What we can say is that it is important to control the production of CO2 in Nigeria without which you cannot become a reliable dry ice supplier. Others have tried with a CO2 storage tank having to outsource the CO2 but they are not consistent. Our ASCO Dry Ice Pelletizer P28i is connected to a CO2 storage tank with a 50t capacity that is being supplied by our plant no.1 producing 12 tons of CO2 per day.
Having been 6 months in the production of dry ice, we can say that the future is bright and it is possible that we shall buy a 2nd machine during the first quarter of 2022 if our CO2 plant no.3 comes online (which is more than likely). The challenge in the business comes from transport and the traffic in Nigeria which delays deliveries.
ASCO Dry Ice Pelletizer P28i with ASCO Dry Ice Container AT240W