New Steel Drum

August 27, 2019
6 minutes

New steel drum is the most common bitumen packaging due to its safety and consistent quality.

Generally, new steel drum of bitumen varies dependent on different factors like bitumen volume, height, thickness and lid.

In the following we will tell you more about the different types of bitumen drums, their specification and application.

New Steel Drum Classification

Drums can be classified in four different types according to their height, including long new steel drum, short new steel drum, short new steel drum-big lid, long new steel drum 200 kg.

The most widely used type of drums is long new steel drum that is chosen by more than 80% of our customers.

It’s necessary to say that theses steel drums vary in terms of the capacity of net weight, height and body thickness.

The most common body thickness according to the standards is 0.6 mm. Each of these drums has their own specification that is better to know before purchasing your bitumen.

To have the best choice of your drum, follow this article.

-Long New Steel Drum

Long new steel drum’s capacity is 180 kg (±2.5 kg) of bitumen. 110 long new steel drums can fill a 20 foot container and eventually the cargo weighs about 20 tons (±5 %). The empty drum weight is 9.5 kg.

The specification of this popular type of drums is as below:

Long New Steel Drum Specification
Other NameNormal drum 180 kg
MaterialNew Cold Rolled Steel
Height (mm)980
Diameter (mm)500
Body thickness (mm)6
Top/Base thickness (mm)6
Net weight (kg) ± 2.5182
Gross weight (kg) ±2.5192
Empty drum weight(kg) ±19.5
Lid (a removable cover on the top of a drum)11
ColorBlack
AdvantagesSufficiently leak proof when filled with hot bitumen


-Short New Steel Drum

Short new steel drum has the capacity of 150 kg (±2.5 kg) of bitumen which is the most popular in Asian countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia .110 short new steel drum that weighs 16.5 tons (±5%) can fill a 20 foot container. Short drum has a higher cost of long drums. The empty drum weight is 8.5 kg.

Here you can see the specification of short drums:

Short New Steel Drum Specification
Other NameNormal Drum 150 kg
MaterialNew Cold Rolled Steel
Height (mm)860
Diameter (mm)500
Body thickness (mm)6
Top/Base thickness (mm)6
Net weight (kg) ± 2.5150
Gross weight (kg) ±2.5158
Empty drum weight(kg) ±18.5
Lid (a removable cover on the top of a drum)11
ColorBlack
AdvantagesThis kind of drums are leak proof when filled with hot bitumen


-Short New Steel Drum- Big Lid

Short new steel drum – big lid is as like as typical short new steel drum with a difference in lid and capacity which is 156 kg (± 2.5 kg). This kind of drum is very popular in some parts of India and Nepal. The empty drum weight is 8.5 kg.

Short new steel drum- big lid specification is in the table below:

Short New Steel Drum (Big Lid) Specification
Other NameNormal Drum 156 kg
MaterialNew Cold Rolled Steel
Height (mm)890
Diameter (mm)500
Body thickness (mm)6
Top/Base thickness (mm)6
Net weight (kg) ± 2.5156
Gross weight (kg) ±2.5164
Empty drum weight(kg) ±18.5
Lid (a removable cover on the top of a drum)17
ColorBlack
AdvantagesIt has high resistance to leakage


-Long New Steel Drum 200 Kg

200 kg long new steel drum with high quality is too much popular and the most demanding packaging in Karachi city of Pakistan and other countries. The capacity of this drum is 210 kg (± 2kg) of pure bitumen. 80 drums of this type can fill a 20 foot container which eventually weighs about 15.5 tons (±5%). The empty drum weight is 10 kg.

To understand the specification of the long new steel drum 200 kg see the table:

Long New Steel Drum Specification
Other NameNormal Drum 200 kg
MaterialNew Cold Rolled Steel
Height (mm)950
Diameter (mm)500
Body thickness (mm)6
Top/Base thickness (mm)6
Net weight (kg) ± 2.5210
Gross weight (kg) ±2.5220
Empty drum weight(kg) ±110
Lid (a removable cover on the top of a drum)11
ColorBlack
AdvantagesResistant and anti-leak


Advantages of Drum

  • They don’t effect on bitumen quality both physically and chemically
  • Proportional size and dimension
  • It causes protection and safety of bitumen against UV rays of the sun
  • They are easily placed in containers
  • Suitable and safe for transporting flammable materials

Disadvantages of Drum

  • Used drums can leak
  • New drums, if mishandled may break as well, and damaged drums that do not break will become difficult to decant
  • Generally, 3 -5% of bitumen is always left in the drum and is wasted

Application of Drums

Steel drums are acceptable in terms of bitumen packaging all over the world. These steel drums are used for transporting and packing different liquid and pasty materials.

It’s necessary to know that due to the expansion of liquids in the heat, the drums should not be completely filled.

Here we have some applications of these drums in industry as below:

Environmental impact

Generally, the used drums will have bitumen residue that will inevitably pollute the ground and storage. Nowadays, some countries have enacted serious regulations for bitumen importation in new steel drums.

Must Read: Jumbo bag, the economical and eco-friendly packing of Bitumen.


New Steel Drums Specification
SpecificationKnown as the normal drum 180 kgKnown as the normal drum 150 kgKnown as the Short Drum- big lid 156 kgKnown as the normal drum 200 kg
MaterialNew Cold Rolled SteelNew Cold Rolled SteelNew Cold Rolled SteelNew Cold Rolled Steel
Height (mm)980860890950
Diameter (mm)500500500500
Body thickness (mm)6666
Top/Base thickness (mm)6666
Net weight (kg) ± 2.5182150156210
Gross weight (kg) ±2.5192158164220
Empty drum weight(kg) ±19.58.58.510
Lid (a removable cover on the top of a drum)11111111
ColorBlackBlackBlackBlack
AdvantagesHigh temperature tolerance
Leak-proof
Easy to fill
High temperature tolerance
Leak-proof
Easy to fill
High temperature tolerance
Leak-proof
Easy to fill
High temperature tolerance
Leak-proof
Easy to fill


MC barrel

MC barrel of bitumen weighs 220 kg, and only 80 drums fit in a 20 tons container. Generally speaking, in most of the times the MC bitumen is in the liquid state and its barrel is an electrostatically coated barrel which weighs 220 kg, and only 80 drums it fit in a 20 tons container.

An intensive overview of the specifications of all drums is as follows:


Altogether, bitumen packaging is an important issue that the customers have to pay attention to that. Different bitumen packages are New Steel Drum, Jumbo Bag and Bulk that you can read more about their advantages, applications and specifications in their own pages on this Infinity Galaxy website.



Infinity Galaxy, the Bitumen Supplier

Infinity Galaxy provides all grades of Bitumen in different types of drums. Our experts in Infinity Galaxy Company help you to choose the best type of bitumen with the best type of packaging which one of them is drum, to meet your need on time.

You just need to fill out below form and our sales expert will contact you ASAP.


    How many drums make a ton?

    It depends on the drum capacity.
    -5 drums with the capacity of 180 kg makes a ton.
    -6 drums with the capacity of 150 kg makes a ton.

    Rate this article.

    Average rating / 5. Vote count:

    Related articles

    • PVoC

      A to Z of PVoC Plan Procedure

      Mahnaz Golmohammadian
    • Environmental Protection as a Social Responsibility of Infinity Galaxy

      Mozhdeh Darbandizadeh
    • 17th China Bitumen Trading Conference

      Mozhdeh Darbandizadeh

    Mozhdeh Darbandizadeh

    August 27, 2019
    6 minutes
    ()