Emergency AdBlue Flown into Australia

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

Australia’s largest AdBlue manufacturer, AUSblue, says it is racing to secure urea supply or even formulated AdBlue from overseas in a bid to keep the haulage industry moving through the summer. Technically known as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), AdBlue is an anti-pollutant that is added to most modern diesel engines, and urea is a key ingredient in making it. A global shortage of urea has sparked a scare among truck drivers and the transport industry, who fear it could cripple the transport networks that provide daily consumer goods to Australians.

Already, the prices for AdBlue have quadrupled in parts of the country, prompting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate “whether an authorisation is needed to allow diesel exhaust fluid producers to share information”. Trade Minister Dan Tehan said on Monday that Australia had around seven weeks of supply left and was also in talks with trading partners including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Japan.

Multiple producers of urea are either shut down or in maintenance or they have been directed by their respective governments to focus on their agricultural urea market. Domestically, Brisbane-based manufacturer Incitec Pivot, which produces urea suitable to make AdBlue, is also carrying out maintenance work. Mr Henry said his company had about 2,000 tonnes of urea in its warehouses. If the company rations it, with the support of the government and “a bit of luck”, he said he believed it could get through January. He added that he anticipated that the crisis would be over in March or April next year, when urea plants come back on stream and stocks start to flow again from February.