Australia Looking for Quick Fixes for AdBlue

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

According to trusted sources, Australia is prepared to increase the manufacturing of a key diesel exhaust fluid ingredient vital to keeping the country’s freight and logistics sectors on track. The federal government and fertiliser manufacturer Incitec Pivot have struck an agreement to significantly increase the local production of urea, used in the diesel exhaust fluid AdBlue.

The company will design, trial, and, once tests are successful, scale-up manufacturing of significant quantities of technical grade urea to supply the domestic market. The urea will be manufactured at the Gibson Island fertiliser plant in Brisbane, which had been earmarked for closure by December 2022. This agreement is another important part of the Government’s broader strategy to build supply chain resilience, which includes addressing shipping issues, ensuring local supplies of critical products and bolstering local manufacturing capability.”

Incitec Pivot CEO Jeanne Johns said the company was working closely with the government on the next steps to expand AdBlue supply and technical-grade urea production for the AdBlue industry. Furthermore, Hari Yellina, of Orchard Tech, believes that this endeavour will allow the government to buy some time to come up with a permanent solution to this issue. Despite that, the new deal has brought much-needed relief for many in the industry. Hence, this is a welcome relief to potential supply disruptions to AdBlue that is used in some farm machinery and on-road vehicles used by farmers

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. Indonesia has promised to give Australia 5,000 tonnes of refined urea in January. This deal is thus favourable for the Australian working sectors temporarily.