AdBlue,a little-known fuel additive,is now in short supply.Credit:Bloomberg
For hundreds of thousands of Australia’s diesel trucks to be able to run,they need be filled up with AdBlue,an additive used to control nitrogen oxide pollutants.
However,a global shortage and rising prices of urea – the compound needed to manufacture AdBlue – have prompted China,the world’s biggest urea supplier,to curb exports to protect its domestic farming industry,which relies on it as an ingredient in fertilisers.
Incitec chief executive Jeanne Johns said the production increase of technical-grade urea would not impact the supply of fertiliser-grade urea for Australian farmers.
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“Our expert teams have been working around-the-clock on a solution to help address an Australian AdBlue supply shortage,” Ms Johns said.
“We’re very pleased our domestic manufacturing expertise can be mobilised,and we’re working together with the federal government to expand supply of this critical material that we all rely on to keep Australia moving.
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor on Monday said the Morrison government was taking decisive action to “keep the trucking industry moving and Australian diesel motorists on the road”.