The Australian Government must take immediate action to guarantee Australia's supply of AdBlue, following a disappointing roundtable today.
ATA Chair David Smith says there needs to be more transparency about the supply and demand for AdBlue both now and for the next six months.
"In today's roundtable, we were told there was no need to panic about the supply of AdBlue, but no-one was prepared to back this assurance up with any numbers about AdBlue supply," Mr Smith said.
"The supply of AdBlue is just as important as the supply of fuel. We need transparency about the stocks of material that are in Australia and the ability of suppliers to deliver the AdBlue we need throughout the first half of 2022.
"The Australian Trucking Association has been told that the supply of AdBlue is uncertain beyond February 2022. Some suppliers are in a better position than others.
"We are already seeing suppliers restricting orders or raising prices.
"The ATA will continue to press the Government for action and transparency until we are certain that we can continue delivering the groceries on every supermarket shelf and Australia's exports to our ports," Mr Smith concluded.
Background
1. AdBlue is made up of 32 per cent urea and 68 per cent de-ionised water. It is injected into the exhaust system to reduce the amount of NOx entering the atmosphere.
2. Australia is a substantial importer of urea, although Incitec Pivot has a plant in Brisbane. 80 per cent of the Asia-Pacific's supply of DEF grade urea comes from China. Fertiliser grade urea is not suitable for manufacturing DEF as the resulting product does not meet the ISO standard
3. China has almost halted urea exports as part of an attempt to cool down local fertiliser prices.
