AdBlue: Looming urea shortage leaves Australian truck drivers fearful

Australia’s transporters are pleading for federal government help as the supply of an essential diesel vehicle chemical dries up.

Prime movers across Australia are facing a nervous few months with a “looming” shortage of a critical emissions-reducing chemical expected to hit Australian shores in 2022.

Transporters and farmers have been given all kinds of headaches with no clear solution determined to fix the pending shortages of the chemical – AdBlue.

AdBlue is used to reduce the level of nitrogen oxide emitted from a diesel motor and is common in newer Euro Six-compliant heavy vehicles and some agricultural machinery manufactured after 2015.

Diesel exhaust fluid, known as AdBlue, is made up of 32 per cent urea and 68 per cent de-ionised water.

Australia is a substantial importer of urea, with 80 percent of our supply coming from China. 

Fertiliser prices in China are high and in an effort to get them to cool, the country has halted much of their urea exports causing the pending shortage in Australia.

Executive director of Ron Crouch Transport Geoff Crouch said his business cannot operate without the AdBlue chemical.

 “All of our vehicles need it. Any shortage simply means we cannot operate,” Mr Crouch said.

 “We are not experiencing any immediate lack of supply, but the critical concern is that it is expected to dry up in the New Year.

 “The Australian transport industry has done a tremendous job in the last 18 months through the Covid crisis and this looming supply issue of AdBlue will mean that we can’t keep supermarket shelves stocked up.

 “If there is no AdBlue there is no supply chain and it is extremely concerning that this is completely outside of our control as a business”.

Existing stockpiled supplies in Australia are expected to be exhausted by February-March, with transporters to start feeling the beginning of the pinch by Christmas.

 Mr Crouch, who has more than 30 years experience with Australian prime movers, said the Federal Government must intervene before the pending shortage threatens the domestic supply chain. 

The Victorian Farmers Federation have also raised their concerns about the critical shortages.

Chair of the VFF’s Infrastructure and Transport Committee Ryan Milgate said a taskforce was required to address potential AdBlue shortages.

“This needs to be a big wake-up call about the risks of relying on concentrated international supply chains,” Mr Milgate said.

“We need to increase our domestic manufacturing capacity to increase Australia’s resilience to international supply chain shocks.”

In response to the concerns, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development said there was no need for users to panic.

“The Government is aware of the concerns around the supply and availability of AdBlue, and is continuing to monitor the situation while working with industry,” a spokesman for Transport Minister, Barnaby Joyce, said.

 “We encourage industry operators not to panic and to continue operating as they normally would.”

 In response to the availability of AdBlue, the department was working with the Office of Supply Chain Resilience to organise a strategic roundtable on Wednesday, December 8, to discuss the supply and availability of AdBlue with industry and key government bodies.

Originally published as AdBlue: Looming urea shortage leaves Australian truck drivers fearful