The German government said on Wednesday it was “monitoring” the supply situation for AdBlue, a highly energy-intensive, gas-based product essential for heavy-duty vehicles, a lack of which could jeopardize road transport in the world. country.
production stopped
The sharp rise in the price of gas, as a result of the war in Ukraine, has made the synthesis of AdBlue much more expensive, forcing a major German producer to stop its machinery almost two weeks ago.
This company, SKW, supplies 40% of the German market and had to stop production “due to rising prices,” said a representative of the chemical group, based in Saxony-Anhalt, in the center of the country.
“We have been monitoring the situation closely for some time,” a government spokesman told a regular news conference, as logistics federation BGL warned of shortages and their impact on supply chains.
“Without AdBlue, there are no heavy vehicles, which means no deliveries in Germany,” the BGL president told the Bild newspaper.
AdBlue, which must be used in the catalytic converters of light and heavy vehicle diesel engines to make them less polluting, is produced from ammonia. Natural gas, in addition to being one of the main sources of energy for industry, is therefore generally also a raw material for manufacturing.
“We cannot replace” gas, explained the SKW spokesman, where reserves are now “empty” while the logistics sector consumes 2.5 million liters of AdBlue every day.
“We have not yet identified a real shortage situation (of AdBlue) but we are prepared and we will take measures at this time to guarantee that this important product remains available”, explained the Government spokesman, recalling the public aid available for companies in difficulty due to a sky high prices.
To resume production, the price of gas must fall enough to make AdBlue synthesis “economically viable again,” SKW said.
Source: BFM TV
