National

Australia to scale up urea manufacturing

By AAP Newswire

Dec 20, 2021

A file photo of trucks — Australia is scaling up manufacturing of urea, a key ingredient in diesel exhaust fuel AdBlue. -AAP Image

Australia is set to scale up the manufacturing of a key diesel exhaust fuel ingredient vital to keeping the country's freight and logistics sectors on track.

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The federal government and fertiliser manufacturer Incitec Pivot have struck an agreement to significantly increase the local production of urea used in 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.

Indonesia is giving Australia 5000 tonnes of refined urea in January. Trade Minister Dan Tehan said this was enough for about a month's worth of AdBlue.

"By working closely with our partners, we have been able to secure this critical supply for Australia," he said.

"We will continue to strengthen our close relationships around the world to support and further Australia's interests."

Mr Tehan last week said Australia had about seven weeks' worth of urea left as China restricted exports.

He flagged approaches to shore up supply with countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Japan.

Korea in November sent Australia 27,000 litres of urea.