If the SKW nitrogen works Piesteritz stop producing, Germany could have a problem: “Suddenly the autobahns are empty and groceries are no longer on the supermarket shelves,” writes the company, yes, in a press release. The reason: The nitrogen works from Lutherstadt Wittenberg are one of only three producers of Adblue in Germany. According to ADAC, about every tenth car in Germany needs the fluid, which consists of urea and demineralized water. Modern diesel engines will not even start without Adblue. Trucks also mostly run on diesel. And the so-called last mile in the supply chain is still firmly in the hands of trucks: last year, trucks transported goods according to the Federal Statistical Office 3.1 billion tons on German roads. If the transparent liquid is missing, this will eventually lead to empty supermarket shelves.
Even those who privately drive a modern diesel will sooner or later have to deal with Adblue. There is an extra tank on the car for the liquid, which has between eight and 33 liters depending on the vehicle model. To put it simply, Adblue helps with exhaust gas cleaning, i.e. it ensures that fewer harmful substances come out of the exhaust. Depending on the tank size and AdBlue consumption, the driver only has to top up the urea solution after several thousand kilometers. You can tap the liquid directly at some gas stations or buy canisters in different sizes.
The ADAC also recently gave the all-clear
The prices for Adblue have increased significantly. At the beginning of the year you could still get a liter for less than one euro, currently petrol stations charge almost twice as much on average, and even larger canisters quickly charge more than two euros per liter. However, Adblue is currently not difficult to obtain for diesel drivers – at least not in the quantities required for a car. The ADAC also recently gave the all-clear and sees no reason to hoard Adblue in large quantities.
The situation is different in the logistics sector. There, diesel trucks need Adblue in significantly larger quantities than cars. A truck uses an average of 1.5 liters of urea solution per hundred kilometers, which, according to the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL), makes about five million liters – every day. “Adblue is the lifeblood of the logistics industry,” says Christopher Profitlich, spokesman for SKW Piesteritz.
The excitement was correspondingly great when SKW Piesteritz announced that their systems would not produce as planned. SKW uploaded a video on its website in mid-September, an employee with a child in his arms can be seen there. A company wanted attention – and got it. The gas prices at the time, plus the gas levy discussed at the time – “that would have killed everything,” says Profitlich. The company needs gas not only as an energy source, but also as a raw material. SKW produces urea from methane, the basis for fertilizer and Adblue. The company’s annual gas consumption is correspondingly high: 14 terawatt hours, which is more than the average annual consumption of around 770,000 four-person households, although Profitlich does not like this comparison; Apples and pears, industry and private households. Another number is more important for SKW anyway: 80 to 90 percent of the variable costs come from the gas bill. If the price of gas rises immeasurably, Adblue production is hardly worth it – or the prices for it have to rise.
Basically a threatening scenario, but Markus Wolters, general manager of the DSLV Bundesverband Spedition und Logistik, is relaxed: “The share of the costs for Adblue in the total costs of road freight transport is – despite a multiplication of the selling price – low.” In contrast to the high diesel costs, the increased AdBlue prices are therefore “not relevant to the market price” in his eyes, that is to say: negligible. And: “We are currently not experiencing any significant logistics restrictions due to Adblue bottlenecks,” says Wolter.
The logistics company Dachser – annual sales in 2021 were more than seven billion euros – also assumes that the Adblue market will relax again. “We can confirm a general shortage and increase in price of AdBlue/urea and also a certain uncertainty on the market,” the company reports. “But we expect the situation to ease.” In addition, Dachser has not yet experienced any bottlenecks. An exclusive agreement between SKW Piesteritz and the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) is now to guarantee that this will remain the case. In it, SKW undertakes to supply a “limited time and quantity of Adblue contingent” in the event of supply bottlenecks.
SKW is now producing again, at half speed, but still. The gas price on the spot market, where SKW buys, has fallen enormously in recent weeks. But the company cannot yet say when SKW will be producing at full capacity again.