Status: 09/14/2022 08:24 a.m
Almost no trucks are driving on Germany’s roads without the AdBlue fuel additive. The impending shortage or another massive increase in prices could hit the German economy hard and leave the shelves empty.
The production of AdBlue has become significantly more expensive for months due to the gas price increase. In the transport and logistics industry, there is a fear that a shortage of the additive, which is particularly important for diesel trucks, could paralyze freight traffic in Germany.
The AdBlue urea solution is used in the exhaust aftertreatment of diesel engines and reduces the nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90 percent. According to the Federal Association of Goods Transport (BGL), almost every truck in the forwarding, logistics and transport industry in Germany runs on diesel. According to BGL, AdBlue consumption by trucks on German roads is around five million liters per day. Ten percent of cars in Germany also need the fuel additive. The prices for AdBlue have quadrupled within a year, and production is becoming less and less profitable for many manufacturers due to the use of increasingly expensive natural gas.
SKW attaches production to conditions
The recent report from one of the most important German manufacturers of AdBlue should have provided some relief in the transport industry: SKW Priestitz is restarting one of two systems after a three-week standstill.
However, the company does not want to resume production in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, for the time being. According to an SKW spokesman, production should only start when politicians send a reliable signal. According to him, such a sign could be when SKW is exempted from the gas levy or when the controversial levy is abolished entirely. According to the company, SKW is expected to have to pay a gas surcharge of EUR 30 million per month. That cannot be done financially. SKW belongs to the Czech group Agrofert.
The Federal Ministry of Economics sees no shortage
It is doubtful that the decision-makers in politics will quickly comply with this request. The views on the supply situation with AdBlue in Germany are by no means uniform. The Federal Ministry of Economics currently sees no shortages in the production of the diesel cleaner. A spokesman for the ministry said last Wednesday in Berlin that a reaction would be made if it really should come to that.
The ADAC also sees no shortage of AdBlue on the market at the moment. According to an ADAC spokeswoman, before a nationwide shortage occurs, the industry must ensure a supply of the fuel additive, even with high gas prices.
“It’s not just empty supermarket shelves that threaten”
The transport association BGL, on the other hand, had urgently warned of a shortage of AdBlue. The federal government must recognize the seriousness of the situation and take appropriate countermeasures. “Without AdBlue, most trucks stand still – it’s not just empty supermarket shelves that are at risk,” says BGL Managing Director Dirk Engelhardt. AdBlue is also difficult to import from abroad. Everywhere in Europe, the works are standing still. In addition, there was a lack of transport capacity to transport the required quantities.
Unlike at SKW, production at two major manufacturers for the German AdBlue market is still largely normal. The fertilizer company Yara wants to continue to supply its customers in Germany and Europe with the diesel cleaner. “We do not expect any availability problems for our contract customers,” the Norwegian chemical company recently said.
BASF can easily cope with weak AdBlue yields
At BASF in Ludwigshafen, too, AdBlue production is currently still running without restrictions, but the company sees a “challenging market environment” in view of the increased gas prices. However, BASF continues to deliver and is in close contact with its customers. However, the company left open whether the chemical giant could compensate for the loss of SKW on the market. Because of the high gas prices, BASF wants to buy some of the ammonia from the world market. Ammonia is also an important precursor for the production of AdBlue.
Unlike SKW, the chemical giant can offset a less lucrative AdBlue business with earnings in other areas. With its oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall, the group had even benefited from the high prices for energy raw materials with billions in profits. “BASF is a globally active company,” an SKW spokesman commented on the statement from the major competitor, “if we had such deep pockets as BASF, we could possibly also produce”.