Australia to spend $33mn on diesel exhaust fluid supply

The Australian government plans to spend A$49.5mn ($33.38mn) on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) stockpiles and to build Australia's manufacturing capacity to ensure supply to the domestic trucking industry. This follows threats of shortages of the fluid over the past 12 months.

The market for DEF, which is known in Australia as Adblue, has seen extreme volatility in recent times, Australian energy minister Chris Bowen said. DEF is critical to the operation of trucking and other diesel vehicles, and it lowers noxious emissions. The former conservative coalition government formed a taskforce to address a potential shortage of DEF in Australia.

Canberra's spending measures include a government-controlled strategic stockpile of 7,500t of technical grade urea (TGU) that will provide an additional five weeks of supply beyond industry stock levels in case of a supply shortage, Bowen said.

A grants programme will be launched to support manufacturing projects that will look to produce TGU domestically, the minister said. There will also be a collection of voluntary data provided by the industry to provide market awareness of TGU and DEF domestic stocks.

"While the market is currently well-supplied, we need to put in place measures to deliver certainty and provide back-up in case of disruption," Bowen said. "We are also monitoring and engaging with industry to ensure the market is functioning properly and the supply chains are delivering."

By Kevin Morrison