About the first symptoms of European problems with AdBlue we wrote in early September. At that time, its prices have risen significantly. A month and a half has passed and the situation has not improved. In Germany they sound the alarm about problems with the availability of the agent, necessary to keep the trucks moving.
“Stocks are running out after SKW Piesteritz, a company in the city of Wittenberg, East Germany, which is a major German producer, shut down production to cope with rising gas prices.“- we read in the Financial Times.
According to the papers, Dirk Engelhardt, head of BGL, a commercial organization for the transportation industry, said he was besieged by companies concerned that they were running out of AdBlue, which neutralizes nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines.
“Trucks can’t move without it,” he said. “There will be a big scream in the population if supply chains collapse and supermarkets empty” – he added.
Engelhardt said over 90 percent. out of 800 thousand. German trucks need a solution because they use a total of 2.5-5 million liters of this product per day.
“Supermarket chains suffering from a basic shortage during the coronavirus pandemic are already expressing concern. A spokesperson for Aldi Süd, one of Germany’s largest discounters, said the company is” taking the current situation very seriously. ” , “writes FT. “
See also: Germany on the verge of recession. The government is cautiously cutting forecasts
What is AdBlue?
As explained by the auto-swiat.pl portal, modern diesels, in addition to the fuel filler neck, also have a slot for filling the AdBlue fluid. Both fillers are equally important: it is impossible to drive without AdBlue, just like without fuel.
AdBlue is a 32.5% trade name. urea solution in demineralized water. This fluid is necessary for the operation of the so-called system. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), cleaning of diesel exhaust gases of harmful nitrogen oxides. For a diesel engine to be both powerful and not smoke excessively, the pressure and temperatures in the combustion chambers must be very high, and this creates more nitrogen oxides.