Urea water shortage in South Korea, fear of logistics confusion
Recently, urea water, which is used in diesel engine trucks, is in short supply in South Korea, raising concerns that logistics will be disrupted. This was due to the stoppage of imports of raw material urea from China and the hoarding of urea water (Note 1).
Large trucks emit a lot of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and require 1 liter of urea solution for every 100 kilometers. If the shortage of urea water continues like this, trucks all over the country will come to a halt, which could have a major impact on distribution.
Urea water is made by mixing ultrapure water (distilled water) with urea extracted from coal or natural gas (Note 2). Until 2013, there were companies in South Korea that produced urea, but due to its low price competitiveness compared to products from China, they stopped production and now rely on imports. As more than 60% of South Korea's urea consumption is imported from China, the impact of the suspension of imports from China will be enormous.
According to the Ministry of Environment, South Korea will import 835,000 tons of urea in 2020, with agricultural (55.5%), industrial (34.7%), and automotive (9.8%) uses (attached (See Data Table 1). Currently, out of the 3.32 million registered diesel trucks, approximately 550,000 trucks are equipped with exhaust gas reduction (SCR) devices (Note 3) and require urea water for operation. See attached table 2).
In order to prevent logistics confusion, the South Korean government plans to request the Chinese government to carry out prompt export inspections and to diversify import destinations. As a short-term countermeasure, we are considering a method of converting industrial urea water to vehicle use, but it is not a fundamental countermeasure because there is a shortage of industrial urea water. Power plants and boilers in steel mills also require urea water to remove nitrogen oxides. If urea water cannot be secured, there is a risk that major factories in South Korea will stop.
(Note 1) On October 15, the Chinese government changed the list of obligatory labeling requirements for export goods. Urea is also included in the list, which is a de facto export restriction measure.
(Note 2) Urea solution is an essential item included in the "exhaust gas reduction system (SCR)" that must be installed on diesel engine vehicles manufactured and imported from 2016 onwards. It is designed so that if there is not enough urea water, the engine of a diesel vehicle will not start.
(Note 3) The SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) device is one of the exhaust gas cleaning technologies, and it cleans nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust of diesel engines. Means "selective catalytic reduction". The main method is to use urea water as a catalyst.
[Lee Byung Ho]