'21st Joint Inter-Ministerial Response Meeting on Urea Solution Supply'
As Overseas Import Plans Increase... "Initiating Semiannual Inventory Forecast"
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The number of key distribution gas stations for urea solution increased from 111 to 127 nationwide in two days. Inventory information is now provided not only through the existing T map but also on Naver and Kakao.
On the 30th, the government announced this at the "21st Inter-Ministerial Joint Response Meeting on Urea Solution Supply and Demand," chaired by Lee Eokwon, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, held at the Government Seoul Office. Since providing urea solution inventory information on T map on the 26th, the government has been disclosing inventory every two hours on Naver, Kakao Map, and Kakao Navi since the day before. This is a system that discloses the inventory status of key distribution gas stations.
Work is also underway to add about 2,200 budget and directly managed gas stations within the sales network of major manufacturers to the information disclosure targets. To enhance consumer convenience, the government is expanding key distribution gas stations targeting those with high truck usage frequency within the supply chain of major manufacturers. On the 27th, there were 111 locations, with 10 added on the 28th and 6 more on the 29th, currently operating a total of 127 key distribution gas stations.
Domestic total production of urea solution has recovered over the weekend, reaching nearly twice the daily consumption volume (600,000 liters) as in the previous week. Based on the five major manufacturers, the total was recorded at 630,000 liters on the 29th. Regarding imports from China, export procedures are progressing smoothly for 16,800 tons out of the contracted 18,700 tons for which inspection applications have been completed. The government is encouraging inspection applications for the remaining 1,900 tons that have not yet applied for pre-export inspection on a case-by-case basis. Of the 10,110 tons that completed pre-export inspection, only 300 tons have been brought into the country so far.
The largest single shipment of 3,000 tons of vehicle urea solution from Company L, which departed from Longkou Port in China at 7 a.m. the previous day, is scheduled to arrive at Ulsan Port at 11 p.m. the following night. Additional imports are planned in early December with 1,340 tons from Vietnam and 200 tons from Japan. Company N has newly contracted 100 tons of industrial urea from Vietnam, and Company L has contracted 504 tons of vehicle urea from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, as the government's plans for overseas urea solution imports and domestic production stabilize, it has decided to conduct short- and mid-to-long-term urea inventory forecasting. A government official said, "Led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, we have started a project to forecast urea inventory by period, covering short-term horizons of 2-3 months and mid-to-long-term horizons of over 6 months, by comparing and analyzing the expected urea import volumes from China and third countries with the annual usage volumes by category, including vehicle, industrial, and agricultural urea."
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