"Daily Consumption Continues to Exceed 600,000ℓ"
Lee Eok-won, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, presides over and delivers opening remarks at the 24th inter-ministerial joint response meeting on urea solution supply and demand at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 3rd. (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] On the 3rd, the government announced that it has secured at least six months' worth of supply of urea and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) for vehicles, industrial, and agricultural sectors.
Lee Eokwon, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, chaired the 24th inter-ministerial joint response meeting on DEF supply at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "After analyzing the DEF supply outlook from a mid- to long-term perspective, including quantities secured overseas, those scheduled or under negotiation for import, and domestic stockpiles, we confirmed that there are no supply issues not only in total volume but also across individual sectors."
He emphasized, "In particular, agricultural urea (used as fertilizer) has been secured up to the usage volume for February next year with current stock and imported raw materials, and considering additional imports, the supply covers usage until mid-June next year."
According to the government, the production volume of vehicle DEF by the five major DEF manufacturers recently has consistently exceeded the daily consumption of 600,000 liters, with 720,000 liters on the 27th of last month, 630,000 liters on the 29th, 790,000 liters on the 30th, 720,000 liters on the 1st of this month, and 610,000 liters on the 2nd. L Company, the largest domestic producer, plans to operate the DEF production process even on weekends, which were previously non-operational, considering the large-scale import of urea from overseas.
The government also announced that it is building an inventory input system using QR codes to gradually expand the number of gas stations disclosing DEF stock information from the current 130 to about 2,300.
Additionally, inspection teams from the Ministry of Environment and other related agencies confirmed one additional case each of hoarding of DEF (Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province), violation of manufacturing standards (Asan, Chungcheongnam-do), and violation of emergency supply adjustment measures (Dong-gu, Ulsan). The Korea Customs Service seized 6,000 liters of smuggled DEF on the 30th of last month. This quantity will be used for medical waste collection vehicles (2,000 liters) and rural buses (2,000 liters), among others.
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