Government Reviews Allowing Online Sales of Urea Solution... Announcement Coming Soon

Lee Eok-won, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is presiding over the "26th Inter-Ministerial Response Meeting on Urea Solution Supply and Demand" at the Government Complex Sejong on the 6th. 2021.12.6
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] The government announced on the 6th that "it is preparing a plan to allow the sale of urea solution finished products imported through online shopping distribution channels," and "detailed plans will be announced soon."

Lee Eok-won, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, chaired the 26th joint government meeting on urea solution supply and demand at the Sejong Government Complex and made this announcement. Currently, the sale and purchase of urea solution are strictly limited to gas stations designated by the government, but as the volume of imported urea solution finished products has recently increased significantly, a plan to allow online distribution for user convenience is expected to be considered.

Such a proposal was also raised at the urea solution import and distribution companies meeting held on the 3rd. Vice Minister Lee explained, "We are conducting preliminary preparations and inspections to ensure that the (imported) volume does not cause market disruption and can be smoothly supplied to the domestic market through distribution channels."

The production volume of urea solution is about 1.2 million liters on weekdays, maintaining about twice the daily average consumption of urea solution (600,000 liters). With stable production volume, the government expects that supply will gradually increase even in regions that have relatively experienced shortages, thereby improving the perception of demanders.

The number of key gas stations selling urea solution has expanded from the existing 136 to 243 as of today. Inventory information, which was previously updated twice daily on the website, will be discontinued, and instead, it will be integrated and managed through a system that discloses information every three hours via mobile applications such as T map, Naver, Kakao Map, and Kakao Navi.