The shortage of the diesel cleaner AdBlue not only has consequences for the logistics sector, but could also spread to the chemical industry, warns Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Agriculture Sven Schulze. In the east in particular, chemical parks are on the verge of having to restrict their work.
Saxony-Anhalt is demanding a quick solution from the federal government for the production of the diesel cleaner AdBlue by the chemical company SKW Piesteritz. "In the next few days, the Ministry of Economics must clarify how production at SKW can start up again," demanded State Minister of Economics Sven Schulze. "Otherwise there is a risk of standstill not only in the transport sector, but also in the chemical industry in East Germany."
There are warnings that chemical parks, especially in the East, will have to reduce their work in the coming days due to the lack of products from SKW Piesteritz, said the CDU politician on the sidelines of the federal party conference in Hanover. The refineries in Schwedt and Leuna would also be affected. With BASF and Yara, the company from Lutherstadt Wittenberg is one of the largest manufacturers of AdBlue in Germany - according to Schulze, it supplies 40 percent of German production. Hardly any truck drives without the exhaust gas cleaner, it is also used as a diesel additive for cars.
Based on the current gas price, SKW Piesteritz is making a monthly loss of 100 million euros, said Schulze. Because 80 percent of the costs are gas, which is used as a raw material there. He suggested that the federal government absorb the company's losses as a result of the high gas prices in such a way that production in at least one of the two plants would be worthwhile again. He is optimistic that a solution can be found with the federal government.
The Federal Association of Goods Transport and Logistics (BGL) had sounded the alarm because the company had stopped production more than two weeks ago. BASF and Yara had announced that they would continue to produce. Almost a third of AdBlue consists of urea, which is produced directly in conjunction with the synthesis of ammonia.
