Bottles of urea solution arrive at a filling station in Busan, 280 kilometers south of Seoul, on Nov. 11, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — POSCO International Corp. a trading arm of South Korean steel giant POSCO, said Friday it has signed contracts with Australian and Mexican companies to bring in 180,000 liters of urea solution in an effort to help ease the serious domestic supply crunch of the material.
Under the deal, Australia-based supplier Bluenox Pty. Ltd. will provide 80,000 liters and Zar Kruse, a Mexican petroleum company, will supply 100,000 liters, according to POSCO International.
The total amount would be enough to supply about 9,000 diesel sedans.
They will be shipped out from the two countries around the end of this month, and it is expected to take about 21 days and 18 days for the supplies to arrive here, respectively.
South Korea has been grappling with a shortage of urea solution, as China tightened exports of urea in October amid a power crisis caused by a coal supply shortage. Coal is the main feedstock to produce urea.
The government has been striving to secure more stockpiles of the key material needed in diesel cars through more imports from countries like Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and other nations.
The corporate sector has also stepped up to lend support, with major companies setting out to secure urea or urea solution using their networks with foreign partners.
Lotte Fine Chemical, the country’s biggest producer of urea solution, said Thursday it has secured 19,000 tons of urea.
LX International Corp., the general trading arm of LX Group, has secured 6 million tons of urea and urea solution from Vietnam, Singapore and China.
(Yonhap)
