Pressure on urea prices leads to AdBlue price increase in Europe

Oslo (2010-12-23): Air1®, Yara’s AdBlue brand across Europe, announces a price increase for its AdBlue packages, effective from January 1, 2011 .

The increase is due to the consistent rise in the price for urea, the main raw material that is used in the manufacturing of AdBlue. International urea prices have climbed significantly due to several economical factors including strong agricultural demand, increased energy costs and China’s recent decision to impose an export tax on raw materials, amongst which, urea. This means that prices for urea increase as the demand for urea continues to grow.  Over the course of 2010, base urea prices have increased by more than 50%.

Rolf Isberg, Global Head for Air1 at Yara, states, “As all other primary source producers of AdBlue, our production costs are directly impacted by urea prices. We are however confident that our Air1 offer remains competitive as similar announcements have come from other AdBlue players, also affected by the rise. ”

As diesel prices are affected by the price of oil, AdBlue prices are affected by the price fluctuations of urea.  Details of the new pricing structure are being communicated to customers on a country-by-country basis.

AdBlue is a high specification urea solution that is injected into the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) catalyst on heavy duty vehicles enabling them to turn harmful emissions from diesel engines into harmless water vapor and nitrogen. It allows these vehicles to meet the more stringent European Union restrictions on exhaust gas emissions that came into effect in October 2006.

Press Contacts

Véronique Revoy, Communications, Yara
Mobile phone number: + 47 900 70 986
E-mail: veronique.revoy@yara.com

Visit www.air1.info to learn more about Air1

AdBlue®  is a registered trademark of the Verband der Automobilindustrie e.V (VDA).
Air1®  is  a registered trademark of Yara International ASA. It is produced by Yara and distributed by Brenntag in Europe.

Yara International ASA is the world's leading supplier of mineral fertilizers with particular strength in nitrogen-based fertilizers and a local presence in 50 countries worldwide. As a leading supplier of urea, Yara has a strong position in industrial markets in Europe and is the leading manufacturer of AdBlue, that it markets under the Air1 brand around the world.