OCI NV, Amsterdam, said on Nov. 3 it is expanding its product offering in Europe and intends to start production of Diesel Exhaust Fuel (DEF) under the AdBlue brand at its nitrogen facilities in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2024.
Fertiglobe, the nitrogen fertilizer joint venture of OCI NV and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), also is to begin the production of DEF at its Egyptian Fertilizer Co. (EFC) In Egypt, with production starting in the fourth quarter of 2022.
OCI said it started to market DEF in Europe in October “given the tight market fundamentals [in the region]” and initially will utilize the trial shipments from the Fertiglobe facilities in Egypt.
Fertiglobe said it plans a trial shipment of DEF from EFC to Europe in the current quarter, adding more DEF shipments from EFC will follow as production ramps up.
Fertiglobe has the capacity to produce 0.5 million mt of DEF at its plants in Egypt and the UAE, with Abu Dhabi-based Fertil currently producing a small amount of DEF to serve local demand. Both facilities are able to quickly ramp up production, the company said.
DEF – also known as AdBlue in Europe – is a urea solution used to reduce environmentally harmful vehicle exhaust NOx emissions from diesel engines.